This was supposed to be Year 1 in an exciting new era of New York Mets baseball. Over the winter lifelong Mets fan and billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen purchased the team from the Wilpons, who were wholly unfit to run a major-league operation, and he spoken about the desire to turn the club into the East Coast version of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

"I like what the Dodgers are doing," Cohen said during his introductory press conference in November. "That's one team that easily seems to make the mark in the type of places that I want to do the same."  

After the last 10 days, the gap between the Mets and Dodgers could not be any more evident. Los Angeles beat the Mets six times in seven games within the last 10 days, outscoring them 35-23 in the process. New York held a lead after only 12 of 65 innings in the seven games. One team is a World Series contender and the other talks the talk, but isn't walking the walk.

Since Aug. 1, the Mets have lost 15 times in 21 games to nosedive out of first place in the NL East. They are 10 games into a season-defining 13-game stretch against the Dodgers and Giants and have thus far failed the test spectacularly (2-8 in the 10 games).