The New York Mets Pros and Cons looking into 2007.

Killswitch

The Mets have so many question marks it's staggering. But since I'm fair, the pros first:

--Fantastic bullpen led by a very good, if sometimes erratic, closer
--John Maine
--Left side of the infield sewn up for years

On the fence:

--Beltran: He is not worth the $27 million that the Mets have paid him so far. Sorry. Solid? Yes. Overrated? Yes.
--Delgado: Injury-prone the last three years, and will be 35 years old next season. Your other first baseman is approaching 50.
--Lo Duca: Will be 35 in April, and that is rarely a good thing for a catcher.
--Glavine: Was great, but he'll be 41 in March.
--Milledge: He's probably going to have to take Floyd's place, but personally, I'm not sure he's ready for that.

Cons:

--Pedro is on the shelf for at least the first three months. And who knows how long his rehab will be considering he has multiple injuries. Even when he does come back, he's still an injury magnet.
--Steve Trachsel is gone, and he accounted for over 15% of your team's wins.
--El Duque likely won't be back after filing for free agency; but even if he is, he's still the most brittle pitcher in all of baseball.
--Oliver Perez: 3-13/6.55/1.75. 'Nuff said.
--Cliff Floyd is done. He cannot stay healthy at all and he's a free agent.
--Second base: Jose Valentin is your second baseman. He's 37 and his career BA is .243. Your other option, Chris Woodward, filed for free agency.


Also, let's not forget that their farm system is somewhat depleted at the moment. I have no idea how they plan to get Barry Zito. Honestly, I have nothing against the Mets other than the whole rivalry thing, but reality (and the injury bug) is probably going to smack this team right in the face very early next year. They are a very old team.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

There is one thing they have that a lot of other teams don't and that's deep pockets..

Pitching is still hard to find though no matter what, but that goes for everyone. Almost every team in the MLB could use a really top flight starter right about now.

I think you sell Beltran a little short. Last year he was crap, but this year he was awesome. Just look at the numbers.. If he can produce numbers like these for most of the remainder of his contract, he'll be well worth the money.

Plus, one more thing to look at. the division is bad. The Braves are decent but won't spend the money to get to the next level. They'd have to have a perfect storm to happen to sniff the playoffs. The Marlins have good young talent, but are still a long ways away.. The Nationals are really shaky, and the Phillies still don't have pitching either no matter how good their lineup might look like..

Killswitch

I do have to agree with you on pitching being a huge problem with each MLB pitching staff but what I do see in the Mets is that they always have money which helps them get stronger each year. But what I am trying to say is the mets will most likely get Barry Zito and someone else and still have money left over becuase they are giving up Cliff Floyds contract which is huge. Mets add Barry Zito and a number 3 guy and signing Glavine could help them out depth wise for the upcoming season.

Dr. Giganto

Carlos Beltran will probably finish 3rd in the MVP vote, and deservedly so. I strongly disagree with you there. Yes, he sucked last year, but he was hurt all year and it was far and away his worst year in quite some time.

Beltran is the real deal. He drove in 100 runs 4 times in 5 years for the Royals. For the ROYALS. Thats like 200 RBIs for the Yankees. He had the highest OPS among all MLB center fielders. He had 41 home runs, most among MLB center fielders. His 116 RBIS were second among CFs. And he's an excellent defensive center fielder. Although most defensive metrics are unreliable, and should be taken with a grain of salt, he was 4th among CFs in Range Factor, and 5th in Zone Rating. According to baseballprospectus.com, his fielding runs above replacement was 31, whihc is excellent.

Not only is he worth the money, but Carlos Beltran is the BEST center fielder in baseball. Only Andruw Jones is close.