The Mets have gotten off to a rocky start. First we come into Spring Training and find out that Orlando Hernandez is still rehabbing, then Carlos Delgado goes down. Ryan Church was then shaken up with a concussion and now Moises Alou will miss the first month of the season with a hernia. The Mets really do not have much depth on their bench so having Alou out to start the season really isn't good. Alou typically gets off to a pretty solid April and with the Braves and Phillies gearing up for a playoff run, it cannot be good. What most likely will happen is that they will play Angel Pagan in left field to open the season, which might turn out to be a good move. Not only is Pagan fast, but he has the potential to hit for a decent average. However, we could get a glimpse of Fernando Martinez, who is likely to take over in 2009 or 2010 full time.Mets fans have been very critical of my analysis on the Mets this season, but I stand by my initial reaction that this team will not automatically make it to the playoffs. There are a lot of question marks in the rotation and also in the field. The Phillies have the best infield in baseball and their rotation is pretty solid. Also, I think the Braves have the chance to sneak in on these teams if some of their younger players live up to potential. A lot of Braves grew up and live in the Atlanta area and are close friends. I think Chemistry plays a big
factor in winning games towards the end of the season so I am not counting these guys out just yet. I think a solid acquisition for the Mets would be someone like Daryle Ward. Ward can play first base and outfield, and he is one of the best pinch hitters in the game. Omar Minaya is already looking for a first baseman to platoon with Carlos Delgado, and he is probably going to be looking for a one year stop gap in the outfield soon too.
7 comments:
Finally I agree with Eli's assessment. If the Mets were in any other city than NY, they would be slightly better than average, but NOT a playoff team. This many injuries this early is not a good sign for Met fans.
Daryl Ward is pretty important to the Cubs playoff hopes and I don't see them giving him up. Micah Hoffpauir has shown he's ready for a MLB 1b job and he's blocked by D. Lee. He could learn from Delgato and ease into the job.
Matt Murton might be available for LF. He hits better with regular ABs and his average arm is better suited for LF.
This is exactly what I said would be a problem when Mets fans were so jubilant after acquiring Santana.
The Mets don't have any depth. Omar will be scrambling right up to opening day to add some depth from the scrap heap.
maybe he peed on his hands too much
from Ricardo softballinsider.net:
As a met fan I must admit tha these are fair points. The Mets need a righty bat badly. Minaya's only mistake this off-season was not obtaining one. He gave one away in Milledge and did nit replace him. I do have a few questions though. Why is the Philly rotation solid? Hammels is a stud, but always gets hurt and Myers is a better reliever than starter, after that that rotation is brutal. As for the Braves, I love their 3 through 6 holes in their lineup - true studs. With Smolz and Hudson they are a sleeper. Closer Soriano is their key.
The Mets don't have a thing to trade with. Nobody wants just a Sosa or a Schowenwise. Mets are going to have to get creative, there's just no trading pieces worth crap.
Joe Smith for Randy Winn...I bet the Giants would bite at that.
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