Taking Shape

Spring Training is officially underway, and it seems like the 2010 Mets are in Port St. Lucie in full force. Everybody seems to be motivated less by the failures of 2007 and 2008 and more by the disaster that was 2009. Early reports suggest that most of the returning players are in better physical shape than ever before - David Wright is said to look much stronger, and Ollie Perez and Mike Pelfrey have both shed significant poundage.

It seems that everybody has something to prove in 2010. Whether it's guys returning from injury (Santana, Ollie, Reyes, Maine) or from down years (Wright, K-Rod) or just starting out with the team (Bay, Rod Barajas, Kelvim Escobar), everybody's got a chip on his shoulder. And I couldn't be happier.

Let's get back in the chase and start to dig in right behind The Phillies. Let's give those confidence-oozing scumbags something to fear. Nothing would thrill me more than to see that dirty Hawaiian Shane Victorino peering over his squirrely shoulder, wondering when The Mets will come barrelling over him. (NOTE: It felt really good to write that down. I'm talking really really good.)

Earlier this off-season, I advocated against bringing in Bengie Molina on an expensive 2+ year deal. My advice was to instead sign Rod Barajas. And look where we stand now... Rod Barajas will be the Opening Day catcher for the 2010 New York Mets.

Barajas comes from Toronto, where he has a good deal of experience working with an ace (Roy Halladay) and four guys who need some guidance. Sounds a lot like the Mets situation, doesn't it?

The Mets have in Barajas what they thought they had in Brian Schneider - a backstop with above-average defense who can call a good game. Schneider provided neither, and spent most of his time in New York either on the bench with nagging injuries or flat out on on the DL. Unlike Schneider, Barajas has been relatively healthy for his career and has quite a bit more pop.

With Henry Blanco behind Barajas, some have argued that the Mets may have the best defensive catching tandem in the National League. Blanco is in many ways like Barajas, coming from San Diego and working with an ace (Jake Peavy) and creating an ace (Chris Young). I think Barajas and Blanco can get more out of Pelfrey, Maine and Perez than we've seen to date. And that means good things for The Amazins.

One more note on Blanco... I didn't realize until a few days ago that Blanco was a former teammate of Santana's, and that Johan credits him for his Cy Young season in 2004. Blanco was Minnesota's catcher then. What's even more ironic is that Santana had the same surgery after the 2003 season that he had this past fall. Perhaps the stars are aligned for Johan and the Mets in 2010.

My next blog will be entitled "Taking Aim," and it'll look a lot like the anti-Philly paragraph above.