As the Mets lost the opener to Arizona 3-2, I couldn’t help but wonder what lies ahead for these Mets. We’re back to the same team that struggles to score runs, and the team that won five straight not so long ago, may have just been a blip on the radar.

Omar Minaya says there was no help available that was better than the guys that are coming back. He said the one positive thing that came out of this was that he finally learned that our prospects are desired by so many teams. He also said, because of that, he has opted to hang onto those prospects.

It’s all smoke and mirrors.

Minaya knows better than anyone that his best prospects are between 17 and 19 and at least five years away. Trading prospects like that for All Star caliber players has never been a problem for Omar, and yet he would have you believe that all of a sudden he’s transformed himself into something he is not and never has been.

Since the off season, Minaya has stated, on many ocasions, that that he had plenty of money and that he wanted to save it so the Mets could add payroll in mid season.

“I want to make sure I save some payroll, so that we could make adjustments and add players during the season.”

He kept that pretense going all season long, as he sat back and watched his core players drop like flies. So where did all that money he was talking about go?

As each player went down, the excuses and rhetoric kept mounting, and still no help was coming. Sure we got Jeff Francoeur, but that was only because Atlanta had become so sick of waiting for him to develop, that they were willing to trade him to anyone including a team within the division.

You know what I think? I believe that the Wilpons have taken a sink or swim approach with Minaya, and were not willing to give him one penny more than the $149 million dollars they have already given him. And who can blame them? The Wilpons have already shelled out more money than any other team in major league baseball besides the Yankees.

Omar Minaya didn’t immediately get the ax after the Adam Rubin fiasco, but he has lost the trust and support of the Wilpon family, and I am absolutely certain that they are waiting until the end of the season to fire their GM and rid themselves of his presence.

It may seem like everything is ok on the outside, but if you listen and watch closely, you could plainly see that the end is near for Omar Minaya, and that the writing is on the wall… in permanent ink.

“He’s this close to being out of baseball,” Jeff Wilpon said, holding his thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart.

Omar is not allowed to go anywhere alone. A Mets official is always close by to make sure he doesn’t screw anything up.

One reporter observed,

He looked like he was under house arrest, surrounded by PR men who suddenly look like hockey goalies, ready to dive on any pucks that come tumbling out of Minaya’s mouth. A reminder of the week that was.

Bart Hubbuch of the NY Post writes,

The Mets have GM Omar Minaya on a tight leash around the media after the backlash that resulted from Minaya calling out Daily News reporter Adam Rubin this week.

Team senior VP of communications Dave Newman now hovers just a few feet from Minaya during every news conference, monitoring Minaya’s comments and showing his approval or disapproval with nods and hand gestures. The Mets also had PR chief Jay Horwitz stand directly next to Minaya yesterday, and Horwitz repeatedly tried to cut off an interview about the trade deadline and injuries after just a few questions.

I don’t feel the least bit sorry for Omar Minaya. He brought most of this upon himself.

As yesterday’s trade deadline showed, his arms and legs are bound, and his mouth is gagged. He has become as useless to the Mets as the cortisone shots they’ve been injecting their players with.

Right now, he is sitting on death row and waiting for his execution which should come some time around October 1st.

There is no way the Wilpons will allow him to don his $3,000 Italian suit, and stroll the lobby of the hotel at the Winter Meetings with a fist full of their millions.

It’s the end of the line for the dapper don, and it won’t be long until he’s swimming with the fishes along side his one-time consigliere, Tony B.