Off Season Review

Well the baseball off season is more than half way through now and it is time to give the organization a report card. I am going to do a position by position update and then I will grade the organizational leaders, i.e. ownership, General Manager and Manager. So without further udo....

#1 Starting Pitcher: As it sits right now the rotation is shaping up to be pretty much the same as last year with the notable exception of Tom Glavine. Pedro will be the number one starter followed by Maine, Perez, El Duque, and I would assume Pelfrey. The fifth spot is certainly not a lock for Pelfrey but he would have to be considered the favorite. His only real competition is Humber and the only way I see him getting in is if they send Hernandez to the bullpen and they don't add anyone else before spring training. I am certainly not jumping up and down over this rotation but I am still holding out hope that Minaya can pull off a trade. Now, that said, I do believe that these guy's can be successful. Yes, Pelfrey is still a big question mark but if the rest perform as they have in the past there are plenty of wins to go around with these guy's. That being said, I would still much prefer to see a proven arm added before opening day. A guy from Minnesota maybe?!?!

#2 Catcher: Well unfortunately we will not be seeing Simply Amazin favorite Paul Lo Duca behind the plate this year but there is no doubt that the team has made a significant defensive upgrade with Brian Schneider. Catcher has been a significant offensive position for a large part of Mets history, (Piazza, Carter) so importing a defensive minded catcher, I believe, goes against the average Mets fans instincts. This is why I believe the move has been met with little enthusiasm. When the Mets stop letting everyone steal on them any time they want however, and allow fewer runs as a result, I believe the fans will become much more enthusiastic. Schneider will be backed up by our familiar friend Ramon Castro who I look forward to having another good year. Hopefully he can have an injury free year as well which should add to his already good numbers.

#3 First Base: Carlos Delgado will be returning for what will almost undoubtedly be his last year in a Mets uniform. I am going in to this season with absolutely no expectations from him. I only hope that he will have a better year in 08. I believe that Delgado is capable of having a better season so lets just hope that he can prove me right since there really are no other options at this point.

#4 Second Base: The Mets made the right move in re-signing Louis Castillo. His production was far better than we could have hoped for after he came over from Minnesota last year.
And with his recent knee surgery and a full spring to get reacquainted with Reyes I look forward to good things at second base in 08.

#5 & 6: Third Base & Short Stop: The left side of the Mets infield is staying the same and thank the good lord. Yes there are actually some people out there delusional enough to think that trading Jose Reyes for some guy in Minnesota is worth it but we here at Simply Amazin definitely are not with those people. No, the venerable tandem of David Wright and Jose Reyes will be back at Shea for another year. All I can say for Wright is that I hope he continues to improve his defense. I thought the gold glove nod was a nice but honestly he wasn't there yet. Keep charging David and keep that sweet swing coming. As for Reyes, I believe that he has matured a lot over the past year and I am looking forward to another blockbuster year from him. I think that Mets fans tend to forget just how young these guy's still are. We need to be patient with them and let them grow in to the superstars that they can be.

# 7 Left Field: Picking up Alou's option was another no brainer for the Mets and I look forward to an injury free season from the ageless #18. O.K., maybe that is wishful thinking, but it was still the right move either way.

#8 Center Field: Carlos Beltran, you may love him, you may hate him, you may be utterly confused by him (that's where I am at). Fact is he is a five tool athlete that does not excel at any single tool and he is much more of a benefit to this club with our support than without it. So lets go Carlos!

#9 Right Field: Who the hell is Ryan Church? That's what I said anyway. This has got to be the first time I can remember that the Mets have traded for someone in our own division and I had no clue who he was. But it turns out Church is not a half bad ball player. The guy hits doubles like there going out of style and his power #'s can only get better now that he isn't playing 81 games a year at RFK. So welcome to the Mets Ryan, now get out there and make me look smart!

The Bench: Endy Chavez, nuff said. Damion Easly: A solid pinch hitter that showed some surprising and welcome power last year. He is listed third on the depth chart defensively for a reason but as long as Gotay stays healthy he should fit in nicely. Ruben Gotay: He is essentially Easly backwards. Easly hits, doesn't field, Gotay fields, doesn't hit. If they both stay healthy there shouldn't be an issue. They are both good solid bring backs by Minaya. Marlon Anderson: I can't say enough about this guy. The Mets never should have let him go the first time and we should just count our lucky stars that L.A. soured on him when they did. Bottom of the ninth, two out, winning run on second, this is the guy you want at the plate. Even if it's strait from a cold shower. Welcome back Marlon. Overall the bench is rock solid and having Anderson Hernandez just a phone call away for defense if Gotay gets hurt is a nice buffer. The bench is our best asset at this point.

Bullpen: The bullpen is far from set at this point but there are a few locks barring any trades before opening day. Billy Wagner will of course be back as the Mets closer in 08. Wagner gets a lot of flack from Mets fans due to some ultra high expectations but I have few complaints. I look forward to another more than adequate season from him and maybe an even more productive one if he doesn't have to pitch 4 day's per week. Aaron Heilman will be back once again and Duaner Sanchez will be making his long awaited comeback this spring. Barring another set back the return of Sanchez will hopefully help to better define the roles that the rest of the bullpen will play. The 7th, 8th, 9th inning conga line of Heilman, Sanchez and Wagner we had in 06 was sorely missed last year. Lets hope it can re-emerge in 08. The only other lock's I foresee in the pen are Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoeneweis. Feliciano had a tough second half last year but it was recently revealed that his daughter was seriously ill during that time which no doubt contributed to his uneven play. Here's to hoping Pedro's family is healthy in 08 and that he can get back on track. Schoeneweis was largely underused in 07 and pulled a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine with his uneven road and home play. In my opinion Schoenweis would not be coming back if it where not for his three year deal, but he is and lets just hope he can have more consistent year. The rest of the pen will probably fill out with names like Joe Smith, the recently added Matt Wise and a few others we may not even know about yet. The pen has the talent to succeed I believe, but it can not be as overused and under managed as it was last year. The starters have to eat up a few more innings and Randolph has to define some roles for these guy's. Last years use any one any time thing just did not work.

Ownership: Mets fans are lucky to have an owner that truly loves the game of baseball and is successful enough to spend over 100 million dollars on payroll every season. Recent ticket price hikes aside (not the best P.R. move there Fred) the Mets have a steady and consistent owner that is serious about winning.

General Manager: From the outside looking in it seems to have been pretty quiet in the Mets front office for Omar Minaya and his team. The re-signing of Louis Castillo and Moises Alou where good moves by Minaya. The trade of Lastings Milledge to the Nationals has not been well received but it is understood here at Simply Amazin. We can debate endlessly if the Mets got enough for Milledge but I think we should simply focus on the fact that we filled two holes for one guy. Not to mention that every reputable trade rumor on earth has said that Milledge could not have attracted the Pithching prospects that the Mets most covet. Now, that said, I do not believe that Omar Minaya can consider the off season a success if he doesn't import a quality front of the rotation starter prior to opening day and furthermore the news that he attempted to secure a contract extension (that was rightly rejected) pretty much pissed me off. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Minaya and I believe he is currently the right man for the job but this is his last shot to produce a winner. I believe it's world series or bust and frankly I am O.K. with that. So good luck Omar.

Manager: Going off of what I have been reading I believe that the "collapse" as it has become known has weighed very heavily on Willie Randolph. He has pledged to never again take anything for granted with his players and I believe he sounds like a man that has matured greatly through this this process. I certainly hope that the results match the talk. I believe that Willie will be on the hot seat in 08 and should the team get off to a slow start he could be in serious danger. Personally I believe that Willie deserves a bit more slack than he seems to be getting and that it should be Minaya that goes before Randolph, but that's just me. Here's to hoping that Willie Randolph can get the same focus and fundamental play from his players as he demonstrated in his own playing career.

Overall Grades: Starting Pitcher: C+
Catcher: B+
First Base: C+
Second Base: B
Third Base: A+
Short Stop: A+
Left Field: B+
Center Field: A+
Right Field: B
Bench: A+
Bull Pen: B-
Ownership: A
General Manager: C+
Manager: B-

More to come after the New Year. Thanks for reading and Lets Go Mets!

A New Beginning

Back in September I started this blog in an attempt to give myself an outlet to describe my feelings about my favorite sports franchise, the New York Mets. As it turned out all I wound up doing was becoming a slave to my own preconceptions about what a blog should be and wound up giving up on it due to lack of time and frustration. Well, after much contemplation I have returned to give it another shot. And in keeping with my renewed sense of blogsmanship (I don't know if that is a word, but it should be) I am setting the following rules for myself.

Rule #1: This blog will be published at my will. I can not and will not promise to publish posts with any sort of frequency.

Rule #2: I will have fun with this blog.

Rule #3: I will not try to model this blog after other popular sports blogs that I read, though I certainly hope to be as successful as they are.

Rule # 4: If this blog does not become commercially successful in any way I will not consider it a failure but rather an example of the fact that others simply can not grasp the genius of my insight in to the Mets organization.

Rule #5: I will not take rule number four seriously in any way.

Rule #6: If I am lucky enough to gain a readership of any kind I will keep the comments open to all those who wish make them and I will try to respect all opinions that may be expressed.

Rule #7: I will try not to make any more rules since ruled kind of suck.

So that's it I guess, on to talking baseball. I will be back soon with my first Mets related post. Till then, Lets go Mets.