[Melo]

I thought I would kick this puppy off with my outlook on the Mets preseason. Now that the season is over, as frustrating as it was at times, I miss watching the games. I have high hopes for the 2006 Mets and have visions of Manny and Wagner dancing in my head.

Catcher: Piazza is almost assuredly gone. There was some speculation that Piazza and Castro would share the job next year. When questioned during the White Sox/ Red Sox series, Mike said he was open to it and he said the Mets were open to it but there were a lot of options for both parties. Last week, Buster Olney said on ESPN radio that just about every GM in the league is assuming that Padres catcher Ramon Hernandez is signing with the Mets. Hernandez is a solid catcher offensively and sports a good arm. Brian Schneider is also a FA possibility, as well.

First Base: IMO, this is the most critical position to evaluate this off season. Mike Jacobs, in 100Abs, did enough to merit serious consideration for the job. He’s left handed, has good power and has a good enough glove. But is he going to be good enough to be the man there? With guys like Overbay, Casey, Huff and possibly lesser known players like Detroit’s Pena available via trade, Omar will have to determine whether he wants to trade for someone or see if Jacobs can handle the job on a full time basis over an entire season. This decision could prove to be crucial to next years chances.
Maybe Mientkiewicz and his 3.75M salary can be moved for some BP help. Supposedly, Florida will make Delgado available.

Second Base: Offensively, no team was worse off at 2nd than the Mets. Matsui was injured a lot and Cairo isn’t a full time player. Neither player was particularly selective nor displayed much extra base power. Both have limited range in the field. Matsui is set to earn a stunning 8M next year and has a limited no trade clause in his contract. He can only be dealt to the Yankees or a west coast team. I had hoped that Matsui would gracefully bow out and maybe accept some kind of buy out to slink back to Japan but he showed enough in September that he may think he can still play on this level. Anderson Hernandez is a possibility but he needs to mature offensively and is probably a year away. Omar wants a high OBP guy to bat behind Reyes and 2B would be a nice place to get it from but Matsui’s big salary is a stumbling block.

Shortstop: I think Reyes is one of the most exciting players in the game. Watch him go home to third or even first to home on a single as he did once this season and you’ll know what I mean. He’s just a lot of fun to watch. Supposedly he’s supposed to work on his bunting in the hopes that he could pick up 20-30 hits with better technique. Although he didn’t improve on the amount of walks he earned in the second half, he was more restrained and generally worked the count a little deeper. Defensively, I think he’ll earn a gold glove or two. Most importantly, Reyes stayed healthy and had no problems with his legs at all.

Third Base: Wright can pretty much do it all: 27 HRs and over 40 doubles he’s patient and hit lefties as well as anyone in the NL. He runs well and can steal 20 bases. His defense improved dramatically in the second half as well. He’s a good teammate and already accepted as a leader. David Wright may well end up being the best all around player that the Mets ever produced. Wright would be perfect hitting 3rd in the lineup.

Left Field: Cliffy played his ass off this year and won me over. He bought into Willie’s idea that he is the man and had to play every day. Floyd came into camp in great shape, stayed healthy and did everything asked of him, including fielding his position. Buster Olney has said that he believes Manny Ramirez is likely to become a Met and as silly as it may sound, I’d feel bad for Cliff if Manny came and Cliff had to move to RF. That’s how much I respect Cliff’s effort this past season. There is talk that after this past season that this would be the time to trade him because his value will never be this high. I’m not sure one could expect Cliff to duplicate this past season but I’m not sure his expected numbers for next year would be so easy to replace either. Suffice to say that Manny would be sweet but I’d be happy with Cliff too.

Center Field: Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: Beltran will probably never live up to the salary he is going to be paid. He’s not Manny, he’s not Vlad, he’s not Pujols. But he will be better than he was last year. If Beltran were to consistently give a .300 BA/.390 OBP/.525 SLG season, I don’t think anyone would complain. He’s done that before and he can do it again. If the Mets can get a legit cleanup guy and Wright can move to 3rd in the order Beltran can go back to the 2 hole where he is obviously more comfortable.

Right Field: Cameron will be gone and Diaz is more valuable as trade bait. In fact, if Damon leaves Boston I can see both Cameron and Diaz going in a deal for Manny. Cameron is still highly regarded as a center fielder and despite injured will draw a lot of interest. I like Diaz, he has potential and improved defensively but he got on Willie’s bad side after some attitude problems and lack of hustle. If Manny doesn’t come and Floyd doesn't get shifted to right, I’m not sure what the plan will be. The FA market is thin so maybe Cameron or Diaz will get the job and I’m sure that only one will stay while the other goes.

Bench: I’m hoping Woodward and Anderson stay. Both are versatile in the field and had success as pinch hitters. Cairo is most likely gone and I’d love to see the Mets get a real 4th outfielder and a real back up at first. The Mets could use a little power off the bench. I love Castro as the backup catcher.

Rotation: How does a rotation of Pedro, Glavine, Benson, Heilman and Seo sound? I don’t know, right now it sounds pretty good to me. Assuming Pedro can be pedro and Glavine can come close to his 2nd half performance over an entire season, the Mets have two vets with a proven background. Benson benefited from the veteran presence of both those guys but seemed to tire as the season wound down. Heilman reverted to his old release point (3/4) and became a pitcher again. After a season of success in the pen, he’s going to Venezuela to start and lengthen his arm. Seo matured and even if he’s not as good as he was at the end of this past season, he makes a heckuva 5th starter. This leaves Trachsel and Zambrano on the outside looking in. Trachsel will be traded (supposedly the Red Sox were interested before the 8-31 deadline) and Zambrano may stay and throw out of the pen.

Bullpen: One name…Billy Wagner. Everything else is up in the air. I’m sure Roberto Hernandez will be welcomed back. Juan Padilla was sharp and will have a spot. Looper will be gone and Heilman will be in the rotation. Heath Bell is a possibility but Randolph may have soured on him. Of all things, the bullpen has to fixed. Of course that holds true for just about every other team so it will all have to start with the closer. Wagner and BJ Ryan will be available and the Mets will get one of them. Before the season even ended, Wagner commented that he would be interested in playing for the Mets. He knows the Mets will pay and the Mets know he can close games better than any other FA out there. The Mets also need a good lefty set up guy out in the pen but again, so does every one else. Lefties are at a premium.

Overall outlook: The NL East is highly competitive. The Braves are the Braves and someone has to knock them off sooner or later. The question is when it will happen? Atlanta is the model and everyone is trying to catch up to them. Philly has the most talented starting lineup in the division; with pitching they could be scary. Unless Florida dismantles again, they have the most talent overall. Washington played hard all year and should be a quality team again.

The Mets got what they wanted this year. They improved and Omar will once again have an open checkbook with the new Mets sports station to debut next year. The FA market will be thin so it will be a mix of FA and trade and hopefully some of the kids can get a cup of coffee next year. Piazza will fall off the payroll this year and after next year, Glavine, Matsui, Floyd and Cameron will fall off and there will be a lot of openings for new blood like Petit, Milledge, Bannister, Hernandez and the like. Omar’s plan is to win now without sacrificing the future and although next years squad can be talented, key players have a certain amount of fragility so the youngsters could play a significant role. It will be interesting to see how Omar, Willie, et al approach next year after having a full season to evaluate the franchise and it’s talent.