Opening Day is Here

The opening day roster has been been set. The Mets came into spring training with very few open spots. So there aren't many surprises. The good thing is that for an old team, they have come out of camp pretty healthy.

The Good

• Santana, the best pitcher on the planet, is our opening day starter. The September collapse does not happen with a true ace on the roster.
• Pedro is healthy and better than he has been in a couple of years. While his pitching is important to the team, its his personality that matters most. The Mets sorely needed a killer instinct last year, which Pedro provides.
  
• Beltran looks to be healthy after off season surgery.
• Maine has had a great spring and looks like he may be able to be the pitcher he was in the first half for the entire season.
• It looks like the Mets farm system is not as bare as people claim it to be. While they are short on talent at the high levels, their lower level prospects look pretty good. Lets see how they develop over the course of the year.
• Joe Smith making the team. I think he has the potential to be a good set up man and he gives the team a different look out of the bullpen.
  

The Bad

• Depth in the starting rotation. The trade for Santana has left the Mets with very little depth in the rotation. If Pelfrey does not step up and El Duque stays injured for the majority of the year, there is no one else to turn to.
• Injuries. Alou, Sanchez, Castro and El Duque all start the year on the DL. Delgado and Martinez will probably spend some time on the DL over the course of the year.
• No depth at first. With Delgado's age the Mets needed to get someone who can log at bats at 1st.
  
• Pagan as your starting left fielder. I don't understand how Endy has not earned a shot at being a regular when there is an injury. While I think he is a better player coming off the bench, he would be a better short term answer to Alou's injury with his speed and defense.
• The loss of Gotay to the rival Braves. This is one of those moves that come back to haunt us. Lets hope the Mets know something that the Braves don't.

All this being said. If Reyes returns to pre-Septmeber form and the front four in the rotation stay healthy, the Mets are the team the beat in the NL East and are a solid contender to make the World Series.

Billy, Billy, Billy...

Usually, I like athletes on my favorite teams to be intense, to be smart, and to have an authentic joy for the game. For example, Michael Jordan was the ultimate embodyment of all three of these concepts. Brett Favre and Shaq are two more that come to mind.

Billy Wagner, unfortunately, is not. Simply put, Wagner is an idiot. How in the world can you get upset at a college kid who went to lay a bunt down in a spring training scrimmage.

From Newsday:

Forget the Phillies. Billy Wagner nearly started a beanball war with the University of Michigan after one overzealous Wolverine tried to bunt on him in the fourth inning. With a runner on second and one out, centerfielder Kevin Cislo pushed his bunt foul.

Wagner, clearly annoyed, shook his head a number of times, and Cislo wisely swung away, grounding out. Wagner said he couldn't believe that Cislo, a junior, bunted.

"If he got that bunt down, I would have drilled the next guy," Wagner said. "Play to win against Villanova."

So Billy let me get this straight... you would have drilled a college kid in spring training simply because he went to lay down a bunt? A bunt from a college kid got you all riled up? Puhhhhlease. Where were you in August and September when the team needed a pitching pick-me-up? Oh I know, you and your ever-decreasing 95 mph fastball were getting rocked left and right by the Marlins and Phillies.

I know he's our closer but Wagner is confirming how much of a jerk he is. Just shut up and pitch Billy

Let The Games Begin...

Well it's finally here. The baseball season for the New York Metroplolitans is under way and things have definitely changed since the debacle that was last season. So what's changed? Let's take a look:

• Lastings Milledge and Paul Lo Duca are now with the Nationals. Anyone familiar with this blog knows how much I went to bat for Lasto. I still think he was blamed for the pettiest things and generally misunderstood by the Wilpons. So maybe a change of scenery was needed for both parties. Paul Lo Duca? Well something tells me Omar had a hunch that Do Luca (as Chris "Mad Dog" Russo called him) may have been a "La Juicer." Ryan Church and Brian Schneider should fill in fine for Milledge and Lo Duca.


• Rafael Santana is now officially the SECOND most popular Santana in Mets history. In comes Johan Santana in what has to be the biggest (and best) move that Omar Minaya has made during his tenure. Out goes speedy Carlos Gomez and a few pitching prospects but in comes the most dominate pitcher of the last 5 years. Johan Santana instantly fortifies the pitching and makes everyone else's lives just that much easier. And if early reports on Pedro Martinez are true, look for the Mets pitching staff to have one hell of a year.


• Carlos Beltran has a (gulp) fire inside him? Sure seems so. Looks like the bad taste from not making the playoffs is still on Beltran's mind. How else do you explain him going all Jimmy Rollins on us and basically guaranteeing that the Mets would win the division this year. You know what? If it takes a season like last year's to light a fire under Beltran's tush i'm all for it. Something positive has to come from the W.C.E. (worst collapse ever).


• Questions still remain. Namely with the bullpen and with a few aging bats in the lineup. Will the bullpen be effective with the return of Duaner Sanchez? Is El Duque headed to the pen? Was Delgado's horrible season last year a fluke? Will Alou play more than a 100 games? (seriously the guy is more frail than a sandcastle in a hurricane). What will Pedro have left in the tank? Can the bottom of the lineup produce? Can Willie effectively manage the high expectations placed on this team with the arrival of Santana? Guess we'll find out soon


• And finally... Roger Clemens is a bold-faced liar. I tried to tell you guys last year that Roger Clemens was a suspect juicer and low-and-behold, we find out that the Rocket was fueled by Winstrol and HGH. Throw in Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch and we see that the Yankees had some serious problems with performance enhancing drugs. But in all fairness, so have most teams... they just weren't caught. But finding out Clemens used 'roids really puts the infamous Piazza bat-throwing incedent into perspective don't ya think?

So Spring Training is here and us Mets fans can finally put the W.C.E. behind us. I'm pumped up, or as Barack Obama would say, "I'm fired up... and ready to go!" Or for you Hillary Clinton fans, I'm ready to cheer the Mets from "Day one!" Let the season begin.

JACKPOT!!!!

METS LAND JOHAN SANTANA

This is truly a great day to be a Mets fan. Not only does Omar Minaya and the Mets land THE premier pitcher in all of baseball, they do so without giving up any starting players OR their top prospect, Fernando Martinez. For Omar to pull this trade off is remarkable when you think about where the Mets were 2 months ago... which was behind the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels in terms of best deals on the table. Omar, all is forgiven after that horrible Milledge trade!

For the Twins, you have to feel a bit sorry for their fanbase. Again, the economics of baseball deprive them of an opportunity to hold on to a future hall of famer... wait what am I saying, screw that WE JUST GOT THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL FOR DIRT CHEAP!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Let's Go Mets!

Getting Close

Under Construction

Hey guys - My first little dip into blogging has been fun and very informative. With the information I learned, I'm coming back full steam next season with a bigger and even better MetsBrotha. Thanks to all who found this blog interesting and all I have to say is just wait. Next year is going to be funnnnn!!! Look for MetsBrotha to make a reappearance sometime in late February/Early March - just in time for Spring Training.

How To Cope With the Loss

Haha now this is funny stuff! Sean Gregory over at Time magazine is a lifelong Mets fan. So needless to say, he's feeling the blues just like all of us. So he asks the question:

So how do they get over it? How can sports fans, whose teams so often tease them with outsize expectations, deal with such unexpected failures? How should I, a lifelong Mets lover who has lived through so much disappointment from this franchise, take the greatest heartbreak of them all?

He continues:

The first step is to accept how much it hurts, regardless of those dismissive observers you might know who tell you to have some perspective, that it's just the end of the season, not the end of the world. Sure, the fate of your sports team is less pressing than, say, your marriage or mortgage, and it may seem ridiculous to tie your self-esteem to the actions of multimillionaire athletes who don't know you one bit, but you have to allow yourself to mourn a little. "It's natural to be upset," says Dr. Richard Lustberg, a clinical psychologist from Long Island and creator of the Psychology of Sports website. "Baseball is being taken away from you. It's difficult to handle, especially when watching Mets games have become part of your routine. There's some reality to it. It's like you've suddenly had an aneurysm."

An aneurysm? Sooooooo watching the Mets lose is like having an aneurysm? Call me crazy but it ain't hurt THAT bad.

You can click here to read the rest of the Time magazine article.

Here's my advice:

1.) First, grab a Heineken. Better yet, since this loss was such a tough one to take... make that some scotch or vodka on the rocks.

2.) Next, lift said drink and swallow as fast as you can.

3.) Next, repeat steps 1 and 2 over and over again until the Mets become the absolute last thing on your mind. Or until you pass out. Either or, you won't have to thnk about the "collapse."

And remember - don't drink and drive! Holla back.

Surprise: Scott Schoeneweis Received Steroids

Why am I not surprised. Looks like Scott "Show Me The Door" Schoeneweis had a thing for juice. And I ain't talking about Hawaiian Punch. Check it out:

Scott Schoeneweis, the veteran New York Mets reliever and a survivor of testiticular cancer, received six steroid shipments from Signature Pharmacy while playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2003 and 2004, ESPN has learned.

According to a source in Florida close to the ongoing investigation of Signature, Schoeneweis' name appears on packages that were sent to Comiskey Park while the White Sox were battling to win the AL Central title in 2003. Two more shipments arrived at the stadium in 2004, months before Schoeneweis underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow.

Source: ESPN.com


First off let me point out again that it seems like a good amount of pitchers were on the juice, far more than I ever imagined. But seriously, do the Mets have to sign all of them? I mean first Guillermo Mota and now Scotty. Sheesh it just gets worse by the minute.

Mets Will Keep Randolph

Looks like Willie Randolph will not be fired after the team's historic collapse.

From Newsday:

Willie Randolph will visit the principal's office today at Shea Stadium, and he'll be told to never, ever do that again. He'll be warned that if he attempts another stunt like this, he can try getting work with his first organization, the Pirates.

Mets ownership, particularly COO Jeff Wilpon, is livid about the collapse that ended with Sunday's embarrassing loss to the Marlins. It's understandable. But it's heartening to see that the Wilpon family - described yesterday by Omar Minaya as "an ownership group that's a fan" - will look past its rage and give Willie another chance in 2008.

Randolph deserves that opportunity, because, just as Minaya said at his Shea post-mortem, his body of work as a manager merits it. He also should come back because it would be criminal to scapegoat Randolph for what turned into a system-wide malfunction.

Honestly, it's the right move. The team's struggles down the stretch were more of Omar Minaya's doing than anything. Willie just played the cards he was dealt. Turns out his deck needed a few more aces and trump cards.

A Sad Day...

I was originally going to post this long analytical piece on everything I think went wrong with the Mets. Then I got an email message from one of the biggest Mets fans I've ever known in my life. So instead of going in depth, I'll just post her email and my response. I think it sums up the emotions that all of us Mets fans have gone through these past weeks.

---

Subject:
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 08:32:55 -0400
From: ************
To: ************


Well Keith, I really don't know what to say, except that was the worst Mets game I have ever seen in my entire life. I'm not even disappointed, I'm just mad. The Phillies deserve that playoff spot, they played their hearts out for it and that is something the Mets just didn't do. Things might turn out differently next year if the Mets make some changes this winter. Thanks for the encouraging words the past few weeks.

---

My response:

Hey ***... yeah this sucks. I really kept hope and thought they would eventually pull it out. I mean, they're not called the "Amazin' Mets" for nothing. And after Saturday, I just knew deep down that Philly would blow it and the Mets would slide in. But after the first inning of yesterday's game, I knew it was not to be.

I just can't understand how this team lost so many games in the same fashion night in and night out for the last month. Score 6 runs, take a 3-run lead into the 6th inning, watch the bullpen blow it. Hold the other team to 2 runs, score 1 run on our end, lose the game. I mean it was sickening to watch. No clutch hitting, no clutch pitching... The whole thing is unbelievable.

A year ago I remember saying how the Mets would be good for years to come because the core of the team was young and Omar was building for the future. At the same time the Yankees were the old team of has-beens with the gloomy future. Somehow the whole thing flip-flopped and now the Mets look extremely old.

And what in the world was up with Jose Reyes? The guy seemed depressed for the better part of 4 months and it showed on the field.

They should just let all of the old players on this team go their merry way and continue to build for the future. Wright will be an MVP someday and we should build around him. Delgado, Glavine, El Duque, Alou (even though he hit well this season) Lo Duca, Green, Castillo... I say let them all go. Play Milledge and Gomez or bring up the kid Fernando Martinez and let them play the outfield. Get a young, big bat to replace Delgado or fill one of the corner outfield slots. But most importantly, get an infusion of young pitching talent into the organization. If that means trading Milledge or Gomez so be it.

The big question - would you trade Jose Reyes for Johan Santana? The fact that I can even sit here and not give you a definitive answer says a lot.

Anyway, Omar has plenty of work to do this offseason. They basically need everything - bullpen help, quality starting pitching and a legit, clutch run producer for the middle of the lineup. It sucks not to have October baseball this year when making the playoffs was never really in doubt all season... but hey what can you do?

So for 2008 and beyond... Let's Go Mets!

(P.S. - Even though things didn't go our way this year I can honestly say that I'd still take being a fan of this team over any other team on the planet. They broke our hearts but that sorta comes with the territory when being a Mets fan. This year's team learned a valuable lesson and hopefully it will stick with them when we compete for the World Series next year. Yes, I still believe.)