(I used Niese’s 2009 because his ‘10 numbers were not available. $400K is the league minimum and that makes sense.)
Numbers culled from Cot’s Baseball Contracts
We can't afford lapses.”
-Jerry Manuel
One game, one win and one beautiful day.
Johan Santana wasn’t great, but in his first real start coming back from surgery, it was as good as anyone could ask for. Six innings, four hits and one earned run. He needed 103 pitches, 69 landing for strikes, as he walked two and struck out five. Again, not great, but I was more than happy.
David Wright’s opposite-field two-run home run in the first inning was what every Met fan wanted to see. Hopefully this sets the tone for his season.
The four-run sixth. Yeah, it was helped out by the ugly play from the Marlins, but it was still nice to see.
Fernando Nieve’s two innings to Francisco Rodriguez’s one. The bullpen shuffle was taken out of play with the run support, but Nieve turned in two nice innings and K-Rod was able to get work after a short spring and a rough patch with his brothers.
Jason Bay and Rod Barajas both had nice first games for the Mets. Gary Matthews Jr. had a decent day at the plate but looked shaky in the field.
The Marlins in the field. Three errors, all in one inning and two balls that fell in the outfield, the Fish were flopping around on the field. It was fun for Mets fans to watch, though.
Mike Jacobs. Four at bats, two strikeouts and two broken-bat balls that didn’t make it out of the infield. He was also replaced by Fernando Tatis for defensive purposes. And he’s the “starting” first baseman. Yikes.
David Wright, Johan Santana, Jason Bay and Rod Barajas get to split it four ways.
The Mets and Marlins square off again on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m.
Let the season begin!
Also, all the infielders are at the top of the order, outfielders in the middle and the battery at the end. I find that interesting.
I don’t consider myself an optimist nor a pessimist. I’m a realist. If something doesn’t seem within the realm of possibility, that’s because it’s not.
But here I am, on Opening Day, hoping. Hoping for what, though?
The Mets may have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing anything worthwhile this season, but I’m excited. Maybe I’m just excited for baseball, real, competitive baseball. Maybe I’m excited for Gary, Keith and Ron. Maybe I’m just excited to yell and scream at my television on a nightly basis.
Whatever it is, I’m pumped. I already laid out my Francisco Rodriguez jersey that I will be wearing today and I’m home in New Jersey so I can watch the game in HD (it’s the second best thing to watching it in person).
Here we are, with what is likely 162 Mets games ahead of us, and I am excited.
Here’s to baseball. Here’s to the Mets. Let it be a wild ride.
The rules are easy: I post a Mets player photo, but only reveal a tiny part of the image. From there, your goal is to try and guess which player the photo is of.
No prizes, but pride and honor is on the line.
Here is today’s Guess the Met… Good luck!
Leave your guesses in the comments!
I’ll reveal the answer after Easter dinner (probably around 7 p.m. or so).
Answer: Many of you nailed it as Jeff Francoeur. Well done!
| 2009 | 2010 (likely) |
| Jose Reyes | Alex Cora |
| Daniel Murphy | Luis Castillo |
| David Wright | David Wright |
| Carlos Delgado | Mike Jacobs |
| Carlos Beltran | Jason Bay |
| Ryan Church | Gary Matthews Jr. |
| Brian Schneider | Jeff Francoeur |
| Luis Castillo | Rod Barajas |
| Johan Santana | Johan Santana |
Above is 2009’s Opening Day lineup. Next to it is what could be 2010’s. Note the differences:
What a difference a year makes.
“I don't know if anyone gave a better effort."
I wonder when that press release was sent out?