Francisco Rodriguez

With Francisco Rodriguez's talent and lack of competition on the Mets, he seems like a lock to be the NY Mets' closer this year and rack up plenty of saves. 

He certainly has a lot to prove.  Professional athletes who have run into negative press frequently, use success on the field as a way to earn their way back into the good graces of the fans and the media.

While many baseball experts already count the New York Mets out of playoff contention this early in the spring, the Mets have many athletes that can surpass expectations enough to make a legitimate comeback in 2011.

As the team continues to work hard in Port St. Lucie, here is a list of the seven recovering New York Mets that will have the biggest impact on the 2011 MLB season.

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I was listening to a radio interview with New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez yesterday and, if you believe his words, then there is a scenario that Mets followers have to consider.

Most of us know that Rodriguez will be owed $17.5 million for 2012 if he finishes 55 games for the Mets this season. Now, the consensus is that he will be dealt, long before that happens, courtesy of ownership.

The Mets have a the fifth largest payroll in baseball. They have a shiny new stadium, they play in the largest market in America and have a roster loaded with talent.

For all this, the Mets are terrible. In every way imaginable.

The New York Mets saw a lot of things to like from their pitchers in a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals today.

Oliver Perez, looking to earn a spot in the starting rotation, tossed two scoreless innings, and closer Francisco Rodriguez, in his first spring action, added a scoreless inning of his own.

Everyone knows by now that New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez has a huge team option for 2012. It's worth $17.5 million and only becomes guaranteed if Rodriguez finishes 55 games this season and is declared healthy by doctors in the offseason.

Now, that may have not sounded like a big deal prior to last season and was most likely a given when he first signed on, but times have changed.

MLB Spring Training has only just started, but the MLB buzz is continuous. There is already buzz about mid-season trades to come. There's also already buzz about the free agents after this season.

Albert Pujols and C.C. Sabathia will probably continue to dominate the MLB buzz. There are some other buzz stories past Pujols and Sabathia, though.

Here are some of the latest buzz in the MLB world.

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2011 is going to be an interesting year for the New York Mets. They definitely have talent in the lineup and potential on the mound, but who knows what's going to happen with this team. They seem to build us up every year only to let us down. But, unlike a lot of people that I'm seeing on this site, I'm going to keep having faith in this team. The grades in this article are not based on the players' 2010 seasons, but on the players themselves looking forward to 2011. Here's a look at the 2011 roster.

Earlier his offseason, I wrote that the New York Mets bullpen was a bigger question mark than the starting rotation.

The reason being that the Mets lost two huge bullpen arms in Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi, but only one starting rotation piece in Johan Santana.

Day two of the pitchers and catchers portion of Spring Training saw the arrival of Francisco Rodriguez, or K-Rod, as he is commonly known. The first thing on K-Rod's agenda was to express his remorse over his assault incident last August.