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Official 2009 New York Mets Offseason Thread


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Opening Series Pitching Matchups

vs CIN, Mon. (4/6) 1:10pm ET on SNY: LHP Johan Santana (16-7, 2.53 ERA) vs RHP Aaron Harang (6-17, 4.78 ERA)

vs CIN, Wed. (4/8) 7:10pm ET on SNY: RHP Mike Pelfrey (13-11, 3.72 ERA) vs RHP Edison Volquez (17-6, 3.21 ERA)

vs CIN, Thurs. (4/9) 12:35pm ET on SNY: LHP Oliver Perez (10-7, 4.22 ERA) vs RHP Bronson Arroyo (15-11, 4.77 ERA)

-Sheffield will NOT play in the field (unless hes forced to) for the opening series. So basically he'll just be a PH for the Reds' series..

LETS GO METS! .. Btw for the frequent Mets posters, here is to a long season that brings us deep into October! Hopefully my Steinbrunner rants will be less this year :lol:

Edited by nmigliore
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Thank you for making this. The last 2 years I made the thread and no way in hell I was going to do this again lol. I love the outfield depth this year. Beltran, Church, Murphy, Sheff, Reed, Tatis. You think they will run with 6? Sheff can also play 1st, I think Tatis has played the infield before, and having Cora will be great cause he can play almost anywhere. Bullpen is great. Lineup is better than most, this season is going to come down to starting pitching.

Although this is a Devils site, this thread is a great place to talk about the Mets. Nmig, 731, CR, Has, 7, and a few I know I'm forgeting make this a great thread. Here's to a great season!

BTW, I'm going to guess this thread hits 200+ this year.

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Citi field does look great,didnt realize the dimensions were so big. There will a lot of long balls ending up dying in someones glove. Lgm!

I was there today for the plan holder workout, it was a very nice event first of all. They said it was gonna run from approximately 11:30-1 but I left past 1 and they were still doing batting practice. Chris Carlin was interviewing most of the players (along with Jerry and Omar) in two-minute snippets that showed up on the main board. They also have closed captioning somewhere in left field by the little clock.

Apparently there were around 35,000 tickets sent out for this and it did look packed, there were people lined up all around the field (except behind home plate which was blocked), as well as traversing the concourse and the parking lot was jammed.

As far as the actual stadium it was as nice as advertised. By and large the view from your seat will be much better than at Shea, and closer as well. I'm in the last row of 504 for my partial plan and I'm closer than I usually was in the mezz section even when I had good seats there. I can see both scoreboards, the apple, the bullpen and just about everything very well.

The only gripe - and a lot of the people in the corners will have an issue with this - you can't really see the extreme RF corner if you're down the RF line (I'm not sure about LF but I'd imagine it's the same deal there). Then again if Sheffield's playing in right, I'm not sure I want to see the RF corner :P Sheffield even poked fun at himself, when Carlin asked him what he thought about RF he said, 'That I'm probably not gonna be playing there too much'.

Definitely a lot of standing room...the clubs surprisingly looked pretty similar in terms of size and didn't seem as big as I would have thought. Maybe the lower levels will have more choices (and expensive ones) in terms of food and drink but as of now I'm not sure there really is gonna be a difference except for location and who can get into what. At least all the clubs are a nice climate-controlled area for real hot days, or rain delays.

For some reason there was a huge line outside the Acela club in the 300's though, I couldn't figure out why till I realized that's where SNY will do the games from. That's the only place I didn't really go to along with the team stores because I didn't want to ditch my bottled water. Didn't really try much of the food, just wanted to have a hot dog (which was nice), I'm old school that way I guess :lol:

The three main floors (promenade, excelsior and field) all had food courts, I know the field level food court is towards RF, where the Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, the Mets skyline and the kiddie stuff is. The promenade food court is by the center, along with the club...they're probably gonna need to put a couple of TV screens there but it is nice with lots of room.

Also a lot more ways to exit the stadium faster than at Shea...outside of my section there's an escalator, elevator and stairs and I'm near the RF corner in the upper tier. The subway does stop quite a bit closer to the stadium than it used to but the LIRR drops you off at the same place a few minute walk away. There are I think four entrances - left field, right field, the rotunda and a bullpen entrance.

The Jackie Robinson Rotunda was pretty nice, had a video board with some of his highlights, the number 42 prominently displayed, pictures all along the wall and the famous 'A life isn't important except in the impact it has on other lives' quote along the top of the wall, along with some notes on the floor.

That's about all I can think of now, any other questions just ask - I was there for like three hours mostly walking around and taking pictures, at least it was a great opportunity to do it before going to a game since I don't usually have as much time to look around. I might try to post some of the pictures later.

Although this is a Devils site, this thread is a great place to talk about the Mets. Nmig, 731, CR, Has, 7, and a few I know I'm forgeting make this a great thread. Here's to a great season!

It is kinda funny, we've carved out our own little niche here :lol: I haven't actually found a Met board that I liked, I posted on one last year but the guy who runs the site is a bit millitant and banned me for using the word buttbuddy (which would be laughed at here) :P

Edited by Hasan4978
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I was there today for the plan holder workout, it was a very nice event first of all. They said it was gonna run from approximately 11:30-1 but I left past 1 and they were still doing batting practice. Chris Carlin was interviewing most of the players (along with Jerry and Omar) in two-minute snippets that showed up on the main board. They also have closed captioning somewhere in left field by the little clock.

Apparently there were around 35,000 tickets sent out for this and it did look packed, there were people lined up all around the field (except behind home plate which was blocked), as well as traversing the concourse and the parking lot was jammed.

As far as the actual stadium it was as nice as advertised. By and large the view from your seat will be much better than at Shea, and closer as well. I'm in the last row of 504 for my partial plan and I'm closer than I usually was in the mezz section even when I had good seats there. I can see both scoreboards, the apple, the bullpen and just about everything very well.

The only gripe - and a lot of the people in the corners will have an issue with this - you can't really see the extreme RF corner if you're down the RF line (I'm not sure about LF but I'd imagine it's the same deal there). Then again if Sheffield's playing in right, I'm not sure I want to see the RF corner :P Sheffield even poked fun at himself, when Carlin asked him what he thought about RF he said, 'That I'm probably not gonna be playing there too much'.

Definitely a lot of standing room...the clubs surprisingly looked pretty similar in terms of size and didn't seem as big as I would have thought. Maybe the lower levels will have more choices (and expensive ones) in terms of food and drink but as of now I'm not sure there really is gonna be a difference except for location and who can get into what. At least all the clubs are a nice climate-controlled area for real hot days, or rain delays.

For some reason there was a huge line outside the Acela club in the 300's though, I couldn't figure out why till I realized that's where SNY will do the games from. That's the only place I didn't really go to along with the team stores because I didn't want to ditch my bottled water. Didn't really try much of the food, just wanted to have a hot dog (which was nice), I'm old school that way I guess :lol:

The three main floors (promenade, excelsior and field) all had food courts, I know the field level food court is towards RF, where the Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, the Mets skyline and the kiddie stuff is. The promenade food court is by the center, along with the club...they're probably gonna need to put a couple of TV screens there but it is nice with lots of room.

Also a lot more ways to exit the stadium faster than at Shea...outside of my section there's an escalator, elevator and stairs and I'm near the RF corner in the upper tier. The subway does stop quite a bit closer to the stadium than it used to but the LIRR drops you off at the same place a few minute walk away. There are I think four entrances - left field, right field, the rotunda and a bullpen entrance.

The Jackie Robinson Rotunda was pretty nice, had a video board with some of his highlights, the number 42 prominently displayed, pictures all along the wall and the famous 'A life isn't important except in the impact it has on other lives' quote along the top of the wall, along with some notes on the floor.

That's about all I can think of now, any other questions just ask - I was there for like three hours mostly walking around and taking pictures, at least it was a great opportunity to do it before going to a game since I don't usually have as much time to look around. I might try to post some of the pictures later.

It is kinda funny, we've carved out our own little niche here :lol: I haven't actually found a Met board that I liked, I posted on one last year but the guy who runs the site is a bit millitant and banned me for using the word buttbuddy (which would be laughed at here) :P

I've oddly never been on a Mets-board.. i always check Metsblog and you can comment on stuff there, but thats it.. this is basically my Mets home discussion as well :D.

**BTW, per Adam Rubin - Arroyo was scratched from his start and will pitch Saturday instead .. Micah Owings will take his spot for Thursday's start vs Oliver Perez.

***

Im so glad Sunday Night baseball is tonight! Im so stoked.. I remember last year's first game was a thrilling game between ATL/WSH ending with a Zimmerman walkoff HR .. tonight its ATL @ PHI, i cant wait! Derek Lowe vs Brett Myers, lets go Bravos!

Edited by nmigliore
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It is kinda funny, we've carved out our own little niche here :lol: I haven't actually found a Met board that I liked, I posted on one last year but the guy who runs the site is a bit millitant and banned me for using the word buttbuddy (which would be laughed at here) :P

Yeah same here. I used to follow prosportsdaily.com's mets board and MSGnetwork mets forum but neither of them feel right.

What section do you think is the best value at Citi?

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The Mets had a quiet spring training, with a major league-high 16 players from the organization participating in the World Baseball Classic. After two consecutive September collapses, no division lead will be considered safe by their fans in 2009. But last year
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Yeah same here. I used to follow prosportsdaily.com's mets board and MSGnetwork mets forum but neither of them feel right.

What section do you think is the best value at Citi?

Like most stadiums, probably uppermost tier behind the plate so you can see the whole field - the promenade infield ($15-35 per game), which isn't that much more expensive than the corner seats ($11-27). I'd imagine you'd be fine anywhere from about 508-519 as far as seeing the whole field but I didn't really go section by section to check.

The less expensive promenade seat down both lines there are issues with seeing your corner of the outfield but like I said there are other options if that really is a problem (stand, hang in the club or watch a monitor).

I honestly can't tell the price of some of the lower seats because this color chart on the pocket schedule is confusing. There's a lot of outfield seats that seem to be reasonably priced that are closer than the promenade but I didn't sit there either to get the view, was mainly concerned with the view from my seat lol.

anyone watching sunday night baseball right now? :giggle:

looks like brett myers is still having issues with the gopher ball :lol:

Honest to god I forgot that was even on till seeing this :doh1:

Who to even root for? The Phillies :puke: but I don't want the Braves to think they have a chance this year either.

Edited by Hasan4978
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Like most stadiums, probably uppermost tier behind the plate so you can see the whole field - the promenade infield ($15-35 per game), which isn't that much more expensive than the corner seats ($11-27).

The less expensive promenade seat down both lines there are with seeing your corner of the outfield but like I said there are other options if that really is a problem (stand, hang in the club or watch a monitor).

I honestly can't tell the price of some of the lower seats because this color chart on the pocket schedule is confusing.

Honest to god I forgot that was even on till seeing this :doh1:

Who to even root for? The Phillies :puke: but I don't want the Braves to think they have a chance this year either.

Philly is a bigger threat, and I cant stand them. Derek Lowe is making it look so damn easy.. funniest part: hes not even a lefty (point being if there was anyone who can dominate the phils' lineup it would be a left handed pitcher since they are so lefty-heavy) :lol:

edit: Braves' closer Mike Gonzalez is making it very interesting. :doh1: .. this dude is gonna blow it.

> Mike Gonzalez strikes out the 2 lefties Howard and Ibanez to end the game. Yeah, those stacked up lefties in that heart of the order should do Philly just fine vs LHP!

Edited by nmigliore
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Hey guys whatya think of the new sig? :rofl:

HERE WE GO!

First, nmig...love the sig. Classic!

Yeah, like Hasan said, we have carved out our own little niche of die-hards here, with occasional sprinklings from others. (5: the over/under on the number of times everyone's favorite Oompa-Loompa PeteyNice pokes his head in here to make an ass out of himself.)

I don't know if any of you have bought tix yet, but I go to CitiField for the first time on June 27 (Yankees)...three days after my 39th birthday (fvck!). If any of you are going on that particular day, wouldn't mind saying hello.

Anyway since this is a new thread, how many games does everyone think the Mets are winning? I say 84.

And I know it was just one game, but does anyone else wish the Mets had gone after Lowe a lot harder? Perez at $36 million terrifies me. Not terribly hard to see why NO ONE except the Mets seemed to be the slightest bit interested in Perez.

How about some random predictions? Feel free to post anything that comes to mind. Here's some of mine:

Reyes will finish the season with a OB% under .340, but will hit 20 HRs.

Wright and Beltran will each finish with over 120 RBI. Beltran will barely miss hitting .300. Wright will set career highs in batting average and OB%.

Of Maine and Perez, only one will win in double-digits. They'll combine to win less than 20, though the Mets will find ways to win a fair number of their no-decision games.

Castillo will be hearing the boo-birds by mid-May.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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I don't know if any of you have bought tix yet, but I go to CitiField for the first time on June 27 (Yankees)...three days after my 39th birthday (fvck!). If any of you are going on that particular day, wouldn't mind saying hello.

Anyway since this is a new thread, how many games does everyone think the Mets are winning? I say 84.

And I know it was just one game, but does anyone else wish the Mets had gone after Lowe a lot harder? Perez at $36 million terrifies me. Not terribly hard to see why NO ONE except the Mets seemed to be the slightest bit interested in Perez.

I'm going the day before (the 26th) with the Friday plan though I don't intend to go to all 15 games - already sold a couple of the other ones but will probably go to around 9-10 when it's all said and done, also making the trek up to the new Yankee Stadium two weeks before that.

Ollie :argh: If he was making $3.6 million he'd scare me, especially after he looked awful this spring. That said, Lowe signed for so much more total money than Ollie it's almost comparing apples and oranges. I understood why they don't want to go more than three years for any pitcher, especially an older one but yeah the rotation'd look a lot more solid with Lowe. Hopefully Maine'll find his groove and Pelfrey will pick up where he left off last year, and we even get some quality innings out of Livan.

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Position Players

C - Schneider/Castro will be... well, Schneider/Castro, possibly more HRs from the two..

1B - Delgado should be fine, probably 30 HR +100 RBI.

2B - Castillo will be boo'ed as soon as he grounds out for the first time in Citi Field. Tatis will take over the job by late-May or mid-June.

SS - Reyes will hit more for power and his triples will exceed last year's

3B - Wright will be good, but its tough seeing him repeat his 2008 RBI total (124 was it?).. he'll certainly drive in 100+ though

LF - Murphy will hit for avg/obp .. walk alot, hit doubles with quite a few triples .. 10-15 HRs maybe..

CF - Beltran will hit for better avg and drive in more runs.. for some reason I could see Beltran winning the MVP

RF - Church will be fine, he'll hit for solid power and hit a good amount of doubles.. dont expect Sheff to take his spot.. Church has been treated pretty poorly by this organization and i can see him really playing with a chip on his shoulder w/ something to prove this year.

Starting Pitchers

1 - Johan Santana: 1 word (er, or 2?) - CY YOUNG.

2 - Mike Pelfrey: Im expecting his ERA to rise a bit but he should be pretty damn consistent.

3 - Oliver Perez: Hes in for a disastrous year. Expect the same Ollie but with more inconsistent starts.. he'll be lucky to reach double digit wins.

4 - John Maine: he'll be better than Ollie, win 12+ games.

5 - Livan Hernandez: he'll be an above average #5 to start the year.. once he struggles by mid season, I expect Niese to take his spot.

- The bench and bullpen are great .. In the bullpen I really like Parnell and Green (besides Putz/K-Rod obviously) .. HUGE year for Pedro Feliciano, hes a big part of that bullpen being the lone lefty. The bench is pretty damn stacked.. Tatis AND Sheffield as righty power bats off the bench? Damn.. our bench is tons better than last year's.

***

Thats my quick rundown, i was planning to go more in depth with actual batting avg/obp/hr/rbi but im in class right now :D

Edited by nmigliore
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Listening to Joe and Evan...they just made a brief mention of CitiField. Observations they made that I agree with, based on what I saw on TV:

1) The ballpark seems to be more about getting CitiField's name out there than the team that actually plays there. (The scoreboard comes to mind: nothing but a very sedate "LET'S GO METS!" Does anyone else think there isn't enough Met-related stuff? And I kind of wish the outfield wall was blue instead of green.)

2) They really need to sell out the rest of the advertising space. Those blank gray rectangles and squares aren't terribly appealing to look at.

I'm sure these issues will be addressed in due time.

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