New York Mets Predictions 2010

Written by Jack Jones

The New York Mets entered the 2009 season with thoughts of winning a world series. They had just signed Francisco Rodriquez to shore up the bullpen, and they had the likes of Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes to carry the offensive load. But Beltran, Delgado and Reyes all missed the majority of the season due to injury, and Wright could not carry the load by himself. The Mets ranked 25th in the majors in runs scored last season. Johan Santana had been pitching great before having to shut it down in August for arthroscopic elbow surgery. Oliver Perez and John Maine were hurt for a good portion of the season, as well, decimating their pitching staff. It can’t get any worse after a 70-92 campaign in 2009, and the addition of Jason Bay from the Red Sox should help after he led all outfielders with 119 RBI’s in Boston last season.

Pitching:

Over the past decade, Johan Santana went 122-60 with a 3.12 ERA. Though his fastball has seen a dip in velocity, he still gets the job done. Santana went 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA last season with the Mets after going 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA in ‘08, his first season with the team. So New York is getting their money’s worth with him. Now they just need the rest of the starting rotation to hold up their end of the bargain. Mike Pelfrey is their No. 2 starter entering spring training. Pelfrey was solid in 2008, going 13-11 with a 3.72 ERA, but he dropped to 10-12 with a 5.02 ERA in ‘09. John Maine has been solid when healthy, finishing the 2007 season at 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA. But he has missed time the past two seasons and suffered right shoulder fatigue that sidelined him for three months last year. Oliver Perez has talent, going 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA in 2007 and 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA in ‘08. But Perez spent a coule stints on the DL last season and managed to pitch just 66 innings, going 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA. John Niese will likely get the No. 5 job behind Perez this season. The bullpen features Pedro Feliciano and Sean Green as the primary set-up men with Francisco Rodriquez closing. Rodriquez saved 35 games in his first season with the Mets, but he walked 38 batters in 68 innings and blew seven saves, a far cry from his record-setting 2008 campaign with the Angels.

Hitting:

Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco will likely split the catching duties, as both are veterans behind the plate but neither is much of an offensive weapon. 1B Daniel Murphy started full-time last season and will resume his duties, hitting .266 with 12 HR’s and 63 RBI’s in 2009. 2B Luis Castillo was solid last year, hitting .302 with 77 Runs scored and 20 SB’s. SS Jose Reyes is expected to be ready for the start of the season after missing last year due to a torn hamstring that required surgery. But he is one of the best in the business when healthy, finishing with 78 SB’s and 119 Runs scored in his most productive season in 2007. David Wright suffered in power and RBI production last season, largely due to injuries to teammates and the fact that the new Citi Field is a pitcher’s ballpark. Wright hit just 10 HR’s with 72 RBI’s in 2009 after hitting 30-plus homers with 107-plus RBI’s the previous two seasons. He did manage to swipe 27 bases last year, though. The outfield consists of Jason Bay in left, Carlos Beltran in center and Jeff Francoeur in right. Bay hit 36 HR’s with 119 RBI’s and 103 Run scored last season with Boston and he’s a huge addition. Beltran returns from a right knee injury that he suffered last year, and the Mets would love for him to return to his 2008 form in which he hit .284 with 27 HR’s, 112 RBI, 116 Runs and 25 SB’s. Francoeur hit .280 with 15 HR’s, 76 RBI and 72 Runs in his time split between Atlanta and New York last season.

Jack’s Prediction: 4th in the NL East and UNDER 82.5 Wins – New York won 70 games last year and though I certainly think they will eclipse that total, there are still too many question marks with this team. Who can step up and help out Johan Santana in their rotation? Their starters finished with a 4.77 ERA last season as a team when the NL average was 4.30. Then there’s Reyes and Beltran who are both injury-prone and who knows if either or both can make it through an entire season. The addition of Bay will certainly help, and if this team can stay healthy, then there’s a good chance they can finish as high as second in the NL East. But I’m not sold on the Mets, especially their pitching staff, to actually pick them to finish higher than 4th place in this division. And for them to finish with a winning record is asking a lot also, so I’ll side with the UNDER 82.5 wins.

Archived Season Previews:

2009
2008

Individual MLB Team Previews:

American League
AL West	AL Central	AL East
Rangers Predictions	Tigers Predictions	Red Sox Predictions
A’s Predictions	White Sox Predictions	Yankees Predictions
Angels Predictions	Twins Predictions	Rays Predictions
Mariners Predictions	Royals Predictions	Blue Jays Predictions
	Indians Predictions	Orioles Predictions
National League
NL West	NL Central	NL East
Giants Predictions	Brewers Predictions	Phillies Predictions
Rockies Predictions	Cardinals Predictions	Braves Predictions
Dodgers Predictions	Reds Predictions	Marlins Predictions
Padres Predictions	Cubs Predictions	Mets Predictions
Diamondbacks Predictions	Pirates Predictions	Nationals Predictions
	Astros Predictions

Comments

Got something to say?