What are people expecting from the series starting today against the Marlins?

I think the Mets need to win atleast 2 0f the 3 and i think they will win all 3 to get the season off to a good start.

Todays duel betwwen Santana and  Johnson should be a great showdown as Johnson has shown how good he is especially against the mets!

Last year at about this time I made a lengthy post outlining what I expected from the 2009 team and what we would need to do to compete. My number 1 "key to success" was our ability to stay healthy. Boy, was that prohetic or what? So naturally this is what will lead off my list of what the Mets must do to have success in 2010:

I have been thinking long and hard about how the Mets are going to do in 2010. I m very optimistic and thought it would be fun to see how everyone thinks the NL East will finish up.

1st Phillies 96-66

2nd Mets 92-70

3rd Braves 86-76

4th Marlins 84-78

5th Nationals 69-93

The 2009 season is finally over. Now we can start to look forward to the trade talk adn free agancy signings.

So who should stay on the Mets roster for 2010 and who should go?

Who should the Mets use as trade chips?

Who is best suited to fill the holes on the team?

The schedule is out for next year. Doesnt look to bad for the Mets in interleague play. Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit and Minnesota isn't a bad set of series.

7 games at home to finish the season is a good way to end, especially when the final 3 are against the Nationals.

I hear that the Cubs are going to shop Zambrano in the off season. I know he has had a few injuries this season and can be very mad and crazy, but i think he would be a perfect pick up for the Mets to follow Santana in the rotation.

Move Maine to the pen and go with a rotation of

Santana

Zambrano

Pelfrey

Perez

Neise.

The Mets must start to think about 2010 seriously now. Especially now they have said that Omar and Jerry are definatly comin back next year.

They should move Beltran to left field it will help his knees and injuries and he can concentrate on hitting. They could keep Pagan at centre field and use him as a lead-off man or trade for Upton or Crawford both would be perfect for Citifield.

If there's any point to a Mets - Nationals series discussion at this point, that is.  Well, this Lannan must have been impressive.  Like more than half the Nationals probably, I've never heard of him (and I went to Nationals Park last week...), but he must be borderline spectacular to be 7-7 with this team.

Does it seem like a lose-lose situation when it comes to the Mets spending money? If they don't spend enough, they're cheap. If they spend a lot of money, they're attacked as trying to be like the Yankees and/or buying a pennant. They're being big market bullies. If they spend a lot of money and the Yankees still spend $20 million more, they're trying to do it on the cheap and not making the commitment to winning. There's never any accountability for what did you get for the money you spent. MLB is never going to love the Mets because they can never have a $40 million payroll and make the playoffs like Tampa Bay or Minnesota.

Apparently, the Mets, Sterling Equities was tied up in trader Bernard Madoff's financial fraud, and may have lost up to $300 million dollars. The impact on the team is not public, but this will undoubtedly affect financial decisions that are made the rest of the winter.