Ahh, Opening Day

Like a breath of fresh air it has finally arrived. After six extremely long months we can finally savor in the pure enjoyment that is baseball.
Sorry for the lack of posting by the way, but I just have not been into it lately. Hopefully the return of actual games will inspire me.
As for today, well it was pretty much just awesome. Yea it was the Marlins, but Santana was everything he was supposed to be. And the teams offense, after a few early stumbles, finally took full advantage of some very poorly placed pitches. Come on, you know that the Met fan of last year was just waiting for Wright to pop out there with the bases loaded. But alas he did not and all is once again right with the world. Well, for today anyway.
And I'll tell you what else is right with the world. Glavin getting crushed by the Pirates and seeing the Braves in last place in the standings. ...Yes I am bitter and yes I know the standings mean nothing yet but it is still great to see.
Pedro tomorrow. Till then. LETS GO METS!

Johan Santana Is a New York Met!

Well folks it is finally official. The trade done, the contract worked out and the physical passed. Johan Santana will be in orange and blue in less than two weeks as he reports to Port Saint Lucie. I really have to hand it to Omar Minaya. It sure can't be easy to be a G.M. in this town with all of the criticism that everyone is so quick to doll out. But he stuck to his plans and followed his gut and got R. done. It really is like all of the pain from last year has suddenly melted away. I can not wait to see this team in action. Thanks Omar, in you we trust. And hopefully we will not be so quick to mistrust again.

P.S. Thanks also to Mr. Wilpon for dolling out the 137.5 Million dollars needed to get this done. Holy Crap! Now get over to Shop MLB and get yourself a 250 dollar Santana jersey. You know Fred just doesn't thave that 137 Million lying around. LOL.

Till next time LETS GO METS!!

I'm Not Sure I Can Take Much More of This

Well, it's been an interesting week. I came home from work this past Thursday to find a story on MLB.com saying that the New York Mets where the new front runners in quest to trade for Johan Santana. I have to admit that I got a little giddy. O.K. maybe it was more than a bit as I'm sure my wife would testify, but hey it's January and there isn't a whole lot else to get excited about unless your one of the 10 people who watch basketball I guess. ...Any way, needless to say the blogs went nuts and there are now more rumors and theories out there than you can shake a stick at. Frankly, it is getting pretty tiresome, but unless the Islanders go on a 10 game winning streak this is about as interesting as it's going to get I figure.

So, after carefully reading about three or four hundred articles and blog entries on this subject I will now put forward my feeble opinion as well. ...drum roll please... The Mets should tell the Twins to go stuff it and then wait for them to come crawling on their hands and knees begging for us to take him for whatever prospects we damb well feel like giving them. ...bet you didn't see that coming.

See, here's my thinking. If all reports are correct (and god knows there probably not, but what else can we go off of?) the Mets are the only team left that has any true interest in signing this guy. So instead of bidding against themselves and allowing the Twins to think they have all the advantage the Mets should go the other way. It is at that moment the Twins will realize that they are going to lose the best pitcher in baseball as a free agent next year and get nothing in return for him unless they move him to the Mets right now. Yes, they certainly could move him at the trade deadline, but they are not going to get anything close for him then as they could get right now. Now, this is certainly an approach that could back fire. But if it does than at least it gives the Mets 5 weeks to look at other options. It this fiasco keeps up much longer the Mets may wind up not getting Santana and then look up to find out everyone else is gone also. Ever play musical chairs?

So that's my take. Have a different view? The comments are open.

Till next time, LETS GO METS!

Tic Toc, Tic Toc, Tic Toc...

Another week of the off season is history and spring training is just that much closer, yet still no major trade news from the Mets. The rumor mill is still plenty busy however, and the indications are that a trade for Johan Santana will occur prior to the spring. There just isn't any guarantee that trade will be with the Mets. But my hope rings eternal.

In other news, the Mets did make a deal yesterday for outfielder Angel Pagan, getting him from the Cubs for a pair minor leaguers. Pagan was drafted by the Mets in 1999 and he spent six seasons with the organization prior to being sold to the Cubs in 06. Pagan is likely to spend the year in New Orleans as the Mets have no room for him on the major league bench. But he provides some much needed depth in the outfield in case Endy Chavez goes down or is needed in the field regularly due to an injury to one of the starters.

There was a good article yesterday on Mets.com featuring Carlos Delgado in which he discusses his less than stellar performance last season and what he is doing to prepare for 08. As I said in my off season review, I am not going in to 08 with any expectations regarding Delgado. It was good to hear him acknowledge his poor performance however, and he certainly can make a huge difference in the teams fortunes if he has a good year in 08. So here's to hoping he can put it all together.

That's all for now. Only 39 more day's till pitchers and catchers report, I can't wait! Till next time, Lets Go Mets!

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.