My projected (hopeful) 2008 roster

2008 Projected (Hopeful) Lineup

Starting Lineup

1. Jose Reyes SS S

2. David Eckstein 2B R

3. David Wright 3B R

4. Carlos Beltran CF S

5. Jorge Posada C S

6. Moises Alou LF R

7. Carlos Delgado 1B L

8. Lastings Milledge RF R

Bench

9. Ramon Castro C R

10. Marlon Anderson 1B/OF L

11. Ruben Gotay IF S

12. Endy Chavez OF L

13. Damion Easily IF/OF R

Starting Rotation

14. Johan Santana SP L

15. Pedro Martinez SP R

16. John Maine SP R

17. Oliver Perez SP L

18. [Pelfrey/Humber/Mulvey] SP R

Bullpen

19. Billy Wagner CL R

20. Duaner Sanchez SU R

21. Scott Schoenweis RP L

22. Pedro Feleciano RP L

23. Joe Smith RP R

24. Orlando Hernandez RP R

25. [Rookie] RP L/R

*Johan Santana – trade two of three (Pelfrey, Humber, Mulvey), one of two (Martinez, Gomez) and Heilman

*David Eckstein – free agent signing

*Jorge Posada – free agent signing

*[Rookie] – rookie relief pitcher out of Mets farm system (Willie Collazo, Carlos Muniz)

*Gueirro Mota – release him, eat the money, not worth the pain

...okay so in reality...who knows...i do believe the posada and eckstein signing are possible and both good...Eckstein's got heart, he is a scrappy young player...and good attitude...Posada is a great leader, performs well, and again works hard...plus, with torre gone, he is more likely to sign elsewhere...and with the Mets keeps him home and in the NY spotlight and with willie again...either way, both would be great additions to the team...i don't know about you, but that lineup 1-8 is solid and would take that every day...

...as for the starters...they are going to have to be giving probably at least 2 of the 3 potentials (humber, pelfrey, mulvey) so whoever is left, gets the 5th spot...bump el duque to the pen...good relief, and can spot start...maine and perez are solid 3-4's with a santana-pedro 1-2 punch (assuming health is good)...getting santana will be quite the task...but it is doable for the right package without selling too much...

...the bullpen can be resolved from what we have already...first...bye bye mota...i don't want to see you ever again, you are worth eating the contract so we never have to see you in a mets uniform again...hopefully sanchez comes back and is healthy and can be what he showed us in the first half of '06...adding el duque to the pen gives us a bit more depth...i say give joe smith the shot...he has the whole off-season to get arm strength up and be effective...and then the last spot give to collazo or muniz in the minors...there are arms down there that we should take a look at...

...bench is pretty much the same...so with 3 solid moves...this team has a solid makeup for next year...but alas...i am not GM...so we will see...

Some thoughts from Joe and Evan on WFAN regarding the Mets

Remarks from Joe and Evan on WFAN regarding the Mets:

Tom Glavine - don't let the door hit you on the way out
Randoph - team was not focused all year and he mishandled Reyes.
Reyes - single handedly caused the demise of the Mets and was the poster boy for the collapse
Peterson - get rid of him, if Rick Downs was fired during the year because of the offense, then he needs to be accountable for all of the pitching problems.
Minaya - bad moves, not resigning Oliver and Bradford, trading Ring and the other fella to San Diego for Ben Johnson, Banister to Royals for Burgos, Meister and Owens to Marlins for Vargo, 2yr deal for Mota etc.
Get rid of Henderson, bad influence on players.

The atmosphere in the clubhouse needs to change, it seems Minaya has too much influence with the players especially the Spanish ones and that the players aren't listening to Randolph (Reyes, Chavez etc). Also minaya and randolph are not on the same page. Randolph didn't want to pitch Lawrence in Washington last week, but Minaya did. Pedro on 6 days might have been ownerships decision. Also if Randolph goes then bring in a disciplinarian like Frank Robinson, or if they keep Randolph then let him pick his own coaching staff.

On the players:
Delgaudo - trade him
Castillo - try to sign him
Alou - keep him
Milledge - they think management doesn't care for him
Bullpen - blow it up (although they said to keep Feliciano and Schoenweis) Wagner has 2 years left but they are upset with him regarding his comments in some magazine.
Starters - keep Maine, Perez, Pedro and make decisions on Pelfry and Humber regarding trades or competing in the rotation, but they need an ace

...interesting and I completely agree with most of it...

...in addition for the catching position, talk is they should maybe sign Paulino or Pudge...but honestly, would it matter? besides Lo Duca gives the team a little fire under its 'you know what' which this team is in desperate need of...

...will be an interesting off season to say the least (maybe even the next couple of days)...i have a feeling the 2008 Mets are going to be a much different team...

...side note...i think it's just time to make David Wright the captain...he has stepped up and been the face of this team through the good and bad this entire season (in addition to Lo Duca)...it's time to have this team be built around Wright...he is the foundation and has the capability of being the leader of this team...which definitely needs someone to take it by the helm...