In a post on MLB.com Anthony DiComo asked and answered 10 key questions about the 2012 Mets. Matt Cerrone reposted and answered the questions himself on Metsblog and I thought I would do the same.
10. Can Daniel Murphy play adequately at second base? In 2011 Dan played 168.1 innings at 2nd base and posted a 1.8 Ultimate Zone Rating, which means his defense was good for stopping about 2 runs more than the average replacement guy. So the answer here is yes. Murph makes himself look worse defensively than he really is because he he tends to make some fantastic blunders like dropping an easily catchable fly ball or ruining a double play, he also doesn't look very defensive. But thats the key to valuing a ball player wrong, over examining a few big mistakes and overlooking a body of decent work. With his offensive production being so good he would be worth playing even with atrocious defense, the fact that he is pretty good makes him all the more attractive.
9. Will the new fences make a difference? No, they won't. It's a pretty meaningless change that I have addressed a few times in the past. The only thing it could potentially do is give Wright and Bay one less than thing to blame their lack of production on.
8. Can Ruben Tejada effectively replace Reyes? Of course not, does anything think he can? Reyes won a batting title last year, Tejada has never played a full season. I seriously hope no one thinks this kid is here to replace Reyes. Tejada is a great player but with expectations like that he is going to dissapoint. He hit .284/.360/.385 last year, if he puts up those numbers again, I will be perfectly happy. If you are looking for him to bat .330 and steal 50 bags, prepare to be let down.
7. How will Ike Davis bounce back from injury? No one knows. Some people will say they do, but no one knows what Ike will be like. Ike had a brilliant rookie season but has never played a full year and is coming back from a pretty serious, season ending injury. I like Ike as much as anyone but we have to admit he is a bit of a wildcard, give me one full healthy season and I will have a bit more faith.
6. Are Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Jeurys Familia on the fast track? I hope not. I will admit I am woefully under informed on the goings on of the Mets minor league system but the idea of fast tracking ANYONE makes me scared. When has that ever worked out for a team? Didn't we learn our lesson with Jenry Mejia? Let them stay in the minors until they are good and ready and then let them play. If that means we have to wait 3 more years for our 3 baby aces then I am fine with that.
5. Will the Mets remain intact as currently constructed? No. Of course they won't. These guys couldn't win in 2007-2008 when we had everything going for us, you think they are going to win now when they are the fragments that team? Getting rid of Reyes, Ollie, Castillo, Beltran and K- Rod were the start, now let's move Johan and Wright and let the healing begin. Get some decent prospects from these two that can help us in the long run and let's see what a new Mets team can do.
4. Could the Mets really trade away Wright? Let's hope so, see above.
3. Will Johan Santana be an effective pitcher again? The short answer is yes, if you have reasonable expectations, the long answer can be found in a previous post I did here.
2. How will the Bernard Madoff situation affect the Mets? You mean besides losing the team an astronomical amount of money and make us the laughing stock of baseball? I think the legacy of the Madoff situation is that it will ultimately force the Wilpons into selling the team and get our squad new owners for the first time in over 30 years.
1. Are the Mets truly in rebuilding mode? Of course they are, was this ever in question? I think people need to realize their is a difference between giving up on a season and knowing when you probably can't win. The NL East is an incredibly tough division now and the Mets are about half a baseball team. They will field as competitive a squad as they can in 2012 but looking towards to the future is the logical move.
No comments:
Post a Comment