After barely making any noise so far this offseason, the front office finally steps up and gets Jason Bay. One more quality starter and I think we'll have enough to take on the Phillies for first place.

My predicted starting lineup this season:
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 1B
3. Jason Bay, LF
4. Carlos Beltran, CF
5. David Wright, 3B
6. Jeff Francoeur, RF
7. Luis Castillo (or if we can get rid of him, Orlando Hudson), 2B
8. Whoever the club decides to put here, C

1/3/2010 11:53:07 AM

Molina at C probably...

And this is the first time since like 2002 I haven't made the Mets thread. Maybe it'll bring better luck this year?

My lineup would be

Reyes
Castillo
Beltran
Bay
Wright
Molina
Frenchy
Murphy

personally...

[Edited on January 3, 2010 at 12:35 PM. Reason : x]

1/3/2010 12:34:41 PM

I have faith that Murphy's average will be higher than Castillo's. I would keep Castillo as far away from the RBI guys as possible.

If the catcher is Molina, then I would bat him 7th after Frenchy, before Castillo.

[Edited on January 3, 2010 at 12:40 PM. Reason : -]

1/3/2010 12:39:54 PM

wait, i thought you were quitting

1/3/2010 12:59:59 PM

^not until my stuff is sold, i figured while i'm still here i might as well get this thread going before NyM jinxes us again.

1/3/2010 3:21:45 PM

What would you think about bringing Delgado back? In 26 games last year he went .298/4/23, which is still pretty good. Who knows, Murphy could end up doing ok at 2B.

1/4/2010 11:28:01 AM

I PLAY THE CATCHER FOR NEW YORK MET

1/4/2010 11:45:08 AM

Quote :

"Last year, for example, the Marlins finished six games out of first place in the NL East with a payroll of $37 million, while the division rival Mets finished 17 games behind Florida despite a payroll of $142 million."

ouch

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4819982

1/12/2010 10:16:23 PM

i'm curious what the average cost of players on the field was for any given game. considering the long list of injuries to almost every single big name on the team, its got to be comparable to teams in the lesser markets

1/13/2010 1:27:23 AM

^^ that's kind of silly.

We lost the following for large chunks of the season:

Beltran: $21M --> missed 50% of year
Delgado: $12M --> missed 80% of year
Reyes: $8M --> missed 80% of year
Perez: $12M --> missed 60% of year
Wright: $10M --> missed 25% of year
Santana: $25M --> missed 25% of year

From like June to September the Mets were playing with, essentially, a $60-70M payroll.

1/13/2010 10:20:36 AM

hopefully things will pick back up this year. we have the hitting, we just need the pitching. we need to sign one proven starter and hope either pelfrey or maine find their stride. otherwise, i don't have too much hope for the season

1/13/2010 11:16:41 AM

^ What starter do you plan on signing? There isn't much available. The Mets lineup will be stout next year, but I see no way they can compete with the Phillies. Maybe if the Mets lineup and the Braves pitching merged, then you'd have a solid team that could catch the Phils. Santana can't win 40 games for you.

1/13/2010 11:33:52 AM

Pelfrey will bounce back to 2008 form. He added too many innings and too quickly in 2008. He added something like 45 IP from the previous season. Almost invariably, pitchers who do that tend to regress the next season and then get back to previous form. He will be a solid #2/#3 type.

I do agree we need more depth in the rotation but I think signing a guy like Joel Pineiro (sp?) will solidify the top half of the rotation... we certainly don't have a Braves type staff but it can be serviceable.

And I'm reading the Mets will sign Molina this week on a short-term deal. That will be a very, very good lineup 1-8.

1/13/2010 11:38:10 AM

Molina isn't what he used to be. I'm not sold on the idea. But I guess as long as it is short term it will be ok.

I would love to see a fresh catcher come through the minors. It seems like we only ever bother with good catchers from trades and FA signings, Todd Hundley being the only exception I can think of.

1/13/2010 11:49:44 AM

Thole will be a solid starter in due time

Molina is good for the short term

1/13/2010 11:50:50 AM

Thole is Jason Kendall without the defense. Not a big fan.

1/13/2010 11:51:19 AM

Oh lord. Twitter rumor is that Beltran will miss entire 2010 with microfracture surgery.

FML.

1/13/2010 9:06:46 PM

Quote :

"The Mets said in a statement that Beltran is expected to resume baseball activities in 12 weeks, two days after their first regular-season game."

Add a couple weeks for rehab games in the minors and he still shouldn't miss too much.

Either way, gives the Mets a good reason to resign Delgado, so they can play Murphy in left and Bay in right.

1/14/2010 12:27:35 AM

i think its worse than what they are letting on

otherwise the mets wouldnt be too pissed

1/14/2010 12:45:07 AM

What is up with Beltran having surgery this late in the offseason? Borass is trying to cover for Beltran now and the yes the Mets have the right to be very pissed off.

1/14/2010 8:50:47 AM

Molina out, resigned with Giants. Sounds like next target is Torrealba:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100119&content_id=7939024&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

1/20/2010 12:12:48 AM

Scratch that. Omir Santos has been announced as the primary starter to be platooned with Henry Blanco. Torrealba is still an interest, but he isn't being strongly pursued.

This means they are saving the money for a new pitcher or to make Delgado an offer.

1/21/2010 12:03:39 PM

^ Who the heck is Omir Santos? I assume a prospect? If Henry Blanco ends up playing significant time for you, then ouch.

Pinerio signed with the Angels. Who are the Mets going to get now? Seriously it is not like there are a bunch of stud starting pitchers available.

1/21/2010 1:19:32 PM

Santos was our catcher most of last year

Get out of here with your non-knowledgeable ass

This thread is for diehards ONLY

1/21/2010 1:58:23 PM

^ Sorry I did not realize Santos was your catcher last year. I wasn't following Triple-A ball. Anyway you still did not answer my question - who the fuck do you guys think you are getting to help your starting pitching "staff".


I'm a Braves fan so yeah I'm not a die hard Mets fan. Plus there are only like 4 mets fans on this board anyway so I guess you four can have fun talking about the 1986 team.







[Edited on January 21, 2010 at 5:11 PM. Reason : sfd]

1/21/2010 5:09:18 PM

Game appearences by catcher for the Mets last year:

Santos 96
Schneider 59
Castro 26
Thole 17

Santos was the primary starter for most of the season due to Schneider's injuries. Thole is the eventual catcher of the future, he just isn't ready yet.

1/21/2010 11:47:40 PM

Gary Matthews Jr is now a Met...again...

Not sure how I feel about this. We had to trade Brian Stokes for him. This is a sign that Murphy will be playing 1st, so the batting order until Beltran returns will likely be:

1. Reyes
2. Murphy
3. Wright
4. Bay
5. Francoeur
6. Matthews
7. Castillo
8. Santos

if we still sign Delgado, and Beltran returns, we could be looking at

1. Reyes
2. Francoeur
3. Bay
4. Beltran
5. Wright
6. Delgado
7. Castillo
8. Santos

This could be a very deadly lineup. But again...everything depends on getting one more legit pitcher

[Edited on January 22, 2010 at 1:40 PM. Reason : -]

1/22/2010 1:38:27 PM

Mr. Met is the best Met

1/22/2010 1:39:17 PM

nice lineup mets

1/22/2010 1:40:03 PM

i'm not looking forward to this season

1/26/2010 2:29:56 PM

2/4/2010 6:01:42 PM

http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2010/02/ny_mets_lowering_height_of_cen.html


Ok, its a start, but it will have virtually no impact on play

They just want people to have a better view of the apple

2/9/2010 12:29:58 PM

^^lmao

2/9/2010 1:20:13 PM

LOL at that flow chart... it's great because it's true.

Re: the Luis Castillo thing, I remember when Lastings Milledge was in literally EVERY trade rumor in baseball for like three straight seasons. It was to the point that the Onion or the Brushback did a piece on how Minaya traded him three times in one offseason not knowing he wasn't even on the team anymore.

ahaha... here it is

http://www.thebrushback.com/milledge_full.htm

Quote :

"“Whoever had first dibs on Milledge should get to keep him,” said Commissioner Selig. “That’s the most sensible way to fix this mess. We need to find Lastings a permanent home so we can stop hearing his name every time a trade rumor surfaces. I think people just mention him out of habit now. I even heard his name bandied about over the summer, when the Atlanta Hawks were shopping Al Harrington.”"

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 4:59 PM. Reason : x]

2/9/2010 4:57:41 PM

now that Jacobs is back on the team, how about putting Murphy back in the outfield and Jacobs at 1st? I'd rather have that than Angel Pagan be the go-to-guy.

Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Bay
Franceour
Murphy
Jacobs
Castillo
Santos

2/12/2010 3:23:13 AM

I'd rather shoot myself in the face than watch Mike Jacobs play first base and hit to a .270 OBP.

And who would play CF? Frenchy? No thanks. It's a short term solution and Pagan was actually really good last year.

2/12/2010 7:19:59 AM

Gary Carter...Todd Hundley...Mike Piazza...

and now...

Rod Barajas will be the starting catcher for the Mets.

At first I was pissed off we'd even waste money on him, then I realized he hit more home runs last year than any member of the Mets, and only Wright had more RBIs, but only by one.

Plus rumor has it Manuel is again talking about batting Reyes 3rd (at least until Beltran gets back), which I think is a dumb move when you have one of the best active lead off guys in the game. the lineup could look like:

Castillo, Murphy, Reyes, Bay, Wright, Francoeur, Barajas, Pagan

and then become

Reyes, Murphy, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Francoeur, Barajas, Castillo

which actually looks pretty good if Barajas can up his OBP and Castillo continues at the level he reached last year.

2/22/2010 1:54:40 AM

Updated with Mets colors... Haha, he just said on a Wheelhouse on SNY that he's going to hit 27 bombs this season. That will account for exactly 1/3 of the times he gets on base this season.

^ given what we were working with, I like the Barajas signing. It came on the cheap and he is a very good receiver and defensive catcher... plus I really hated the idea of having to rely on Omir Santos, who I think is terribly undisciplined at the plate and not a very good defensive catcher.

This also gives Josh Thole a chance to possibly become a legitimate catcher in the minors.

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 6:08 PM. Reason : x]

2/22/2010 6:05:50 PM

Quote :

"he is a very good receiver and defensive catcher"

oh really?

Quote :

"Barajas started 110 games, all as a catcher, and committed eight errors, the most in the American League by a backstop."

2/22/2010 8:27:24 PM

Without getting in too much detail, errors are a terrible way to judge defense... especially at the catching position.

Ernie sees me.

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM. Reason : x]

2/23/2010 11:31:44 AM

man don't get me started

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM. Reason : Barajas RF/9: 11th in the AL. He was, at worst, an average defensive catcher.]

2/23/2010 11:42:06 AM

Also, let me say this before anyone beats me to it

RF/9 is a stupid-ass statistic

2/23/2010 1:34:57 PM

[Edited on February 26, 2010 at 3:43 PM. Reason : nm someone was pranking me]

2/26/2010 3:36:02 PM

Braves v. Mets Tuesday @ 1 on MLB Network

It begins, you faggots

2/28/2010 4:02:23 PM

i usually don't bother with pre season games but i'm so desperate for a team to cheer for that i have this one on

3/2/2010 1:08:43 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1166800/index.htm

Great article about the face of our franchise.

3/2/2010 9:18:12 PM

I've been high on him since early last year, but jeez does the ball sound loud coming off of Ike Davis' bat. Kid is going to be a nice player for us the next decade. 1B, SS and 3B should be held down by the same people for a long time...

Just need to keep Martinez healthy this year in AAA.

3/4/2010 4:46:17 PM

I came in to post pretty much the same thing. I would be fine starting him at 1st this year and Murphy in the outfield until Beltran gets back, then whoever has been doing better of the two will stay and the other goes to AAA. Healthy competition should bring out the best of both players.

Or, if both do super well, keep Davis at 1st all season, give him a shot at the ROY, and put Murphy up as trade bait for another starter mid season.

[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 4:53 PM. Reason : -]

3/4/2010 4:51:42 PM

Mejia was downright filthy.

7 batters faced. 4 K's, 2 weak grounders and a lazy fly. The Marlins had a decent lineup in at that point with mostly major leaguers and top prospects and he left a whole bunch of them just shaking his head. He threw 94 innings last year at age 18-19, so he needs to build up to around 125 or so this yer and then 150-160 next year...

3/5/2010 3:44:48 PM

i am super excited about this guy. they better not give up ANY of these prospects for anything.

Davis, Mejia, and Bowman are all potential stars. I would like to see Bowman try 2B so we can keep him around without him waiting on wright and davis.

The sad part is that Murphy will be the odd man out, but I really like him too. He has Wright's work ethic and his bat reminds me of robin ventura.

3/5/2010 6:17:06 PM