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.

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.