Tick, tock, tick, tock…
I was sitting in class today trying to compile piles of notes about the Roman Empire when I noticed that I couldn’t concentrate. The source of this nuisance was the ticking of a clock inside of my head.
After contemplating what in the world this could mean for a few minutes, I suddenly realized that it must be my Met-o-meter. My internal clock that counts down the days until the slate of the New York Mets is wiped clean. The Phillies are only kings of the NL East, let alone the world, for 18 more hours. Then, the debris is cleared off of the playing field. The stage is set. Crisp wooden bats are laid out in neat rows along dugouts.
Fresh helmets, free of pine tar and caked mud, are stacked in even numbers. Jerseys, whiter than the purest cloud in Florida, throw a sharp contrast against the perfectly trimmed grass that is beggining to sprout up in ballparks across America.
With this new season fast approaching, I envy those who will have the great fortune to experience the beginning first-hand. They will be able to see Francisco Rodriguez throw his first pitches as a Met. Will he be able to live up to the hype that he created for himself last year? Will anything less than perfect be subpar? Spectators will also see a reguvinated bullpen, led by J.J. Putz among the likes of others. Will this season finally allow fans to forgive a bullpen that caused the New York Mets to be inked in as the team with of the highest blown saves totals in the major leagues? Will Luis Castillo keep his job? Is Carlos Delgado getting too old? Will Ryan Church stay away from injury long enough to produce a season filled with solid stats?
All of the answers to these questions will begin to reveal themselves to the general public in less than 24 hours. 18 hours and 34 minutes, to be exact. Only then will our hopes be renewed. Only then will I be able to think without hearing the ticking of a clock bounce around in my head…at least until it begins to count down the days until Opening Day.
Go away A-Rod!!!
I’m sick of it. Yeah, I know it’s a
big deal, and it changes the face of baseball as we know it,
but if I hear one more sentence that starts off with “Alex
Rodriguez has admitted to…” or “A-Rod doesn’t know what
growth hormone he was using, but he….” then I am literally
going to puke all over my kitchen floor, wiping it up with a
picture of the New York Yankee’s 3rd baseman. Don’t get
me wrong, I’ve never really had anything wrong with A-Rod
before this incident. But now I do. And while his
steroid use is definitely a part of my sudden change in
heart, the main reason why I am feeling less than kind
towards Rodriguez’s name is because of the fact that he is
tarnishing the start of the 2009 baseball season. With
less than 1 day left until pitchers and catchers report,
February is usually an exciting time filled with prospects,
predictions, and new hope. Not this year. Now,
instead of focusing on the possible division races we, as
fans, are forced to listen to hour after hour of bickering
over the fact that Alex Rodriguez used steroids six years
ago. I’m sorry A-Rod, but you have officially made my,
as well as Roy Oswalts, bad list. So, in efforts of
reinstating my excitement about a brand new baseball season I
am formally announcing by boycott of anything to do with
A-Rod. It must be done in order for me to enjoy Spring
Training. To make matters worse, my newly acquired
friend, K-Rod, sounds a lot like A-Rod. This is going
to be a long season….
It’s confirmed: No Manny
Well, after a lot of speculation, the
dreadlocked menace known as Manny Ramirez will definitely not
be attending the opening ceremonies of Citi Field…that is
unless he has failed to sign with any team at that point, in
which he may buy a ticket to cure his boredom. Minaya
announced today that he was happy with the Mets lineup at
this point and that no more major changes or acquisitions
would take place. So, ladies and gentlemen, what you’re
looking at right now is the 2009 New York Mets ball club.
I feel confident that we are solid, too, and for some
reason I can’t help but think that Murphy will have a great
season. Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I
don’t see any reason why he can’t produce solid statistics.
Sure, he won’t generate numbers like Manny would, but
he also won’t produce the headaches, either. With all
of the Manny drama out of New York, we can sit back and count
down the remaining 6 days until pitchers and catchers
report!
Mets + Perez = No Manny
I’ve been ready tons of blogs lately that have been expressing hope that the Mets will sign Manny Rameriz to fill in at left field during the upcoming season. However, now that Minaya has officially locked up Oliver Perez in a 3 year, $36 million contract the hope of some fans has been kicked into the freshly layed dirt of Citi Field. While the signing of Perez means that the Mets starting pitching has not drastically changed from last year, one thing has changed: the amount that Perez will be putting into his wallet. Last year he received roughly 6.5 million dollars to pitch a rollercoaster season in which he looked brilliant at times, but was mostly inconsistent. This time around, Mr. Perez will be raking in a healthy 12 million dollars a year! After walking 105 batters in just 194 innings, who would have thought that Perez would come back the next season to make twice as much as he did last season? I certainly didn’t. This highly upsets me, and I am even more convinced that Perez better start pitching more consistent to gain my trust and admiration. The good news? The signing of Perez should make the fight for the 5th spot in the lineup even more interesting during spring training. Watch for Niese, Garcia, and Redding to come out slinging.
Mets might reconnect with Oliver Perez
Although nothing has been confirmed yet,
Oliver Perez might have reached an agreement with the Mets
for a 3 year multi-million dollar deal. Although
mlb.com claimed that this would give New York one of the best
starting pitching lineups in the big leagues, I guess we’ll
have to see if it plays out as good as it looks on paper.
After all, Perez has been known to be very
inconsistent, and he has a way of dangling ball games in
front of the Mets faithful.
Concerns…yes, even after K-Rod
Everybody knows that the Mets would have most likely been a write-in for the playoffs last year…if it wouldn’t have been for the infamous failure of their bullpen throughout the entire season. I can’t remember how many times I would be excited that the Amazins’ were ahead going into the 6th or 7th inning, only to watch as Sanchez, or Smith, or Schoeneweis, etc. allowed hitters to treat the baseball as a pinata. So, during the off-season Minaya pulled off the impossible: acquiring Putz and K-Rod, two of the most influential closers on the market. While we will always miss our closer from the booneys, aka Billy Wagner, Putz and Rodriguez will most definitely solve the late inning upsets that Met fans experienced game after game last year. However, there are still some iffy spots in the lineup, as well as in the infield and outfield positions:
1.) The starting pitching – Sure, Santana is a lock as the number one starter, and John Maine played well enough with 10 wins last year, with plenty of room for improvement. After that, however, the rest of the lineup is a gamble. Mike Pelfrey can be a little inconsistant at times, Tim Redding had an ERA close to 5 last year, and Jonathan Niese still has a lot to learn. Garcia can also be very unreliable as of late.
2.) The second base position – Luis Castillo will get the start at this position for most games, and he is definitely going to have to step up offensively and defensively. I may be spoiled, however, because many believe that Mets have one of the best infields, offfensively, in baseball.
3.) The outfield – Beltran, of course, is solid, and if Ryan Church can stay healthy then the Mets will definitely be happy about his contribution to the team. There is also a question mark with the left field position, which will most likely be filled by newcomer Daniel Murphy. Although Murphy has shown that he definitely has the ability to be a great player, he’s going to have to continue progressing with the accelerated amount of playing time that he will most likely see.
One last thing: 9 days until pitchers and catchers report…get stoked!
It’s Time!!!
The Super Bowl is finally here! It’s an exciting time for us football fans, but I’m more excited about the fact that today means the beginning of the month of February. Guess what that means? It means that pitchers and catchers report in exactly 10 days, 17 hours, and 13 minutes from now….and spring games are only a few weeks away. Besides those happy thoughts, here’s just a couple other things on my mind:
mlblogsbrettsmets
Recent Comments