Top 3 of th Week: What I'll Be Looking For When I'm at Mets Spring Training This Week!

1) How Jason Bay Fits In
Oddly enough, even Mets owner, Fred Wilpon, called this offseason "torture," as the Mets failed to land a starter like Jason Marquis or Joel Piniero, or the catcher everyone expected them to sign, Bengie Molina. So it's shocking to see everyone, including the team's owner, overlook the acquisition of one of the top free agents on the market, Jason Bay. His bat will definitely help solidify the middle of the order, and we'll see if his clubhouse presence is as great as everyone makes him out to be. But you have to wonder if the team would have been better off spreading the money they paid Bay around to fill other holes (Gary Matthews Jr. and Kelvin Escobar getting you excited?!). GM Omar Minaya is convinced the free agent crop was no better than what they currently have on their roster...hmm..read on...



2) How the Open Competition Plays Out
So Minaya believes the likes of Fernando Nieve, Jonathan Niese or Nelson Figueroa were a better option than a proven vet like Marquis, Piniero, Ben Sheets or Jon Garland. So Mets fans are left to watch how this crop plays out for the 5th starter role. The catching situation just got a little more clearer, as the team signed Rod Barajas, essentially eliminating any competition there would have been in camp. He's a solid defender who's got some pop (17 HRs last year), so the all-of-a-sudden-discount-shopping Mets have some credibility behind the plate. (Josh Thole's not ready for the bigs, and Santos isn't the preferred backstop for pitchers). Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. will battle it out in center until Beltran comes back, and finally, Daniel Murphy will find the re-acquired Mike Jacobs taking grounders with him at 1st. But it looks like Jerry Manuel already claimed it's Murphy who's got the starting spot.



3) The Mood at Camp
We all know how the Mets season played out last year--too many injuries and too many mishaps on the field to compete. Couple that with the prior two years of September collapses, and you have yourself a sorry Met fan. The team believes that the injury bug is behind them ("Oh, yeah?" says a hobbled Carlos Beltran who will start the year on the DL), but with the return of Jose Reyes and a hopefully rejuvenated David Wright (10 HRs ain't going to cut it in 2010), the Mets should be better than they were last year. But there is no way they're better than the Phillies, who've upgraded with Roy Halladay at the top of the rotation. So while there's optimism that 2009 is behind them, let's see if things fall into place for the Mets to have a chance to compete in 2010!

So yes, I'm one of the few fortunate people who's getting paid to head down to spring training for work. And even if I got paid to write this blog and had to pay to go to spring training, I'd still go!
So with that said, this blog is taking a 2-week hiatus. I promise to come back though, and hopefully come back with a tan.

Have a good one, folks! And don't miss me too much!