” Put me in coach, I’m ready to play -today!
Look at me ! I can be center-field !!”
                                                            -Center-field by John Fogerty
In three days spring will have sprung early for us Mets acolytes since spring training will be underway and the embryo of the 2010 Mets will start to germinate. The real question is will this team be in the thick of a pennant race come late September ? Or will the be in either the middle of the pack or clawing to stay out of the N.L East basement? Well obviously we all are hoping for league domination as we do every-year , but there are some questions that need to be answered before I can hop on the Kingman26 parade float of the Optimistic Mets Fans .
The first question is will new coaches Dave Jauss and Chip Hale be a vast improvement over Sandy Alomar Sr and Luis Aguayo? In my opinion both Alomar and Aguayo were not the problems with the coaching staff, but they unfortunately were made into sacrificial lambs, meant to appease us fans blood-lust. Although I am extremely annoyed that Razor Shines is still a coach on the team, I am happy that he has been relegated to first base coach – which is pretty much the valet for shin guards and batting gloves. I am also perturbed that Dan Warthern is still the pitching coach because I feel his philosophy is wrong for the team – your pitchers pitch in a pitchers park and they are afraid to throw strikes ?!? I believe last years rotation were second in the league for walks allowed. I have no problems with Howard Johnson as hitting coach, you can’t put all the blame on him when it came to David Wrights power decline nor can you put the blame on him when it came to situational hitting ( that was Jerry’s fault!).
I believe the fifth starter will be the most crucial question mark this spring training. I feel it will come down to Nieve and Niese, with Nieve earning the final rotation start because the Mets rightfully so believe that Niese need at the very least a half a season in AAA to rehab and to regain his confidence.
First Base is Daniel Murphy’s to lose in my opinion. I can’t see either Tatis or Jacobs playing full time in that position. They are better suited as power off the bench ( it is amazing that our bench sucked last season and this season it looks like a juggernaut !).
Center-field will be Pagans. If Gary Matthews Jr even sniffs playing time there more than two times a week I will cry foul !! Also if reports are right and Carlos Beltran’s is ahead of schedule , then Angel might only be there for a month – thankfully !
So these are my questions, and when the team breaks training and the rosters are set, I’ll let you know if I feel this team are contenders – or pretenders !!
                                                                                  
 ” Hey Kingman I love the blue & orange shag carpet – but whats with the mirror on the ceiling for?!?”
And with that ….. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
Happy Birthday wishes go out to one of the many pitcher who donned a Mets uniform during the ’67 season – Chuck Estrada (1938) .
Reliever for the ’92 Mets – Barry Jones is 47 today (1963). Funny thing about Barry is that in eleven games that season he went 2-0 with one save – but his E.R.A. was 9.39 – very strange indeed.
San Diego Padres signed Bobby Jones of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2001.Bobby was one of the most consistant pitchers tha the Mets had during the late ’90′s to the ’00 season.Who could forget the one hit shutout that he pitched against the San Francisco Giants during the ’00 NLCS.
Detroit Tigers signed relief pitcher Vic Darensbourg of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2005.
New York Mets signed free agent outfielder Brady Clark on February 15, 2008. Brady was never given a chance to play regularly with the team. He played all of seven games with the Mets before being demoted, and he was granted free agency later on that season.
And remember – there are only 49 more days until the Mets open the 2010 season against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field.
6 comments
stickguy
2/15/2010-9:51am at 9:51 am (UTC -4)
#5 starter is the one place I really wish they had added someone new to the mix. I think that will come back to bite them.
And no, it did not have to be a 2nd ace/fantastic #2 guy (although, of course, that would have been nice). Just another solid mid-back rotation guy would have been great, giving the team potentially the best #5 starter in the league.
Kingman 26
2/15/2010-10:01am at 10:01 am (UTC -4)
HAHA!!!!!
How the hell did you get a picture of my van?? You can almost hear 2Pac blaring when you look at the picture. No one is in the driver’s seat, as I guess you snapped this pic when I was in a store with Johan scoring a few more gallons of liquid positiviality. He says hi, by the way.
And Rusty, I promise, if you hop on the parade float, we will make an exception, and Big Pelf will NOT attack you if you question the rotation.
Love this sentence: “the embryo of the 2010 Mets will start to germinate.”
GravediggerHebner
2/15/2010-10:08am at 10:08 am (UTC -4)
Given Rusty’s use of the phrase “botched abortion” in a recent post I wasn’t sure where he was going with the germinating embryo thing. I guess today is a positive day.
I’d much rather hear Centerfield by Fogerty than any song by The Outfield and for that reason alone I’m glad Eric Byrnes isn’t here.
Kingman 26
2/15/2010-10:20am at 10:20 am (UTC -4)
LOL! Rusty is tacking quite close to some treacherous waters there with the birth references!
Gotta go with repeated use of the Tribe Called Quest line “Keep the bases loaded like the New York Mets!”
rustyjr
2/15/2010-5:25pm at 5:25 pm (UTC -4)
well i am pro choice !! lol btw why are you skirting the question about the mirrored ceilings in the van?
gipperpdx
2/15/2010-12:57pm at 12:57 pm (UTC -4)
Anything better than clawing for a respectable third place finish down the stretch would be a pleasant surprise.