My good buddy Ed “Rusty Jr.” Marcus over at The Real Dirty Mets has a very good column posted this morning on the patients Mets fans will have for the team this coming season. Ed asks the questions will fans show up at Citi Field, if the team gets off to a slow start will fans call for Terry Collins and Sandy Aldersons head and how much more cat calls will we hear from the stands of Citi Field for the Skill Sets to sell? All very good questions.

This off season has been as dormant of any positive Mets news in a long long time. The specter of the Madoff trustee law suit and the teams financial straits have overshadowed any baseball move made by the club as all the moves and non-moves have been money driven. That being said, I can’t wait until training camp opens as we can finally get back to discussing hitting, pitching and defense and hopefully some baseball related story lines.

The die hard “the Mets are in my blood” fan will come out to Citi Field no matter what this coming season brings.  With all the talk of boycotts and protest and insurrection by a part of the fan base, let me say don’t count on me for support. Am I pissed off about the way the Skill Sets have run this franchise and besmirched the good name of the New York Mets? Oh hell yeah! Do I wish they were gone from their seat of power as owner of the team? Double oh hell yeah? But will I abandon my Mets fandom? Infinity hell no!

If Terry Collins can continue to move this team in the direction he has and improve on how they fundamentally play baseball, then this could be a very interesting season. Two major things have to happen for the Mets to play above all expectations this coming season, they must master the fundamentals of baseball and they have to stay healthy, those two aspects of the game will be the difference in whether the dormant Mets fan will come out to Citi Field or will stay home. The Mets do not have the raw talent to be a contender for a division or a wild card berth, but if they limit the mistakes on defense and on the bases along with staying healthy, especially the very fragile starting pitching, the Mets could be the big story of the 2012 baseball season.

If the Mets do become this out of the blue story ,no one in the fan base will give a rat’s ass about the owner. We care about the Skill Sets now because we’re bored and angry, bored because there hasn’t been anything baseball related to discuss thus we’ve started to turn on ourselves (just check out Twitter any afternoon) and angry because we want to have a team we can be proud to call ourselves fans of.  What the Skill Sets have to worry about is that the die hards don’t become the minority among the fan base.

Mark it down on your calendar May 27^th it will be Banner Day at Citi Field and before you read anything else today you MUST read Mets Police posting today on what Banner Day means and how you should properly behavior on this day.

Yeah, Yeah I know the owners suck, team sucks, Citi Field sucks yada, yada and more endless yada. That’s why it is time for you to stop all of your sobbing (right Ray?) and get involved in something that is fun and a big part of the fabric of what it is to be a Mets fan.

I hope all you red-ass Mets fans know that any derogatory signs or banners you feel is your right to bring to Citi Field that day will never make it on to the field and before you kill the Mets for screening the banners that will be on display think about what’s worse screening banners or being refused access to use the rest room during God Bless America?

How great is it to be Steve Cohen? Cohen is a true hedge fund impresario. He is in the running for ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers but he also is buying a minority stake in the Mets. It’s a win-win all around for Cohen, if he gets the Dodgers, he becomes sole owner, if he loses out on the Dodgers, he’ll still have his wallet in the door to be sole owner of Mets. In fact I wouldn’t be shocked if Bud Selig is working a backroom deal with Cohen, Wilpon and MLB to drive up the sale price of the Dodgers with Cohen getting a bigger piece of the Mets, still a minority share but more that 10-20% with the agreement that is the Wilpon’s have to sell they sell outright to Cohen.

Yesterday the New York Mets announced that John Franco will be indicted into the team’s Hall of Fame this coming season with the pomp and circumstance commencing on June 3^rd.

There has been much speculation this winter on who would be selected as the next honoree to the Mets HOF, some folks feel Mike Piazza should have been named and of course he should but it looks like the Mets are waiting for his enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame so they can throw a really big shindig with Mets HOF honors and a number retiring ceremony as well.

Franco gets the honor this season for many reasons, he played 14 seasons with the Mets, holds the record for most saves in franchise history and most importantly he’s a Wilpon loyalist. Franco holds a job with the club sort of like the Mets Ambassador to Public Functions, in which he’s perfectly suited for. Late season, he volunteered his services to mentor Bobby Parnell in finding his way to the craft of closing baseball games, which if I were the pitching coach I would have strongly voiced my opposition to but it seems the front office didn’t have a problem with since it seems the GM really has no use for Parnell as we see with the addition of Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco which relegates to Parnell to fighting for a bullpen job.    

As I say, I really don’t want to piss in the punch here on Franco’s honor of Mets Hall of Famer but in my opinion, this year’s Mets Hall of Fame honoree should have been us, the New York Mets Fan.  How great a ceremony would it be to honor the long suffering Mets fan? The team could have selected the longest tenure season ticket holder to accept the award in our behalf and then commission a plaque with a nice mosaic of Mets fans who may be the most diverse of all sports teams in this town.  What better way to celebrate 50 years of Mets baseball than honoring the folks who really are the heart and soul of the organization, the Mets fan. Without us there is no NY Mets and in this upcoming season of apparent discontent, what better way to show how much we mean to this organization but to honor is with a plaque in the Hall of Fame.

Mike Silva at NY Baseball Digest has an outstanding piece on his site this morning on Carlos Beltran and his time as a Met and his comments on Mets fans needing to “get over 2006”.

I have to say it took me a while to appreciate Beltran and his contribution during his tenure. I think the turning point in the relationship came when Beltran went to Colorado to have surgery on his knee after the club, namely Omar Minaya and Tony Bernazzard handled his medical care piss poorly.  Beltran was furious when the club made it seem he went rogue and receive an unauthorized procedure on his knee. When the truth came out it was Minaya and the team who were disingenuous.

What soured me with Beltran at the beginning of his Mets career was the double dealing he did behind the Mets back by offering himself to the Highlanders at a discount after the Mets made their substantial offer. It pissed me off because I saw Bobby Bonilla all over again. Bonilla, after getting the best offer out there from the Mets during his first free agent foray, took that offer to the Phillies to see if they would match it or go higher. By all rights, Bonilla was within his right to find the best deal possible and it was in my right as a Mets fan to call him a greedy prick.

The other problem Beltran had was not wanting to be the out front guy in the clubhouse. Some guys thrive in that spot, some guys, it’s just not their personality.  Beltran to his credit produce as well or better than any position player the Mets ever employed but his personality as seen through the media left something to be desired. But in listening to players in the clubhouse, where the opinions count, Beltran was not just respected but revered.

As for Beltran telling Mets fans to move on from 2006, it shows the major difference in how fans are more of the fabric of a team than the players.  Can I get over Beltran watching a wicked curveball break over home plate for strike three thus curtailing the Mets from getting to the World Series?  No, and I shouldn’t.  I’m a Mets fan, I can’t be traded or released or designated for assignment. I could leave as a free agent but the thought never entered my mind. I’m here for life. Players come and players go but fans are here forever. I still hold a grudge against Yogi Berra for not using George Stone properly in the 1973 World Series, costing the Mets a  championship, what makes Carlos Beltran think he’s  so special to escape my scorn?

Sorry for the lack of posting at the site the last couple of days. I spent my weekend at Camp No-Be-Bosco just outside of Blairstown, NJ on a camping trip that had everything you’d want in winter camp out, snow, cold and a 2AM run to the latrine, ahhhh……… yes the great outdoors. The camping trip and the New York Football Giants incredible post season (not to mention the best New York Rangers regular season in many an year and trying to come to grips that the great run of the Big 3 of the Boston Celtics looks over) run has greatly distracted me from the comings and goings of the New York Mets .

Again Eli Manning has proven you can be tough, fearless and a leader without being a rah-rah screamer.

I guess Tom Coughlin can make that big purchase he’s been putting off as he is the Giants head coach until he deiced he doesn’t want to be Giants head coach anymore. Who knows what move TC will make if the G-Men win the Super Bowl?

I’ll admit it, I never thought the Giants would go on this roll especially after the loss to the Redskins on December 18^th  but thanks to the Jets and the 99 yard Victor Cruuuuuuuuuzzzz TD, which TC said was the turning point, I started  with the “what if’s” in my mind. But of course that dominant Mets fan gene that I possess always makes me brace for the worse.

With all the analysis that goes on about the NFL to the point you’re numb by game time, last night’s game broke it down to the games simplest form. If you turn the ball over multiple times and can’t convert 3^rd downs on offence, good chance you’re going to lose. If you are plus in the takeaway column and convert those takeaways into points, chances are you’ll win the game.  

Like a baseball team that is strong defensively up the middle is most successful, in the NFL you’re only as strong as your offensive and defensive lines. The Giants offensive line has been very good for the most part in keeping Eli Manning upright, but last night they allowed him to take a beating. Plus this OL has a tough time getting the running game going, albeit Brandon Jacobs could do better than he does. What has been the big push in this playoff run is the DL especially a star is born, Jason Pierre-Paul.  Without that DL playing at the level it has, which has taken the pressure off an injury riddled secondary, has led to a defensive resurgence that Giants love and cherish.

Saturday night the NY Chapter of the BBWAA held their annual dinner and Gary Carter was the recipient of the “You Got To Have Heart” Award which was accepted on his behalf by his children. Thinking of you Kid.

Lots of chatter about what cap Mike Piazza will wear on his Hall of Fame plaque. Piazza himself has said he wants to enshrined as a Met. Since he played more games as a Met (972) than a Dodger (726) it’s only right he wears a Mets cap on his plaque. I’m sure with Freddy Skill Sets being Uncle Bud’s favorite nephew the word will get to those in Cooperstown to etch that Mets cap on Piazza’ head.

As for the writers not voting Piazza into the Hall on the first ballot, I think they know if they don’t vote Piazza, they will end up like Murray Chass, just a broken down old bitter blogger grazing on a farm.

Now that we have the holidays out of the way, we can now look forward to spring training for what should be quite the interesting Mets season.

Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue had an interesting post today on how bad will the Mets be in 2012? Of course the number one item on his list of things that will impact the season is the Skill Sets financial situation, something that will most likely overshadow what goes on, on the field but Simon also touches on the health and availability of Johan Santana, the hitting of Jason Bay and David Wright and where the offensive production lost from Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes will come from.

So my question to you my loyal readers, what is your expectation for the Mets this coming season? What is a realistic expectation of this team and what will be their standing in the NL East, a division that could be up for grabs if the reports of Prince Fielder signing with Washington are true. Can you see anything short of a last place finish in the division? Right now, I can’t.

Where do you see Johan Santana this season? For me, I’d be surprised if we see Santana pitch for the Mets before June.

What to do with David Wright? Wright is not a player, right now that could realistically bring back a treasure trove of young talent but what if he is invigorated by good health and more friendly dimensions of Citi Field and puts up a .300/.380/.500 line with 15-17 HR’s and 75-80 + RBI by the All-Star break, do you keep him and hope a new owner comes in with cash to re-sign him or is the lure of young robust baseball players to tempting to turn down in a trade?  I’m still undecided on this one but I am leaning towards a deal if the Mets get back a blue ribbon prospect or a young Major Leaguer under club control.

When I go to opening day at Citi Field, who else will be there? If you are a true blue Mets fan and having been going to Mets games your whole life I can’t see how now you decide to sit this season out. No one has a right to tell you how to spend your time or money but as Boggy said, “a hot dog at a ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz”. So true, I mean today when I left for work I had on a sweater, coat, scarf and wool hat. You know what? That sucks. I want to wear shorts and t-shirt and have a scorecard in my hand. I have made peace with myself that the Mets will not be very good this season to the point that 100 losses would not shock me. However, there is still a part of me that small sliver of Mets fan naivete` that still has me holding out hope that this season could be full of surprises and I want to be there to enjoy them.  I know all the die-hards will be out at Citi Field on Thursday April 5^th at 1:10PM, will you be there? If not tell me why not?

It’s funny the other teams I root for in other sports are playing at a level where they are contenders for championships in their respective leagues but it’s the Mets that are on my mind the most  and my biggest concern. Crazy shit eh?

Lots of Mets news today to look at and I want get to it quick so I can read Howard Megdal’s new book “Wilpon’s Folly. Megdal has done what no other journalist s has attempted, he has conducted a full investigation into Wilpon’s involvement with Bernie Madoff and how December 11, 2008, the day Madoff was shown to be a world class thief and the worst day of Fred Wilpon’s life could rival the June 15, 1977 as the worst day in NY Mets history. After I finish reading “Wilpon’s Folly” I’ll have more on the book but if you are a Mets fan and want to know the TRUTH about Madoff and what the Wilpon’s knew and when they knew it and where all this will leave our beloved Mets, you really need to get this book.

Sandy Alderson has been named to International Talent Committee that was formed to study if MLB should institute a draft of International players. Just one step closer to the Commissioner’s office for Alderson

What’s this? The Mets are looking at dealing for Gio Gonzalez? It would be a feather in Alderson’s cap to pull this one off and if he feels parting with Jon Niese, Ike Davis and a minor leaguer or two is worth it, it still may not be enough to land Gonzalez.

Wayne Hagin, we hardly knew ye. Looks like Hagin’s days as Mets radio man are over. Hagin never clicked with the fan base because we Mets fans are very provincial when it comes to announcers.  I’ve met Hagin a few times on the 7 train going back to the city after a Mets game and found him not only a gentleman but a great storyteller as well, but all that just didn’t translate into the radio booth during games. A great hire to join Howie Rose in the radio booth would be Boog Sciambi.

I’m a little late with this and I apologize as you need to check out Ed Marcus and Kerel Cooper’s video’s of Tuesdays Mets Christmas Party and the Q & A’s with Sandy Alderson, Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy and Jon Niese. Yes that’s me asking Alderson about the catching situation.

It has taken me all day to put a post together about yesterday’s Mets Christmas Party that myself and other Mets bloggers were honored to be invited to. The reason it’s tough writing today is that this organization has pulled at every emotions a person can have, love, hate, compassion, pride all of these feelings swirl in my head when it comes to the New York Mets.

All of the financial mumbo jumbo brings out the hate in me. I hate Bernie Madoff, I hate the Skill Sets for getting involved with this rat bastard and not having the god damn street smarts that every good son of the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn is born with. I hate with a fucking passion that the Mets have become a joke to the main stream media and to fans of other teams who have taken Mets bashing to the bully level. The main stream media in this city has been busy destroying the organization and no doubt the owners of this team have given them plenty of ammunition to bash them, but to see these jackals mingle amongst themselves having a grand old time at Citi Field as the get ready to compete with each other on who can write the best ”Mets sucks” column puts me in a rage. I hate that the owners treat the fan base like idiots. I’m no John Kenneth Galbraith but I can figure out the more loans you take out to pay your bills, the more broke you really are. Someday soon JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and the other 29 owners of MLB are going get fed up and chase the Wilpon’s like Colangelo chased Looie Dumps in A Bronx Tale. It infuriates the shit out of me that the Skill Sets just keep adding debt on to debt and insist on feeding us a line of horseshit about the minority owners who will be riding down Roosevelt Avenue on white horse with millions of dollars in their saddle bags to save them. The Wilpon’s are beyond saving. There are some outstanding people who work for the New York Mets and I have had the privilege of meeting them. From the media relations folks and the marketing and ticket sales and services people who work unbelievably hard at their jobs trying to sell the Mets brand on and off the field, when you see how hard they work and how long a day they put in, you get a tremendous appreciation into what goes into running a major league sports team, a job that would be tough enough in this city without all the turmoil that ownership is presently enduring.

So as the hate wears of that’s when the love starts, as I mention I love how the folks who work for the team do their jobs and do so with pride and professionalism, especially Danielle Parrillo, Director of Communications and Shannon Forde, Director of Media Relations.  I love hanging around with my fellow Mets bloggers at the events we get invited to. We all come from diverse backgrounds as Mets fans and bloggers and we all write from different angles but we all have one main thing in common, we love the Mets and want this organization to succeed.

As ridiculous as this may seem, I have some compassion for the Skill Sets. Yesterday I was venting to one of the Mets front office folks on how I wish the Wilpon’s would just sell and get the hell out of my Mets fan life. The response I got was “Fred and Jeff would sell their homes and live in Citi Field if that was the only way they could keep the team”.  As we finished up our Q & A with Sandy Alderson, as he was leaving our group I went over to him to ask what he thought would happen on the season finale of “Homeland”, as we chatted about what we thought the biggest cliffhanger would be, none other than Jeff Wilpon joined us. That’s right me, Sandy Alderson and Jeff Wilpon. Whoda thunk it? Wilpon was asking us about the show as he’d never seen it so we discussed the premises of it with him. When our little quorum broke up, I looked over at Jeff and said to myself how sad and beaten down the guy looked. I thought back to what was told to me about how he and his father would sell everything to keep this team but the look and demeanor of the guy was of one who knew the end was near. For the first time ever, I felt sorry for him, well maybe for a minute. You and I know this will not end well for the Skill Sets. I’ve yet to read anything from people who are savvy in dealing with all this financial information (your main guy for this should be Howard Megdal, in fact if the Skill Sets were smart they’d hire Howard as a consultant to help them figure out an exit strategy here)  on how the Wilpon’s can save their ownership of the team and with John Harper’s piece in the NY Daily News today you can see it will be sooner more than later when the Skill Sets will have to surrender control of the Mets.

When that day happens I won’t be rejoicing. I’ll be happy that they will have to sell and that an owner with capital will come in (I am just very very nervous about Cablevision and  Jim Dolan buying the team) and hopeful it will lift the pall that sits stagnant over Citi Field but I’ll feel a bit sad for the Wilpon’s as this will be a crushing blow to them, losing the Mets. See I’m not a total prick.

I would think by now every player on the Mets has gotten the message, you can be replaced, to that I say, it’s about time.

I know there is a segment of the fan base who get their balls in a uproar when they hear of their favorite player mentioned in trade rumors and we can see by the group whose pissed off that Jose Reyes is now a former Met,  who will miss Reyes by the way not for his baseball prowess but because they love his dreads or he helps them sell t-shirts and don’t have the capacity to look at it as solely the baseball move that it was. It’s the same way some have reacted to the scuttlebutt that Ike Davis and Jon Niese have been dangled as trade bait. I know it’s been awhile since the Mets have had a true general manager running their team but I’ll let you kids in on a secret this is how you run a baseball team.

Now before you call me an asshole (if you haven’t already) let me make it clear that I am not advocating that Ike and Niese be dealt but as a Mets fan you should be encouraged that Sandy Alderson is doing his job in trying to build this wreck of a franchise into a contending team for the long haul.

I get it that the Mets fan base is quite diverse but you can’t keep sucking year after year and keep players just because they were drafted by the organization or have nice dimples you need players who can actually step up and win some baseball games. Give me a flat ass, pimple face baseball player who can get on base, knock in runs or pitch seven innings a start any day of the week.

It’s quite obvious that Alderson feels there is not one player on his current roster he cannot live without and as a fan of the TEAM that should make you happy. When Alderson was first introduced as Mets GM he was asked about relationships with players, he let it known from the jump that he’s not here to be their friend but he would do whatever he could to help them if they needed his assistance.

I’m sure Alderson thinks David Wright is as fine a young man as he’s met in baseball but that won’t stop him for dealing him away for a front line pitching prospect or a top flight center fielder.  It’s not personal its business.

If Angel Pagan is the Mets opening day center fielder I’m going to be pissed off.  A lot of my angst over Pagan has to do with his inconsistent play especially in the outfield and some of it has to do with what is perceived as a “me” attitude that looks as if it chaps the mangers ass as well. Terry Collins was miffed when Pagan took himself out of a game last year claiming he had a stomach virus and was dehydrated but never told the manger he was headed to the porcelain palace in the clubhouse as his turn to bat was up. Pagan also bitched and moaned about batting leadoff when Jose Reyes was out with his blown up hammy, solidifying his rep as a selfish player

Mike Silva wrote a piece on how Pagan may be the best of what’s out there as far as centerfielders go, but why do the Mets always have to settle?  If it’s going to cost at least $5mil to sign Pagan why not go a couple of million more and sign David DeJesus?

DeJesus would be a upgrade over Pagan in the outfield for sure and  an upgrade in the lineup as well as DeJesus has a better ability to get on base than that of Pagan.

Sandy Alderson has targeted the pitching staff, zeroing in on the bullpen, as job one this off season but he also needs to address the defense which was one of the worst in baseball last year.  The up the middle D was especially poor (Jose Reyes by the way was -11 in Runs Saved ) so if the organization can’t afford to go all out to get some decent arms then maybe an upgrade on the defensive side would help the arms the Mets have now?

I think this post by Shannon at  Mets Police says it all about being a Mets fan.