Eyes of a Teen is a weekly to biweekly column written by Tyler M. It is a commentary on the team from the view of a teenager.

Well, one away series down, one away series won. The Mets have already done what took them months to do last year, win a series on the road. I was not a supporter of Terry Collins when the Mets were selecting a manager, but he did well this weekend. Although it is too early to tell what will happen down the road, the Mets have started off on a good note, taking two of three on the road to start the season. Friday looked very sloppy on the part of the Mets. They were hitting against Josh Johnson, I didn't expect much offense. Their defense, however, failed to impress me, and Mike Pelfrey's start had the same effect. The Pelfrey that pitched looked like the Pelfrey from right after the All Star Break last year, which is not a good sign early. Saturday, Jon Niese had a good start, only to have it blown by Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, who wound up getting a win. Sunday, is what I liked to see. The Mets took advantage of many of the mistakes the Marlins made. Plus, R.A. Dickey continued his success from last year, pitching well throughout again.

Carlos Beltran has looked well to start. He has run quite well on the bases, and shown he can play defense well still after switching to right field. Soon, I think he will be the threat he was at the plate (power-wise) that he was years ago. With him and David Wright, and Ike Davis, really adding power to this offense, this season looks optimistic at the plate. The Mets pitching needs to hold up their end.

Well, the manager has been announced, now its time for another Eyes of a Teen post. I must say, I am disappointed that Sandy Alderson did not name Wally Backman to be the manager. I can't change it. Well, the Mets fans have to deal with Terry Collins, and as Mets Paradise's own Brandon Lee wrote here, we need to at least give him a chance. I know I was on the Wally World train, but Alderson chose Collins, and he needs to be given a chance. If Alderson chose him, he must have liked what he saw. Now that the Mets have made numerous changes personnel-wise, they need to make some changes roster-wise. First things first, cut ties with players who are just bringing the team down, ie Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. They also need to get another solid starter. There are multiple more moves they need to make, but those are at the top of my list.

Well, I know an Eyes of a Teen post hasn't been made lately, but I am still around, and to prove it, here is another Eyes of a Teen post. 

A lot has happened already for the Mets since the season was officially over. However, the ship still isn't righted, and won't be probably for another couple weeks. They finally have a new GM in Sandy Alderson. But really, who didn't see that coming? I knew the moment his name was tossed in the mix that he would be becoming the Mets GM. Didn't everyone? We all knew it was going to happen. But, who can't like him becoming the GM? Look at his resumé:

• In 1983, Alderson became the GM for the Oakland Athletics, which he was until 1997. With him as GM, the A's won 1 World Series (1989), 3 American League Pennants (1988, 1989, 1990), and 4 division titles (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992). During this time, he also mentored the current A's GM, Billy Beane.
• In 1998, he went to work for the commissioner's office, holding the title of Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations. He held this position from September of 1998 until 2005.
• In 2009, he resigned from a CEO position he held with the San Diego Padres. He had this position for almost four years.

I must say, I wanted him to be the new GM right from the beginning, but I also had a feeling he would win out. Now, the next problem: manager.

The Mets still need a manager, and quite a few available managers have been in interviews and talks with teams since the end of the season. The Mets are getting a late jump due to needing to fill the GM role. My opinion is that they should get either Bobby Valentine or Wally Backman to manage the team. Now, this decision will be completely up to Alderson, the Wilpons will not be making him choose one they like. Bobby Valentine is likely already out of the Mets manager race though. Backman isn't though. So, why do I want Backman? Backman is a fiery manager who will stand up for the team, but isn't afraid to sit a slacker. This is what I think the Mets need right now. It seems they had quite a few slackers this year who should have been benched, but weren't. Also, a lot of times I thought Jerry Manuel just stood and watched when he should have been arguing on his team's behalf. Alderson has a lot of work to do this offseason, but all that starts with a managerial decision.

Well, this was an old segment, and I am going to bring it back. Every week an Eyes of a Teen post will be going up, usually on an off-day. So here is Segment 1.0, a perspective of the Mets from the eyes of a teenager. 

Welcome, to the eyes of a teenager. The Mets just had a terrible week against 2 division rivals they needed to beat. The Atlanta Braves won 2 games, as did the Phillies. The Mets won 2 out of the 6. They made a move to make me happy though. They released Alex Cora and demoted Jesus Feliciano. In their places? Fernando Martinez and Ruben Tejada. I enjoy the Tejada recall because I liked what I saw from him when Luis Castillo was injured and Tejada was playing everyday. Now Tejada is playing everyday without Castillo hurt. Big move? Yes. Sure Castillo provides a bit more offensively, but Tejada provides a lot more defensively. The thing is though, this team isn't headed into the direction it should be going. Some people will blame Castillo or Jeff Francoeur but the problem lies in more deep. I have a tendency to blame Jerry Manuel, Omar Minaya, and Fred Wilpon for everything, but I don't think that will cause anything right now. The problem is fundamentals. Jose Reyes was making errors on a lot of easy plays last week, Jerry can't be blamed for that. Jason Bay has slumped badly this year, again not management's fault. Who is to blame though? I think its partially the lack of a leader. The team has wanted David Wright to be a leader for years but he just isn't up for it. Get over it Mets, find someone else. Francouer, Ike Davis, Reyes, Johan Santana. Try asking one of them to step up and be a leader. Get Howard Johnson and Dan Warthen to do what they did in Spring Training. HoJo got Francoeur to be more patient for a couple weeks. Warthen got the yips out of Mike Pelfrey and made him look like an ace. Go back to the way things were back then, with some changes. In conclusion, here is what the Mets need to do:

1. Get HoJo to teach Francoeur to be more patient.
2. Get Pelfrey back to his pre-All Star Break form.
3. Find a leader, other than Wright who doesn't want to be one.
4. Go back to the time this year when the Mets were all having fun, and the results they were getting showed it.

As the Mets head into a 4-game series with the Houston Astros and then a 3-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, they need a 5-2 road trip. They just had a LONG 3-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies in which they dropped 2 of the 3 games. The one win? A 1-0 win that R.A. Dickey threw a 1-hit complete-game shutout. If I had any belief in this team making the playoffs, it is really depending on this week on the road. The Mets have not done much on the road, but this is a must win road trip. They have yet to win a series on the road this year against a National League team. I have to question the heart right now. Last week 2 people got in trouble with courts, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez. I, along with Brandon Lee, covered the K-Rod story here last week, with me starting and Brandon following up. For those that didn't hear, K-Rod got arrested for assaulting the father of his girlfriend after a loss in which Jerry Manuel decided not to go to him with a lead with 2 outs in the 8th. Santana got in trouble during the offseason for alleged rape, but the case wasn't pursued due to lack of evidence. Well, last week, the woman he allegedly raped, sued him just so he could get revealed to the world for being bad. What is wrong with this team?

Also this week, I weighed in about Rob Dibble's comments in regards to women at a baseball game. Over the weekend he said he was joking around during a dull moment in the broadcast. Somehow I doubt that, but that is a different post for a different time.

Do you like Return of Eyes of a Teen? Post a comment, or email me at mailto:tylerflushingbb@tyler-songs.com?subject=RE%3A%20Return%20of%20Eyes%20of%20a%20Teen%20MP and give me ideas to mention next week!