No team shows up to spring training issue free and the Mets are no exception. Even with a good team if you look hard enough you’ll find something.
This is what I regard as the Mets’ top ten questions:
Q: Outside of Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez and John Maine, who is in the rotation?
A: The Mets are saying three spots are open in the rotation, but I’m not buying. Maine will be there. That leaves Oliver Perez, who I think is earmarked for the fourth slot, Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber, Alay Soler, Jorge Sosa, Aaron Sele, Jason Vargas and Chan Ho Park competing for the fifth spot.
Q: Will Glavine and Hernandez go the distance?
A: With all the worrying about who will fill out the back end of the rotation, remember Glavine and Hernandez are both 40 with durability concerns.
Q: Will Duaner Sanchez be ready for Opening Day?
A: This is huge because with him the make-up of the remainder of the bullpen will fall into place. Sanchez said he should be ready coming off shoulder surgery, but if he’s not, and then the Mets are juggling right out of the gate.
Q: What about the new guys in the bullpen?
A: Chad Bradford and Darren Oliver were dependable last season but are gone. The Mets are counting on Ambiorix Burgos, Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa (assuming he doesn’t make the rotation) to fill their roles and keep the chemistry intact.
Q: How healthy are the other players who underwent surgery?
A: Paul Lo Duca (thumb), Aaron Heilman (elbow), Carlos Delgado (wrist and elbow) and Juan Padilla (elbow) all went under the knife. Expectations are good, but you never really know until they start playing.
Q: Does Jose Reyes continue his rise to stardom?
A: He should, be Randolph laid this qualifier on us after the season: Young players don’t always progress at a measured rate, and sometimes after a big season can regress a step. The key for Reyes is improving his on-base percentage and cutting his strikeouts.
Q: Will Jose Valentin have an encore season?
A: Valentin played so well last season that it prompted the trade of Kaz Matsui. The Mets will be thrilled with a duplicate season, but realistically, will they get it? If Valentin hits the skids, will Anderson Hernandez be ready?
Q: Will Moises Alou stay healthy?
A: His track record is one of production, but also one of injury. If Alou goes down we could have another up-and-down season with Lastings Milledge, and that’s something the Mets really don’t want.
Q: What will they get from Shawn Green?
A: Certainly not the power production he gave Toronto and Los Angeles, but they need some consistent RBI output at the bottom of the order.
Q: Will they rediscover last season’s chemistry?
A: David Wright said last year’s special chemistry was sparked in spring training never diminished. What the Mets had last season was special, and often that’s difficult to duplicate. They need to re-establish that quickly.
5 Comments
I miss bradford already. :-(
i will wait for the season to start to figure out who’s playing and what will happen. as a met fan i take it one game at a time.
John,
All very good points.
I have the feeling that Pelfrey/Humber will start in the minors and come up later.
Hopefully they can start down there with less pressure and better weather. While up here there is a 4 man rotation cause of lack of games early.
I also hope Park pans out and give us high 4 era and 500 pitcher. That would take a lot of pressure off the staff and let the young guys force the marginal vets to the sidelines when they are ready.
I think the OF will settle itself one way or the other and hope Valentin has a good year or the kid continues his winter ball prowess.
Dave
Q: Where will David Wright hit in the 2007 lineup?
A: If Carlos Delgado is unable to start the season—he is coming off two surgeries and is scheduled to become a father during the first week of April—his absence might provide Willie Randolph with an opportunity to make an inevitable switch: Putting Wright in the clean-up spot. Statistically speaking, Wright has been a monster when penciled in the fourth spot; and the addition of Moises Alou, who figures to bat sixth, means Willie needs to find a way to separate the lefty power of Beltran and Delgado from the righty power of Wright and Alou. Going with Beltran/Wright/Delgado/Alou seems to be the most obvious solution.
There’s no balance if they bat Wright fifth and Alou sixth; that lineup will leave them suspectible to a team bringing in a situational lefty for Beltran and Delgado, followed by a situational righty for Wright and Alou. They need to separate Wright and Alou, and putting Shawn Green in between them isn’t the answer.