Welcome to My Blog

As a quick introduction, my name is Anthony, and I have been urged to start a blog focusing on the New York Metropolitans, with some general Hot Stove talk, occasionally some college basketball, and some fantasy football/baseball as discussions warrant. I am first and foremost a New York Mets fan, and I am as frustrated as anyone, if not more so, with what has transpired over the course of the past 3 years. Everyone keeps asking, what should the Mets do, what should the Mets do. And this is the first year where I keep responding, "they have so many holes to fill, it can't be done just by one big trade (Looking at you Doc Halladay), or by overpaying Matt Holliday, Jason Bay or John Lackey." Some non-Mets fans say that I'm just a pessimist, and that all the Mets need to do is "get healthy." Simply Not True. The Mets core team is not in the same league as the Phillies. We (= the Mets) are not close to the Phillies. The Mets are just not good enough right now. Does that mean the Mets can't catch them? No, if one or two of the core Phillies get hurt, and/or the Phillies rotation resembles the Mets rotation (2 good pitchers and pray for rain), the Mets can win the division. Here is my running commentary position by position for the Mets right now. Obviously this will change as they add free agents. C: Platoon of Omir Santos and J Thole. I would be fine going into the season with this platoon, as Omir some how rates high for his defense (5th best in the majors according to some metrics), and the singles hitter in Thole, but Omar will overvalue catching leadership as he did with trading for Brian Schneider (giving up Lastings Milledge), and he will probably commit a mortal sin and sign Bengie Molina (slowest player in MLB) who swings at more pitches/sees less pitches than Jeff Francoeur. That is just what the Mets line up needs. Let alone the fact he's a type A free agent, requiring the Mets to give up a 2nd round pick. I'm pleading with you Omar, DO NOT SIGN BENGIE MOLINA. Update: Mets signed former Phillie Chris Coste. Yipee. The best thing he's done in his career is write a book. 1B: Daniel Murphy. He lead the team in HR's last year, and no one thinks he should have the full time job. Ok, he did lead the team with 12 HRs, but he hit very well in the 2nd half, and was above average defensively (some defensive metrics have him ahead of the Best Thing Since sliced Bread Mark Tex, but that's blasphemy to some people). Everyone thinks that the Mets will add a platoon player to help protect D Murph, but nothing long term, as Mets believe that Ike Davis is the future 1st baseman, after his breakout year in AA and strong AFL stats (although take it with a grain of salt, everyone hits well in the Arizona Fall League). But Davis probably won't come up til 2011, or a cup of coffee in Sept 2010. 2B: Luis Castillo, back up of Alex Cora. I bemoaned and wondered what Omar was thinking when he signed Luis to a 4 year deal, when no one else was going to offer him more than 2 years; and we still have 2 years left on that brutal deal. Luis had a pretty good year in 2009 after a disgraceful 2008 season. Because of that 2008 season, a ton of Mets fans still hate him and want him to be traded, and sign Orlando Hudson. Problem with that though is we will have 10+ million committed to 2nd base, as the Mets would need to pay at least 4 of the 6 million a year still owed for Castillo, and O-Dog would want 5 million or so. And another point for all those Orlando Hudson band-wagoners; he got benched in favor of RONNIE BELLIARD in September/October for the Dodgers. You want to pay him 5 million when he's worse than Ronnie Belliard? And Omar once again overpays for a complimentary player and gives Alex Cora 2 million and an option for the 2nd year. SS: Jose Reyes. Quit trying to trade him Mets fans. He will return to being the 2nd/3rd best shortstop in the division. He will be our leadoff hitter and play a steady SS. He will be fine after the surgery and should come back more determined. 3B: David Wright. There is not one solitary reason why he could no longer hit home runs, but he will return to his previous norms of 25-30 home runs. No he's not a gold glove 3rd baseman (is Brandon Inge better? "I LIKE INGE A LOT"), but he is the face of the franchise and works harder than anyone. Reyes and Wright will be the best Left Side of the infield not only in NY, but in all of baseball. Write it down LF: Fernando Martinez/Angel Pagan/Jeremy Reed. This hole will most likely be filled by a free agent/trade. F-mart (yes, I agree he's not good enough to have all those nicknames), has been a top prospect for years and although he is still very young, a lot of people have become anxious. A Pagan has a negative baseball IQ and is so careless on the bases I can not take him seriously. J Reed is a defensive replacement and nothing more. I would not have a problem starting F Martinez if we get 2 big starting pitchers. CF: Carlos Beltran. Plays such a free and easy style of baseball, makes it look simple. Hopefully can stay healthy the next 3 years or the duration of the contract. OMAR, DO NOT GIVE HIM AN EXTENSION. Has definitely deserved his contract thus far. RF: Jeff Francoeur. Was one of the worst players in the Major Leagues last year on the Braves, and then had a couple hits with the Mets (in a small sample size) and Omar thinks he's found Roberto Clemente. The guy can't make enough contact, swings and misses way too much, never walks, has no idea what on-base % is. Yes he has a good arm, but has misplayed more balls out there than Gary Sheffield. OMAR, I BEG YOU: DO NOT GIVE HIM A MULTI YEAR DEAL. So as you can see, there are more things that I dont want to happen than I need to happen. I will breakdown the pitching staff in my next post. Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments/questions. Have a great day! - Anthony