MLB

Forget injuries: Mets’ culture of entitlement must change

THIS was the perfect day for the imperfect baseball team. The sun was shining at Citi Field. The play was crisp. In so many ways it was the perfect tease ending to the Mets’ season.

The 2009 disaster officially came to a close at 3:35 p.m., when Carlos Lee flied out to left fielder Angel Pagan. But it really ended months ago. The Mets could never rebound from a series of injuries and organizational flaws.

Don’t believe for one second this 4-0 victory over the comatose Astros and final series sweep is anything the Mets can build on for 2010. The Mets’ biggest problem is that they think they are better than they really are. They are not in touch with baseball reality.

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You might call them delusional. That’s not the fault of the players. It is the fault of management.

Mets management constantly over-values the club’s talent and under-values the competition, and that thinking has drifted down the chain. It has been a problem for years.

Consider this comment from Jerry Manuel after the game, when the 70-92 season was in the books.

“Health is a big issue,” Manuel said, talking about 2010. “There are some things that I probably need to make sure that’s addressed in spring training going forth, and get ready to win a championship. I really believe we can do that.”

A championship? How about getting to .500 first?

I realize managers have to be optimistic and perhaps Manuel is a bit groggy from this terrible season, but this is way over the top. Remember when Carlos Beltran said the Mets were the team to beat in the NL East before the 2008 season?

You can be sure some Mets will parade into Port St. Lucie next February thinking only injuries caused the 2009 season collapse. They have never come to grips with the collapse of the previous two seasons. They think it’s a fluke that they haven’t won the NL East the prior three seasons.

All the Mets must look in the mirror and understand they have to work harder and produce before they can utter the word “championship.” “Next year will be a different year,” Beltran promised yesterday.

In their prior homestand, closer Frankie Rodriguez was surrounded at his locker by large cardboard boxes. He was packing up with weeks to go. The Mets have been packed up for a long, long time. The biggest mistake they can make is to think that when they are healthy next spring (if they ever get healthy) they will be contenders.

The biggest mistake they can make is to think Omar Minaya is going to make moves over the winter to make this team a contender. And firing a couple coaches isn’t going to make it all good.

You can be sure the Mets will make more changes in the scouting department, too, because their young players are not as talented as the Phillies, Braves, Nationals or Marlins prospects.

The Mets need to change their culture. Not the culture of losing that developed this season, the culture of entitlement that has developed over the last three seasons.

That’s the reality of the situation. They have to begin by grinding it out every single pitch. Before they can get on the road to a championship, they have to get off the road to ruin.

In baseball, nothing is promised, and the quicker the Mets learn that hard lesson, the better team they will be in the future. That’s reality.

kevin.kernan@nypost.com