Chizip said:
Carpenter = Cy Young
Pujols = MVP
poo-holes is an absolute beast. i rarely actually sit down to watch an entire cardinals game because, well, i don't give a crap about the cardinals... but watchin' him last night was a thing of beauty.
as for the muts...
they need a second baseman and a first baseman. a new catcher is optional. mike piazza spoiled met fans... catcher's normally don't put up those kind of numbers. they normally put up ramon castro type numbers. so if they can find an upgrade at catcher, fine... if not, i'm more than happy with castro starting and mike jacobs, who despite the fact that he's been playing first base since being called up is actually a catcher, backing him up.
i would consider trading cliff floyd if you can get something of value for him. his value is never going to be this high again for the rest of his career.
the mets need a bonefied #3 hitter... be it an outfielder, a firstbaseman or soriano (the only 2nd baseman capable of hitting third, really). carlos beltran is NOT a #3 hitter... he's a #2 guy. let him hit 2nd with a legit #3 behind him and you will see why people raved about beltran for all these years. he's not a guy who's gonna put a team on his back and cary them. to me, he's bernie williams with better speed. he's a guy who needs to hit line drives, go with the pitch, hit it to all fields, hit and run, bunt every now and then, and hit 20-25 homers on accident... pitches that he was just trying to drive into the gap but got enough of to send them out. that's not what you want from your #3 guy, but it's perfect for a #2. the entire season he's been trying to hit homeruns... 80% of his hits this season have been pulled. that is not carlos beltran. that is someone trying to be something that he is not. now that the mets are baisicly out of it, i'm really hoping willie takes a chance and just moves beltran to the 2 spot and lets david wright bat third. i've been begging for it since may... maybe i'll get my wish now that there's baisicly nothing left to play for. and on a side note, i still agree with the signing of beltran despite his horrific year. they just need to use him correctly. the mets were like the clippers... the only way to get a big name free agent to pick them over the yankees was to over-pay... so that's what they did. with the new network... the "metwork," if you will... starting next season, they've got plenty of cash to go around.
the mets need a closer. braiden looper has proven that he's not a bonefied closer. he lost his closer job in florida to ugey, and he's been horrific this year. i wouldn't mind keeping him as a setup guy... despite what it seems like, he's not
that bad... he's just not a closer. i'd like to see them try and pry billy wagner from the phillies... would improve your closer immediately while at the same time huring a divisional rival.
i'd also like to see them go try and get another front line pitcher. we've got so many arms, but only one ace, and he's getting up there. if a good young pitcher between the age of 25-30 becomes available, via trade or otherwise, they should make every effort to get him.
if the red sox call about manny again, and the mets pass on him again, i will personaly go down and smack fred wilpon in the face with a rubber hose.
the mets are close, but still have some gaping holes that need to be filled. they need to make every effort to fill those gaps in this offseason. the misnomar that many met fans believe is that things are only going to get better because we have so many good young players/prospects... wright, reyes, diaz, lasting milledge, pettite, etc. etc. this is true, but franklly... who cares... atlanta has 10+ rookies on their team this year and they're leading the division. florida is filled with young stud pitchers, and have a 24 year old outfielder in cabrera who's only begining to scratch the surface of his potential. philadelphia has a ton of young studs comming up as well... chase utley is turing into one of the best second baseman in baseball, ryan howard is a beast (which means they can trade thome for some pitching help), and they have a few good young pitching prospects... and we all know that the expos/nationals have always produced good prospects, and now they can actually keep them. it's not going to get easier for the mets... they have a chance, they're not that far away, but they need to make another big splash now and not just think that the young guys are going to make the difference... because every team in the division is stacked with young talent.
