Mar
16
2011

2 Champions – 2 Different Winning Seasons – 2 Opinions

An article by Lenore Luca

Spring training is going on as we speak. The New York Mets as well as every other MLB team are practicing and trying to perfect their skills so they can be the best they can be when the season begins. Right now the NY Mets are down in Port St. Lucie honing their skills while getting ready to begin and finish off their year with a bang! They even brought dirt from Citi Field down to Florida for Spring Training so the players can practice on the same turf like they have at home.

Everyone is going around saying what the Mets should or shouldn’t do to get back to where they were. But what should they really do? I’ve had the chance to talk to former New York Mets Players Ron Darling and Ed Kranepool and they explained to me what they believe the Mets should do in order to get back into the game as the well rounded, powerful team they could be.

I had asked Ron Darling if he thinks Terry Collins, the new Mets Manager, will bring his team to a winning season and all Ron could say while laughing was “Yeah, good luck Terry.” He then added that the Mets do have some good things going for them “Carlos Beltron and Jose Reyes are playing for a new contract and when athletes are playing for a new contract they tend to have great years. But who knows what’s going to happen. Philadelphia is such a strong team so they (The New York Mets) are going to have to be at their best and almost have a perfect year.” He also added “I see a bright future for the Mets”. Now let’s see if Ron Darling’s predictions will come true.

Ed Kranepool had his own opinion on how the Mets will do this year, “I haven’t seen them picking up a lot of trades. They have picked up some players that were injured in the past so they’re hoping for a miracle. But I hope the ball club does better than last year because they struggled. They have to improve their pitching staff and that’s what they are trying to do.” Kranepool then added, “Everyone has to improve their play. They go to spring training hoping to be a better player and that’s what the fun of baseball is all about – being in the World Series.”

Only time will tell if the New York Mets will step up their game this year. I don’t know about you, but I have faith in our Mets. And maybe if all their fans would…They Would!

To see both my interviews with Ron Darling and Ed Kranepool you can click on the links below.

Interview With Ron Darling – 86 NY Mets World Series Champion

Interview With Ed Kranepool – Entire MLB Career With The New York Mets

About the Author: Lenore Luca

6 Comments + Add Comment

t agee March 16, 2011 at 9:23 am

Philly will be getting top heavy in salary and long in the tooth pretty soon and depending on how they play out their SS and CF free agents situations and how their pitching in the minors progresses, could be sooner rather than later. We have to hope they do what we did. Keep counting on the same guys going on and on and on for lack of any other options.

Atlanta’s a different matter entirely. They came off a 16 year run where they were in the playoffs every single year, they slumped a bit, made a couple of mistakes, but it looks like their back in it and ready to go for quite a while. Hunter and Minor joining Jurjens in the rotation, Venters, Kimbrell, Moylan, and O’flaherty in the Pen. Teheran and Vizcaino are just some of the fresh arms in the minors. Younger veterans like Prado, McCann, Uggla, young guys like Heyward, Schafer and Freeman, A little age at SS and 3B but there are a number of different ways they can address that, One of which scares the living s*** out of me. Three things we know about Atlanta, they’ll have a payroll that is 50 M less than ours, They’ll have a RFer and a second basemen, and they’ll be in the playoffs.

If Washington starts giving up their #2 pick (which isn’t that far from being in the supplementary round) their going to lose out on a lot of good players, ones with price tags that allow you to keep them all for 5-10 years and provide a lot of options for acquiring aces or having depth and competition on their team. Washington already has some good middle infielders, catchers, a third basemen, RFer and a couple of starting pitchers if Strassberg comes back. When Harpers ready they’ll move Werth to LF and hope to get 5 years total out of him.

Florida has almost run out of good prospects. Matt Dominguez at 3B is their last remaining high ceiling prospect and without the ability to take on payroll could be in trouble shortly. I wouldn’t expect that we’ll be able to count on the Marlins providing us with any players to make a run like they did for us the last few times we went to the post season. They’ll probably be bringing up the rear in a couple of years.

Our future is totally dependent on the prospects Omar got into our system and Alderson being able to get something out of players with health concerns and mixing and matching incomplete players. Ultimately it will be up to him to bring in talented all around players through the IFA market and draft to sustain whatever success he’s able to piece together.
Mr North Jersey March 16, 2011 at 11:45 am

Just wanted to say way to go Lenore on getting to interview Darling and Kranepool.
Mookie March 16, 2011 at 12:09 pm

I’m not really a big Kranepool fan, but you did a great job with Darling’s interview. Very well done and your style reminds me a lot of the woman they have doing Mets Weekly and Beer Money before that. I cant remember her name, it will come to me. lol
Brandon Butler March 16, 2011 at 4:39 pm

Those were great interviews Lenore! The article is awesome too! Welcome to MMO, as well as the MMO team! Nice to have ya on board!
- Lenore Luca March 17, 2011 at 9:17 pm
  
  Thanks! I am glad to be a part of the team!
stick March 16, 2011 at 5:46 pm

Ronnie is getting kind of portly there. Might want to send him down to the field to work out a bit during ST!

MMO Mets Chat

Need Tickets To The Mets Game?

Check Out These Great MLB Links!

For wholesale prices on New York Mets gifts and equipment, check these stores out!
Mets Autograph Signings
Mets Fan Apparel
Mets Autographed Baseballs
Baseball Card Supplies
Baseball Equipment

For the best seats and lowest MLB ticket prices, go to PurchaseSeats.com. Get your Mets Tickets now and follow them on the road with Yankees Tickets, Phillies Tickets, Nationals Tickets and Braves Tickets!