Step Right Up and Greet the Mets

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the New York Mets.

The Mets have taken their fans on a fast and loose joy ride for the last three seasons. Unfortunately for those fans, each season has ended with the car going off the cliff, starting with a heartbreaking end to the 2006 NLCS and continuing through two straight years of blown division leads in September. They hope to change that this season with a new and improved bullpen, designed to keep the car from going off the cliff on a daily basis.

Of course, the bullpen isn't going to be the only deciding factor in the NL East. Do the Mets have a balanced enough lineup? Who is the fifth starter going to be? And there's the little matter of the health of Johan Santana. These are all hurdles that the Mets must leap over the course of the season if 2009 is to end differently than the three prior years.

Lineup
1.	Luis Castillo	2B
2.	Carlos Beltran	CF
3.	Jose Reyes	SS
4.	David Wright	3B
5.	Carlos Delgado	1B
6.	Ryan Church	RF
7.	Daniel Murphy	LF
8.	Brian Schneider	C
9.	Pitcher's Spot	P
Pitching Staff
1.	Johan Santana	L
2.	Mike Pelfrey	R
3.	Oliver Perez	L
4.	John Maine	R
5.	Tim Redding	R
CL	Francisco Rodriguez	R

Coming and Going

In: Francisco Rodriguez, CL (free agency); J.J. Putz, RP (trade); Sean Green, RP (trade); Tim Redding, SP (free agency); Jeremy Reed, OF (trade); Connor Robertson, RP (trade); Darren O'Day, RP (rule V draft); Alex Cora, IF (free agency); Rocky Cherry, RP (rule V draft); Livan Hernandez, SP (free agency); Freddy Garcia, SP (free agency); Bobby Kielty, OF (free agency)

Out: Pedro Martinez, SP (free agency); Scott Schoeneweis, RP (trade); Aaron Heilman, RP (trade), Joe Smith, RP (trade); Endy Chavez, OF (trade); Luis Ayala, RP (free agency); Damion Easley, 2B (free agency); Moises Alou, LF (free agency); Trot Nixon, RF (free agency)

Storylines

No More Gasoline on the Fire ...
Ah yes, the bullpen. It's been the very bane of the Mets existence for the better part of two seasons, but now it's been almost completely overhauled with the likes of Heilman, Schoeneweis, and Ayala sent packing and replaced by the likes of K-Rod and Putz. Putz was a stroke of genius in not only acquiring him for next to nothing, but also in getting a closer who has quickly grown comfortable with the idea of pitching the eighth inning for a winning team rather than being a ninth-inning guy on a bad one.

There are still questions regarding the 'pen. Will the Mets bring in another lefty to complement Pedro Feliciano? Will Ohman is still out there, begging for a contender to be interested in signing him. Also, will rookies such as Eddie Kunz and Bobby Parnell break camp with the Mets or play a significant role at some point later in the season? One thing the Mets have been missing from their relievers lately is the ability to gets swings and misses. K-Rod and Putz help in the later innings, and hard throwers like Parnell and Kunz could help in the sixth and seventh if they prove worthy of a roster spot.

A Healthy Foundation ...
And by foundation, of course we mean Santana. We all might be making a mountain out of a molehill here. Chances are this tightness that Santana is feeling is just that, some minor tightness that will be worked out as he throws more bullpen sessions. But there are very few players so individually vital to their team's success as Santana is. Considering how close the Mets have been to making the playoffs recently, even one missed start by Johan might be one too many.

Taking the Fifth ...
Who is going to be the fifth starter for the Mets? Currently, Redding, Hernandez, and Garcia are the guys battling for that spot. For most teams, filling the fifth-starter role is an afterthought, but with John Maine coming off a shoulder injury, Mike Pelfrey coming off a big inning jump (supposedly making him more susceptible to injury), and nobody knowing if Oliver Perez has really found the kind of consistency that he enjoyed since Dan Warthen became the pitching coach, the Mets could use some stability from one of their fifth starter candidates.

Bernie Madoff, Matt Holliday, and You ...
Mets fans still upset that the team didn't go after Manny Ramirez were placated a wee bit when information started to surface that the Mets are saving their money and their chips for a bat at the trade deadline if they need it. Matt Holliday is the name that will inevitably come up in June if the Mets run production is low or if they're depending too much on the top half of the lineup to score runs (or if the Jose Reyes batting third experiment is a complete disaster). But you know as well as I do that Billy Beane is going to ask for double what he gave up for Holliday if he even decides to trade him at all. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the A's will be a contender in the suddenly winnable AL West, so the Mets will probably have to look elsewhere. The question becomes then: Did the Madoff scandal cripple the Mets' finances that much that the Wilpons are unable to add a big salary at the deadline if they need it? It may depend on who becomes available.

2009 Outlook

Why You Should Watch: If you're a Mets fan, you want to see the championship that would make the last two seasons worth the pain. If you're not a Mets fan, you probably want to see them fall short again. Despite the fact that they drastically improved their bullpen while the Phillies by and large stood pat, the race will still be nip and tuck at the end, setting up a third chance for the Mets to finally win a game at home when it counts (and that home this year is the brand spanking new Citi Field). In case you were wondering, the Marlins do not end the '09 season in New York again. This season, they can play spoiler in Philadelphia for the final weekend. (Why the schedule-maker couldn't see fit to match the Mets and Phillies against each other on the final weekend is beyond me, but that's another conversation.)

What Defines Success: It's the finish, whether it be finishing games or finishing the season. The Mets want to do it strong this time. They have the bullpen to finish games strong now. But can they finish a season strong? If it gets right down to it in a close race, can the Mets forget about past collapses and play their game, or will the Phillies be in their heads?

Related Links

- Fantasy Baseball Preview: Top Flight Options
- Better Know a Prospect: New York Mets