Jose Reyes

Would McDonald’s ever toy with their Big Mac?

Would Burger King ever mess around with the taste of their Whopper?

Would Taco Bell ever transform into a vegetarian food chain?

Would the New York Mets ever do anything detrimental to the core of their team?

The answer to the first three questions is an almost laughable “no,” while unfortunately the answer to the final question is “yes.”

It’s not officially spring training for the Mets until the manager puts himself under the microscope for a questionable decision.

This year’s controversy came rather quickly, and it revolves around the centerpiece of the Mets franchise: Jose Reyes.

The frustrated Mets fanbase has been so accustomed to their star shortstop batting leadoff that they are unwilling to consider him batting in any other spot in the lineup.

If you're a New York Mets fan like I am, you've got to be thick-skinned.

It's hard enough when you see your entire 40-man roster fall apart at the seams due to injuries, but it's even more painful when you're forced to watch your division rivals face your crosstown rivals in the World Series.

Over the past six seasons, through three managers and what seems like one hundred general managers, the Mets have had an unbelievable stretch of roller coaster up-and-downs.

Just as we enter spring training, it is that time of year. It is time to predict everything  that is going to happen in 2010. With the suprises of baseball, though, it seems you can never be too far out on your predictions, but you can never be just right.

The NL East is known as one of the top divisions in baseball. But last year with the injuries of the Mets, the Phillies took the division with ease. Here are my predicted rankings of how the east will be set on the last day of the year.

Many Mets fans fall into a more doom-and-gloom mindset than a positive one.

Whether that’s because of persistent disappointment, a “younger brother” mentality associated with the Yankees, the attitude of talk radio hosts, or something else, Mets fans tend to approach the team waiting for the other shoe to drop and the team to fail.

As the self-proclaimed Optimistic Mets Fan, I tend not to take this approach anyway, but I’ve found that this rule is not true across the board.

JOHN SICKLES of MINOR LEAGUE BALL has posted his view of the Mets Top 20 Prospects, which I will gladly share with you and make some comments on his choices. My comments will be in italics.

Top 20 New York Mets Prospects for 2010

The off-season, so far, has been an extension of the Mets' 2009 campaign; an absolute disaster.  First, the Yankees made a trade to acquire All-Star centerfielder Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers, which stole the back pages away from their cross-town rivals. 

Then the only two stud pitchers on the free-agent market, John Lackey and Roy Halladay, got scooped up by the Red Sox and Phillies respectively.  This has left Met fans throughout the nation in a state of panic. 

The 2010 campaign for the the New York Mets will begin this spring in Port St Lucie, Fla., for Spring Training and many changes are expected from prior years.

Here is my list of things that will be different about the 2010 season:

1)  No WBC this year, last year the Mets sent 16 players to this 21-day tournament in March, and it was a disruption to both the league and the Mets as a team. 

According to a report in today’s New York Daily News, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes visited scrutinized doctor Dr. Tony Galea numerous times.

Galea is a physician based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who is noted for using a technique called blood spinning to help athletes recover from injuries more quickly.

The Mets had a dreadful 2009 as a team. Many players got injured and some just didn't perform up to par. The New York Mets' shortstop, Jose Reyes, suffered a hamstring injury 36 games into the season.

It seemed like it was only a minor injury, and that Reyes would be back on the field the next day. That was not the case; Reyes would be sidelined for the rest of the 2009 season. 

He described the injury as extremely painful. When his hamstring started to feel better, he would jog, and just jogging alone would result in a large amount of pain.