Disgruntled Mets Fan

You may have noticed Jose Reyes’ late scratch from your race cards for this afternoon’s split squad games.

You may be asking yourself…  Where’s Jose?

If you look hard enough you’ll find him.

The news has broken that Reyes has returned to New York to await test results on his imbalanced thyroid levels.

It seems the team is being overly cautious while they wait for these results, which I can’t argue with because of what happened when Reyes tried to come back a little too early last year.

My brain is telling me all of this is no big deal, but the disgruntled heart knows we haven’t heard the whole story yet.

Much has been said about David Wright’s home run total in 2009.  Mets fans everywhere are wondering if Wright will have a bounce back season in 2010 power wise, getting his total back up to the thirties that we’re used to.  Well the Mets are trying to help. (Or so they think)

In what seems to be an attempt to make Citi Field more hitter friendly, the front office has decided to lower the Center Field wall from 16 feet to eight.

Personally, I don’t think the height of the center field wall had anything to do with Wright’s lowered home run total last season.   I think his swing had become bigger, and in turn slower, which would help explain his high strikeout totals as well as his lack of home runs.

Looking at Wright’s spray chart for 2009, there were only two balls hit out the part of the field effected by the change.

I don’t think anyone would say two more home runs by Wright last season would have been a make or break change for the Mets.

I’ve always been a big fan of Citi Field’s dimensions, and I think a winning baseball team can easily be fielded to give a huge home field advantage.   The Wilpon’s have said they want to build a baseball  based around pitching, defense, and speed.  I challenge any Mets fan to name a player the Mets have acquired this off-season that will help the team in those three areas.

I have low-expectations for 2010, but I wouldn’t be disgruntled if I didn’t.  I do however, think there is a lot of room for me to be wrong, and pleasantly surprised by the Mets.  Unfortunately, too many things need to go right for the team to be successful, including bounce back performances from every starting pitcher not named Johan.

Here’s to the Mets proving me wrong!

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Beginning Tuesday, February 16th at 11 pm Eastern, BBA Baseball Talk can be found at Blog Talk Radio.  This one-hour show will discuss the big stories of the day in major league baseball and other baseball-related topics.  Callers are welcome to chime in at 347-884-8690.

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I think it’s becoming clear that Omar Minaya is no longer the only guy calling the shots in the Mets front office.  Between his absence at the Carlos Beltran Drama Conference and the emergence of John Ricco as the mouth of the organization, Omar may well be on his way out.

The fact that the news broke today about Bengie Molina rejecting the Mets latest offer should not be looked at negatively.  If anything it shows a change in philosophy at the top of the organization that will help the team get better in the future.  That change is patience.

The Mets have continually displayed patience this offseason.  They haven’t over-payed for anyone.  They haven’t tied up tons of money for tons of years in an attempt to appease the disgruntled fan base.

Instead they’ve put their offers on the table, with a “go out and find a better offer” approach.

Molina wants a three year offer, the Mets offered him a year with a team option for a second.  How a thirty five year old catcher can think he’s going to get a three year deal is beyond me, and apparently beyond the Mets.

As early as last season, when Omar was the guy captaining the ship, you could have almost guaranteed Molina would have signed already, happily inking his name to the three year contract he’s asking for months ago.  Now it seems that times have changed.

If Molina finds a better offer, the Mets will likely beat it, meaning Molina will likely end up a Met before the start of the season anyway, but this way they won’t be bidding against themselves.

Perhaps while Bengie is out “shopping” the Mets can focus on the area they need to address the most, starting pitching.

I believe that at least one of Joel Pinero, Jon Garland and Ben Sheets will be a Met by the start of the 2010 season.  I’m certain we need at least one of them to fill the rotation, and two of them to bolster it.  After all, 80% of the rotation will be coming back from injuries or surgery and the other 20% is Mike Pelfrey.

Looking forward to some good news, but for now I’ll settle for good playing from the J E T S Jets Jets Jets.

I’m not called the Disgruntled Mets fan for no reason.  I describe myself as a self-hating  fan that wishes he had no morals so he could switch allegiances to a team that did not aggravate him so much.  But alas, after 20+ years of aggravation, I’m still here.

In my first off season blogging, I found myself unsuccessfully trying to think of things to write about.  My writing style is more about gut reactions to things that are happening on the field rather than reporting on the day to day news about transactions and signings.

The off season was pretty uneventful up until a few weeks ago, when the Mets landed their version of the “Big Fish” in Jason Bay.  Bay may have been the smallest big fish out there this season, but there’s no doubt he’ll be an upgrade in left field.

The main problem I had with the Bay signing, was that Bay was not a starting pitcher.

The Mets have a gaping hole that makes up the last four spots in their rotation.  Johan Santana is the only guarantee they have.  They have what amounts to three No. 3/4 starters vying for the No. 2 spot in the rotation, and a huge question mark at the No. 5 spot.

The Mets have let opportunities pass in the starting pitching market this off season.  John Lackey was the guy to go out and get, and they missed their chance.  Whether Lackey didn’t want to play for the Mets or not, a big money offer would have changed his mind.

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In my first off-season as a Mets blogger, I’ve run into a bit of a problem.  I consider my style of writing one that follows the ebbs and flows of emotion that go along with being a Mets fan.  I’ve never wanted to be a blog that recycles information, and writes the same thing that all the other Mets blogs write about.  Instead, I write my opinion on how the team is performing, or underperforming on a day to day basis.

Now that there are no games being played, no team taking the field every night, I don’t have anything to write about.

I do however read a bunch of Mets sites to get information about what’s going on, who’s available, who’s on the radar, etc.

MetsBlog has been the most useful source of information, which makes sense since it’s the official Mets blog.  Matt Cerrone and his staff post some great information, and if you need one place to read about the Mets, this is where you should go.

Some other blogs I frequent are:

Mets Today
The Daily Stache
The Ropolitans
Baseball Bloggers Alliance

I can’t wait for next season to start so I have more to say.  Until then, bare with me.  I was not built for the off season.