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Here’s Your Optimistic Mets Prediction

Calling predictions predictions under-emphasizes how inaccurate and subject to random luck they are, even when it’s the so-called experts making them.  I am not an expert, merely a blogger that likes to think positively.  So what do I think the Mets do in 2012?

 

I think the highest probability bet is they finish third.  Right around 82-84 wins.  I know there are people out there that think that’s crazy, but it’s really not that outlandish.  The bullpen and rotation are improved over last year, even if you want to argue over how much.  The offense lost some big pieces, but it’s also got some guys back too.  Adding in some power to a team that was already going to get on base a lot should score a lot of runs.  I don’t think the Marlins improved enough to get above .500, and I think one of either the Nationals or Braves will deal with enough problems to fall below that mark.

 

This doesn’t mean the Mets can’t make the playoffs.  (Nor does it mean they can’t finish last) I’ve watched enough baseball to know anything can happen, and I think the Mets do have enough potential upside in a lot of their players to be able to realize competitiveness if enough things go right.  Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Ruben Tejada, even Dillon Gee, Jon Niese and Josh Thole all are of an age or stage in their career where improvement is possible, even expected.   Mike Pelfrey keeping the ball down and yielding fewer home runs this season and Johan’s shoulder holding up better than we can reasonably home are other key factors that could lead to a good Mets season.

 

So all in all this season should at least be a lot of fun.  If you had to pick just one thing to zone in on and believe in, one reason to seriously watch this Mets baseball team, I’d say watch Lucas Duda and Ike Davis.  The lefty power the Mets have this season is very real and the Pepsi Porch may become the new hot spot to catch a home run ball this season.

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The Mostly Mets Podcast: Just the right amount of bacon

Most of the Mets logoThe Mostly Mets Podcast, with Toby Hyde, Patrick Flood, and Ted Berg is a succulent weekly podcast that’s, oddly enough, mostly about the Mets. It’s really _all_ about the Mets they just occasionally wander off the train of thought to tackle other appetizing stories around baseball, sports, or the world of awesome sandwiches.  They record once a week for about an hour, usually a little more, and occasionally mix in an interview with a Mets player or coach, or another interesting party if it’s topical to the theme of the week. They even take listener feedback! Even mine!

 

It’s what I always envision sports talk radio should be.  All three of them know what they are talking about and present their points not with arrogance or yelling, but with some forethought and research.   They all have different areas of expertise, which makes them perfect blend of ingredients.   They know the prospects, they can crunch the numbers, and they have a good sense of the strategy of the game itself.  They usually release new episodes on Thursday afternoons, and they’re usually just foot-long enough for the final three legs of my work commute for the week.

 

It’s a delicious show and I always found my brain sated after listening.  Whether it’s pondering the upside of a pitching prospect, discussing defensive positioning, or trying to figure out the next time I’m going to be near that sandwich shop Ted is raving about, I always walk away from the podcast with something to chew on.

 

 

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Mets Add More Food Options to Citi Field

There are some tasty new options at Citi Field this season.  The winner to me was the Buffalo Dog available at Box Frites.  It’s an all beef grilled hot dog topped with Buffalo blue cheese sauce, pickled carrot, and celery.  The veggies provides some nice crunch and cooled down the spice in the buffalo sauce.

Another tasty treat was the 7-1-Ate Special that’s in the Promenade Club.  Despite the lame name, it was pretty tasty.  The only thing I’d say is there was just too many different things on it.  It has hot or sweet Premio sausage, split and grilled, topped with a hash brown, fried egg, slaw and pepper hash on ciabatta.

For dessert I had a fried apple crumb with caramel sauce, also from Box Frites.  This one is pretty self-explanatory: It takes like a delicious apple crumb pie with caramel sauce.

From Box Frites at Citi Field. - Ceetar

There were some other delicious things out there too, and I have no idea if anything will be removed from the menus, though I suspect there will be.  Keith’s Mex burger will still be around, as will the Pastrami.  Check out some of the other blogs (On the Black, Daily Stache, Tedquarters, Metspolice, Faith and Fear in Flush, Mets Today, Metsmerized Online..and probably a handful of others I’m forgetting that were there)  for different writes up, or head to Citi Field and explore for yourself.  My full gallery is here.  Opening Day is only 9 days away!

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Regular Season Ticket Pre-Sale

A special pre-sale for blog readers starts Wednesday at 10am.  Follow this link and use the code HODGES to purchase tickets to any regular season Mets game.  Obviously Opening Day and the Subway Series are the ones guaranteed to sell out, but you might want to get a jump on other games as well.  You never know what supply and demand will dictate closer to the day of a game, especially with the new flex pricing.

 

My suggestions are to buy for Banner Day and the bobblehead (Edgardo Alfonzo) of your choice.  June 3rd is the Mets Hall of Fame induction for John Franco.  Complete promotional information found here.

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Around Metsopotamia: Links Galore!

First up, Daniel Murphy!

 

Mets Infielder Daniel Murphy To Be Honored With Inaugural “Rising Star” Award At Thurman Munson Awards Dinner On Tuesday Night, January 31, At Grand Hyatt Hotel

***Joins Teammate R.A. Dickey, Yogi Berra, Mark Teixeira, Chris Mullin and Dikembe at Benefit for AHRC New York City Foundation***

New York, January 19—New York Mets infielder Daniel Murphy will receive the inaugural “Thurman Rising Star Award” at the 32nd Annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner on Tuesday night, January 31, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, it was announced today by AHRC New York City Foundation.

Murphy will be cited for his perseverance in returning from injury and for his community spirit and involvement in a wide variety of Mets community programs, particularly in reading for youngsters and the military. The 26-year-old Jacksonville, Florida native hit 313 in his rookie season in 2008 in limited action, and a torrid .320 last year. Murphy has battled several knee injuries since joining the Mets, and is a second base hopeful in 2012.

Murphy joins Yankee Hall of Fame icon Yogi Berra, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey, St. John’s/N.B.A. recently inducted basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, and Georgetown/N.B.A. star center Dikembe Mutombo as this year’s honorees.

The gala, which remembers the late, great Yankees catcher and captain, benefits AHRC New York City Foundation.  Berra will receive the Legend Award in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1962 World Champion Yankees, while Mutombo, Teixeira, Dickey and Mullin will each receive “Thurmans.” For tickets and information on the Munson Awards Dinner call 212-249-6188.

Diana Munson, Thurman’s widow, will attend her 32nd straight benefit, having been involved since its inception, raising nearly $11 million to assist children and adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Thurman Munson Awards are presented for success on the fields of play and philanthropic works off the field.

The AHRC New York City Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports programs enabling children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead richer, more productive lives, including programs of AHRC New York City.  AHRC New York City is one of the largest organizations of its kind, serving 12,000 children and adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and other disabilities.

 

Second up? The Mostly Mets Podcast! Patrick Flood, Ted Berg, and Toby Hyde do a great job with their weekly podcast.  I usually plug it into my car radio and get to avoid a day or two of hoping the local radio stations are talking about something worthwhile while driving to and from work.  They released the latest episode yesterday afternoon.  One of these days I’ll write up a formal review.

 

Kerel Cooper at On The Black chimes in with his expectations for Jason Bay.  If you recall I tried to find some optimism along that front recently.

 

If you haven’t read R.A. Dickey’s posts in the Times about his climb of Mount Kilimanjaro…well, I’m really not sure why you wouldn’t have read that already, but here it is again.

 

To follow me on Twitter, go here.  To leave feedback on this post, this blog, a recent craft beer you’ve had or to request Ceetar on your internet radio show, drop me an email at ceetar@ceetar.com

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More Info on 2012 Mets Tickets

The usual cast of bloggers just finished up a conference call with Mets VP Dave Howard about the new ticketing schemes.  Not a ton of new info came to light, but some things were clarified and hinted at.

 

I asked about the dynamic pricing floor.    Specifically that the dynamic pricing will never dip below what a season ticket holder paid for the same seat in that section.   What was left unclear was if that meant you’ll never get a ticket less than $12 in sections 535/536 where season ticket holders sit, or if you’ll never get a seat less than $12 in the Promenade Outfield section which encompasses a large subset of the cheaper seats.

 

This is not a move towards being a small market team or anything.  The pricing was created off of a lot of data, meant to optimize revenue.   Adjusting prices should help them sell more tickets, and if the team remains competitive all year, the dynamic pricing will increase revenue.

 

Renewal date is coming earlier, although there will be a payment plan option.  Basically it seems the Mets want your commitment as early as possible, but are more flexible with the actual cash.  It was hinted at that you could see your 2013 invoices by this time next year.

 

Mostly there wasn’t a lot of specifics revealed in the conference call.  Dave Howard mentioned keeping the ticket fees within a reasonable percentage of the ticket price, and mentioned that Tickets.com offered best technological package and had a good relationship with MLB.  Went into the thinking of dynamic pricing without breaking down when prices would go up/down and what types of prices you could expect to see.    There will be more to come as season plans and individual ticket info is released.  I’d say the number one thing I took out of this is:   Buying tickets day of game is getting to be a worse and worse idea around sports.

 

For now, read other recaps around Metsopotamia.

Metsblog

Metspolice has a bunch today, keep checking back for analysis.

Amazin’ Avenue has a full transcript.

 

 

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Links From Metsopotamia

Shannon at Metspolice notices a decrease in Mets related traffic and twittering and ponders if anyone’s still here.  Well, I am.  It’s still baseball, it’s still the Mets, it’s still Citi Field.  I’m going to at least two more games this year.  I’m going to enjoy watching Duda seem to become a serious major league slugger, watching Reyes and Wright be Reyes and Wright, and looking for signs from guys like Bay, Pagan, Thole, Parnell, etc to see what we can do about next year.  You know you’re going to spend all offseason yelling about some of these guys, at least be informed and see how they finish the season with your own eyes.

Kerel of On The Black discusses Google Plus (add me to your circle if you like) and how well it worked for his weekly Mets chat with Dave Doyle of Mets Report.
Randy at The Apple says a humorous goodbye to the err, umm.. *pickastadiumname* the Marlins play in. 

In a fanpost at Amazin’ Avenue, nerfan breaks down the top 10 completely wrong arguments about the Mets.  Also known as ‘debunking sports radio’.

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Equipment Drive, Google Plus, Hurricane

What’s going on around Metsopotamia?

 

The Mets are running an equipment drive.  If you’ve got some stuff, bring it by!

 

EQUIPMENT COLLECTION DRIVE:

To support the growth of youth baseball and softball, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) has teamed up with Major League Baseball Clubs to organize equipment collection drives across the United States. This season, the Mets will once again team up with the BTF to assist local youth baseball and softball organizations by collecting new and used baseball equipment prior to the game on Saturday, August 27.

 

During the past five seasons, the Mets have collected bats, gloves, balls, spikes, uniforms, catcher’s gear for the Greater New York Sandlot Athletic Alliance, who distribute the donations to area youth baseball organizations. This year, we hope to increase our donations significantly with the help of our loyal fans.

 

Please bring any equipment that you plan to donate to Citi Field when the Mets host the Atlanta Braves on August 27 at 4:10 p.m. Donation stations will be open two and a half hours prior to the start of the game outside of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. On behalf of the Mets, we thank you for your support.

 

No word on if the Mets will reschedule the game Sunday that’s likely to be rained out.  It’s possible they could play it Saturday as part of a doubleheader if they can work it out with Fox.  The Mets are under no obligation to make this easy for the Braves, who forced the Mets into a doubleheader when they were dealing with some pitching shortages in April due to another double header a day earlier.

 

The Mets community is growing on Google Plus.  It’s looking like a fun little place to be able to share posts and ideas.  I think Google may have something here.  You can join and add me to your circles here.

 

 

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NL MVP vs AL Cy Young, Vote Reyes, DePodesta Recap

Couple of noteworthy things to look at today.  The first is the Mets are playing a day game today at 1:05.  The potential National League MVP, Jose Reyes, will leadoff the game against the potential American League Cy Young, Justin Verlander.  Should be a fun day.  The Mets won the first game on a blowout, the second on a slugfest, could the third be a pitcher’s duel?  Is Mike Pelfrey up for it?

Secondly today we need to get #votereyes trending on Twitter and also to vote for Reyes as many times as we can.  It would be a travesty if Reyes was not the starting shortstop for the National League.   While you’re voting, throw in some votes for Carlos Beltran too.  On the American League side Asdrubal Cabrera deserves your vote, especially as he’s currently being led by a player having a poor season that’s on the disabled list in Derek Jeter.  Mike Francesa thinks the All-Star Game should be Jeter’s personal 3000 hit celebration, which is even more fodder.  Also, Alex Avila deserves your vote for AL Catcher. 

Thirdly, last night a bunch of bloggers talked with Paul DePodesta and Michael Baron of Metsblog kindly put up a transcript.  I’m sure there are couple of other breakdowns out there too.