It’s hard to believe that 2007 is finally coming to a close. Not only did "Your Season" not come, but it looks like for most of us, "our off season" hasn’t come either. Now that we are only days away from the official start to 2008 everyone seems to be getting a little retrospective this time of the year.

I came across a pretty good article by Marty Noble on Mets.com yesterday that seems to do a pretty good job in reviewing 2007 month by month.

They had played 87 games, produced a 21-12 record in the first 33 and split the subsequent 54. For the equivalent of one-third of a big league season, the Mets had played .500 ball. And when they paused at the traditional midpoint of the season, they didn’t recognize that 27-27 run for what it was… a warning.

The Mets looked back and saw their first 33 games and sensed 2007 was merely an extension of the 2006 regular season, a set of 162 they had dominated. Their vision must have been impaired when they glimpsed the 54 games that directly preceded the break; that or they thought 54 games of mediocrity were the aberration and 33 games were the true indication. Whatever the reason, no one was alarmed.

The downfall was epic — until the 2007 Mets, no team with a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining was unable to finish in first. It nuked the Mets in every way, picking at the scab of Yadier Molina and making the 2006 shortfall worse. It tarnished any and all individual achievements in 2007, and it threatens to contaminate ’08.

Of course, Marty speaks the truth… There were many bloggers at the All Star Break including a few right here that saw the warning signs and wrote about it extensively. Unfortunately it was looked at as some Mets fans over-reacting and being negative, when in fact they were the voice of reason.

I wrote this in a post in late July…

I have suggested that the Mets make some moves to get some younger players on the team. As we enter the final turn in the race for the division, I am absolutely fearful of having our season derailed due to injuries. With a team that is counting heavily on  El Duque, Tom Glavine, Moises Alou, Shawn Green, and even Pedro if he ever returns, the Mets should cover their bets, before we end up covering our eyes.

And this was posted in early July…

Our batters really need to step up. Our offense has been better, but it needs to be consistent. You can’t go score 7-9 runs one game, and then 1-3 runs in the next game. That’s not going to get you very far.

The Mets need pitching, the Mets could really use an extra bat in the line-up. Omar Minaya should do something about this. We are the Mets. This is New York. Lets get something done. 

There is a world of talented and capable relief pitchers out in the trade market, and even though Omar Minaya is reluctant to pull the trigger on a trade, it may be the team’s undoing if he don’t.

It’s 2007 and this game has changed dramatically in the last 3 years The team with the best bullpen wins all the marbles… and that funny looking gold trophy with all the little flags on it.

Seeing the warning signs is hard to do when you ignore the obvious. Pointing out the warning signs is even tougher…

Getting back to Marty Noble’s article, it’s a must read. On his month by month breakdown, it even includes October through December which includes his thoughts on the Mets off-season so far…