The New York Mets' Five Keys To a Successful 2010 Season

With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training camp in less than a week, it's a pretty safe bet that all the major offseason moves have been made, and teams will now focus on the upcoming baseball season with the players they currently have.

Sure there may be a few minor signings, or spring invitees who surprise and make the big leagues before the season begins, but for the most part, what the fans see now is probably what they are going to get.

For Mets fans, this may be a huge disappointment, as Omar Minaya and company were unable to make major upgrades to one of the most disappointing teams in baseball last season. With the exception of Jason Bay, the Mets were spurned by every free agent they had on their radar, and were unable to make upgrades at first base, catcher, and starting pitcher.

Throw in Carlos Beltran's knee surgery, which will keep him off the playing field until May, and the offseason disappointments look even worse.

In other words, unless Chien-Ming Wang or John Smoltz can surprise everyone and make this team, the Mets roster now, is more than likely going to be the Mets roster on opening day.

Disappointing to say the least, especially since the Mets are playing in a division that saw every other team improve, but not impossible. Remember, the Mets stuck around in contention much of the first half last season, before totally imploding. So while it may seem unlikely, the Mets can have a successful 2010 season, and here's how.

Stay healthy

Yes, the Mets had a terrible offense last year, and true, they also had disappointing seasons from every starting pitcher not named Johan Santana, but when the Mets were healthy, they were still in contention in 2009 (albeit, they were still only slightly better than a .500 team).

The 2009 Mets were ravaged by injuries like no other team in recent memory. Some of the names the Mets lost to injuries during 2009 were: Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez, and John Maine.

In other words, the Mets lost their three-fifths of their starting rotation (including their ace), their lead-off hitter, their clean-up hitter, and their two best position players. No team in baseball could stay competitive after that.

Any chance of a successful 2010 begins with health. Simply put, the Mets can't compete if their players can' play, period.

Make a commitment to defense and fundamentals

As much as injuries hurt the Mets last season, Jerry Manuel's team displayed poor fundamentals, made plenty of mental errors in the field and at the plate, and played spotty defense (all of which were also staples of Jerry Manuel's teams in Chicago as well).

The Mets, who committed the sixth most errors in the National League with 97, will have to play better in the field and on the bases in 2010 if they plan to compete. Sure, having all starters healthy and on the field will help, but the Mets will need to stop beating themselves if they plan to be competitive in 2010.

Do NOT count on Oliver Perez for anything

Asking a team to not count on a guy who was just signed a year ago for $36 million to be their number two starter is a lot to ask, especially when they weren't able to sign any pitching help this offseason, but if the Mets want to have any success in 2010, they simply can not count on Oliver Perez.

Perez was arguably the worst starting pitcher in the game last year. He posted a 6.82 ERA, walked almost eight batters per nine innings, and allowed more than two baserunners per inning pitched. Perez was the one Met who fans were relieved to see go on the disabled list.

The starting pitching is thin in Queens, and Perez's contract assures that he is not going anywhere, but the Mets need to put Ollie at the back of the rotation, or in the bullpen, and allow him to work his way back. Perez is too inconsistent to be counted on, and at this point, anything positive the Mets get from him should just be looked at as a nice surprise.

Do NOT live and die with Daniel Murphy

It looks like the Mets are set on giving Daniel Murphy every chance to be the starting first baseman.

Daniel Murphy's 2009 season went like this: A good April, followed by a terrible May, June, and July, an average August, and finally a very good September (not to mention his 10 errors at first base were almost as many as the 12 home runs he hit). In other words, Murphy only performed well at the beginning of the year, and when the Mets were basically out of it.

If the Mets want to compete in 2010, they simply can not wait through an entire season for Murphy to find himself. If Murphy begins to struggle, at the plate or in the field, the Mets have to realize that it may be time to pull the plug on "the Daniel Murphy experiment."

If it's broke, don't be afraid to fix it

The Mets need to be vigilant with this team in 2010, period.

If the Mets continue to under-perform, and play terrible fundamentals, then Manuel needs to go sooner, rather than later. If players are under-performing, then other options need to be looked at, and if the moves that were made don't pan out either, then Omar Minaya needs to go.

Even if 2010 proves not to be a success on the field, the Mets can still make it a success by cleaning house rather than just trying to quick fix a team that is obviously broken. 

It may be a long shot, but the Mets can have a successful 2010 season. Even in an extremely tough division, the Mets have plenty of talent to be competitive.

Over the past three seasons, there may not be a more disappointing franchise in the sport than the New York Mets. Hopefully that trend ends in 2010.