With spring training halfway done, we are that much closer to baseball season again. The New York Mets, a team that collapsed down the stretch in each of the past two seasons, have made a few great additions.
Two key additions for the 2009 season are Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez and JJ Putz. They fill the biggest need for the Mets—their bullpen.
The definition of collapse is "to break down". That is exactly what the Mets did, especially at the end of games. 27 BLOWN SAVES...that is wayyy too many.
With the additions of "K-Putz", that number should not be even close to last season's total. If the Mets only blew 10 of those games but won the rest, they would have been in the playoffs, not at home like they have been for two years in a row now.
This is our site's take on each player:
Starting Rotation
No. 1 Johan Santana: Still one of the top five if not, top two starting pitchers in baseball. He is the definition of consistency. As long as he is healthy the Mets should be in the playoffs, but if he gets hurt worse...well they're screwed.
No. 2 Mike Pelfrey: Last year, Big Pelf really played up to the potential everyone had talked about. 13-11 with a 3.72 ERA are nice stats. He has to do as well as he did last season, if not better, or else the Mets have some serious problems at the No. 2 spot.
No. 3 Oliver Perez: He was in the trade a couple years back that forced the Mets to give up Xavier Nady, but he played pretty decent. Ollie has some wicked stuff, but he is not consistent at all. One day he can pitch eight innings and give up one run, but he will most likely give up eight runs over four innings in his next trip to the mound.
No. 4 John Maine: Johnny has been very good for the Mets ever since he came from the Orioles. His injury last season down the stretch hurt the Mets' chances greatly. However, this year he is ready and everyone at SLC.com expects him to pitch like a No. 2.
No. 5: ???????
Lineup
C—Brian Schneider: The Mets didn't trade for him because they wanted a guy that would bat .250 for them. They acquired him because of his amazing glove and his ability to work with pitchers. He showed that last season.
1B—Carlos Delgado: Definitely the biggest surprise for the Mets last season (besides Pelfrey), and one of the biggest surprises in the entire league. No one expected 38 homers from Delgado. However, many have said he won't do it again this season and that the Mets should have went out and signed Mark Teixeira.
2B—Luis Castillo: Or by the name some people call him "Luis Crapstillo". GM Omar Minaya may have been stupid to give him that four-year deal, but Castillo is really showing everyone in spring training that he deserves the big contract and will play up to Minaya's expectations.
3B—David Wright: Everyone at SLC believes he is the best third baseman in the MLB. Yes, even better than A-Rod. He is the leader on the team. The Mets need him to play like he usually does if not better more then you need cheese on macaroni and cheese.
SS—Jose Reyes: Jose Jose Jose Jose Jose!!! When he hits, everyone watches. He is one of the most exciting players in the game. If he can hit close to .300 and maybe 20 homers, the Mets will be more then happy. He is a key to the Mets' playoff hopes.
LF—??????
CF—Carlos Beltran: Beltran is definitely a great all-around baseball player. He is starting to slow down a little bit, but still is a player any team would LOVE to have. The Mets need him to bat .285, 25 HR, and 110 RBI or else someone like Dan Murphy will really have to step it up.
RF—Ryan Church: In the beginning of last season Church played absolutely great. With the way he played, it almost made the Lastings Milledge-for-Church-and-Schneider deal look like a rape. Then he started battling concussion after concussion. Once he was fully healed, he was never like his old self. If he can play like he did in the beginning of '08, it will help the Mets a lot.
Bullpen
There are still many toss-ups here and players fighting for a roster spot, but we'll name a few who will definitely have a spot or should:
CL—Francisco Rodriguez: K-Rod was the biggest free-agent addition for the Mets and fills in for Bill Wagner. K-Rod broke the record for saves in a season last year, which could definitely help out the Mets chances of blowing less than 27 blown saves.
SU—JJ Putz: This trade was a shocker when it happened right after the K-Rod signing. Putz is a top closer who should be perfectly fine as a set-up man. This gives the Mets a nasty 8th-9th inning punch.
RP—Pedro Feliciano: Feliciano is a reliable player in the bullpen when he plays like he used to. In 2006 he had an ERA of 2.09, but since then it has gone up at least 1.00 every season. Last year his ERA was 4.05. The Mets definitely do not want an ERA of 5.05 this season.
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