New Year, New Hope? Not Really!

The beauty of Opening Day is that it is a fresh start for all teams. But while the "new year, new beginning" feeling usually erases the pain of a previous bad season; this year it feels like 2010 is just an extension of 2009.

Considering the horrific, injury-riddled year the Mets had last season the key to giving fans some hope was with an off-season that addressed the team’s shortcomings. Instead, with the exception of Jason Bay, it was an off-season of inactivity, mediocrity and reclamation projects. They managed to sign 3 catchers but did nothing to address the lack of starting pitching. As the months passed by we watched John Lackey, Randy Wolf, Ben Sheets and Jason Marquis, who all but said he would take a hometown discount to pitch for us, sign with other teams. Yes, I agree, aside from Lackey, none of these free agents were worth the money they received. But are they a step up from Maine, Pelfrey, Perez and Niese; especially considering the fact that the entire projected starting rotation, including Santana, are coming off injuries in 2009. Even more alarming is the fact that none of the Mets projected starting pitchers have had a good spring. Niese has been the most reliable but his ERA is still over 5. At least if they had added one of the free agent pitchers there would be one less question mark.

But as if the unproductive off-season wasn’t enough to dash the hopes of Mets fans, along comes the injury bug to once again bite us on the butt. It starts with Carlos Beltran opting to have knee surgery without the consent of the front office. I’m not even going to get into the fact that the front office bungles everything, but when you have a player deciding to have surgery without his team approving it, something is clearly wrong. Regardless of the PR nightmare this is, the fact remains that once again we will be without Beltran in center to start the season. If surgery was needed it should have been done in October so he would be ready for spring training.

Adding to the injury curse is Jose Reyes. You know there is a black cloud hanging over Flushing when your star shortstop, who missed most of last season, gets ordered to couch rest because of a thyroid problem. Only the Mets could have a player be afflicted by such a bizarre, random ailment. Thankfully, it was only 2 weeks of rest as opposed to 8, but Reyes will still miss opening day. I’m so glad I just spent $180 to freeze at the game where our starting center fielder and shortstop are MIA and we have to face Josh Johnson. The one sure bet for the game is that I’ll be drinking a lot of beer on Monday.

But beer goggles aside, what can the Mets do to have the best possible season they can given the horses in the stable and the cards they have been dealt? For one thing, Oliver Perez should be left in Florida until he proves he can pitch. Call it a 36 million dollar wash. Give Nelson Figueroa, who had a great spring, a shot to be the fifth starter. He deserves it.

The Mets also need to bring up Ike Davis to play first base while Daniel Murphy is out with his ankle injury. Let’s face it, folks, if this Murphy injury wasn’t karma in favor of Davis then I don’t know what is.

Similarly, the Mets also need to give Jenrry Mejia a shot in the bullpen. Might as well see what he’s got. If it doesn’t work, send him down. He seems more mentally capable of handling the pressure than Pelfrey or Perez so why not?

Aside from these suggestions, the only other thing Mets fans can hope for is that the injury bug gets squashed and that the players play up to their potential. After all, on opening day all teams are equal in the standings. We have to relish that 0-0 record because with the improvements every other team in the NL East have made, it could be another ugly season at Citi-Field.