Yesterday, the Mets set aside all the drama of their not-so-hot-stove season for a good cause at their Annual Mets Holiday Party. Jeff Francoeur played the part of St. Nick and he and his fellow Mets elves brought some much needed joy and smiles to school children from all five boros of the city. By all accounts it was a grand time for everyone.. Well almost everyone…
Omar Minaya was the target of most of the beat writers and reporters who covered the event, and as expected he downplayed the recent hot stove activity of the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox, while preaching patience to Mets fans.
There’s a lot of great quotes from Omar thanks to the efforts of Bart Hubbuch, Steve Popper, Adam Rubin and Brian Costa, but one quote that caught my attention was this one:
“When we get our guys back on the field playing every day, with a couple of moves here or there, we’re going to be similar to where we were starting last year.”
I guess it really resonated with me only because this is what Omar kept saying in June before the trading deadline, in July at the trading deadline, and again in August after the trading deadline. Unfortunately back then, we never got all our guys back and the Mets finished the season with a 70-92 record.
We’ll be hearing the phrase a lot between now and Opening Day, and who knows, maybe even beyond Opening Day.
The Mets have plenty of question marks surrounding their players on the injury front. Time hasn’t lessened the degree of concern one iota.
Johan Santana is coming back from surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow. It’s the same type surgery John Maine had in 2008 when he had bone spurs removed from his shoulder. Maine was expected to be ready for spring training, but he ended having a setback and missed most of the 2009 season.
Carlos Beltran missed a lot of time due to an originally misdiagnosed bone bruise that kept getting worse before it got better. Beltran did return even though he still had the bruise on his knee. While some thought he needed micro fracture surgery, Beltran and the Mets doctors thought an off season of rest would do the trick. We’ll soon find out.
While Carlos Delgado is no longer officially a Met, Omar Minaya is giving much thought to bringing him back. So much so, that he plans to fly to Puerto Rico next week to meet with the slugger. Delgado missed much of last season with a bad hip that never seemed to get better. A 15 day DL stint turned into a season ending injury, and still no word on how he has progressed.
Jose Reyes continues to rehab his right leg and says he will be ready for Spring Training, but has not yet done any baseball related activities. Yesterday he cautioned that even though he may be back, he doesn’t know how long it will be before his speed returns.
Youngsters Jon Niese and Fernando Nieve are also supposed to be ready for spring training, but both still need more time to recover before an official determination is made.
Of course, Luis Castillo managed to stay healthy while his teammates all succumbed to injuries one by one. The real questions is can he pull it off again?
Did I forget someone? Ah yes, Oliver Perez, our big free agent prize from last off season. There is absolutely no word on his status, but Omar is banking on a big rebound. I bet.
I must mention David Wright even though he wasn’t a casualty of the DL. Only because of all the guys we need to be back, the 2006-2008 version of Wright must be added to that list.
So there you have it…
Once we get all our guys back we’ll be fine and once again we’ll be able to have a competitive team on the field.
Geesh… I’m starting to sound like Omar now.
