SOMEHOW, U CHOOSE TO IGNORE ADDING THE SINGLE WORST DEFENIVE 2B TO THE 26th RANKED DEFENSE & MERELY SHRUG IT OFF AS WELL AS IGNORING REPLACING WAGNER WITH 2 TOTALLY UNPROVEN OPTIONS WITH A COMBINED RECORD OF JUST 2 MLB SAVES IN 8 OPPORTUNITIES SHAKE THAT UP WITN A 39 YR OLD 3B AVGING ONLY 122G/Y PLAYED WITH 21HR & 76RBI OVER THE PAST 5 YRS WHO’S INCIDENTLY COMING OFF OF ACL SURGERY AND U ARRIVE @ A DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON DESPITE OPPOSITION ADDING CLIFF LEE TO THAT MURDERER’S ROW ROTATION.
T, case u didn’t realize it, THAT ATLANTA PROPHECY IS WHAT’S GENERALLY CONSIDERED AS OPTIMISM. SUGGEST U BUY A NEW WEBSTERS & SEND ME THE BILL.

There was a lot that went right last season that might not go as right this year. Dickey 175 IP 2.48 ERA, Angel’s great all around play. Either or both could have some regression, we’re not talking about guys who have had a long history of success.

I think it’s very reasonable to think that Beltran could play very well and be traded, or not be able to get into a groove because of having to manage his knees day to day.

Either one of those possibilities leads us to no getting much from RF this year.

Bay hitting .250/.350/.450 would be an improvement but is still ordinary for LF. I think that is about where he will wind up.

I like Thole but for us to get GOOD offensive production from catcher, the 1/3rd of games we face a LHP it is vital that Paulino do against them what he has done in the past.

Paulino has now not had any ST and in fact has been shut down from doing anything. This can’t help him in April and May (remember Reyes) and I’m concerned about him and his prospects for getting on the field at all in 2011. I am not of the belief that Nickeas could adequately fill that need.

Emaus does not impress me with what little bit I’ve seen of him and my feeling is we’ll get the same poor D/lite bat we got the last few years.

I am certainly open to and hoping that I am wrong about Nickeas, Emaus and Paulino’s medical/no ST issues.

I would have left Carlos in extended ST and kept Evans for a week and very likely kept him over Harris and backed Angel with Hairston and Neuwenhaus instead of Hairston/Harris because if Angel were to go down, the seasons over anyway. We might as well see what Newenhaus might be able to do in CF and had Duda/Evans or even Fern/Evans to give a shot to at the same time.

And whether or not Johan was the MAN, we still have to match his 200 IP at a 2.98 ERA in order to start even with last year.

Call it pessamistic but I have been foolishly optimistic in the past and I guess I’ve learned to temper that with some realism.

I will be at Citi Field rooting as always, hoping our results are closer to your prediction but that’s how I see it.

The season will play out and we’ll enjoy it for whatever we can get, if it happens to be more than I thought on April 1st I’ll count my blessings. In any event when I settle in to watch Opening Day I’ll be watching right alongside you.

CASE U HADN'T NOTICED PUT EACH OF THOSE CONSEQUENCES APPLIED TO ANY OF THE 5 IN THE EAST & U HAVE DISASTER! CERTAINLY SOMETHING MUST BE ASKEW IN PHL IF THEIR SOLUTION TO UTLEY'S DISAPPEARANCE IS SOME COMBO OF 2 FORMER NYM REJECTS. WHAT? NO MINOR LEAGUE PHENOM? AVAILABLE?(MUST'VE DEALT THEM FOR THAT PITCHING)
_____________________________________________________________________
BACK TO US, T, I BELIEVE THE PROPER COMPARISON ALIGNMENT IN THE MAINE(R), PEREZ(L) REPLACEMENT CONSIDERATION IS YOUNG(R) FOR MAINE & CAPUANO(L) OBVIOUSLY FOR PEREZ. BOTH CHRISES ARE FORMER #2s YOUNG BEHIND PEAVY & CAPUANO BEHIND SHEETS THEN SABATHIA AS FAR AS THEIR USUAL COMPETITION LEVEL IS CIONCERNED. AS LONG AS THEY REMAIN HEALTHY(THE QUALIFYING REFRAIN EQUALLY APPLIED THROUGHOUT BASEBALL) ISN'T IT JUST AS TRUE TO APPLY THAT QUALIFIER U'LL LIKELY TAKE EXCEPTION TO ON YOUNG & CAPUANO & APPLY IT JUST AS EFFECTIVELY TO HALLADAY & LEE(OPPOSITE SPECTRUM) CERTAINLY ONLY IF THOSE 2 ARE HEALTHY ARE THE PHILLIES AS FORBODING AS THEY PRESENTLY APPEAR, WHAT IF, GOD FORBID, HALLADAY GETS MATLACKED TAKING A LINER OFF THE CRANIUM OR LEE'S BACK FINALLY GIVES OUT? OR HUDSON TOPPLES & LOWE'S SINKER LEVELS? THESE ARE ALL CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAKE A SEASON A CRAPSHOOT THE BEST NEWS IS REYES IS HEALTHY & HIS TRACK RECORD INDICATES THAT AFTER HIS SECOND SEASON INJURIES DIDN'T REOCCUR AS HIS ORIG HAMSTRING ISSUES WERE ALL MUSCULAR RELATED AS IN HAMSTRING MUSCLE STRAINS,PULLS & THE '09 ISSUE WAS A RARE UNRELATED HAMSTRING TENDON ISSUE, THAT TENDON WAS SURGICALLY REMOVED WHILE HIS OTHER D/L STINTS IN HIS CAREER WERE A SPIKED HAND('06), A HYPER-THYROID CAUSED BY DIETARY ISSUES('10) & AN OBLIQUE STRAIN('10) SUDDENLY FOR NO SUBSTANTIATED RATIONALE U PULL A QUAD ISSUE OUT OF YOUR "DESPERATE TO BE NEGATIVE" BAG? IS THAT EVEN A LOGICAL CONSIDERATION? WHERE'S YOUR POSITIVE CONSIDERATION FOR BOTH YOUNG & CAPY'S HAVING A JUSTIFIED PERIOD OF TIME SINCE THEIR RESPECTIVE SURGICAL PROCEDURES WITH BOTH PITCHING EFFECTIVE RETURNS IN LIMITED APPEARANCES IN 2010? REMEMBER THEY AREN'T SLATED 1,2; BUT 4,5 NEITHER IS PAT MISCH_ISH BOTH SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EASILY THE BEST 4,5 SINCE '86(FERNANDEZ,AGUILLERA) IN FLUSHING. CORA,TATIS,BLANCO TYPES AVOIDED HARRIS,HAIRSTON PAULINO'S EMBRACED.
CERTAINLY LIKE ALOU, IT'S LIKELY BELTRAN WILL BE MIA CONSIDERABLY; HOWEVER HAIRSTON OR HARRIS IN RF IS NOT BY ANY STRETCH EQUIVILENT TO TATIS,MURPHY,EVANS IN LF SO OFTEN! LOOK UNDER MORE ROCKS T, U'LL SEE WHILE WE CERTAINLY AREN'T A CONTENDING APPEARANCE TEAM AS MINAYA ATTEMPTED TO CREATE; BUT CERTAINLY A MORE STEADY, WORKMANLIKE COMPETITOR COMPRISED OF GUYS WHO KNOW THEY NEED TO DO MORE THAN SHOW UP.

NO NOT ALL THE NYM QUESTIONS WILL HAVE ROSEY ANSWERS NO ONE TEAM'S WILL; BUT NEITHER WILL ANY OF THEM BE BELEAGURED BY CONSTANT NEGATIVE FAILURES, IT'S JUST NOT REASONABLE BASED UPON WHAT WE'VE SEEN SO FAR IN CHANGES. NO BIG NAME ADDITIONS BEYOND BAY FOR MORE THAN 95G & REYES FOR MORE THAN 140G EVEB A POSSIBILITY OF A BELTRAN FOR MORE THAN A MONTH OF GAMES, EVEN K-ROD MAY PUT IN A FULL SEASON'S EFFORT. THOSE, MY FRIEND ARE CERTAINLY ADDITIONS BY ANY MEASURE! I CERTAINLY DO NOT BELIEVE I'M BEING UNREALISTIC IN ANTICIPATING MORE PRODUCTIVITY FROM 1B,2B,SS,LF,#4,#5SP DO U? NOTE I'M NOT INMPLYING CAREER HIGHS FROM ANY; MERELY CAREER AVERAGE CONSERVATIVELY I BELIEVE A .260 4,5HR,60RBI SEASON FROM EMAUS IS REASONABLE; BUT EVEN THAT SMALL ANTICAPATORY AMOUNT CONSTUITUES A VALID INCREASE OVER CASTILLO IN '10. T, I'M CERTAINLY NOT PROJECTING CONTENTION; BUT MERE COMPETITIVENESS AS I BELIEVE WHAT WE HAVE DONE THIS OFFSEASON SURPASES FLORIDA';S ANTICIPATED RESULTS DERIVED FROM REMOVING MAYBIN,ROSS & UGGLA IN FAVOR OF COGHLAN,STANTON,INFANTE ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE INSIGNIFICANT DELTA BETWEEN AN 80W SEASON(FL) & A 79 WIN(NY) SEASON FROM '10. TO ANTICIPATE ALL THESE ALTERATIONS ADDING TO FL & ATL IS FAR MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN PROJECTING NYM TO WIN 1 LESS IS PESSIMISTIC.
T, U PROJECTED PESSIMISTICLY THAT HARRIS,HAIRSTON,WRIGHT,DAVIS,BAY,THOLE,EMAUS,HU LINEUP; BUT LET'S APPLY THE EXACT SAME LOGIC AT YOUR DIV WINNER ATLANTA WITH SAME INJURIES RESULTING IN McLOUTH,McCANN,UGGLA,GONZALEZ,CALLUP,GONZALEZ,FREEMAN,CALLUP RECALLING FREEMAN & HEYWARD ALREADY CALLEDUP. ROTATION?
WITH THAT LINEUP BEHIND THEM ARE U THAT ENTRALLED WITH
LOWE
HANSON
HUDSON
JURJENS
BEACHY
ARE THOSE 5 DOMINANT???????????? ARE THEY SO MUCH BETTER THAN OURS?
PELFREY
DICKEY
NIESE
YOUNG
CAPUANO
BE HONEST. WE SUFFEREED ONLY GETTING A 1-8 RECORD OUT OF 4,5(MAINE,PEREZ) IN '10 DO U REALLY BELIEVE THAT ISN'T OUR BEST SHOT AT IMPROVEMENT THIS YEAR?

UNLIKE U, MY FRIEND I LEAVE THE PAST BAGGAGE IN THE TRUNK BEHIND ME & DON'T OPEN IT EVERY CHANCE I GET. T, WHAT GOOD IS ANY NEW START IF YOU ARE FOREVER CONJURING UP PAST FOIBLES TO APPLY ONTO THE FUTURE? DO U REALLY BELIEVE WE ARE THE SINGLARLY MOST INESPT FRANCHISE IN NLE? REMEMBER, NOW WE EXCEED EVERY EXPANSION FRANCHISE IN POSTSEASON APPEARANCES, IT CERTAINLY CAN'T SUCK AS MUCH AS U LIKE TO BELIEVE.

RELAX, I'LL BE TOO BUSY APPRECIATING GOOD FORTUNE FOR A CHANGE TO BE BOTHERED DISSING U WITH "I TOLD U SOS"…SMILE, MY FRIEND THEC SEASON IS UPON US & WE'RE IN FIRST PLACE TIED WITH THE BEST/WORST RECORD IN BASEBALL! NO ONE IS BETTER. SANDY'S STILL A BREATH OF FRESH AIR & TC IS A GENIUS!

You could say this about any team but when you look at our lineup/bench we’re one recurrence of an existing injury, one pulled quad and one fastball of the hand away from a lineup of Harris, Hairston, Wright, Davis, Bay, Thole, Emaus, and Hu. without a dominant pitching staff to keep us in it.

Label it pessamistic, realistic or anything else you want. I just hope I’m wrong. Either way I’ll be there rooting all the way, enjoying the good times and I fell whatever happens this year better times are on the way.

If things do go as well as you could hope, we could add a dozen wins to my prediction but rarely does everything fall just right. More like a combo, some good, some not so good.

No one would be happier than me to have my prediction be way off ’62 and if it is I fully expect to hear about it from you my friend early and often and that’s not something I would mind in the least.

Sorry, T,; but I can’t possibly support any of your conjectures as I believe it is certainly reasonable at leat to anticipate the Mets getting improved productyion at minimum from 1B,2B,SS,LF,#4.#5 SP from 2010′s version. Certainly resulting, imo, in more wS than the 79 from ’10, not less as u purport. T, for all of these aforementioned reasons I truly angticipate less Ws for ATL & FL and more for NYM not by a lot; but at least significant enough to place us 3rd after challenging ATL late for 2nd with pergaps 84,85,86 WS sustaining no more than typical injury issues, geting at least 155G from Reyes.
N.B. I’m not including any contribution at all from Santna whom I don’t see pitching until perhaps 06/12.

PHILLIES BRAVES FISH METS GNATS

HALLADAY(1) LOWE(4) JOHNSON(2) PELFREY(3) HERMANDEZ(LIVAN)(5)
LEE(1) HANSON(2) NOLASCO(4 DICKEY(2) MARQUIS(5)
OSWALT(1) HUDSON(3) VAZQUEZ(1) NIESE(5) LANNAN(4)
HAMELS(3) JURRJENS(1) SANCHEZ(4) YOUNG(1) ZIMMERMANN(4)
BLANTON(1) MINOR(5) VOLSTAD(1) CAPUAN0(1) GORZELANNY(4)

You may note that certainmly it’s arguable my ranking them, in my eyes 1-5 in their respective rotational slots, ties are represented by egual # designator & based upon my expectations for their perfotmances over an entire season for exanmple in the #1 slot I expect Pelfrey to be regularly outpitched by both Halladay & Johnson while he outpitches both Livan & Lowe throughout most of their encounters from April through September. While this is primarily my observer’s opinion based upon merely my more than 50 years experience as a baseball fan. I did not conjure these rotations out of the nexis; however I did rely upon the Sporting News’ latest speculations on the rotation slot assignments in the NL East. I learned yesterday that the Braves announced Beeches(sp?) as replacing Minor in #5 slot; but as it did not alter my evaluation I chose to stay wiyj the SN source.

THE METS FINISHED 79-83 SANS BELTRAN WITH CASTILLO & NON FULL SEASONS FROM BAY,DAVIS,DICKEY,REYES WITH BOTH PEREZ & MAINE IN THE ROTATION.

THE CONSIDERATION I WEIGH IS BY INCREASING ANTICIPATED PRODUCTIVITY IN NY @ LF,1B,2B,SS,#4,#5 SP DESPITE THE LOSS OF SANTANA(11-9).

IT IS CERTAINLY MORE LOGICAL TO ME TO ANTICIPATE BETTER RESULTS FROM THE TEAM ADDING CERTAIN PRODUCTIVITY THAN THE ONE LOSING PROVEN PRODUCTIVITY REPLACING IT WITH TALENTED UNMEASURED PROMISES.
STILL WANT TO TAL ABOUT SMOKING FUNNY SUBSTANCES?

YOUR HEAD TO HEAD CONSIDERATIONS “ON PAPER” IS THE TYPICAL MISTAKE WE NYM FANS MADE EVER SINCE ’06 & TAKE IT FROM ME SELF COMPARISONS ARE TRULY MORE RELIABLE IN TAKING OPPOSITION INTIO ACCOUNT.

ALL FIVE? ARE U KIDDING ME? DO U BELIEVE THE SAME OPTIMISTIC VIEW WOULD BE SUPPOSED BY THESE SELF-APPOINTED EGGHEADS IF WE FEATURED SIMILAR INEXPERIENCE?

YOU QUALIFY THOSE AS VALID CONSIDERATIONS FOR IMPROVED RESULTS WITH A RELATIVE NOVICE MLB MNGR?

we have 2 mid level all stars in their walk years, i guess that’s twice the headache.

i agree wainwright is a big loss, i’ll equate that to losing santana.

either way, i see them ahead of the mets by the break. i guess we’ll see …

The Cards without the Pujols headaches and with Wainwright got beaten out by Cincinatti and while anything can happen I’d say odds are much better they’ll be sellers come July.

i’ll stick with that prediction for the cards and mets.

and he’ll strike out more guys than pelfrey.

Not if Cincy & Milwaukee have something to say about that.