Now that the Yankees have won the World Series, let us turn the attention back to our team. As I started off my State of the Mets series, the Mets need Reyes healthy. Now let's take a look at the rest of the team and its strengths and weaknesses. I am going to go in order of positional numbers so we will start with, the pitchers & catchers.
We have three pitchers on our team, Santana, Feliciano, and Rodriguez. In my opinion, all the rest are mental cases, medical cases, and chuckers. That is not to say that there aren't a couple arms on the team that have their moments or that could develop into pitchers. Maine and Perez will be around in 2010. I just don't think the Mets are willing to let Maine go yet. He has the ability, if healthy, to be a strong number 3 I think. Perez is lost. I think his mind is on vacation with that big fat contract of his. He showed up out of shape last year and never got it together. I am tired of talking about how good he can be sometimes and if he could just focus, blah, blah, blah. My only thought about him is if the Mets can ship him to Toronto and pick up the horrible contract of Vernon Wells (scary, I know, but I think Wells has some left in the tank). If Holliday goes elsewhere, that could be an option that would not cost a lot of talent, just dollars. Otherwise, four of your starters are set. I left Pelfrey for last because I could see the Mets sending him and his mouth guard outta here this winter in a package. If I never see him lick his whole hand 300 times in a game again, it will be too soon. Another Perez, Pelfrey needs to figure it out already. One hit this team, lit up by this team. Holds base runners o.k., balks his a@# off. Maybe the team needs to hire a sport psychologist for those two.
As far as the relief core, this is a serious spot of issues. Feliciano was awesome last year. Guess what that means? Next year he won't be. Ask Brad Lidge. Parnell started off well, then dove underground. Stokes is decent but always seems to fall on bad luck (broken bat bloops, an untimely error). I do not know what to make of Sean Green. He is horrible, then lights out, then horrible, then great for a stretch. I do know that he is our best bet, I think, for a successful crossover reliever. Someone that can actually get both right-handed and left-handed batters out. Otherwise, you are using 6 pitchers every time Santana doesn't pitch. Rodriguez is great, he will be nasty next year. I really think he is a guy that needs pressure of success to succeed. What I mean is, a save for a 4th place team doesn't really mean that much. However, a save for a first place team or a team in a penant race, that is adrenaline, dominance. Everyone else is miserable at best. It is time to import so arms, especially lefties before Pedro's arm falls off.
Now to the catchers. I am sorry, do we have catchers? I didn't know that. The Mets like nearly every team in the league has garbage behind the plate. Omir, big hits here and there, is a backup at best. Josh Thole is a year away, at best. I look at the options out there, they all stink. I say get the best defensive guy you can and hope he throws guys out and blocks balls. Everything batting-wise is a bonus. Choices are Rod Barajas, Yorvit Torrealba, and Miguel Olivo. Wow, they suck. There are other guys, but none that are realistic and actually figure to possibly go to the Mets. I say, patch something together and spend big in other spots.
Part 3 to follow, Infield
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