Everybody has a chance in March
It’s a cliché, but it is always worth mentioning: Hope springs eternal.
And it’s never truer than with baseball. As we sip our coffee — and some of you shovel snow in the northeast — on this final Sunday before pitchers and catcher report, cool breezes and temperatures in the mid-70s welcome the start of Spring Training.
Really, this is the best time of the year, in my opinion. For the next six weeks, all teams — and fans — think they have a shot at the postseason, or better. And there is no reason to think otherwise.
No team has enjoyed wins or suffered losses yet. For the most part, teams are healthy — or healthier, at least compared to last year.
And then there are all those fancy offseason moves that general managers have done.
For the Mets, it’s a little bit of everything.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of hope since 2006. But I think a lot of Mets fans sense success is coming, and it might not be as far as we think.
This Spring Training, to me, marks the first spring out of the Omar Minaya era — notably Jason Bay and Mike Pelfrey.
The Mets starting rotation has huge upside if it can stay healthy. That if is a huge question mark, but when isn’t it? Of course, Zack Wheeler is chomping at the bit to make his splash in the big leagues, as are all fans.
The bullpen, although they are always a crapshoot, has been revamped. It needed to be after last season, when it allowed one of the worst ERAs in Major League Baseball.
While the outfield remains a question mark (including if the Mets sign Michael Bourn), the team has locked up David Wright for the long term. Ike Davis likely won’t have as bad a first half as he did last season. Daniel Murphy has yet another season under his belt. Everyone wants to see what Travis d’Arnaud will do. I mean, how excited will it be to have a catcher who can produce at the plate, not just behind the plate?
There are a lot of things that need to happen for the Mets to compete for the postseason. (The fact that they likely play in one of the best divisions in baseball doesn’t help).
To me, they are on the border of coming out of rebuilding and into contending. But every team is a contender on Feb. 11.
Side note: Because I live in Florida and will be heading south to Port St. Lucie a few times over the coming weeks, follow me on Twitter at @aobrien7.
