No Changes Coming for Citi Field's Walls In 2010

Much has been made of the way the new dimensions and fence heights at Citi Field suppress home runs this season, but the Mets don't have any plans to make their park more homer-friendly. That's probably not good news to David Wright, who has expressed some frustration about the way the new park is configured, but there's no reason why it should be bad news for the Mets.

Just because Citi is averse to home runs doesn't mean that it is averse to offense. HitTrackerOnline told the New York Daily News that Wright missed out on eight homers he would have had at Shea, but all eight of those balls wound up as hits which, as you surely know, are also offensive statistics.

It's the opposite of what's happened at New York's other new park this summer. All the focus at Yankee Stadium has been on the amount of home runs because of the high rate that balls leave the park. There's been less attention paid to how many other balls that would have otherwise been hits have been lost in the transition.

Neither stadium has actually played to its bias as much as is perceived by the general public. The Mets have hit 43 homers at home and 34 on the road, while their pitchers have allowed 67 homers in Queens and 60 elsewhere. That doesn't scream problem about hitting at Citi Field, it screams problems for the Mets hitting anywhere and speaks to their need for a better offensive baseball team.

That's why it's distressing to read Jerry Manuel's comments about the way the Mets are going to approach the future.

"We're going to try to build a team with speed and defense and pitching," Manuel said. "I think that fits that style."

Defense and pitching are hallmarks of good teams everywhere, whether they play in bandboxes or cavernous pitchers parks. The idea that you should go for speedy players at the expense of those that can hit for power just because of the park is a bad one, however. The Mets need players who can hit, wherever they're doing the swinging, and building a team that's "suited" for Citi Field is only going to lead to a team that can't hit anywhere else.