Anyone who knows me fairly well is aware that I'm a Mets fan. And if they've spoken to me in the past several months about baseball, they know I have very little hope for the Mets this year. I haven't been optimistic about the 2010 season since midway through 2009 — if then. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that I lost hope for the 2010 season somewhere around July or August.But I'd been starting to feel slightly better after the Jason Bay signing. Bay is a good hitter, has some pop, and will fill a nice role in the lineup, but I figured he'd be a way of offering protection to David Wright or Carlos Beltran in the lineup.
Then Beltran went down, and the same feelings of hopelessness arose like a AAA outfielder when a star goes on the disabled list. I could opine on the Mets doctors and who I believe said what, when, and blah blah blahdy blah. But I also recognize that there's been little to no word about what we can expect from Jose Reyes. What it comes down to is that the offense is still in bad shape, and the more important element — pitching — is as full of question marks as a three-year-old.
So, what do I think will happen? I think Omar Minaya will be sipping margaritas by Memorial Day, paying for them easily with the contract extension he received before the 2009 season. Probably Jerry Manuel will close behind him, if Omar doesn't ax him prior to his own departure. The Mets are a mess right now. And as lovely as Citi Field is, I don't know that I want to spend any major league money on a seat for a game filled with minor leaguers. Call me crazy.
4 comments:
I think it's going to be another long season for the Mets. Beltran's injury is definitely not a good omen. They still have not addressed their most glaring weakness which is their starting pitching. They're also quite weak at the 2nd base and catcher positions. Failing to sign both Benji Molina and Joel Pinero also hurt. You've also got Johan Santana coming back from season ending surgury so who knows what playing shape he will be in. I think Mets brass right now is just hoping Perez, Maine and Pelfrey can get back some of the consistency in their pitching that was missing last year.
Offensively if they can stay healthy and Beltran comes back in May, the Mets don't look too bad (the addition of Bay definitely helps). It's their pitching that I worry about.
- Hamilton
Good point. There are simply too many question marks for these Mets. And Gary Matthews is another. But for the money and the player they sent in exchange (journeyman reliever Brian Stokes), he was a fair acquisition. I just don't think he'll provide a whole lot and could be dropped altogether by the end of July.
One of my colleagues thinks that David Wright's head has expanded over the years. You wouldn't know it by last year's power output, but maybe he terminated head building activities last year. Has anyone heard anything on this score?
Wright has always struck me as pretty down-to-earth, actually. From what I've read, he was tinkering with his swing throughout the season, which led to lots of inconsistency. If he ends up being just a 15-20 HR guy but knocks 40-50 doubles and hits .310 to .330 each year, I'd probably be ok with his productivity. Kinda like Craig Biggio.
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