AOL Fanhouse have made their inaugural MLB Power Rankings for the 2010 baseball season.
I won’t hold the suspense for long…the Mets are ranked 22nd out of 30 teams.
“The good news is that David Wright is bound to have his power return, Jose Reyes appears to be on track to return soon and Jason Bay provides a good cleanup hitter. The bad news is Carlos Beltran still isn’t healthy, the rotation behind Johan Santana is suspect and the bridge to K-Rod is awful.” -mlb fanhouse
Yikes. I can’t say for sure if I’m overly optimistic (is predicting your $140MM team to be near .500 truly being optimistic?) or if this is just a brutally terrible prediction. I mean, heck, they ranked the Reds ahead of the Mets. The Reds. I completely disagree that “the bridge to K-Rod is awful” – in fact, I think the Mets’ bullpen will be one of the team’s strengths.
Quick everyone! Take a wild guess at how our bullpen finished last season, in terms of ERA. And then predict whether the squad will be better or worse this season. They ranked 12th in ERA (top half!) in the majors and 8th in the NL (right in the middle). How much worse could the relievers be this season to be named “awful” before the season even starts?
The Phillies are 3rd, Braves 12th, and Marlins 19th. And for the record, I probably would have ranked the Mets 15th or so – right in the middle of the league.
26 comments
stickguy
3/30/2010-9:06pm at 9:06 pm (UTC -4)
still the whipping boys I see.
I agree that calling the short guys awful is plain silly. Especially when they aren’t sure who it its! I will concede that they are unproven, but that doesn’t mean awful.
but in the big scheme, it really doesn’t mean anything. Same as people that picked the Rays to be last in the AL east in 2008. Oops. Or I guess for the Mets to be in the WS in 2009!
darknova306
3/30/2010-9:12pm at 9:12 pm (UTC -4)
Phillies have just as many question marks in their pen and rotation as we do. Heck, their closer is one of the biggest question marks of all right now.
Whatever. Just let the games begin and we’ll see where all the teams rank when it’s over.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-9:32pm at 9:32 pm (UTC -4)
Yes, I believe they certainly do. Deal is, their starting rotation the first half of the year was nothing to write home about and their BP was almost just as bad. In the end, it didn’t seem to matter.
Now, I do believe all teams not named the Phils in the NL East improved from last year so Phillies winning games against them are going to be harder to come by. So to me, it by no means indicates they’re running away with anything, as all I’m listening to are predicting.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-9:27pm at 9:27 pm (UTC -4)
Prismo, you ask: ‘How much worse could the relievers be this season to be named “awful†before the season even starts?’
My answer: 2008 is not a distant enough memory for me to answer honestly. LOL….
This ranking does not surprise me. It’s all I’ve been hearing and reading for over a week now.
The sad part is, if all doesn’t break right, some of these predictions could be right on the money.
I’d be in a better place right now if our SP didn’t appear to still be tinkering in this last week of ST. And I use the term ‘tinkering’ as it’s a better description than the alternative some are using right now – which is awful.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-9:28pm at 9:28 pm (UTC -4)
I should probably qualify my dip in optimism tonight is in direct relation to the two hour interview with Adam Rubin on Justin.tv that Mr. North Jersey linked to earlier today. Some of the tidbits he let go with were anywhere from ‘yup, knew that’ to ‘well, that’s disturbing’…
Some I posted below.
stickguy
3/30/2010-9:31pm at 9:31 pm (UTC -4)
If the prediction comes true and they have a lousy year, expect major housecleaning. For sure Jerry, Omar and all the coaches are toast.
Also a number of players. Probably pitchers.
But, lets at least wait for the season to start (if not finish!) before reacting to it.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-9:29pm at 9:29 pm (UTC -4)
Has anyone besides me listened to the Justin.tv Adam Rubin interviews Mr. N. Jersey posted earlier?
Some really interesting tidbits, if you’ve got the time. For example:
- The culture of the minor league teams are so much better with Bernazard gone. Players actually enjoy coming to the park now (whoa….). They were glad that all finally came out so that public opinion forced them to fire him.
- Prevention and Recovery…it’s gone 180 from where they were at in 2008. Rubin relays a story where Church said to Schneider at one point ‘hey, that knee is really swollen, why don’t you go see the trainer?’ Schneider replies, ‘nah, they don’t want to hear it.’
Now…seems like they’re not telling anyone about little bang ups for the opposite reason. The mention a hangnail and they’re shut down for several days.
- The minute Jerry is fired, Razor Shine goes with him. Jerry saved his job this year. Wathern probably goes at well. Hojo is 50/50.
- The clubhouse is also a 180 from years past. Admittedly, Rubin personally did not like Delgado (finds him dishonest) and he was a big part of the clubhouse problem. Wagner and his comments like Ollie had nothing between the ears didn’t help either. There were definite ‘groups’ and no cohesiveness at all. It’s just so much more relaxed and more a team atmosphere this year.
- Said Bobby O leaving the minor league organization years ago was mostly b/c of Rick Peterson. Couldn’t stand his mindset of even if Bobby saw a pitchers mechanics weren’t right, but were having success, leave him alone. Drove Bobby O nuts. It was not a good parting.
- The Mets prospects/minor league system is not as good as is being reported right now. The only difference this year is they’ve got some close ML ready guys who will be at triple A. After that, ‘prospects fall off the face of the earth, outside of Flores’.
- BP is not going to be good this year as currently constructed. And that’s going to have a big impact b/c with Niese in the rotation, probably not pitching more than 130+ innings, that means that BP comes into play even more. That’s why he doesn’t understand why Omar didn’t go out and get an innings eater type pitcher for that 5th spot.
Although he thinks Mejia is basically a lock for the BP and I’m not so sure of that.
- They basically lied to Jacobs and GMJ in telling them there were competitions for those two spots. That never was going to happen. It was always Murphy and Pagan’s job to lose.
- Last thing Rubin asked the ‘FO’ in the hotel before he left was about possible trades yet to be made this spring. Answer was ‘we basically have everyone we need in camp right now’.
For the record, Rubin said they basically blew the Biemel deal. He was kind of insulted with the low ball major league offer the Mets threw out there, were unwilling to come up, so took a minor league deal for less money instead. — If this is true, wonder how many other deals might have went down like this?
darknova306
3/30/2010-9:37pm at 9:37 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for that info. Interesting point on the trainers not wanting to hear about health problems. Ugh, from one ridiculous extreme there to another.
I like what he says about the clubhouse there. It’s good to stop hearing about divisiveness keeping the team from gelling.
saltygary
3/30/2010-9:39pm at 9:39 pm (UTC -4)
Lots of dirt there.
GMJ is a fool if he believed that.
Not really worried about the BP, and should do just fine. If MOP fails it doesn’t really matter if they can’t clean up the mess. That would be too much tax on any pen.
Agree on the farm. It’s really nice to see some prospects that are ready for the next level and also look like they can contribute. After that who the hell knows.
And as always when Jerry is fired it’s BOBBY V. 2010 with uncle cliff at 3rd base!
stickguy
3/30/2010-9:41pm at 9:41 pm (UTC -4)
Man, we really, really need this season to start.
anyway, a couple of random thoughts on this:
1) if Neise is going to be limited in innings, it will come from getting shut down at some point. Not pulling him after 5 if he is pitching well and pitch count is under control.
2) Who knows about the younger prospects? A year ago, all you heard was that they had no prospects, so a bunch of these current guys effectively came out of no where. And I guarantee a few more make a leap this year down in the A ball teams.
3) If Biemel was insulted by the Mets ML offer, why wasn’t he more insulted by a lower MiL offer? Maybe he has more money than he cares about, or is just a dope.
4) Nice about the new conservative bent on injuries.
5) not sure how GM and jacobs were lied to. they were in competition. It may not have been even (since the incumbent gets the job if it was close). Besides, GM was a trade, so who cares what he was told. Jacobs could have a beef, but he did zippo to earn a spot on the roster anyway.
Hazmet
3/30/2010-9:44pm at 9:44 pm (UTC -4)
If Biemel actually took less money to go to a Minor League deal the man is an absolute idiot. Adam’s done a great job reporting on the Mets for years but I wonder to what extent he’s practicing his ESPN voice to get ready to rip and tear national media style here.
The Bobby O story is real interesting. I wonder if he’s the guy in the wings if/when Dan’s shown the door.
Thanks for this post MF4D.
Kingman 26
3/30/2010-11:08pm at 11:08 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks a lot for this MF4D.
Agree with Bobby O…interesting to get another negative portrayal of Delgado…also very glad to hear that the culture has changed at all levels.
Jacobs SUCKS and if he believed he was going to start for us, he is even dumber than he looks.
Bullpen and rotation appear to have the potential to be truly awful. Feliciano will probably be overused by Memorial Day.
And alas, while we do have the Junior Core of a half a dozen guys, that does not mean our minor leagues are good overall. But it does bode well for 2011–2012. Regardless of how bad the pitching might be this year, we still are not the Pirates or the Nats or the Orioles.
And sorry to the anti-Omarites, but I hope Omar fires Jerry as early as possible, takes the circus clown Shines with him, and gets a new, no-nonsense, serious manager in here ASAP.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-11:18pm at 11:18 pm (UTC -4)
I laughed out loud at some of the responses above to my post.
All made some very good points.
As far as Biemel deal, Rubin made it very clear he took a lower $$ offer on that minor league deal rather than the Mets ‘insulting’ major league offer. I’m still scratching my head over that – unless he thought that low $$ would make it easy for them to just release him.
Couldn’t agree more that the season can’t start soon enough….
saltygary
3/30/2010-9:33pm at 9:33 pm (UTC -4)
Who is this AOL you speak of and why is their opinion even brought up. I say be gone AOL!
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-9:34pm at 9:34 pm (UTC -4)
SI picking the Phillies and Yanks to repeat on a trip to the WS this year? Good. We see how well those predictions for SI work out.
And I don’t care how good your team is….unless you’ve got a dynasty, do you know how hard it is to win the WS two years in a row? The Yankees have a couple of aging players (cough, cough, Rivera) that could make or break their season if they don’t stay healthy.
darknova306
3/30/2010-9:38pm at 9:38 pm (UTC -4)
Hey now, let’s not jinx the closer on one of my fantasy teams… :p Kidding, jinx away
stickguy
3/30/2010-10:07pm at 10:07 pm (UTC -4)
i have given up predicting that this is the year his elbow gives up the ghost. I now think he will be pitching at 60.
stickguy
3/30/2010-10:00pm at 10:00 pm (UTC -4)
man, how do guys get paying jobs as sportswriters. Just saw this beauty in the Philly paper (in a piece about the braves making a run at the Phils).
The reason for the Braves? The buzz about heyward (who knows about a 20yo rookie), but mostly because of the big additions of Troy Glaus and Melky Cabrera! while completely ignoring that they lost Vasquez to get him. Yeah, that is the massive upgrade team.
And why not the Mets? Well, after his exhaustive statistical research and analysis, the answer is “It is hard to imagine the Mets untangling the mess they have become in time to comyend this year”
What kind of nonsense is that? this “mess” is going to overcome the talent on the field?Whata hack.
Hazmet
3/30/2010-10:13pm at 10:13 pm (UTC -4)
A 20 year old who was just sat down with Shin Splints from overwork. ouch.
Kingman 26
3/30/2010-11:11pm at 11:11 pm (UTC -4)
Pssst–check out the Braves rotation and then check out ours….even I cannot ignore what Pelf and Ollie looked like the last few days.
And the pen guys are competing for spots, not working on things, and other than KRod and Feliciano, we have a disaster on our hands.
The parade is still on, but I think MOP’s spots will be manned by Mejia, Davis, and FMart.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-11:23pm at 11:23 pm (UTC -4)
I wish I didn’t see our pitching in this same light but every day that goes by – with continued bad outings from starters and BP arms that can’t pitch a scoreless inning, I’m having a hard time staying positive about this bunch right now.
stickguy
3/30/2010-10:23pm at 10:23 pm (UTC -4)
speaking of young OFs, I subjected myself to XM today again (Jody mac and JimBowden). Of course they managed to dump on the mets for a while (based on a caller asking about Mejia). I do agree with their conclusion that putting him in the pen now was a dumb idea, but they had to get in unsubstantiated digs.
Also, bowden (someone should really ask why such a lousy GM should be listened to about other teams rosters!) said that they “set back” (or something like that) F Mart by bringing him up last year. WHile he probably proved he wasn’t ready, there is no proof that his development was set back. Once he recovered from his knee issue, he had a huge winter league playoffs, and looked great in ST. yeah, those 91 Abs really ruined him.
Kingman 26
3/30/2010-11:19pm at 11:19 pm (UTC -4)
Guys and gal, reality is starting to hit me, and it does not feel good.
Other than KRod, every bullpen aspirant is NOT guaranteed a spot and is NOT “working on things” as I have been repeating over and over (and playing a CD of this phrase as I sleep to help convince myself)….every pen guy is either trying for a spot on the team or a good spot in the pen.
Other than Feliciano, everyone has royally sucked. Dessens and Misch don’t count.
All five of our starters have been abominable—-not bad; abominable. Maybe Johan will turn it on Monday, but even if he does, all four other guys have been uniformly rotten, all spring.
I love this team as much as anyone, but as others have said, I think tempering one’s expectations right about now might be the wisest course of action. I see an exciting, high-scoring, speedy team which is going to win 82 games and lose a lot of 8-6 games.
metsfan4decades
3/30/2010-11:24pm at 11:24 pm (UTC -4)
Sadly, as I said above, I’m slowly coming to this same conclusion as every day goes by. I hope we’re wrong but the signs right now are not good.
Kingman 26
3/30/2010-11:30pm at 11:30 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed as usual; I will be watching and psyched as ever for opening day, but I think I am not as confident as I was entering the last four years.
Very little would be finer than to be wrong as hell though!
But if the starters live down to expectations, we need an excellent pen, or vice versa….
asod75
3/30/2010-11:42pm at 11:42 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed. I had big-time confidence heading into the last four seasons and not much at all heading into this year. But that’s why they play the games…