Meet The Mess

Asking for patience in New York is futile, but at least Mets fans know following their steady freefall from their 108-win NL East title (when the franchise was in Syracuse in season 1) into the basement and a 101-loss season last season, things can't get any worse. But there are signs that the rebound may be on, but management and fans alike know the climb back up is going to be a lot slower than their decline.

It's fair to say last season, nothing went right. Calls to the bullpen were met with whoops of derision from the fans, but the relievers couldn't do any worse than the starters they were replacing. Defensively, only the 106-loss Santa Fe Heat gave up more runs in the NL - and only the Heat had a worse record at home in the National League (27 wins) than the Mets (31). Number one star Pascual Concepcion was the only pitcher with 10 wins (and 17 losses, mind you) despite his 6.50 ERA - the worst in the rotation. Even Joey Erickson, the first round pick pitching prospect that every Mets fan talked about with crossed fingers, could only manage two wins and 10 losses.

If not for the relative steady play from the team's core, it could have been a lot worse. Just five survivors remain from the Syracuse days; catcher Aramis Figureoa, speedy CF Tony Valenzuela, slugger Albert Chavez, second baseman Joey Yount and closer Oscar Ford. These veterans hold the key to any success around them as the team grooms what it hopes will be the stars of tomorrow.

C
Aramis Figureoa will be sharing duties with MIller Boyd, but neither has all the tools ready to lead the team forward for too much longer.

1B

Tony Duran had a spectacular spring and made the job his. Leading off, his base-stealing exploits from spring are still worrying pitchers.

2B
Joey Yount is reliable and durable, but last season he couldn't manage 100 RBI for the first time in his Mets/Syracuse career and at 33, fans will hope he can stave off a further drop until a prospect capable of playing every day emerges.

SS

Andre Colon struggles with ML pitching, but adds some much-needed glove to the line-up. He will certainly be holding the position until AAA prospect Luis Guerrero is deemed ready for the Bigs.

3B
Randy Lamb has no challenger, and made 27 errors at the hot corner last season. If not for his 60 home runs and the fact he still has some room to improve, there would be more concern than there is.

CF
Tony Valenzuela knows the glory-hungry Mets fans are counting down the days until hot prospect Kirby Priddy is patrolling center field. But as long as he can maintain his numbers, the baying for blood will be limited to quiet, disgruntled mutterings from the bleachers.

LF

Albert Chavez is arguably the most popular Met in town. While his skills seem to have peaked now he's reached 30, any long term absence to the team leader would be a real kidney punch in the fight to keep the team out of fourth. Again.

RF
Ariel Flores is like Randy Lamb in that he makes the team because he's strong in one area over the others. Unlike hard-hitting Lamb, Flores keeps his job because of his glove

Rotation
After Concepcion, the starters have a "good enough" feel throughout. High hopes for Hawk Reed faded after a further decline last season, and in an ideal world he would be used to eat innings from the bullpen. Pat McRae would be better suited in long relief, as would Lawrence Evert, and Jorel Woodson, at just 23, would be better off smoothing out his rough edges in AAA ball than getting slapped around by ML hitters. Leon Jackson is in a similar situation, but talent is thin and the need for arms sees him learning the hard way, albeit from the pen.

Bullpen
Outside of closer Oscar Ford, the bullpen is a mess. Everyone under-acheived last season, but the addition of Greg Wells and Chuck Stein should help bridge the gap from coin-toss middle relief to Ford. Another new face, Tony Kondou, finished last season in AA ball but will be leaned on to protect fragile leads in the majors as a Rule V pick-up.

Prediction -
76 wins would have been enough for second place in the NL East last season if not the play-offs. That would be a good place to aim this year as the future of the franchise remains out of sight to the Shea faithful.