To paraphrase one of Howie Rose’s quotes, the 2011 baseball season is over, “put it in the books.” I guess on the positive side, things were not as bad as many baseball pundits predicted, but by no means were things great. GM Sandy Alderson is going to be in for a busy few months trying to address the many needs this club has going into the 2012 season, and we’ll touch on few of them in bit.
First off, I think manager Terry Collins did just an outstanding job this year. If I was handing him a report card he’d get a B+. Terry made the Mets competitive and instilled a never say die attitude with his team. Let’s be honest, expecting Terry to win with this team was asking a lot. Ike Davis missed over 100 games, David Wright was on the DL for a prolonged period, and the talent just was not there.
Sandy Alderson on the other hand, gets a grade of incomplete. Yes, Sandy had a mess to clean up here, and he’s done a decent job of it, but there are just so many questions heading into 2012, that this off season will be the one by which we judge Alderson.
The Starting pitching is loaded with question marks. For years I’ve been writing the Mets need to move Pelfrey while he’s still fooling people. The word is out now, Pelfrey (at best) is a number four starter. Will the Mets find an ace is 2012? What can we expect from Johan Santana and Chris Young? Can Jon Niese stay healthy? When journeyman R.A. Dickey is the stud of your rotation, you’ve got a problem. Who is going to be the closer? Let’s end the Parnell experiment now.
What can we expect from Ike Davis in 2012? Where will Murphy play? The outfield is in bad shape. Jason Bay has been a bust. Can Alderson find a sucker to take him? Angel Pagan had a less than stellar year. Lucas Duda needs to convince us he’s an everyday player. What ever happened to that five tool star of the future Fernando Martinez?
How will the Madoff deal affect what this team does? Will Fred Wilpon ever wake up and realize that what he has done to this team is inexcusable and unacceptable?
For us Met fans, it’s been 25 years and counting since the last world championship. And so it goes.
