Mets Heading in Wright Direction

The Mets first move of this offseason that had to be made was signing the cornerstone of their franchise.  That is finally done.

The Mets have signed their third baseman David Wright an 8-year, $138 million deal.  Wright's contract becomes the biggest in Mets history surpassing Johan Santana's 7-year, $137.5 million deal.  This new deal replaces the 2013 option of $16 million including it in the new deal.  The contract makes Wright a Met through 2020, when he will turn 38 that December.  Essentially, Wright is a Met for life.

Mets fans are relieved that this deal is done and they can finally build around the superstar at the hot corner.  Wright has been the face of this team and a leader in the clubhouse.  The 29-year-old was called up in 2004 and has become a mainstay at third base since then.  Wright became the Mets all-time hits leader passing Ed Kranepool September 26th with 1,419 hits.  1,426 hits, 204 home runs, 818 RBI,  and a .301 career batting average have made Wright one of the greatest Mets of all time...and he's not even halfway through his career.

The Mets got this one "Wright."  After not bringing back Jose Reyes last offseason, the Mets needed to build the future of this team around their best player.  Now that this is out of the way, the Mets can move on to their other needs.  This team still has a lot of work to do if GM Sandy Alderson wants to put together a winning team.

Next up for the Mets is resigning their Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey.  While Dickey is 38, in knuckleball years that's basically 34.  Dickey was dominant last season on his way to his first Cy Young Award with a 20-6 record, a 2.73 ERA, and 230 strikeouts.  Keeping Dickey immediately turns the Mets rotation into one of the best in baseball.  Dickey, Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee, and possibly Zach Wheeler next season would be tough to beat.  Unless somebody offers the Mets a monster trade package, Alderson needs to bring back Dickey.  Dickey is willing to sign for two years if the price is right.

The Mets major concern right now is their outfield.  After releasing Jason Bay, nobody knows what the Mets outfield will look like in 2013.  The team isn't expected to bring back Andres Torres, who was nowhere near what the Mets hoped him to be when they acquired him from the Giants.  Lucas Duda struggled at the plate and in the outfield and it's not expected for him to be an Opening Day starter in 2013.  That leaves the Mets with a depleted outfield.  Alderson needs to go out and get some outfield help.  While the Mets don't have lots to spend, they need to go and make a couple of moves to bring in at least two outfielders.  This team needs another power bat to complement Wright and Ike Davis.  There aren't many guys available in the Mets price range, but they are going to need to find a couple of bats to fill the void in their outfield right now.

Signing Wright to an extension was a step in the right direction, but this team is far from a contender at the moment.  Here's what this team needs to do this offseason:

1) Resign R.A. Dickey.

2) Sign/trade for a couple of outfielders including a power bat. (Justin Upton)

3) Sign/trade for a catcher that can produce more on offense than Josh Thole.

4) Get some bullpen help.

Can The Mets Make a Run?

The Mets finally got back to their winning ways in San Francisco.  After splitting the four game series in Arizona, the Mets went out and took three out of four games against the first place Giants.  The Mets got their solid starting pitching back as well as their clutch hitting that we saw in the first half of the season.  R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Matt Harvey, and Chris Young all had very impressive outings.  Despite Harvey's loss in his second career start, he pitched very well only giving up two earned runs and striking out seven.  The Mets like what they see in Harvey. The young phenom has the makeup to be a front end starting pitcher in the Majors.

While the Mets were silent at the trade deadline, they were so with good reason.  The team did not want to trade away young pieces of their future to get a rental to help them win this season.  If the team did not lose 11 of 12 games following the All Star break it most likely would have been a different story.  The fact is they struggled following the break.  They went from being a half game out of the NL Wild Card to 8.5 back going into today.  They went from a reasonable 4.5 games back to 11 games back in the NL East.  The losing streak put a huge blow in the Mets playoff hopes, but with 56 games to go, Terry Collins crew still has hope.

The Mets will finally get back their closer Frank Francisco tonight in San Diego.  Their bullpen has missed Francisco dearly as Bobby Parnell struggled in the closer's role.  They will welcome back Francisco with open arms after missing over a month.  Parnell will now get to return to the setup role where he thrived in the first half of the season.  The rest of the bullpen will have less pressure on them as they will not be put in as many tough situations as they were in with the absence of Francisco.  Josh Edgin and Tim Byrdak can return to being lefty specialists out of the bullpen. Manny Acosta and Ramon Ramirez can return to being middle relievers.  The bullpen as a whole will get more rest with Francisco resuming his 9th inning role.

Johan Santana is also on his way back as he threw a bullpen session yesterday.  Santana will be back in the Mets rotation possibly next week when the Mets return home, but most likely the following week.  Once Santana returns, Terry Collins will consider going to a four man rotation with R.A. Dickey going on three days rest.  Dickey, Santana, Niese, and Harvey with Chris Young making spot starts provides the Mets with a formidable rotation down the stretch.  Starting pitching is what carried this team in their successful first half.  The rotation has stepped it up this last week and hope to continue their success into San Diego before they return home for six games against the Marlins and the  Braves.

There is still time for this team to go on a run.  The Mets still have nine games left, with six being at home, against the Atlanta Braves whom they trail in the Wild Card.  The team still has six games against the Nationals whom they trail in the division.  Any hope at winning a division title has taken a hit since their post All Star break struggles, but with the addition of a second Wild Card team, Terry Collins hopes that his bunch can string some wins together and make a run for that second Wild Card spot. The Braves and Pirates at the top of that race do not seem to be losing steam but its a long season and that is why they play the games.  56 games is still a lot of time for this team to make a run.  Mets fans hope that Citi Field does not become a ghost town come September as it has been since it opened in 2009.

Mets First Half Review

The 2012 Mets came into the season with no expectations by many. They were looked at as a team in a rebuilding process, a team with a rag tag no name lineup, and a very questionable pitching staff.  If I were to tell you at the beginning of April that going into the All Star Game, the 2012 Mets would be six games over .500, a half game out of a NL Wild Card spot, and 4.5 games out of the NL East, you would probably call me crazy.

Who would have thought? The Mets are going into the All Star game tonight with a record of 46-40 and within striking distance of a playoff spot with 76 games remaining.  It all starts with the pitching staff and the question mark at the top of the rotation began with Johan Santana. Coming off shoulder surgery, many were not sure how Santana would pitch.  He would come out looking like the Santana of old in the first half. Mets fans got to witness something they have been waiting 50 years for...a no hitter.  With the exception of a couple of starts this year, Santana has pitched tremendously. He comes into the half with a 6-5 record and a 3.24 ERA.

The major surprise for the Mets and for all of Major League Baseball has been the first half that knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has put together.  Dickey has been nothing short of spectacular coming into the break with a 12-1 record and a 2.40 ERA with 123 strikeouts. Dickey threw two consecutive complete game one hitters which is unheard of in baseball today.  He was snubbed out of starting the All Star game because of a poor decision by Tony LaRussa, but will still get his chance to pitch in the game for the first time in his career.

When Mike Pelfrey went down in April, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee knew that they would have to step up and they have done just that.  Niese signed a 5 year contract extension before the season as the Mets are expecting big things from the young southpaw. Niese is 7-4 with a respectable 3.73 ERA coming into the break. Dillon Gee has surprised many as the Mets fourth starter with a 6-7 record and a 4.10 ERA.  Chris Young has also stepped in and done a nice job as the fifth starter since his return on June 5th. Young has had a quality start every time he has pitched not allowing more than 3 earned runs in his six starts. The Mets rotation has surprised many and is a big reason why this team is in a playoff race.

Another surprise to many is how the Mets lineup has come together and done an excellent job, especially with two outs. This lineup led by All Star David Wright has come up with clutch hits every night with two outs. It has been a recipe for their success in the first half and something that needs to continue for them to have a strong second half. David Wright's numbers have been off the charts all season long. He has not slumped all year and day after day continues to show why he is the cornerstone of this franchise. He is hitting .351 with 11 home runs and 59 RBI coming into the break with an astounding .441 on base percentage.

Ike Davis who struggled mightily the first two months of the season has finally got it together in the month of June and so far in July. He has 12 home runs and 49 RBI in the first half. Lucas Duda, who has been streaky at times is also contributing in the middle of that lineup with 12 home runs and 44 RBI.  The guy who has surprised most has been Scott Hairston. Hairston is tied for the team lead with 12 home runs. Hairston has abused left handed pitching all season and has been monumental in the Mets first half success.  Guys like Daniel Murphy, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter, Ruben Tejada have also come in and have done a tremendous job for skipper Terry Collins.

The main weakness of this year's team has been the bullpen thus far. Frank Francisco has been very up and down and is currently on the disabled list as he works his way back in the coming week.  Manny Acosta who is in Triple-A Buffalo now was terrible when he had his time with the Mets. Ramon Ramirez has not been the guy the Mets hoped they would acquire in the trade for Angel Pagan. Pedro Beato has just returned and will be a pivotal piece of the Mets middle relief in the second half.  Two guys out of the bullpen who have been great all year for this team have been Bobby Parnell and Tim Byrdak.  Parnell has filled in for Francisco nicely at closer since he went down with injury and Byrdak has been the guy to come in and get lefty hitters out and he has done it with great success.

The question is if the Mets can keep up what we have seen in the first half. We saw a resilient team that following a loss or a tough streak would come back and string some wins together. This team never gives up and finds ways to come back and win ball games.  They start the second half with Dillon Gee going down with injury.  Gee will start the second half on the disabled list as he has a clot in his artery in his right shoulder.  For this team to win down the stretch, it is pivotal that they acquire an arm for the bullpen in a guy like Huston Street. They need a veteran relief pitcher who has been there before and that can help them shut down games late. Also, with Jason Bay failing to stay healthy and his failure to produce, this team needs a right handed hitter with some power to help out a predominately left hand hitting lineup.  A guy like Carlos Quentin would fill that role perfectly.  If this team could add those two pivotal pieces, don't be surprised if the Mets are playing meaningful games in September.  This team has shocked all of baseball and if their rotation continues to pitch the way it has, they can make a run at one of those two NL Wild Card spots.  Nobody in the NL wants to face R.A. Dickey if it comes down to a one game playoff.