New York Mets

John Maine has been injury riddled for most of the 2008 and 2009 seasons, but the Mets do need to make a decision on whether he fits into their plans for the starting rotation in 2010.

After Johan Santana, the Mets starting rotation in 2009 was shaky at best, and even Santana was not healthy enough to finish the season as he required elbow surgery in August.

As I had mentioned in my previous post, it has been nearly a year since the Mets acquired J.J. Putz from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a bevy of players.

When they acquired the hard-throwing righty, the Mets envisioned having a proven closer that could fill the closer's role if needed.

However, as usual, things did not work out as planned for the Mets.

Many people just want to side with the winning team, many even skip Church on Sundays, because the game is on, and will feel more resolve in the fleeting of sports victory rather than the eternity of spiritual victory.

Some Florida Gator fans have even seen the spiritual meaning in the Tim Tebow led victory over the LSU Tigers at night, after Tebow had been injured with a concussion.

Last offseason, I started writing a series of columns that profiled each member of the Mets bullpen and analyzed their performance in the previous season.

At the conclusion of each article, I would make a determination on whether or not I thought the pitcher should be brought back.

The articles, for the most part, were met with solid reader reception so this year we will continue the tradition.

Sometimes it is tough to be a Mets fan, isn’t it?  You sit and you watch other teams, both big market and small, call up player after player from their minor league system who step foot on a major league diamond and instantly make an impact. 

Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News is reporting that the New York Mets are close to naming former minor league manager and Arizona Diamondbacks base coach, Chip Hale, as their new third base coach.

The 44-year-old Hale, spent parts of seven seasons in the big leagues. Over the span of 575 career at-bats, he hit .277 along with seven home runs and 78 RBI.

After going through a horrific, injury-plagued 2009 campaign, the New York Mets head in this winter's Hot Stove with many questions and seemingly too few answers.

Everyone's knee-jerk response to solving their issues revolve around signing a couple big ticket free agents and praying for health. It seems like the 2010 version of the Metropolitans will be a playoff contender, but still a cut below a dominant Phillies club.

The Mets need an everyday left fielder—on that we can agree—but the question of who Omar Minaya will make the effort to acquire and who he is willing to give up in the process is what fans are concerned about this winter.

Free agent acquisitions are obviously a big issue with the winter meetings in December, but trade opportunities will no doubt also present themselves, and Minaya needs to be aggressive but not further deplete the Mets' anemic farm system in the process.

One of the most crucial injury's last year was at shortstop.  All-Star shortstop, Jose Reyes had his season end early.  A hamstring injury sidelined him for the majority of the season.

Reyes is one of the key parts of the Mets offense.  He acts like the spark plug for the Mets.  When he hits, the Mets hit and they usually win.  When he doesn't hit, the Mets don't hit and they usually lose.  That's how things worked out for the Mets most of the time when Reyes is healthy.

The raging debate that will go on from now until Wednesday (actually, through the end of the series) is really tearing me apart. 

What's a Met fan to do? You've got our current arch nemesis, the Phillies, against the "jerk of a big brother" in the Yankees.

This situation exemplifies that saying, "Between a rock and a hard place."