After so many cries for a clubhouse presence, one begins to get sick of hearing about it. Wax poetic all you want about team chemistry and whatnot. The object of the general manager’s position is to put the best players on the field — a task Omar Minaya has not done very well in 2008.

Team chemistry is as immeasurable as clubhouse presence. So why does it feel like media outlets blame the organization when they perceive the team doesn’t gel? And for that matter, why do media and fans alike assume how the team acts behind closed doors? Why do post-game interview soundbytes become the microcosm of the Mets’ clubhouse atmosphere?

On Mets Blog today, a story was linked from The Huffington Post where Dave Hollander talks about “The Cliff Floyd Factor.” Hollander states towards the end of the article that statistics are necessary for baseball, but the headline and discussion of Bill James seems to write them off as silly and secondary to immeasurable core team values.

Hopefully, this idea of a “Cliff Floyd Factor” is simply tongue-in-cheek because the entire notion is ridiculously tunnel-visioned. In the article, there is no mention of any other elements of the teams Floyd played on; it is simply assumed that his undefinable leadership and inspiration drove the team to victories.

Hollander even betrays his own premise in a way. He says when Floyd joined the Marlins, they immediately became that 1997 World Series team. (Obviously, that 1997 team had a huge payroll full of star players, but let’s move on.) Anyway, he then ignores the fact that Floyd remained on the team as Florida headed into the doldrums after their first infamous “fire sale.” He remained a Marlin until 2002.

And of course, the offseason spending of the 2005-2006 New York Mets and the 2007 Chicago Cubs is not mentioned, nor are all the young talent of the Tampa Bay Rays. Hollander admits Floyd is “typically not the best player” on the teams, but I’d say he’s far from the best in his last three seasons.

Look, I’m a fan of Floyd. For whatever reason, he’s a likable player, even if he’s oft injured. But no Mets fan should wonder if he should have remained a Met for his leadership and inspiration. Just because signing Moises Alou (another oft-injured, aging outfielder) was a bad idea doesn’t mean letting Floyd go was a bad idea two years ago.

Moving on to others, there’s obviously been talk of Jose Valentin returning to the Mets this year. If he provides anything more than Damion Easley would, that’ll be surprising. Pretty much the only reason Valentin is even in the cards, it seems, is because of this notion that he’s a good clubhouse presence, particularly to Jose Reyes.

Why is the New York media conditioned to treat Reyes like a toddler? Writers and commentators don’t do this to David Wright. Even when his good friend Floyd left the team and Wright went through that tough April 2007, there wasn’t much talk of Floyd’s departure being the reason. (And for God’s sake, I’m definitely not suggesting it was.)

But with Reyes, it’s always some psychological problem. Well, he’s dancing too much. Well, he’s sulking. Well, he misses Valentin. Well, he needs Rickey Henderson mentoring him. Well, Henderson is hurting him. It goes on and on. As the case with many things, good performance quiets such nonsense, and Reyes seems to be playing well the last few weeks.

Hollander says for successful teams, motivation must come outside of money, the goal of winning and sheer chance. This might seem harsh, but why? This makes it sound like million-dollar athletes on high-payroll teams are only motivated to play well when they feel like it. Or only when their teammates are their best friends. To make a crude analogy, this probably wouldn’t be reasonable in the average workplace.

Enough is enough.

That’s how I feel as a Mets fan. I can’t speak for every Mets fan out there, and I’m not going to try. What I am going to do is tell everyone how I feel about this team at this point.

I’m a man that deals in facts. The fact of the matter is that this team has been playing like a .500 baseball team since June 2006. The record has shown them to be playing a bit better at times, but I’m talking about their style of play. Call it laid back. Call it what ever you will. However, for over a year this team has not played with the killer instinct that gave them a huge lead in 2006 and had them dominating and getting up for big games. I’ll give you an example.

Think back to May 5th, 2006. The Mets are playing the Atlanta Braves. A team that has cursed this organization for over a decade. A game in which the Braves had taken a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the 7th, we saw the 2006 Mets rally in the 7th to tie the game. The game would go on to the 14th inning, where ironically a Jorge Sosa gave up the game winning run to David Wright. The point here is that the 2006 Mets fought for that win. They didn’t take it for granted. Don’t be deluded that the team’s talent was better, because it actually wasn’t. Remember, the Mets had a rotation that was falling apart. The bullpen was being used every day. Floyd also had been in a funk and no one knew what Xander Nady was. Sound familiar? The difference here is that the 2006 Mets had no taste of championship. They wanted this win and fought for it. Now can anyone point to me a game in the past year where this team wanted to win as bad as the fans want them to win.

Now, I’m not a psychologist and I’m not going to attempt to be one. However, I can tell you this. The majority of the players on that team still play on this team. I honestly hope that last night in the closed door meeting, some form of this point was discussed. It’s one thing to lose, it’s another to completely give up. That’s exactly what we’ve been seeing over the past two months. The 2006 Mets played a lot of ugly games. The difference was that they overcame their mistakes and found a way to win

The mantra that this season is early is true and should give some hope to all of us. There are a lot of games to play and the Mets are one game back in the loss column. It’s not like this team is in the situation of the Yankees (heaven forbid). What better way to turn this season around than with your ace on the mound? This is more than wins and losses. This is about attitude.

I wish I knew how to adjust this attitude. There is no one reading this that can do anything about it to be honest. All the booing and yelling on the local sports radio won’t do anything to change the mind set of this team. Nor can a manager. Any manager. This is about the players. Plain and simple. Either they all want it or they don’t. Simple as that.

The AP is reporting Cliff Floyd will have surgery to repair a tear in his right knee. He had been hitting .333 for the season.

Born Cornelius Floyd was signed as a free agent with the Mets prior to the 2003 season. He hit .268 over four seasons, leading the team in homeruns once, and in hit by a pitch 3 times. When he’s not on the DL, Cliff Floyd plays for the Tampa Ray’s.

Cliff Floyd has agreed to a deal with the Tampa Rays. Its a one year deal for $3 million with an additional $2 million possible in bonuses. He’ll replace Delmon Young, who was traded to the Twins.

Floyd signed with the Mets in 2003, staying with the team till 06. He hit .268 with 81 HRs and 273 RBIs as a Met, but struggled with injury, though remained well liked by the fans. He led the team in hit bya pitch for 3 of his four seasons in Queens.

Jerry Crasnick on ESPN reports that Cliff Floyd should be signing with the Tampa Bay Rays by this weekend.

Good luck Uncle Cliff, always a Hot Foot fan favorite.