Today is one of my favorite days of the year, opening day. While the Mets don't start until tommorow, the Phillies play tonight and so we can root for them to lose! Regardless, the Mets are about to embark on a 162 game voyage, and nobody knows how it's going to wind up. There will be twists and turns, ups and downs, injuries and cold/hot streaks, suprising sleepers and dissapointing busts, wins and losses, and probably lots of drama along the way. But whatever happens, I'm sure it will be a lot of fun to watch, so hang on to your hats, the roller coaster is about to begin!

Here is my perspective on our team's strengths and weaknesses, as well as what I'm expecting from our team this year and what I think the keys to success will be in 09. I apologize if it is a little lengthy, I tend to get carried away! After the season is over we can look back and see if I was accurate or not.

Starting Roster:

Rotation-Santana, Pelfrey, Perez, Maine, Livan--Good, but a little top-heavy. Santana could be Cy Young and I am confident in pelfrey, but after that there are some ?. If Ollie, Maine, and Livan can stay healthy and keep their era's below 4.50, we should be ok. We don't need elite performance from them, they just need to stay healthy and hold the fort down. As a whole our rotation is a strength I think.

Bullpen- CP-K-rod, SU-Putz, MRP-Stokes, Green, LHP-Feliciano, LRP-Parnell--Obviously the 8th and 9th innings have been the big upgrade over last season, and i garuntee we won't blow 29 saves again in 09. But don't rush to assert our pen as one of the best in the league just yet, as the 8th and 9th innings are not the only ones that count. Feliciano has poor velocity and is our only LHP, so we might get into trouble vs. lefties, but overall I still think our offseason additions will make this a team strength. If Wagner is able to return come playoff time it will really make us a force to be reckoned with with 3 stellar RPs on the squad.

C-Brian Schnieder/Ramon Castro platoon--I love schnieders defense and i love Castro's power, but other than that niether of these guys are all that great. Supposing they stay healthy, I'm expecting run of the mill, average MLB numbers. Our catching situation is niether a strength or a weakness in my mind.

1B-Carlos Delgado--Easily last years second half MVP, Delgado will probabaly not hit 38 homers again. He is another year older and a liability in the feild, but he is a HOF slugger and should easily be capable of 25 homers and 90 rbi's if he stays healthy. I'm expecting a regressinog from last years surge, but he has hit very well this spring and is still a top 8 MLB first baseman and 1B is definetly a strength.

2B-Luis Castillo--Probably our biggest ?, nobody knows what we'll get from Castillo. Hopefully he is reenergized enough to improve on last years numbers, but he is still definetly a weakness. Scarier yet is that the Mets have no backup plan if he doesn't pan out except the weak-hitting Alex Cora. injuries or poor production could really hurt us here.

SS-Jose Reyes--Nothing needs to be explained here, easily a top 2 MLB SS (behind only hanley, debatably), obviously a huge strength.

3B-David Wright--Same story, elite player, strength.

LF-David Murphy--Perhaps another ? in some people's eyes, I am not worried about Murphy. He has all the tools, has a great work ethic and desire to win, is a selective and choosy batter who draws walks and has a great eye, and has some nice upside in the speed and power departments. I wouldn't call him a strength, but I doubt he will be a weakness either and I think by the end of the year mets fans will love him.

CF-Carlos Beltran--See "Wright, David"

RF-Ryan Church/Gary Sheffield, platoon--While Church may not like having such competition thrown on him at the last minute like this, I think it will push him even more to produce. Both of these guys have very capable bats, and while Sheffield has more power Church has the better glove, so I'm expecting them to split th etime about 50-50. If Sheff doesn't pan out the mets can just release him with no harm done, and Tatis can take his spot. This competitive platoon should keep both of them healthy and producing. Neither a strength or a weakness, but it could be a strength if Sheffield returns to being a true power threat.

Bench-Tatis, Cora, Anderson, whichever of the above 2 platoons aren't starting. Unfortunately I'd have to call this a weakness, I'm not very excited by what i see here.

Waiting in the minors--Fernando Martinez is a stud in the making but is too young and we have too much depth up top for him to be a factor in 09. Evans will likely be the first bat to get the call up, and Pitching wise we have Jon Niese, Tim Redding, Freddy Garcia, and Nelson Figueroa capable of making a spot start if we need them to. I think the multitude of options we have for our rotation will help safegaurd against the injury trouble we've had on our staff in recent years.

Keys to success:

1. Stay healthy. over the past 2 seasons this mets team has been devastated by injuries in crunch time, and that has crippled it's playoff chances. Last year we were on our 6th and 7th string OFers, our 3rd string 2bmen, and our 3rd string C, with Maine and our closer out as well in the pitching staff, all while the Phillies had almost no injuries whatsoever. That was the difference between being eliminated on the last day of the season once again and a WS championship. Already this spring we have had injury issues with Santana, Schnieder, Pelfrey, and Redding, and Wagner is of course still out, and the season hasn't even started yet. That has to stop. We may have the best palyers in the game, but if they are on the DL instead of out on the field then our record will take a hit.

2. Perform in the clutch. The mets "collapses" when the pressure turns up have been well documented. Further, it seemed that each blown game was a microcosm of the entire season last year. We'd start out well, get a good start from our SP, take a lead into the late innings, and then our bats would shut down while our RP's blew our lead and we lost. K-rod and Putz should help, but even they are nto perfect. Last year there were I think 14 games the mets led after 7 innings that they went on to lose. While we can hope for a lot less than that, even k-rod blew 7 saves last year. Our bullpen renovation will only help so much, and as fans we must be tolerant of the occasional flub from the bullpen so long as it does not become routine. Our late game (and late season) collapses have had almost as much to do with the bats shutting down as they have with the pen. So driving the run in with RISP, especially late in games, is a must if we are to improve on last years performance.

3. Our ? must not bust. If castillo turns back into his speedy, base stealing, .290 hitting self, and delgado hits 30 homers with 100 rbi's, and sheffield hits 20 homers, and murphy continues last seasons production and our 5th rotation slot (whoever it is) is able to meet expectations, we will win the division. If Castillo hits .240 and looks sluggish again, delgado reverts to his first half numbers of last year, sheffield hits .200 with little power production, murphy can't live up to the hype, and the tail end of our rotation shuts down, we won't. Obviously, what happens will be somewhere between those two extremes, but you get the idea. The production of our ? players who it's tough to predict what will happen with is what will ultimately make or break this team.

If we do those things, I am confident we can (and will) win the division and even make a WS run. Also, we are not the only ones who control our fate, as how our competition plays will determine how tough our job is. but whatever happens, I can't wait for the season to be in full swing with games to analyze and watch and enjoy almost every day! Now that my short novel is finished, there's nothing left to do but sit back and enjoy the show. So buckle up everyone, it's gonna be quite a ride!

LETS GO METS!