Observations of Opening Day

1. Santana looks healthy.  He's locating most of the pitches pretty well and he's let a few hang, but got away with them, and Barajas is calling a decent game for him.
2. I like Francoeur's first AB with him showing a little patience on the breaking balls.
3. Nice opposite field home run by Wright.  I want to see how he fares in his next AB though.
4. Mike Jacobs needs to be sent down to triple A, all the strike outs are not worth the occasional power burst. The Mets need someone who can play defense and hit for average, Chris Carter definitely showed that in Spring Training.
5. I have this sense that this team is hungry. A lot hungrier than they were in 2008 OR 2009, you can just sense it.  

I'll have more after the game.

Jose Reyes Returning, 3 keys to contend in 2010

Reports show that Jose Reyes will be returning to Port St. Lucie tomorrow. His thyroid levels have returned to normal and has been cleared to resume baseball activities.


Pitching, Pitching, and more Pitching 
Johan Santana is coming off of surgery, but I think he's the one person every Met's fan is confident and optimistic about. He's been roughed up on his spring training outings but has been happy with his overall location, command, etc. The Mets need more than just Johan to be successful, they need Mike Pelfrey to show that he has matured and can be the pitcher they saw when the brought him up. John Maine and Oliver Perez need a huge bounce back year, neither they nor Pelfrey will get a long leash if they stumble. They all need productive outings, quality starts, and to eat innings. The rotation needs to pull its weight so they bullpen does not get over-used by July. Jerry Manuel needs to handle the Bullpen, especially middle relief better than he has over the past few years or the Mets will be in trouble.

Health
This is really a no brainer. The Mets medical staff needs to make sure there is not a repeat of 2009. There of course will be injuries, but let's hope they can assess these injuries a lot better than they have been. Health is  HUGE factor in the Mets being contenders.

Defense
Defense is going to be important this season. There will be errors, its just about not letting an error turn into a rally and have 4 runs scored in an inning. The guys have to back each other up out there and make sure  it's not lingering and affecting them in the field or at the plate. Minimize mistakes and be accountable for your actions.

F-Mart, Omar and Jerry, 5th Starter

Let's start backwards today, Jerry Manuel has said yesterday that the 5th starter's job is still an open competition. It's still early in spring training for anything to be decided about the 5th starter as well as the bullpen. Rod Barajas thinks that Jon Niese is ready for the big leagues and compared his stuff to the likes of Cliff Lee and Jon Lester.

One thing I think needs to happen is Nelson Figueroa has to been on the Opening Day Roster. The Mets have screwed him around for too long and he's an extremely valuable asset, as he can start, pitch in long relief and in short relief as well as spot start. He showed us last summer that he has the stuff to succeed.

Omar Minaya said that Fernando Martinez will start the season in the minor leagues, but Jerry Manual said that F-Mart has a chance to be the opening day center-fielder. This is the first time in a very very long time that I've agreed with Omar over Jerry. Fernando Martinez is only 20 years old, he had a cup of coffee in the majors last year, batting below the Mendoza line at .176, with 16 hits, 11 runs, 1 HR, 6 Doubles, 5 walks and 14 strikeouts.. All this before the freak accident that caused him to injure his knee in Milwaukee. He simply is not ready. He has not played a full season in the minors and has been in the Mets organization since he was 16 years old. Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. will be a suitable option in Center Field until Beltran comes back. Martinez is supposed to be the future of this organization, there is no reason to rush him to the majors and screw up his development. He's young and still needs to prove himself in the minors.

That is not the issue. My biggest problem with the Mets is the lack of communication between Manager and General Manager, and even ownership. This is not the first time that Omar's statement has contradicted Jerry's initial statement. Something needs to change, and it needs to start from the top. I am of the belief that the Manager should be the one dealing with all the on-field issues while Omar deals with the behind-the-scenes activities that are of utmost importance to the Mets. These two are obviously not on the same page and there needs to be a sit down so that they can work in unison and make sure these media disasters are averted.

Trading Jose Reyes, more front office incompetence

After reading endless articles, message boards and listening to sports radio for the better part of the last year and half, there's been a major consensus that the mets should trade Jose Reyes. I completely disagree, why would you trade arguably the most important player on this team, as well as a fan favorite.

Now for people who may not be aware, Jose has one more year left on his contract(2010 season) as well as a 11 million dollar team option for 2011. For a player of his caliber, this is an absolute steal. There is no reason for the Mets to trade Reyes and frankly, they would not get anything back, atleast not equal to Reyes' ability.

After an injury plagued 2009 and starting the first 2 to 8 weeks of the 2010 season on the Disabled List, he has no value. The Mets don't know what type of production Reyes is going to supply, why would anyone think that the other 29 teams in the major leagues know what the are going to get? These leg injuries are a recurring thing and that brings up question marks, as does his Hyperthyroidism(that's a whole other post) As Mets fans, everyone needs to see how valuable Jose is to the Metropolitans. The most important stat to prove this is simple, when Jose Reyes scores a run, the Mets win 60+% of the time.


In other news, Kelvim Escobar, an Ex-Los Angeles Angel who was signed early on in the winter for 1 year at $1.25mm is contemplating retirement and will have a decision by April 1st. Escobar is coming off of shoulder surgery and missed 2008 and made only 1 start in 2009. Entering spring training he was unable to pick up a baseball. Leave it to the New York Mets to sign a player who can't pick up a baseball is now thinking about retirement.

My biggest problem with this was the he was one of the first free agent signings of the off-season and had months to make sure he was healthy and capable of pitching either as a starter or a reliever. The front office, mainly Omar Minaya, definetly screwed this one up. Why would you sign a player who's pitched 1 game in the last 2 seasons. ONE GAME! Did anyone in the Mets organization take the time to look over these things, or were they trying to make a splash early on and strike lightning in a bottle without thinking of the repercussions? I'm assuming they gave Escobar the J.J. Putz treatment and did not give him a physical. We can only hope he's going to retire.