Jerry Manuel: State of the Mets

If we learned one thing from last season, it is to tune out Jerry Manuel. Jerry Manuel proved to be a poor leader of men last year, so he has so much to improve on in 2010.
The Mets must stay healthy. Many players coming back from injuries must rebound with quality seasons.
The fan base is disgruntled.
I do not agree that the front office has done a poor job this offseason. This is a popular opinion from sports talk radio (Valley Of The Stupid as Bob Raisman from the Daily News refers to it) and other members of the New York media.
I turn the tables and say this is a poor performance by the media.
There were no difference makers. John Lackey? Maybe. No one else.
How many years did the Mets win the Hot Stove Championship only to fizzle during the baseball season.
Wait until the season starts. See where the Mets are at the trade deadline. I feel they will be in the race for the National League East and will have money to get help.
Just because there is a popular opinion that the front office has done little this winter does not mean it is a right opinion.
As for Bobby Valentine, I wish he was in place right now. I was never in favor of them firing Bobby in the first place, but there was a power struggle between him and Steve "Skill Sets" Phillips. All you need to know about Bobby V is that he took a team to the World Series with an outfield of Benny Agbayani, Timo Perez and Jay Payton. Maybe the least productive offensive outfield in World Series history.

James - When i think of the un-productive offseason the Mets had, I think of starting pitching.

You're SO THIN right now, and you know that either or both of Ollie and/or Maine is going down at some point this season.

Your 5th starter is Fernando Nieve.

When one or both of those guys gets hurt....then who??

And as far as not having quality out there, i present one name for you where I really think the Mets missed out:

Joel Piniero.

I really thought he was a perfect fit for them.

Joel Piniero, product of the Dave Duncan in St. Louis? We will see. If it has gotten to the point that Joel Piniero and quality are synonomous, then where is the art of pitching in Major League Baseball.
We will agree to disagree on Joel Piniero. I actually thought Jon Garland would have been a better fit than Pinierio.
The Mets are very thin in their rotation. So are just about every Major League team. The Mets staff is good enough to keep them in the race until the trading deadline. Then, maybe a quality pitcher becomes available.
Other than John Lackey, I was not impressed with this year's crop of pitching free-agents.

Much like the Yankees, i think the real question this off season is; when did the Mets and Yanks become cost-conscious?

The Yankees not getting Johnny Damon because of a couple million bucks discrepancy?

And the Mets, missing out on all the pitchers we talked about and Molina and pretty much anyone else.

I guess we now know how badly Madoff hurt them.

Now we NYers know how it feels to be every OTHER team in MLB.

Matt, I chuckle when I hear about this Yankees $200M budget. Brian Cashman and Scott Boras got into a match of ego's and they have hurt each other.
Please do not compare the Yankees to any other team in MLB. I trust you were being comical above.
When you spend the kind of money that the Yankees have spent on Sabathia, Burnett, Texeira, Posada, Rodriguez and Rivera ($825M give or take a few million) over the past two years, there should be no complaints.
Don't cry for Johnny Damon, he and Boras misjudged his value in the market. Now the Yankees must proceed without Matsui and Damon, two key components in their World Championship team.
The Wilpon's may have indeed been hurt by Madoff.