Meet the Mets- Meet the Mets- Come On Out and Meet the Mets

The 2005 New and (Hopefully) Improved Mets      2 Weeks, 14 days, 536 hours, 12160 minutes till pitchers and catchers report to spring training camps. I don’t care what some retarded groundhog says spring starts then. Now, usually spring-training is the happiest moment of the season for me and any Met fan. Players are reporting in great shape, stories are surfacing about some new free agent ready to take New York by storm, some rookie is making waves and the collective team morale is really high. However three weeks into the season, the new free agent folds under pressure of the New York media in a Billy Zabka-esque way. Jose Reyes has a hamstring injury and the team is averaging less than a run a game. Seasons over. Bad times. I become a disgruntled Mets fan and begin routing for any team that can beat the Yankees. Two season ago I was a Marlin fan and last season, like most baseball fans, I was a die-hard Red Sox fan. This season, though, looks promising. Quality free agents are signed with the Mets, they have a strong pitching staff and good enough offense. I can see a run at the wild card and if they get lucky enough possibly win the mediocre NL East. If I’m wrong don’t forget I’m a Mets fan always just hoping.

Here’s a look at a position by position break down of the 2005 Mets:

CATCHER – MIKE PIAZZA – he physically broke down the last two years. Most catchers usually are only a shell of their former self past the age of 30, Piazza’s 36. Offensively, in his prime, he was the greatest offensive catcher in MLB history; a surefire Hall-of-Famer. Defensively he was never good and now he’s atrocious. Looked lost at first base last year. He knows how to call a good game and meshes well with the pitching staff. In the clubhouse and in the fans eyes he is one of the leaders of the team. Historically, when he’s been on so have the Mets. If they can get 25 homeruns and 85 RBIs, which is possible now that he has protection in the lineup, the Mets would be in good shape.

FIRST BASEMAN – DOUG MINENTCHEIWFWDF – I am never going to learn how to spell his name and from now on he’s just going to be Doug. Great defensively which was why he was acquired. With such a young and inexperienced infield he will save a lot of runs. Offensively he’ll get on base and hit maybe 10-15 homeruns. JASON PHILLIPS – good enough as a backup and may pinch hit for DOUG in later innings.

SECOND BASEMAN – KAZUO MATSUI – It makes sense that the one player the Mets can pry away from Japan is horrendous. Couldn’t hit anything last year and defensively he was worse. Should benefit from throwing closer to first and getting one year to become accustomed to America. If not he may be the next Chuck Knoblauch and force Shea Stadium to put up protective netting around the fans. May make decent trade-bait at the deadline.

SHORTSTOP – JOSE REYES – He’s what you would call a cocktease. He has tremendous upside and should be a younger, faster, smarter Alfonso Soriano. He’s the Vince Carter of MLB. I don’t remember a two week period going by where he’s stayed healthy or nobody has written a story about his hamstring. If he can stay healthy and develop a consistency he could benefit from the strong lineup behind him.

THIRD BASEMAN – DAVID WRIGHT – the next Scott Rolen. Last year he just exploded and in less games hit more homeruns and had more RBIs than Reyes and Matsui. I’m betting on the fact that he’s going to have a breakout year this year if he stays healthy. Along with Beltran he’s going to be the corner stone of the franchise for years to come.

OUTFIELD – CLIFF FLOYD, CARLOS BELTRAN, MIKE CAMERON – Way above average defensively and they should have two gold-glove potential candidates in Beltran and Cameron every year. Beltran’s a five tool player who will be the leader of the franchise for his entire career. Cameron led the team in homeruns last year but he’s a little upset about moving to right field for Beltran. Floyd is paid a lot but he’s been one of the few bright sports on the team the last two years. Good offensive player and adequate defensively.

PITCHING – TOM GLAVINE, PEDRO MARTINEZ, STEVE TRACHSEL, KRIS BENSON, VICTOR ZAMBRANO – Great pitching staff. They could be one of the top 5 ERAs in the league. Glavine’s and Pedro’s age makes them question marks health-wise but if they can stay healthy they could be great and lead the team to the playoffs and even make some noise. If not at least Anna Benson will give Page 6 something to write about.

RELIEF – Garbage, I don’t trust it at all. BRADEN LOOPER was decent last year but he isn’t a closer and may not be able to withstand the pressure of New York in a pennant race. Minaya has to pick up someone at the deadline or they are going to lose a lot of games because of them.

MANAGER – WILLIE RANDOLPH – I like this signing he learned a lot from Joe Torre who though I hate the Yankees may be the greatest manager of all time. Very similar to Tony Pena who did a superb job with the Royals. Rick Peterson the pitching coach is one of the best in the league and says he needs 20 minutes with Zambrano to turn him into a great pitcher. Did a great job with the Big 3 in Oakland in 1999-2002.

Overall, I think they are going to be around all season but in the end be one player away from the playoffs.
2nd In the NL EAST at 87-75.