Same Look Mets?

Barring any injuries, the 2010 New York Mets will have a similar look to their opening day lineup this year as they did last year, with only a few changes....Are these changes upgrades, downgrades or no grades?

2010                                                 2009                                   GRADE

C-   Omir Santos (Rod Barajas)               Brian Schneider                       UP

1B- Daniel Murphy                                  Carlos Delgado                    DOWN

2B- Luis Castillo                                      Luis Castillo                             ?

3B- David Wright                                     David Wright                       SAME

SS- Jose Reyes                                         Jose Reyes                            SAME

LF- Jason Bay                                          Daniel Murphy                        UP

CF- Carlos Beltran (Angel Pagan)          Carlos Beltran                       SAME

RF- Jeff Franceour                                   Ryan Church                           UP

P- Johan Santana                                      Johan Santana                      SAME

With the signing of Rod Barajas, it gives the Mets a veteran catcher, who has thrown out over 35% of baserunners and he can hit. Losing a healthy Delgado's bat is big, but he hasn't been healthy in 2 seasons so either Daniel Murphy or Mike Jacobs will suffice at 1B. Staying with Luis Castillo at 2B is so volatile because he finally hit really well last year, but he made possibly the worst defensive blunder in the history of the Mets since Bill Buckner. It is a question mark because no one knows which Castillo will be there at 2B, a good hitting, gold glove Castillo or a sub .200 hitter with stone hands. David Wright just needs to find his power again and everything will be fine at that corner of the infield. Jose Reyes, hopefully he has figured out what is wrong with him medically and he remembers how to steal bases again. Having Jason Bay in left field is a huge upgrade from the experiments the Mets had last year. He is a bonafide power hitter and he brings a lot of experience playing a wide open outfield. Not sure what Carlos Beltran has, and not sure if he does either. He is injured again and he will miss the first month of the season and this injury might still be affecting his ability to run the bases well and steal bases all together. Having a healthy Beltran means having a potent lineup and it means getting back one of the top defensive center fielders in the league. Jeff Franceour is a definite upgrade from Ryan Church. Frenchy can cover all of right field really well, he has a cannon for an arm and he is a good threat in the lineup for power and for average, protecting Wright, Beltran and Bay. Johan Santana has said that he feels the best he ever has this year. He said that his prior injuries and surgeries have not effected his preparation this Spring and that he is more then ready to take the mound on Opening Day. Unfortunately, the hopeful success of all of the pitchers behind Santana in the rotation is a mystery. It is too frustrating for this blogger to begin to try and look at the New York Mets 2010 rotation under a microscope.

All of the upgrades and changes to the New York Mets are contingent on them all staying healthy. It is like that with every team in the Major Leagues, except the Mets were the only team to have over 14 starting players on the injured list last season. We hope, as fans, that the Mets organization has done some work to re-tool it's medical staff. Having that many injuries in one season seems a bit out of hand.

Who are the better athletes?

Some sports writers, like ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, believe that baseball players are amongst the most well-rounded athletes in sports. That football players, for example, could not get into a batting cage and hit a fastball, or play third base and field a line drive hit by a major league hitter.

So it begs the question, which athletes, out of the top American sports (football, baseball, basketball, hockey) are the most well-rounded? Meaning, who could play the other guys sports, as well as their own?

Football is a very, very physical sport, but with that being said, it doesn't mean that the players can succeed on a pro level in other sports. It's hard to picture an offensive lineman swinging a baseball bat and making contact. It is, however, easy to picture a guy like Terrel Owens (I know that he's not the most popular choice) playing basketball and hitting a three-pointer from the corner with a defender in his face. There are, I am sure, plenty of individual examples from each sport, showcasing an athlete with the skills to play 4 sports and play them well. The question is which athlete, overall and in general, has the best training and is in the best physical shape to give them the opportunity to be all around athlete?

They say hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports, but who, besides baseball players, could do it the best?

Question of the Day (12/1/09)

Undefeated NFL teams have been few and far between. A lot of teams have began their seasons 10-0, 13-0, 8-0, but only four teams in the history of the NFL have gone all the way through the season undefeated, one team in particular, New England, was the last to do it. This season, 2009, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts are perfect through 12 weeks. The Saints have beaten every team except one by 7 or more points, including the mighty Patriots, the Eagles and the Giants. The Colts, however, have had more close games then they would like, barely beating the Patriots, Jaguars, Ravens, Texans and 49ers. SO, which team has a better chance of going through the rest of the season without a loss???

Taking into consideration the way each team played against the Patriots and how many games each team has had to come back to win, challenging them to have to fight from behind, it is tough to see either of them lose down the stretch.

Question of the Day (11/18/09)

What is wrong with the New York Jets?

Is it the lack of experience at head coach and at the quarterback position?

Could it be a lack of talent?

Are they just not as good as the teams they are playing?

Most of this year's games for the Jets have been close all the way to the end. The Jets Defense has done very well, holding opponents down trying to give the offense a chance to win. Mark Sanchez, in his rookie year, has shown sparks of big game talent and looks like he is here to stay. Braylon Edwards is a huge talent at the wide receiver position and is one of the best one on one, especially with his size. Thomas Jones is a consistent runner and Dustin Keller has become a go to target at tight end. The Defensive Line has put pressure on some of the best quarterbacks and for the most part, they have done very well defending against the big plays down the field. The special teams has been a problem lately, with the loss to Miami sitting solely on their shoulders. This season is wash for the New York Jets, but moving forward, they need to address these issues and build on it for next season.

Question of the Day (11/12/09)

The New Orleans Hornets have fired head coach Byron Scott after a 3-6 start, is that fair? And why does Lawrence Frank still have his job as head coach of the 0-8 New Jersey Nets?

At least Byron Scott took his team to the playoffs in the past two seasons. Scott also won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after he guided the Hornets to a 56-26 record and the Southwest Division title. The Hornets were within one win of the West finals before losing Game 7 at home to the San Antonio Spurs. Last season they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Nuggets and this season their latest loss came last night to Phoenix, 124-104.  On the other hand, the New Jersey Nets are 0-8...enough said.

Question of the Day (11/11/09)

If Barry Sanders had not retired from the NFL early, would he and not Emmit Smith, be the all-time leading rusher?

How good was Barry Sanders? Better than Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Emmit Smith?

Question of the Day (11/10/09)

This has been a debate around the water cooler, at sports bars, in offices and anywhere baseball and Yankee fans can be found. The question is, who is the best Yankee ever? The debate has usually been between Derek Jeter and Babe Ruth, specifically due to the accomplishments of Jeter this past season.. There have been plenty of very strong arguments for each side. Take into consideration though, the time, the era, the stats, the off the field actions, the championships, the teams and the other players. And remember, the Babe also pitched.....

Questions of the Day (10/27/09)

In St. Louis, the Cardinals have named Mark McGwire their hitting coach......

Is this a good move for the organization?

With questions of his steroid use and cheating still surrounding McGwire and his record setting home run battle with Sammy Sosa years ago, will this bring unnecessary heat to a relatively quiet team??

Will this open the door for players like Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Juan Gonzalez, etc, to possibly obtain coaching positions??

Thoughts of the Day (10/27/09)

ESPN has had some really great and creative commercials in the past five years. Whether they involve the College Football Live crew, the Sportscenter anchors, the Baseball Tonight crew, but some of the most memorable ones were with the Pro Athletes. Recently there have been ESPN/NBA commercials, where the analysts and commentators are all riding in an RV across the country to each arena they are calling the next game at. Jeff Van Gundy, who never cracked a smile while coaching in NY, has been involved in a lot of these ads and he has been hilarious. The latest one has Van Gundy in the passenger seat and the Gorilla mascot from Phoenix in the driver seat of the RV, parked waiting for the #1 overall draft pick, Blake Griffin, to get back on the RV via the side door with his fast food in hand. Van Gundy is hanging out of the window yelling to Griffin to get in and let's go! Of course, as Griffin grabs the handle, the RV pulls away and they begin laughing at the rookie, urging him to hurry up. They get Griffin two more times, hysterical and acting like little kids, on the last attempt to trick Griffin, the RV hits an electrical pole and knocks it over and the next shot is of the Gorilla and Van Gundy just looking straight ahead and now they look like two kids who just broke a vase in their mom's house. Brilliant use of all the people involved!
When ESPN decided to use their analysts and commentators and ex-players in their ad campaigns, they looked like marketing geniuses. They have reenacted scenes from sports movies using them, they have simulated fake newscasts and all the while not taking themselves too serious. This is one of the reasons why ESPN is so widely successful. They are a credible sports news source, but at the same time they realize that they are covering sports, not the war in Iraq. Having fun becomes an integral part of ESPN's broadcasts. It was laugh out loud funny, when Peter Gammons and Karl Ravich did the Baseball Tonight parody of the "Bull Durham" scene and when John Andersen switched chairs with Lebron James, giving him the desk chair, taking his "thrown" and pretending he has no idea where Lebron's chair, it makes you wonder how many takes that took. Seeing stars like Albert Pujols, Lebron and Steve Smith dressed in their uniforms, working in the ESPN office cubicles and copy rooms seems almost normal, like it would happen in your office and of course, at work you always have to watch out for Terry Tate "Office Linebacker". He was the funniest creation from the ESPN marketing team.
So, when girlfriends and wives ask their men how can they watch ESPN all day long, over and over again, its because no other channel taps into the male psyche like ESPN. Men love comedy and sports. With the addition of all of these funny and creative ads, parodies and promos, turning off ESPN is now nearly impossible for men to do. ESPN is doing a fine job counteracting the influx of shows like "Real Housewives of Somewhere", "So You Think You Can Do Something", "Bitchy Brides", "Make Me Into Something I am Not" and so on and so on. Women can no longer sit there and say to their significant others, "you have to watch one my shows since I sit through hours of sports for you", because it's not just sports, it's entertaining comedy.

Questions of the Day (10/26/09

Can the New York Yankees keep the powerful Phillie lineup in check in this year's World Series?

Will Joe Girardi be able to handle the pressure of managing in the World Series?

Cliff Lee vs. C.C. Sabathia....who wins this mighty matchup in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium?

Who wins the 2009 World Series?