Usually around this time of year, once the Super Bowl has been played and sports docket is less than fulfilling for most of us, I start to get that itch for baseball.  I can almost smell spring when having visions of baseball, either at the ballpark or on TV.  And it’s usually accented with the hope that my team, the Mets, are going to head into the season as contenders again, hoping for their first world championship since 1986.

But alas, I feel more than a twinge of apathy right now.  Omar Minaya has once again given us false hope, as he signed modest slugger Jason Bay but then made no other significant moves.  Well, unless you consider Kelvim Escobar, Henry Blanco and Gary Matthews, Jr. significant.  I’m sorry Omar, but with each marginal move, you are increasing my own margin of apathy.

That doesn’t mean I won’t root for the Mets.  After all, when fandom is in your blood, you can’t ever remove it.  But beyond the fact that this Mets team has as much chance to contend as the ’62 Mets, is the fact that I almost would rather not watch it all unfold.  Clearly there are better things I can find to do with my time, and the fact that I’m saying that and writing that really bums me out.

Would I feel differently had the Mets added the likes of Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay or Matt Holliday?  Probably yes, but even if they somehow added all three of those guys without magically depleting the farm system, there would still be holes, and that’s not good.  It’s not good for the Mets, their fans, or my apathy.

The questions remain, though, about the starting staff behind ace Johan Santana, and also whether Santana and other injured players who missed significant time in 2009 will be back, and/or back to form.  That list is led by Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, John Maine and David Wright.  It also includes Carlos Delgado, who is a free agent but still may be re-signed by the Mets.

That said, you have to like this lineup with Bay in it, because he’s still young (31), he’s a very adequate defensive outfielder, and he’s something that we’ve been lacking on this team for a while—a tough out.  Last season with Boston, Bay had a .676 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position, second in the majors only to NL MVP Albert Pujols.  So this is a guy we had to have, and while many of us doubted Minaya, he really came through this time.

Of course, we’re still bitter about 2009, so we’re all hoping for a few more tweaks and some better luck in 2010.  But we sure do welcome Jason Bay with open arms.