I would like to dedicate my work on the blog this year to Mike Dalton, one of the best of many from my home town of Andover, Massachusetts. Mike comes from one of the most respected families in Andover but his smile and spunk made him stand out. A popular firefighter, he was a retired United States Marine and football captain for Andover(1994). Mike died in my hometown March 24, he was 33. His passing has hit many hard , this blogger included, Mike’s spirit will be missed and lives on thru his wife Stephanie and his two boys, James and John. If I write half as well as Mike gave of himself, this will be one heck of a blog. We miss you, Mike!
METS SEASON PREVIEW
This team has had a rough past 3 seasons, with late collapses costing them post-season berths in 2007 and 2008 and an injury riddled nightmare of a season in 2009. Before we go forward, we must separate the three. 2007 is on them, the team completely fell apart and they have no excuse. The 2008 had a major flaw(Bullpen) exposed further when star closer Billy Wagner blew out his arm late in the year. The team was so starved for relief help that it became Community auditions almost nightly to be the Mets closer. In the offseason, GM Omar Minaya added the top two bullpen arms of the year in closer Francisco Rodriquez and 8th inning man JJ Putz. K Rod was good, not great and Putz battled numerous injuries. However, the team saw all 4 star players(SS Jose Reyes, 1B Carlos Delgado, 3B David Wright and CF Carlos Beltran) battle major injuries or have down years. Wright played almost on an island all year and the team struggled overall with power numbers in the New Citi-Field. These seasons aside, the 2010 Mets enter the season with several unanswered questions and expectations low yet pressure high on both GM Omar Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel.
Strengths: Improved lineup with off-season signings of LF Jason Bay(GREAT player) and C Rod Barajas(Power) while having RF Jeff Francoeur(A lone bright light in a nightmare of 2009 season) for a full year also helps… Health and Luck cannot be worse…SS Jose Reyes appears to be healthy. Like him or not, he is a key to this team… Johan Santana and K Rod are among the games elite…. Deep team with some viable bench players…. Defense behind the plate should be outstanding with Barajas and veteran Henry Blanco… 2010 Team appears to be better equipped to play in Citi-Field
Weaknesses: Can you pitch? Wow…. Every member of this staff, Santana(offseason surgery) and K Rod(Shaky 2nd half) has questions outside of LH RP Pedro Feliciano… Team will K… Bullpen could make Jerry Manuel cry…. Karma around the organization not good. Fans and media want blood
FUTURE BRIGHT: Mets farm system is better than many think with potential major league contributors not a far away at 1B(Ike Davis), OF(Fernando Martinez) and C(Josh Thole). P Jenrry Mejia made the club out of camp and will become a huge fan favorite. By 2012, these players and others will bring this club back. A few trades and/or free agent signings and you have the makings of a strong team.
Keys to Success:
1- Team must get off to a good start with 16 of 23 home games in April. Need to establish homefield and win back fans who are on the ledge.
2- 2 of these 3 starting pitchers must be good: John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez. I think Jon Niese and Santana will be solid. They need 550 innings from those three and 40 wins. I think Pelfrey will have a solid year, not sure if Maine can hold up physically and Olie is Olie.
3- CF Carlos Beltran must be at least 75-80% of what he is normally. He makes a huge difference on this team, switch hitting CFs who can go 30-30 and play gold glove defense are hard to find. The club must stay in range until his return.
4- Mike Jacobs and Daniel Murphy must give solid play at 1B while keeping the spot warm for super prospect Davis. I am not asking for Ryan Howard but 20-25 homers-75-80 rbis from the platoon would make me real happy.
PREDICTIONS:
Team goes 83-79…. David Wright has a huge year and is a top 5 MVP vote getter…. Team adds a starting pitcher in June who is among the top 3 in the rotation…. Bobby Parnell comes back from the minors and fits a vital role in the bullpen
