New York Mets 2010 Primer

Few teams in the major leagues are as ready to turn the page on 2009 as the New York Mets. They lived Murphy's Law to the extreme as player after player went down to injury while the organization became a punchline thanks to inept managers and immature behavior.

Because of all the bumbling, there isn't much faith in the Mets these days. Many believe that the departure of general manager Omar Minaya is needed before the team can get back on track, but the Mets don't seem to be in any hurry to make sweeping changes.

Jason Bay was the only big outside acquisition and the Mets' plan for 2010 is wholly contingent on the return to health of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Johan Santana. There are worse trios to bank on, but they have already hit a snag with Beltran and there are still a lot of holes on a team that seems to be a notch below the Phillies in the NL East.

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Coming and Going

In: Jason Bay, LF (free agency); Rod Barajas, C (free agency); Henry Blanco, C (free agency); Ryota Ishigari, RP (free agency); Kelvim Escobar, RP (free agency); Gary Matthews Jr., OF (trade); Mike Jacobs, 1B (free agency)
Out: Brian Schneider, C (free agency); J.J. Putz, RP (free agency); Carlos Delgado, 1B

Around The Horn

Getting Wright Right ...
The power outage suffered by David Wright in 2009 has been attributed to a variety of factors, none of which are particularly compelling ways to try and explain his perilous drop in production. The Mets don't have nearly enough vitality in their lineup to do without Wright's pop again this summer, so it doesn't much matter why Wright lost his power. He's got to get it back or the Mets won't be in contention.

More Ollie Follies ...
Santana is the rotation anchor every manager dreams of, but there isn't much certainty behind him on the mound. Mike Pelfrey regressed last summer, John Maine was ineffective and hurt and Jon Niese is a neophyte. That's not much to build off of, which means, once again, there's a lot of pressure on Oliver Perez. The erratic lefty remains talented, but he's unreliable and the Mets need at least one sure thing behind Santana to hang with the Phillies. There isn't one, unless Perez suddenly puts it all together.

Frenchy Redux ...
The only thing that went right for the Mets in 2009 was their trade for Jeff Francoeur. The free-swinging outfielder had completely fallen apart in Atlanta but surprisingly reverted back to his rookie form upon joining the Mets in July. We won't waste any time hoping that he'll suddenly learn plate discipline, but if he can hit .300 with power again this year, the Mets' lineup will look a lot healthier than it does on paper.

Minaya and Manuel's Baseball Manual ...
The hallmark of the Minaya-Jerry Manuel era in Queens has been bold statements of change followed by absolutely no change whatsoever. Manuel preaches fundamentals and then watches his team play sloppy ball, while Minaya claims to have a focus on speed and defense then proceeds to sign Bay and Mike Jacobs. The powers that be lack credibility to sell the fanbase on a direction for the franchise and that will come to a head during the first major losing streak. Making a change may be unavoidable if the Mets want to keep the natives from getting excessively restless.

Projected Opening Day Roster



2010 Outlook

It would be surprising if the Mets drove themselves into a ditch again this season, but a bid for a playoff spot would be just as surprising. The rotation is banking on too many question marks, the lineup will have too many weak spots both before and after Beltran returns from his knee injury and the bullpen is a total unknown outside of Francisco Rodriguez. This team is a little short everywhere and that includes the dugout and the executive suite, two places that figure to look very different come 2011.