A Third Place Team?

I was looking at the Sports section of a newspaper in Western New York and in it was a column with predictions as to how this individual expected the race to finish in the NL East this coming sports season. I was shocked to see that he not only picked the Phillies to win the division, he picked the Braves to finish in second and dropped the Mets to third.

As an adult, I have tried to honestly assess the Mets as the season starts. I do this, in large part, to avoid disappointment. If I admit to myself that the Mets have a bad team, or an overrated team, I will be less disappointed when they do not finish in first. Having said that, I do not see the Mets as a third place team.

The columnist argues that while on paper the Mets look good, when you go beyond the surface there are too many problems and bringing Johan Santana is not enough. Lets take a look at some of his claims.

He starts out with the fact that the Mets are an aging team and while they have some young talent, too many of their players are old, will not be able to hold up and last the season without injuries. Certainly Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Church and Schneider are not old. Castillo is an older player but I am under the impression the surgery was designed to prolong his playing career and they have younger options available there if need be. Alou is always a question mark but is worth the gamble considering what he brings to the team. Assuming Endy Chavez is healthy to spell Alou at times and what we saw of Angel Pagan in spring is the real deal, they should be fine when it comes to Alou not playing. That leaves Delgado and he is an interesting character. Is he in a downhill slide or does he have something to prove? While Delgado did not have a great year compared to anyone’s expectations, he is still a dangerous threat at the plate and offers protection to the other players.

The columnist was critical of the pitching staff. My thoughts are, while it maybe true that Martinez is getting older, they have three young starters in Maine, Perez and Santana. Maine and Perez, although having some problems last year, showed they can handle the role of pitching an entire season. If Pelfrey should get the fifth starting spot, that is another young guy in the rotation.

Interestingly enough, the columnist praised the Mets bullpen and said it had a lot of talent and depth. I hope he is right because during last year’s collapse, the bullpen was a major culprit.

I look at this team and I see them finishing above third. As I have stated before, based on the money they have spent, even finishing in first is not acceptable if they do not make it to the World Series. The team has got to go in with this approach, have a plan and, as they say, plan your work and work your plan.