The 2010 baseball season is over, at least for my beloved New York Mets. With few expectations going into next year, this season was a bit easier to swallow and endure. The Mets weren't quite as putrid as they were when they won a mere 70 games and suffered debilitating injuries almost daily in 2009. They also weren't the choke artists they were in 2007 or 2008. They were simply, for a good portion of the season, a .500 team that had the ups and downs of any normal average baseball team. At times, they looked poised to make a run, at times they couldn't get out of their own way, and the result is a 79-83 season as average as they come.
Since the season's basically been over since that nightmarish west coast trip (2-9) that pretty much eviscerated any chance of the Mets competing this year, the season's mostly been about moving forward and looking to the future. It's been clear for some time that Jerry Manuel will not come back as manager next year. While many of the team's failures were no fault of his, that's still little excuse for the bad managerial decisions he made day in and day out with the bullpen and lineups and such. His passion also seemed lacking at times and it appeared he didn't command his players like a true leader should. It's truly time for a change, and with his contract up, firing him won't cost the Wilpons a dime, which is sure to make them happy. Adios Jerry.
Then there's Omar Minaya, who is still owed $2.5 million over the next 2 years. Reports say he will most likely be fired, and deservedly so. Because of his lack of foresight, the Mets are now tied up next year giving bad money to Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran, and maybe Jason Bay (yet to be determined, I still think he can become a valuable asset to the team). Omar became part of the face of this franchise when he was brought in with Willie Randolph to be the team that put together a contender in Flushing. It's now time to say goodbye to the final piece of this puzzle. Adios Omar.
My immediate feeling is that Omar will not so much be fired as he will be reassigned within the franchise. The Wilpons are no fans of paying someone money to do nothing, so they will probably put Omar in a lesser role within the organization where he can't do much harm. The Mets need to establish a new hierarchy that will change the culture and motivate the fans to become invested again. I've heard names like Gerry Hunsicker, Sandy Alderson, Josh Byrnes from the D'Backs and I honestly don't know enough about them to say anything worth noting. What the Mets need to do, in whoever they hire, is bring someone in who can plan for the future as well as the present. They need someone who can see the long term, develop a top notch minor league program and not offer bad contracts to people even the fans notice isn't very good. I'd much rather the Mets bring in someone who has had experience before in building a franchise up from the bottom, which is basically what the Mets are up against right now.
As for manager, I have been a fan of Bobby Valentine forever. It seems almost too perfect; Bobby V is looking for a job and the Mets are looking for a manager. He didn't choose the Marlins and I've read that it could be between the Mets or Mariners, with an outside shot for the Marlins. I think Bobby V is perfect for this team; he has a proven record winning in New York, he was a national icon in Japan, and he is a hard nosed guy who won't accept the lollygagging that this team has been prone to in the past. The Mets cannot bring a bland, laid back guy to manage this team. They need someone with fire who will command attention, respect, and the best out of the young team the Mets are sure to have next year.
Other viable options are former Mets Wally Backman and Lee Mazzili. I think a dream scenario would be to put Bobby V as Manager and Wally Backman as bench coach. He can pick up valuable experience working behind a smart manager like Bobby so when it's his time to take over the club, we'll have the right guy. Unfortunately, Bobby V might not like the idea of someone looking over his shoulder and Wally might not like the idea of being simply second in command, so time will tell if this could ever work in reality. Still, it's intriguing, and if anything the Mets will never be boring next year.
As for the team itself, the Mets have to swallow their pride (and their wallet) and outright cut Ollie Perez and Luis Castillo. Enough of these two eating up a roster spot, no good comes of it. Luis will surely be replaced by youngster Ruben Tejada, or potentially even Reese Havens if he matures and improves quick enough. If I could do anything to this team, I would find a way to trade Carlos Beltran and replace him with Carl Crawford. Carl is made for Citi Field, he has gap power and speed and could lead the league in triples in a ballpark like Citi Field. Pairing him with Jose Reyes near the top of the line-up would be a deadly combo for opponents. Unfortunately, the Mets's payroll after raises and arbitration and such is projected to hit 130 million, meaning the Mets will make little to absolutely no player moves all off-season, save the occasional reliever and scrap heap pick up.
The Mets will most likely enter 2011 a young team looking to impress and prove themselves at the big league level. This could turn out to be very good for the Mets if all these young guys click in their first years, and could help the Mets fly under the radar and be a surprise NL team. More realistically, however, it will be a young team struggling to establish itself in the majors and lead the Mets to win between 70 and 80 games. There's no doubt that 2011 will be a transitional year, and the signs are pointing to another year without the playoffs. However, if the Mets bring in a manager and General Manager that fires up the fans and have a scrappy young team that makes going to Mets games exciting again, then I'm sure all us fans can deal with an average year one more time. It's all about the future now, but it's up to the front office to make it a bright one.
Opening Day 2011 Line-Up (Realistically):
Jose Reyes (SS)
Carlos Beltran (CF)
David Wright (3B)
Jason Bay (LF)
Ike Davis (1B)
Angel Pagan (RF)
Josh Thole (C)
Ruben Tejada (2B)
Mike Pelfrey (P) - (With Johan Santana on the DL)
LET'S GO METS!!!!
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