2010 MLB Preview: New York Mets

The Mets and their fans have undoubtedly had a tough time dealing with mediocrity over the past year. However, a new beginning in 2010 is exactly what the team needs.

The brutal honesty is that the 2009 New York Mets' season was nothing short of a disaster. The team that was predicted by many to outlast the Phillies and win the National League East (and was picked to win the World Series by Sports Illustrated ), was riddled with critical injuries from as early as April, all the way through season's end, and finished the season in 4th place in the division, placing only above the lowly Nationals. Every starter, with the exception of 1B Daniel Murphy  and 2B Luis Castillo,  spent time on the disabled list. The only starting pitcher to remain healthy for the season's entirety was Mike Pelfrey.  By the dog days of August, the Mets were posting a lineup card that read as follows:

1. Angel Pagan,  CF
2. Luis Castillo, 2B
3. Daniel Murphy, 1B
4. Jeff Francoeur,  RF
5. Cory Sullivan,  LF
6. Fernando Tatis,  3B
7. Omir Santos,  C
8. Anderson Hernandez,  SS

The rotation at the time looked like:

1. Mike Pelfrey
2. Bobby Parnell
3. Tim Redding
4. Nelson Figueroa
5. Pat Misch

The Mets failed to put a competitive team on the field for much of the season. Healthy, this team could compete for a pennant. As it played out, the Mets were a bad, bad baseball team.

However, the components of the '09 team differ greatly than those of the upcoming season. Jose Reyes,  Carlos Beltran,  Johan Santana,  Oliver Perez,  and John Maine  all look to recover from injuries that put them on the shelf for much of last season. Jon Niese  and Fernando Nieve,  both coming back from season-ending injuries in '09, plan to battle for the 5th spot in the rotation.

The injuries proved to hurt the offense the greatest.

The Mets slugged only 95 home runs, 27 less than the Giants, who finished one spot higher than New York on that list.  With this in mind, GM Omar Minaya knew he had to bring in a bat this offseason, and that he did.

Slugging leftfielder Jason Bay  was signed to a 4-year, $66 million dollar contract on January 5th, 2010.

Last season with Boston, Bay mashed 36 homers while knocking in 119 RBIs with a relatively low .267 clip. Anyhow, the pros outweighed the cons in the eyes of Minaya, and the Mets acquired their new clean up hitter (at a bargain, compared to the other free agent option, Matt Holliday's  new deal with the Cards: 7 years, $120 million )

Pressure was put on Minaya to obtain a starter, a position which behind Santana, lacks reliability. But one by one, the pitchers came off the board: Wolf to Milwaukee, Lackey to Boston, Piñeiro to LA , and Sheets to Oakland.  

None to Flushing.

Understandably not wanting to overpay, especially for Sheets, who is coming off a season in which he didn't pitch an inning due to elbow surgery, Minaya stood his ground.

So the Mets look to open the season with a rotation of Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Perez, and either Niese or Nieve. This band of arms could  turn out great, just as likely as it could prove to be horrendous. Only time will tell.

The Mets did sign two Japanese pitchers to help the bullpen. 

Ryota Igarashi and Hisanori Takahashi  (Takahashi a Non-Roster Invitee to Mets camp) are projected to be an improvement over last year's pen, which was an improvement over the abhorrent 2008 relief squad, but still left (a lot of) room for improvement.

Igarashi is a nine year vet of the Japanese Central League, all of those seasons being with the Yakult Swallows. His career record there is 45-26 with a 3.31 ERA. His career WHIP is a nasty 1.17, and struck out 44 batters while walking only 20 in 2009 with Yakult.

Takahashi also has nine years of experience playing in the Japanese Central League, all of his seasons with the Yomiuri Giants. His career record is 70-57 with an ERA of 3.67. His career WHIP is a very respectable 1.26 and has averaged 7.3 K/9 over the course of his career with only 2.4 BB/9.

Spring Training is underway at Port St. Lucie, Florida, and already, a few bright spots have emerged. 1B Ike Davis,  a first round draft pick in 2008, is looking to be a hitting machine. His batting average is sitting at .571 (8 for 14) with a home run and six RBIs thus far. Six games into Spring Training, Davis looks to be the future at his position for the Mets.

Starting pitcher Jenrry Mejia  is another one of those bright spots. At 19 years old in '09, his season was split between Single-A Port St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton. At Port St. Lucie, he posted a record of 4-1 with a stellar 1.97 ERA in nine starts while posting a K:BB ratio of 44:16. He was then promoted to Double-A Binghamton where his numbers are a bit skewed as a result of playing on an abysmal team (Binghamton finished 54-86 in '09, last in the Eastern League). His record was 0-4 with an ERA of 4.47. Mejia's K to BB ratio was still better than 2 to 1 (47:23). Pitching in ten games in Double-A, his K/9 was a tremendous 9.5.

Infielder Ruben Tejada is also shaping up to be a nice looking player. At 20 years old, Tejada is getting a good look in big league camp as Jose Reyes is sitting out with a hyperactive thyroid. In four games he has gone 5 for 14 (.357) with three RBIs. Last season he played 134 games in Double-A Binghamton, batting .289, posting an OBP of .351, slugging .381, and closing out the season with an OPS of 732. The speedy Tejada swiped 19 bags while being caught on only three occasions, and tripled three times.

Free Agent 1B Mike Jacobs  signed a minor league deal with New York just days before Mets camp officially started. In 2005 as a rookie, Jacobs launched 11 big flies in just 30 games with the Mets, then was dealt to Florida as part of the package that landed Carlos Delgado in Queens.

Jacobs has since proven to be something of an "all or nothing" type hitter. In 2006-08 with Florida and '09 with the Royals, he smashed 20, 17, 32, and 19 round trippers while striking out 105, 101, 119, and 132 times, respectively. His highest OBP since leaving the Mets was .325 in 2006, and has decreased every year since (.317 in '07, .299 in '08, and .297 in '09). His glove isn't exactly golden, as he has committed 25 errors in 3 seasons in Florida and 2 in only 15 games at 1B in '09 for KC.

However, Jacobs is expected to make the team as a power bat off the bench, and if Daniel Murphy struggles in his first full season handling the first base duties, Jacobs may be called upon to fill the need.

The Mets, frankly, have mightily fallen since their near-World Series appearance in 2006. But expect the 2010 Mets to be, in a season with minimal expectations, a competitive baseball club, which, if nothing else, is a step in the right direction, and at best, taking the Phillies down to the final game to decide the Eastern Division Champion.

Wishful thinking?

Yes, but a Wild Card crown isn't necessarily out of the realm of possibility for a fully healthy New York Mets club.

Prediction : 86-76, T-2nd place (Braves) in NL East.