There’s an interesting bit of dirt concerning the Mets that made its way through the blogging circuits today. Over at his blog Nyjer Please, Luke Halpert cites “a source who will remain anonymous,” who told the blogger that the Mets are falling apart, and their problems may stem from a Latino v. non-Latino clubhouse divide. Via Halpert:

First off, my source told me that “the manager doesn’t care much for the center fielder”, obviously alluding to Willie Randolph and Carlos Beltran. In an off the record conversation, Randolph said Beltran “lacks passion” and is fed up with Beltran’s lack of hustle on the base paths.

Secondly, Julio Franco, who recently celebrated his 89th birthday, is becoming a “clubhouse cancer”. Since the losing streak, my source told me that Franco has become the ringleader of a “racial divide” in the clubhouse between the Latinos and non-Latinos. While it isn’t a straight divide, it was painfully obvious there was something going on during last night’s debacle at Yankee Stadium, where the Latinos were sitting in the dugout while the non-Latinos were on the dugout railing the entire game.

Finally, my source is telling me the non-Latino crew is convinced that the organization prefers Latino players. They feel that Julio Franco and his .200 batting average is “only on the team because of his heritage” and are dumbfounded how Carlos Delgado is still hitting cleanup every day. The one player who is most unhappy about this is soon to be free agent Paul Lo Duca, who feels the club doesn’t want him back because he “doesn’t fit the profile”, obviously alluding to the Latino bias of the club.

Halpert prefaces his post with a disclaimer acknowledging that many readers will probably call B.S., and I have to say, it certainly smells like it. The story found some legs on Deadspin.com however, and Metsblog has disavowed any connection to Halpert, so I figured it was worth a mention. Make of it what you will.