You can find remarks about the Mets 2012 season being over all over the place.\u00a0 It’s on Twitter, in the mainstream media, in blogs and blog comments.\u00a0 Its popularity doesn’t make the statement any less ridiculous.\u00a0 To suggest that anyone knows exactly how much money the Mets will spend, who they will spend it on, and the likely makeup of the 2012 roster is crazy. \u00a0To suggest that anyone how that roster, and the other 29 rosters, will perform is crazier.<\/p>\n
The randomness of injuries is one such pitfall to this.\u00a0\u00a0 If you can suggest with confidence that the Mets will get hurt, and the opposition won’t, for all of next year you’re kidding yourself.\u00a0\u00a0 Every year some injury prone guys stay healthy and have big years, and some perpetually healthy guys get hurt and miss time.\u00a0\u00a0 On every team. \u00a0 Ryan Howard is already out for at least 5-6 months. \u00a0David Wright missed months. \u00a0Ike Davis missed almost the entire season. \u00a0The Mets were a revolving door of injuries and if you’re sure that David Wright is going to get hurt again you’re either delusional or you have a voodoo doll. \u00a0Every team deals with injuries, but the Mets managed to have more than most and have them happen to their key guys. \u00a0What if it had been Scott Hairston, Jason Pridie and Tim Byrdak that had the most serious injuries last season?<\/p>\n
Jose Reyes has stated he’d like to stay with the Mets, and Sandy Alderson has declared it Reyes month. \u00a0If you’re sure Reyes isn’t going to be a Met next season, you’re not listening. \u00a0It all flows from there. \u00a0 Sandy Alderson could remake the bullpen and acquire a quality starting pitcher that provides the team with much needed quality innings and allows the offense to build leads. \u00a0Jon Niese could develop into an ace. \u00a0 Lucas Duda could hold down right field and prove to be a force at the plate. \u00a0There are a lot of ifs around the league, and despite finances or contracts, the Mets have as much a shot of making themselves better as anyone else.<\/p>\n
You’ll often hear “The Mets are so many players away from contending.” \u00a0This seems to be a shot in the dark, at best. \u00a0No one knows how many players the Mets need, and at what positions. \u00a0 Health plays in. \u00a0The Mets needed to completely collapse in 2007 to miss the playoffs. \u00a0It’d have been easy to say that adding Johan Santana, the best pitcher in baseball, was that ‘one player away’ the Mets needed. \u00a0 Baseball is a team game, and often little moves have a cascading effect. \u00a0Adding one solid starting pitching could take 20-30 innings off the bullpens workload. \u00a0 Most of the time those innings will be the lesser relievers, the guys that generally pitch in the 5th and 6th of games that aren’t critical. \u00a0 You’re able to shift those innings away from the lower quality relievers, to the higher quality relievers. \u00a0Those innings also save total innings pitched for the relievers as a whole, providing them with a little more rest and making them more effective. \u00a0 Then you can couple that with signing a couple of relievers, no one that’s big-impact, but talented pitchers that help raise the amount of quality innings you’re getting out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n
The Mets have a lot of talent. \u00a0David Wright, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Jon Niese, Johan Santana and hopefully Jose Reyes. \u00a0Hopefully some of the other guys like Lucas Duda, Mike Pelfrey, Angel Pagan, and Jason Bay have pretty talented years as well. \u00a0 You don’t round out a team with All-Stars, you do it with quality players that provide\u00a0consistent\u00a0value. \u00a0 You sign relievers you trust to get guys out most days. \u00a0You sign a veteran backup catcher to help mentor Thole and perhaps platoon with him. \u00a0Decent bench guys that can provide value in a key pinch-hitting spot and provide defense when they come into the game late. \u00a0The Mets, even with a less ridiculous payroll than the Yankees, will add a bunch of new players next year. \u00a0Some of these players will surprise, some will disappoint. If more surprise than disappoint, something we’re hopeful of because of Sandy Alderson, than the Mets will compete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You can find remarks about the Mets 2012 season being over all over the place.\u00a0 It’s on Twitter, in the mainstream media, in blogs and blog comments.\u00a0 Its popularity doesn’t make the statement any less ridiculous.\u00a0 To suggest that anyone knows exactly how much money the Mets will spend, who they will spend it on, … <\/p>\n