3653 replies to this topic

[Devils Pride 26]

With spring training in full swing a thought it would be a good time to start the thread. After the collapse of last season the goal this year is simple; World Series Championship. This a team built to win this year. With Beltran claiming they are the team to beat, that gets me extremely excited. Ever since Carlos signed here I have been waiting for him to say something like this. Hopefully they prove to be the team to beat. When we acquired Johan, many experts penciled us in to win the NL. Now is the time to do it.


Pitching Rotation-
1 Johan Santana
2 Pedro Martinez
3 John Maine
4 Oliver Perez
5A Orlando Hernandez
5B Mike Pelfrey

Bullpen-
Billy Wagner
Aaron Heilman
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Felicano
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith

Batting Order-
SS Jose Reyes
2B Jose Castillo
CF Carlos Beltran
3B David Wright
1B Carlos Delgado
LF Moises Alou
RF Ryan Church
C Brian Schneider
Pitcher

Bench-
C Ramon Castro
OF Endy Chavez
INF Rueben Gotay
Utility Damion Easily
INF Marlon Anderson
OF Angel Pagan


LETS GO METS 2008 IS OUR YEAR!!!

Edited by Devils Pride 26, 28 June 2008 - 10:53 PM.

[NJDevs4978]

I don't think Joe Smith's going to make the team, he was rushed up last year and figured out after the first trip through the league. If anything I'd guess on 12 pitchers at least to start with given Matt Wise as a short guy and Sosa as the long reliever.

You left out PH sensation Marlon Anderson from the bench players. God help us if Anderson Hernandez makes the roster, and he'd only be a SS replacement for Reyes and play as much as Kevin Weekes does anyway. The last bench spot is Gotay's to lose but Willie doesn't like him so I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up getting traded, especially with bringing back Castillo.

And today Delgado got an MRI on his hip (WHAT A SHOCK ), so first base could be an issue soon. For all the whining from Mets fans about how Beltran hasn't lived up to his deal he has had two pretty good years out of three, while Delgado had one and sucked last year.

[Devils Pride 26]

Yeah I forgot. Better fix that. You don't Smith will make the team? He did hit a wall in the middle of the season, but hopefully he is better prepared this year and with Peterson you never know what kind of magic he has up his sleeve.

Edited by Devils Pride 26, 01 March 2008 - 04:45 PM.

[themiddle91489]

Delgado went back to NY to have an MRI on his hip.

Church got into a bad collision with Anderson today, got a concussion.

Pedro, Beltran, El Duque still rehabbing from off season injuries.

Doesn't look like Delgado will be ready for the season, the rest should be ok.

I think the Mets should give Michel Abreu a shot at 1B with Delgado probably not ready.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

The mets should have kept Julio Franco to play 1st.

[Triumph]

If Mike Pelfrey doesn't make the Opening Day team in some form it will be a crime.

[Devils Pride 26]

I just don't see where Pelfrey fits in. Would you rather have him over El Duque? Or have Pelfrey in the pen? He would probably just rot there, so I would rather have him in the minors staying sharp waiting for Duque to get hurt. (Not an if, with Duque It is always when )

[overtime98]

LETS GO METS!!!

LETS FINALLY MAKE SOME POST SEASON NOISE!!!!

[metallidevils]

If Mike Pelfrey doesn't make the Opening Day team in some form it will be a crime.

stick to hockey, man.

[Triumph]

Depends on whether they think Duque can be an effective bullpen contributor and keep himself durable that way - but he will definitely get hurt at some point.

But whatever, enjoy this season, as it figures to be the last where the Mets will seriously contend for the World Series. They'd better get it this year, because the way things are playing out, it doesn't look that promising for future seasons.

[nmigliore]

Duque is not going to be an effective starter.. I really think hes gonna do terrible if they actually give him that rotation spot b/c he is whining for it.. Pelfrey finished the year pretty good (I believe he got his first win vs the Braves in which he pitched a terrific game, then i think he got a no-decision and that was it for his starts.. he started off the year terrible though)

Mets won their ST game today vs the Dodgers 1-0, Niese did a good job pitching 2 hitless innings (i think they were hitless).. Pierre, Martin, and Andru Jones were the notable Dodgers in the line up.. but pitching wise everybody else was solid, including Sosa, Feliciano (bases went loaded on him with 1 out and he got out of the jam), and Stokes.. Some non-roster invitees/minor leaguers pitched as well

Edited by nmigliore, 01 March 2008 - 05:50 PM.

[SteveStevens]

The mets should have kept Julio Franco to play 1st.

That would be horrible. Julio did decent at the beginning of the season but really wasnt needed besides that.

I honestly think the key to this team is Alou. If you look at Alous stats of how the Mets do when he plays, its incredible. If Alou stays healthy it could mean good things for the Mets.

The catching is also a key to this season.

[nmigliore]

Yeah I rather have Damion Easley or Marlon Anderson at 1st base (backup) rather than Franco.. Easley had a pretty good year last season, too bad he had that bad ankle twist vs the Nats that ended his season.. Anderson, well, he was the best bench player last year IMO

>Both are capable of playing 1st base.. I remember Easley played at 1st for a couple games last year and I think Anderson has past experience backing up 1st base

Edited by nmigliore, 01 March 2008 - 06:06 PM.

[metallidevils]

Depends on whether they think Duque can be an effective bullpen contributor and keep himself durable that way - but he will definitely get hurt at some point.

But whatever, enjoy this season, as it figures to be the last where the Mets will seriously contend for the World Series. They'd better get it this year, because the way things are playing out, it doesn't look that promising for future seasons.

care to elaborate?

[nmigliore]

I would understand if you complained about giving up F-Mart (Fernando Martinez, Mets TOP prospect) but... ? I also would like to see you (Tri) elaborate..

Looking into next off season - Perez is a FA, he will undoubtedly sign with another team.. Pedro Martinez will probably resign with the Mets if things go smoothly this year.. Maine's contract continues.. Duque will retire (good), and great young pitchers like Kunz, Pelfrey, and Niese will find bigger roles on this team.. Delgado is also a FA next year I believe, but so is Ryan Howard (i think) and Mark Texeira, maybe they Mets can land one of them. Castillo will be under contract for next year as well.. Reyes, Wright, Beltran also secured as far as I know.. So that leaves Alou, who will probably retire, but we have F-Mart or endy chavez or another prospect to take his spot

I dont see how this team's future is bad.. The biggest piece we will lose next off season will be Oliver Perez

Edited by nmigliore, 01 March 2008 - 10:22 PM.

[NJDevs4978]

If Mike Pelfrey doesn't make the Opening Day team in some form it will be a crime.

It doesn't matter if he makes the team or not, he'll get 20-25 starts anyway. Might as well have him start in AAA early in the season when the fifth starter doesn't traditionally pitch, then when Duque rolls out of bed the wrong way he'll go in the rotation.

memo to everyone else: halfshark was being sarcastic about Franco.

Looking into next off season - Perez is a FA, he will undoubtedly sign with another team.. Pedro Martinez will probably resign with the Mets if things go smoothly this year.. Maine's contract continues.. Duque will retire (good), and great young pitchers like Kunz, Pelfrey, and Niese will find bigger roles on this team.. Delgado is also a FA next year I believe, but so is Ryan Howard (i think) and Mark Texeira, maybe they Mets can land one of them. Castillo will be under contract for next year as well.. Reyes, Wright, Beltran also secured as far as I know.. So that leaves Alou, who will probably retire, but we have F-Mart or endy chavez or another prospect to take his spot

I dont see how this team's future is bad.. The biggest piece we will lose next off season will be Oliver Perez

Well the NL isn't going to be mediocre forever, we can't count on being the prohibitive favorite every year. The Mets have to cash in sooner or later. I don't think Perez is neccesarily a goner, although he is definitely going to the highest bidder whoever that is. Whether Pedro comes back (and to a lesser extent Perez) will depend on this year for sure, and if something goes awry with him well then you have to fill two spots in the rotation between him and Duque. Three if Perez walks.

In the bullpen I don't expect any major changes unless Wagner either gets hurt or whines his way off the team, which is possible. Then again Heilman's not going to be an indentured servant forever, I don't know when he's eligible to walk though.

As far as the offense, yes they have Reyes-Castillo-Wright-Beltran around for a while but Alou and Delgado are big losses off the offense and need to be replaced. They will try to pick up a big bat at first base and hope F-Mart can step in right away. It's also debatable what they get out of Church, and whether the Mets are looking for production from two outfield spots next year, not just one.

On the bright side if the Mets don't go anywhere this year, they'll almost surely fix their biggest weakness which is the manager.

Edited by Hasan4978, 01 March 2008 - 10:39 PM.

[nmigliore]

Blaming the manager is a poor excuse for the collapse.. ITS THE PLAYERS that play the game, not the coaches. He might be doing everything he can to get them fired up but its not his fault when they aren't getting things done.. Its not like hockey; he cant make them spend time after a game and sprint b/c they played bad.

[NJDevs4978]

If the Mets had a Sutter-type they would have won 100 games last year. There was just no accountability at all last year for all the lack of hustle and mental mistakes. Except to the extent that Willie liked to show his toughness by bullying the younger players while letting the vets get off scot-free - i.e. he benched Reyes (once) for lack of hustling and didn't say boo to anyone else. Playing favorites is worse than being totally soft.

And it was dissapointing because the one thing we were all counting on when Willie came aboard was the fact that the players would respect him and he would be tough and neither was true last year. That's not even getting into some of his erratic managerial decisions like his insistence on using Mota - and for two innings at a time. Or running Julio Franco out there blindly for the first half of the season. Not to mention not having a long man in the pen at all.

[nmigliore]

Im pretty sure he ran Mota out there because he was supposed to be our top BP pitcher (with Sanchez out).. Heilman never appealed to me last season, nor did Feliciano.. Im glad we added people like Stokes and Wise. I think BP pitching is based greatly on confidence. Our top BP pitcher last season was probably Schoenweis, he finished the year strong I thought.. Sosa didn't seem used to coming in every game and you saw him struggle after a week or 2 in the 'pen.. Hopefully, with Mota gone, things will be better in the 'pen this year.. If not, Willie has other pitchers in AA or AAA ball that would love to come up (Feguroa, Niese, Smith)

Edited by nmigliore, 01 March 2008 - 10:56 PM.

[metallidevils]

delgado was a nightmare last season, he's not a 'huge loss'.