What Is Wrong with the Mets

I want to avoid making my posts heavy Mets this Baseball season, but this needs to be discussed.

Everywhere Baseball is being talked in NY, all I hear is people criticizing the Mets. The common complaints are no clutch hitting, bad starting pitching, bad outfield defense and bad management. So what is really wrong with the Mets?....NOTHING. Last I looked their record was 6-8 not 60-80. Last I looked the calendar said April not September. The NFL hasn't even drafted yet, and people are looking to blow up the team. While each of those complaints mentioned before maybe true, everyone needs to step back and take a deep breath and let the season play itself out.

The first issue of clutch hitting is undoubtedly one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. Clutch hitting to me is a stat made up by the media and sports talk radio. There is no way you are going to sell me on the idea that players are affected in April by a runner being in scoring position. When I started writing this, 7 out of the 8 regulars in the Mets lineup were hitting above .300. That is what is important. If the team wasn't hitting at all, I would be worried, but the bottom line is they are getting on base. I wish I had posted this a little earlier because Ron Darling said this exact thing on SNY the other night. Bottom line is I will worry about the offense when no one is getting on base, but until then be patient and the runs will come.

The next thing that has been a hot topic of conversation has been the pitching. This is something that troubles me a little bit right now, but I am going to remain positive. Johan is the best pitcher in the world and no other team has anything close to him. The key to the staff is obviously Pelfrey, Perez and Maine. So far Pelfrey has not pitched well, but he has been hurt. I am very confident that Pelf has the goods to be Johan's boy wonder and pitch like he did last summer. Oli is Oli, and we all knew that when we signed him. He is going to have stretches where he looks like Tom Seaver and he is going to have stretches where he looks like Jose Lima.

The pitcher I am a little worried about is John Maine. Maine has not been the same since June ended last year. He failed to reach the 6th inning in 8 of his last 9 starts last year and has not yet this year. Glass half full I will say that Maine is still recovering from his off-season injury and will get back to 2007 form, but glass half empty will say 2007 was a fluke. I am not going to judge him yet, because like I said before...ITS APRIL!

The staff is going to be fine because Johan is too good and Pelfry has a lot of quality starts in him if he stays healthy. If John Maine rebounds to 2007 form that the staff is going to be very good.

The hottest topic of the month so far has been the outfield defense, and Daniel Murphy in particular. Murphy is playing the OF for the first time in his career and it is going to take time for him to learn. Murph is a smart player and is young. I am confident that he is going to learn enough about the position to get 400 ABs this year and get to the point where the thing we notice about him is the number .300. Again ITS APRIL, so just give the kid time and he will learn.

The last complaint about the Mets has been management. Most of the talk has been about Omar Minaya, although I have heard a few dumb fans talk about firing Jerry Manuel. Last year the team won 89 games even though they blew 29 saves with one of the worst bullpens ever assembled. So what did Omar do this off-season? He got rid of dead weight like Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, Duaner Sanchez and Luis Ayala and brought in K-Rod, J.J Putz, Sean Green. Looking at the lineup and staff not much has changed, so if everything repeats itself the bullpen should hold up their end of the bargain and the team could win 90 plus.

So what exactly was Omar supposed to do? I know everyone wanted Manny, but that is another argument for another day. The one mistake I think Omar did make was not bringing in Orlando Hudson to play 2nd, but I can live with that if K-Rod and Putz live up to expectations. Minaya fixed exactly what he had to and he again has put a very good product on the field.

The Mets are off to a very tough start, but everyone needs to relax. If what happens in April is a sign of what the team really is then the Phillies are going to be just as bad as the Mets, and the Marlins, Mariners and Blue Jays are all going to win their respective divisions. Talk to me in July and tell me if any of that holds true.

Ultimately the Mets are going to be fine as long as the staff stays healthy and pitches well and the pen does what they are supposed to do. This team will be playing in October...I guarantee it