This is the second in a series of videos that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. You can see the first video in the series about grading the Mets’ 2010 offseason.
This video is tackling a few tough subjects: the catchers, Luis Castillo, and Daniel Murphy. See what we have to say below and add your comments.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
This is a first in a series of videos that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. We met at McFadden’s in NYC to talk Mets, which is what we all love to do. The subject of this video is grading the offseason moves by the Mets.
As you’ll see, and I’ve written before, the Mets filled their biggest need with Jason Bay. They had a big mess in left field last year with Daniel Murphy and Gary Sheffield, not to mention they had no power. The Mets finished dead last in baseball with 95 home runs. Some may argue that you don’t need a lot of power to win, the Cardinals did it in the 80’s. But the Mets were tied for the league lead in average and led the league in steals. So they had average and speed, even without Jose Reyes, and the Mets’ offense was still awful. They need some power and someone that can play left field. Bay isn’t a great fielder, but he’s a heck of a lot more stable out there than Murphy and Sheffield were.
I’ve also talked to some fans that thought starting pitching was the Mets biggest offseason need. That may be true, but they’re pretty much locked into Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez contractually. The only flexibility they had was to non-tender John Maine and go in another direction. I wouldn’t have minded that move, but he’s still a young guy with decent potential. It’s time to show that potential in 2010 or find another team to ride the disabled list for next season.
Here’s some video from Newsday on Oliver Perez talking about getting ready for the 2010 season. It sounds like he’s trying to put 2009 in the past quickly. It was a year in which he only made 14 starts because of a mysterious “injury” that occurred to his knee. Perez spent time getting ripped by minor league hitters after similar occurrences in the majors. His 6.82 ERA and .273 BAA against is enough to make you ill.
The word is that he spent the offseason working hard in Arizona. We’ll see if it pays off or if the $24 million that the Mets still owe him is a lost cause.
http://www.newsday.com/swf/newsday/newsdayVP.v.2.08.swf?videoId=14357
As usual, one of the biggest position battles in Mets spring training is for the fifth starter. Although the fifth starter can be a conglomeration of garbage, I really like the options that the Mets have for this season. Last year, the battle was between Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia. What a mess that was! By the way, have you seen the video of drunk Freddy Garcia at this year’s SoxFest getting fans excited for the season? A sloppy, drunken, expletive-filled, aging fifth starter is sure to get the Chicago fans pumped about the season.
I’m trying to be positive on the day that Mets single game tickets go on sale. It’s tough to do that after the team drove straight into a brick wall in 2009, but this is a new season. I’m ready for the Mets to start winning some games next month when the real games start. And I’m hoping that they can get some payback on some teams, especially in the division, that beat them down pretty badly last year.
The links below are pretty negative about the team, in general. I think that’s partially due to the news about the team but it’s also because it’s so much easier to write a negative story than a positive one. Negative stories seem to attract more attention than stories about how everything in great in Mets nation, if there is such a thing. I don’t think the Mets situation is ideal right now but I’m not completely down on them either.
How can you be completely down on the team with the highest payroll in the National League? The highest payroll certainly doesn’t guarantee wins as we saw last year. But it sure gives the Mets a chance to be in it to the end. This isn’t a Pirates situation going on here. There’s no rebuilding or looking forward to two or three years down the road. The Mets roster has a legitimate shot to be in the race late in the 2010 season.
Continue reading “Mets Links: Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Jerry Manuel, More”
Tomorrow March 7th at 10AM tickets go on sale for single games at Citi Field. I’m not a season ticket or ticket plan buyer, so that’s always the ticket sales date that I look forward to. You can buy tickets at Mets.com.
Here are the series’ that I’m targeting to see if there are any good seats left:
10AM tomorrow is the time to get your orders in. Let me know which series’ you’re targeting below in the comments.
The Mets sent Jose Reyes back to New York after tests showed that he has a hyperactive thyroid. I don’t know if it’s a situation that could affect him on the field. I would guess there may be varying levels of severity, but I’m not a doctor. We should hear what impact, if any, this will have on Reyes playing the season and the rest of his career.
This news is a big blow to the Mets, with Carlos Beltran already out until May, because the flashbacks of last season’s injury-plagued disaster is still so fresh in our minds. Stephania Bell has a good piece on ESPN about what the injury could mean for Reyes going forward.
Here’s some video from ESPN:
The Mets Report 