New York Mets

I'm a member of the "new school," that typically looks hard at sabermetrics as a form of player evaluation and takes issue with those inside the game who don't.

Dayton Moore and Ed Wade are the two easiest targets in baseball front offices for sabermetric scorn, but the Mets' Omar Minaya is pretty close.

Then again, nobody likes Minaya these days; at least, I don't think many Mets fans do (as an A's fan, I wouldn't know). Heck, I just blasted his Rule 5 pick, Carlos Monasterios, in my last article.

But, for one night, I'm going to give the man some props.

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. 

Despite all of the whining and complaining from the vocal minority this off-season, the Mets are doing all the right things.

They have already made two major upgrades at shortstop and center field.

Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are much better players than Alex Cora and Angel Pagan.

For those that just want to look at the Mets record last year and ignore the fact that we had injuries to three of our four best offensive players, let me remind you that the Mets entered June seven games over .500 at 28-21 and just a half game out of first.

When you look at the Mets' offseason to date, what you see is a whole lot of nothing.

The Mets have made no splashy moves, no free-agent signings, and no impact trades as they determine how the market will play out.

But while the Mets have remained stagnant, the Mets' chief rivals have all made impact moves that will improve their prospects for 2010:

Phillies

Acquired Roy Halladay

Braves

Minaya Out of Answers In Attempt to Improve Hapless Club

Roy Halliday is a Phillie today. John Lackey is in Boston and Matt Holliday may end up staying in St. Louis. The fourth big fish to be had this offseason, Jason Bay, is still out there.

The Mets have an offer on the table to Bay, the player they had the most chance of landing this offseason.  The question is, will they close the deal on this much-needed asset?

Last week in Indianapolis, an offer was made hours before the end of the week long session to Jason Bay.

He has not yet accepted Omar Minaya's offer and its becoming more likely that he will not be on the Mets in 2010.

In 2009, the Mets sent nine men to play in left field, but Gary Sheffield was by far the most reliable for much of the season. Daniel Murphy was a failed experiment in left field, but found his home at first base. 

The New York Mets have recently let go four  non-tendered players—Tim Redding, Jeremy Reed, Cory Sullivan and Lance Broadway.

Redding put together a terrible season in 2009, posting a record of 3-6, collecting 76 strikeouts with a disgusting 5.10 ERA in 120 innings pitched. Redding was signed by the Mets for an insane amount of money ($2.25 million) for a below average pitcher.

The Mets started the year off with Ryan Church as their starting right fielder in his second year with the team. 

Though an average batter, Church has a great glove in right field.

Ryan Church routinely made spectacular plays but just couldn't do much with the stick. 

He also wasn't on manager Jerry Manuel's good side. Jerry Manuel won't admit it, but he disliked Church, which is putting it nicely.

Jerry would usually ignore Church in the dugout and, most likely, also in the clubhouse. 

EDITOR

Well the non-tender deadline has come and gone, and the Mets made a few interesting decisions regarding the future of some of the players that were on the roster last year. This team is going to have a very different look this year, and that is something that definitely needed to be done.