If things keep going the way they have been so far this season for the two baseball teams in New York City, it's going to be a long hot summer in Gotham.

The two teams in the Big Apple have been floundering for much of the season, and underperforming against everyone's expectations.

The Yankees got the season off to an interesting start as Hank Steinbrenner, still bitter after having lost out on the Johan Santana sweepstakes earlier in the year, began playing GM, doing a fabulous impersonation of his father back in the 70s. Steinbrenner made it clear to the public, and Yankees actual GM Brian Cashman, that the team needed to move Job Chamberlain to the starting rotation. Great way to start the season.

The Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball, yet hold the worst record in their division. That's gotta sit well with Little Steinbrenner. The crazy thing is that despite how bad the Yankees are underperforming, the boys over in Queens may be an even greater disappointment.

After a historic collapse to end last season, one that gave the NL East to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Mets picked up right where they left off. And this is the team that actually won the Santana sweepstakes. The Mets may not spend the way the Yankees do, but they do have the third-highest payroll in the league. Only the Yanks and Detroit Tigers spend more, but the sad sack Tigers are another story for another day.

Despite being given a vote of confidence, if you want to call it that, from management, Mets manager Willie Randolph is the captain of a sinking ship. Between Billy Wagner calling out teammates and Carlos Beltran being a player who seems to lack focus, Randolph may wish we were still sitting on the bench in the Bronx. Or maybe even filling out Joe Torre's scorecard in Los Angeles.

A week after declaring that the fire he is receiving from New York media and fans may be racially motivated, Randolph appears to be a lame duck, management simply waiting for a 5-game losing streak to finally can him.

Randolph is not the first black coach to receive heat in New York. Just ask Herm Edwards. Or Isiah Thomas. As for Zeek, however, Randolph may have been grasping at straws when he compared his treatment to the Knicks former GM. Thomas is unequivocally one of the worst managers in the history of sports. And that could be said of him whether he was white, black, green or purple. For Randolph to align himself thusly was more proof that he is feeling the heat than anything else. And, just like a man in the desert, Randolph saw an oasis and decided to run to it. Unforutnately, everyone else saw it as a straw man.

What fans and management want form teams are wins. The media, too, for that matter. They don't care if David Duke or Malcolm X is running the team. When the team doesn't win, they will get angry. With an astronomic budget, fans expect more. They want to see their young phenom Jose Reyes play with his head on straight. They want to see leadership from Carlos Delgado. They want to see consistency from Carlos Beltran.

There are many flaws in the Mets clubhouse and on the field. But fans can't booh all of the players at once, so they focus on the manager, the guy who is supposed to get his team of All-Stars to actually play like All-Stars. Until he does, the clock that started counting down on his time with the Mets last September will continue.

That constantly ticking clock probably sounds a lot like the one George Steinbrenner set on Torre's Yankees' career after his last World Series win. I bet Joe's happy out at Chavez Ravine, where people don't even stay at the games long enough to booh. Losing L.A. is a lot easier than losing in New York, which is what the Yankees have done more than they've won this year.

The hated Red Sox, who Hank showered with disdain this spring, are doing what they've done for the past three years, while even the upstart Rays have caught fire. When B.J. Upton has as many RBI as the Yankees leader, Bobby Abreu, things are not right in Yankee land.

The Tampa Bay Rays lead the AL East and the Florida Marlins lead the NL East. Maybe Mets and Yankees management should just buy the state of Florida. Problem is, it's hot in Florida in the summer. But maybe not as hot as it's gonna get in New York this summer.