It feels good to get away from all the rumors and speculation of what’s been a long and often boring offseason. The players are in camp, they’re excited about getting the new season underway, and there’s a feeling of confidence and calm throughout the camp.
On Friday, Sandy Alderson gave his state of the union address and the challenge of a 90 win season last year, has now become an expectation for this season.
“Is the team capable of winning 89, 90 games? Yeah, I think the team is capable,” Alderson said. “We have higher expectations for ourselves than we’ve had in past years.”
The pressure will be on this team to hit the ground running and nobody knows that better than the man who was charged with rebuilding this team. .
“Look, if the team is awful coming out of the gate, that creates pressure on everybody, and I mean pressure just in the sense of wanting to get things turned around, not necessarily in terms of job tenure. Everybody hopes to get off to a good season. We hope to get off to a good start as well, and we’ll see how it goes.”
In six weeks the Mets will begin what they hope will be the first of many winning seasons as everyone tries to change the culture around Flushing and bring the team back to relevancy. Not just on paper, not just in soundbites, not just in farm system and prospects rankings, but in something much more tangible than all of that – wins.
The time for talk is at an end and the time for action is clearly upon this team like never before.
There are so many people on the bubble and they’re all in it together.
Will new hitting coach Kevin Long be able to improve on the Mets’ .239 batting average last season, which ranked 28th overall in baseball?
Can the Mets get healthy and productive seasons from their three key veterans David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer, who also account for almost 50% of the team’s payroll?
And what about Terry Collins? Will he finally exhibit the patience to see things through? Or will he usher in the Ruben Tejada era after Wilmer Flores commits his first error at shortstop?
Who will bat leadoff for this team, and will someone be allowed to grow into the role, or will it be another year of hot potato and poor results?
These are just a few of the many questions that will face the Mets this spring as they hold their first workout today in Port St. Lucie. Collins is expected to rejoin the team and address the media, followed by Kevin Long who will speak as well.
The offseason is over and spring training is here. There’s a buzz of excitement in the air and we’re all ready to move on. Here’s to a productive camp that will bring forth our best 25 man roster and the end of our six year losing streak.
Let’s Go Mets!
