9
2012
If Healthy, Who Knows What This Team Can Accomplish
An article by 
Before Opening Day, there was a ton of negativity surrounding the Mets. Regardless of the positive resolution to the Madoff lawsuit, fans and the media alike continued to be negative about the team and the Wilpons.
With the team now going into their second series of the season against the Nationals, Mets fans actually have something to be very happy about.
The Mets swept all three games against their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves. Guys like David Wright, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, and Ruben Tejada all stepped up big time for the Mets. David Wright and Lucas Duda provided the power (3 HR’s combined), while Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy did their job as table setters and got on base 12 times including plenty of key hits as well.
As for the pitching staff, Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, and Jonathan Niese stopped the Braves dead in their tracks. Johan provided the team with 5 shutout innings on Thursday, Dickey provided the team with 6 quality innings on Saturday, and Niese came close to making history with six no-hit innings yesterday before tiring in the seventh.
The newly revamped bullpen also did their job as Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, and Ramon Ramirez shut down the Braves. Francisco earned a save in all three games of the series.
I understand the Mets have only played 3 games out of 162. I understand we have a long way to go before October. However, if this Mets team can stay healthy, who in the world knows what this team can accomplish. (Projections aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, that’s why you play the games, Joe D. says). This team performed far better than what most analysts predicted, no question about it.
Overall, if the Mets can stay healthy throughout the season, who’s to say this inspired play won’t continue? With the additional wild card spot in play this year, meaningful games in September may not be as far-fetched as we think.
About the Author: Brandon Butler
Brandon is currently a MMO Minor League Staff Writer. He is also the co-host of the Mets Madness Podcast on Talkshoe Radio. Brandon lives in Hornell, NY.
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Seriously, this is just getting out of hand…
You’re right. Your miserable/negative comments just have to stop.
Nice job Brandon.
Alex must be thrilled that his Marlins managed to win a game today!
Why?
Mets just swept their home opener series. If you can’t feel good about that, you must not enjoy watching them win.
I don’t think a few optimistic posts are going to have Met fans saving up for their playoff tickets just yet.
Why is that? This is the best start the Mets have had since 2007 (best start at home since 2005). Why not be excited? By the way, it’s not too late to change your “Marlins will be WS Champs” prediction.
BTW Brandon I agree with you. Health is vital because this team lacks depth. After you go through Turner/Cedeno, you could be in trouble at 1B, 3B or C if an injury pops up. The OF already is pushing the limit with Kirk being called up… and there are not many arms you can bring here to fill in if an injury hits the staff.
So yes, health is vital and if healthy this team can be a lot better than most projections. The problem is, health is a tough thing to project and most MLB teams are not lucky enough to stay healthy
I disagree about 3B and 1B; while I think Wright and Davis will have huge years, I think having Turner play 1B or 3B wont be disastrous; Murphy moving to either of those spots would allow Turner/Cendeno to play 2B which improves their defense up the middle. My bigger concerns are at CF and Catcher. Thole will be decent at C as long as he stays at the bottom of the order. I am eager to see Captain Kirk play, but if we could get Byrd from the Cubs and moving Torres/Kirk to 4th outfielder would help this team significantly.
There are 2 big things that are different from 2012 over 2011:
1) No distractions of when/if Beltran, Jose or KRod being traded
2) We can add a player this year; if Torres doesn’t work out, and the team plays over .500 I see the Mets getting a player like Byrd or someone else to play center and bat leadoff
Rich, no I am with you. I think you missed what I meant. For example, if Ike got hurt, they’d be able to survive (though not as well) with Turner 2B and Murph 1B.
But then you have a weaker bench, then what happens if Turner goes down for even 2 weeks? All I’m saying is depth is the issue
Over all, I think this is an 80 win team, but who knows? With a little luck, they may find themselves i nthe playoff hunt come September.
Even if they don’t make it to October, they are going to give us one hell of a ride.
3 games people, let’s relax.
@DONAL you are wright
The 2012 New York Mets will be fun to watch … and we only getting stronger …. Pick Hamilton next year as a FA and we are ready for october runs
Hi Donal,
Know we’ve been down this road before, but since this is basically the same core as it was last year when you believed – with Beltran and Krod – the team was not going anywhere, could not have competed with other teams down the stretch, I can understand why you project this being just an 80 win season.
But as you know, I could have been echoing your exact words last July: “With a little luck, they may find themselves in the playoff hunt come September. Even if they don’t make it to October, they are going to give us one hell of a ride.”
You agreed Sandy was right to throw in the towel, and trade Beltran for Wheeler despite (a few days after the trade) and said this team could not compete with the Braves, St. Louis, etc., even with the Mets having played at a 49-36 clip and pulling within six games of Atlanta in the loss column. I respect that perspective.
But if the same situation faces us again (six games out of loss column, six teams ahead of us, etc.) and Santana and Wright are helping give us that ride, should we be “realistic” and trade them to get top prospects since neither is seen as part of our future two or three years down the road, just like KRod and Beltran were? Or should we heed “with a little luck, they may find themselves in the playoff hunt come September. Even if they don’t make it to October, they are going to give us one hell of a ride.” and give them a chance unlike last season, as R.A. said the front office didn’t.
Ciao,
Joe
Wright and Santana are different situations, though.
Also, I really think closers are a waste. Not to say that they are bad pitchers, but confining them to that role wastes their talent to almost inconsequential, so the Mets weren’t even using Rodriguez at his fullest. So, getting out from under that vesting optionm was a must.
Beltran was going to walk away at the end of the season for nothing. Wright and Santana are both still in Mets control, plus they can get draft picks when they leave.
If they get blown away by an offer, sure, make a deal.
Joey,
K-Rod was at best the 6th best reliever in the NL East last year and wouldn’t even be the best relief pitcher on 2/3rds of MLB bullpens so what’s the big deal? And that was playing almost half his games against weak offenses in his division. I’m thrilled we’re not paying him 17 M this year, it was a great move getting rid of that vesting option especially in light of the fact that some of that savings went into LH starting pitching for the next 7 years.
Starting pitching. the thing that sunk us in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and would have in 2009 as well if we didn’t suffer so many position playing injuries.
Wheeler for the last 2 months of Carlos? Beats trotting out Brian Lawrence, David Williams or Chan Ho Park the next time we are in striking position.
As for demoralizing young players what could be more demoralizing then bringing in yet another wildly expensive and soon to be in decline former All Star to come here and under perform?
Wonder what the prospects think to see this happen over and over again too. Must be really confidence inspiring for them.
Well maybe it beats one thing. Maybe making the 2010 team play a roster spot short because ownership wouldn’t just eat Perez’s contract and that team actually was within striking distance being just 6.5 GB of the division with only 2 teams to catch, not 6.5 GB with 6 teams to catch and no chance at a Division.
Hi T,
As far as demoralizing, R.A. Dickey said it was hard to accept and that even though he understood the front office was saying it did not believe they could do it, to a man that was not what the players in the clubhouse felt. Getting rid of two overpaid players who were nonetheless contributing to the team playing so well (not matter what you say about KRod, he was doing a decent job) is not the same as bringing overpaid players in.
There is no “book” (as Ron Darling would say) what would have happened but they players who had so much confidence and desire in themselves had changed to a team playing out the string and it showed by going 22-34 after a 50-37 clip. They still played well for a short stretch after losing first KRod and Beltran so if those two were retained (and we did not have injuries) was this team not then capable of going 33-23 (eleven games above .500 for 55 games, which would be less than the 13 games over .500 for that stretch 87) and finish at 88-74? That it didn’t is only looking back at hindsight – nobody knows how they would have done with both those players.
I for one think they could of. And for a team to have started at 5-14 and perceived to be having a long, long season ahead of them, to then go 83-60 or thereabouts would have been a great, giant step in rebuilding.
But since your take is that they were not capable of doing so, we will never know whose projection was more on target since the ingredients I said would be essential to have helped them were taken out of the recipe.
Hi Donal,
Glad to see that you are sticking to that position for it does show that while we might disagree we both have convictions that we adhere to. And again, that we’re talking in terms of baseball and not the financial end which, in better financial times, would not have entered the equation.
I just disagree a bit with the take on Beltran – not that he wasn’t go take a walk at the end of the season – but that, just like the Giants and other teams in races felt, he would have been worth having for the rest of the season even if it was a rental. But that comes down to our differences in what was best for the team.
Catch ya
This is a 75-78 win team at best.We have one starter (Pelfrey) who is worthless.We have a left fielder (Bay) who needs to be retired and we have a second baseman (Murphy) who cannot make a pivot for a double play and center field is a black hole.Beating the Braves three in a row was great but we have too many holes and owners who refuse to spend money to fill them.
So you are saying they are so bad that they will only be allowed to play 153 games this season or are you saying that the other 9 games will be rainouts that will not be made up?
No Matt he said 75 to 78 wins. Not a 75 and 78 record.
Thanks Fonzie, I guess I have to be more exact in the future on predictions.How does 81 wins sound if Santana stays healthy?
Either way…despite their hot start, 75-81 wins still seems high.
Matt, that means you think the Mets can only go between 71-87 or 75-83 the rest of the way?
Hope not but yes, we have to see how the bullpen holds up.
Joey D…that is a correct assumption. I like the potential of this offense, I love Duda and I think highly of Davis. Wright is off to a nice start (minus his pinky issue), but after the past 3 seasons, I don’t trust him. Murphy’s last 2 seasons ended early due to injuries, Jason Bay is, basically, a corpse at the plate, Thole stinks, and Tejada hasn’t played a full MLB season yet…so the potential is there, but I need to see it first. As for the pitching, Johan is still a mystery, Dickey is good, and Pelf/Niese/Gee are #4 starters with the potential of being at best #3 starters, but more likely, closer to 5′s. So, as of right now, 75 wins in this tough division for this team seems like the max…but, this is why they play the games, to prove idiots like me wrong.
4-0 , certainly better then 0-4, not to get carried away but it certainly is fun to watch. As a football Giants fan I spent all last pre season hearing about how great the Eagles were, well I compare the Marlins to them . Man for man why are the Marlins better then the Mets. I do not see it. Josh Johnson is just as much a health risk as Santana and after him there rotation is full of potential and in consistencies, sound familiar. Oh I forgot they got Mark Beuhrle, Please give me a break I would take Dickey over him any day. I know that’s only one team in the division but that’s the team that every “expert” has jumped on. We’ll see