Anthony DiComo talks about what the Mets could expect to do n 2012.

I’m not expecting much in 2012 from the Amazins’, especially with a team that must now overcome the losses of Beltran, Reyes and K-Rod from last Opening Day’s roster.

Like last year, they will once again be banking on a healthy return from Johan Santana who now finds himself a year older at 33 and still hasn’t thrown a pitch since August of 2010.

Early indications are that first baseman Ike Davis is feeling great, but we’ll know more once he takes the field, runs the bases and puts some weight and pressure on that ankle which they decided to prescribe rest rather than surgery.

Five keys for the Mets to have a shot at that second wild card in 2012 are as follows:

  1. Johan Santana must make 24 starts and the Mets must win 18 of those games. But what if the Mets ARE punting in 2012 and trade him the second he proves to be his old self?
  2. Lucas Duda must provide enough offense to make up for the loss of Carlos Beltran and now that the book is out on him, Duda must make the neccesary adjustments and prove that he’s not a fluke.
  3. David Wright is now the leader and senior spokesman whether he likes it or not. If he’s ever going to live up to his top billing, he can do it by carrying this offense with the best season of his career. But then again, will he still be around to do any of that or will he get traded making Mike Pelfrey as the longest tenured Met?
  4. Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy are going to have a lot of pressure on them to perform defensively and offensively in the middle of the infield for the Mets. If they don’t, the Mets will become irrelevant before Memorial Day comes around.
  5. One of Jon Niese and Dillon Gee must step up and give the Mets quality innings and keep them in the game. All that Pelfrey has proven is that he is an innings eater and not a quality innings eater at that. If Niese or Gee can develop into a solid number two type – more likely for Niese than for Gee – the Mets could end playing meaningful games into September, assuming Alderson don’t take their top producers and shuffle them off prospects again.

I hope all of you had a great time with your families… Time to dig in and eat some leftovers now…