Worries here

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

A place to confine worries:

The offense in general and the general approach to it: Seems to me I've read too many WWSB and/or Omar quotes which basically say "We know our offense is going to be good..." usually whilst justifying carrying Hernandez' bat, and I don't necessary believe it.

While we have a chance to pretty good, I think this team will prolly hit into a lot of double plays (Nady, Delgado, LoDuca) and probably, make too many outs (Reyes, Hernandez). Beltran has to improve; Delgado/Floyd have to stay healthy, and I wonder about how dangerous the bench will really be w/o a legit LH slugger beyond whatever Valentin has left.

[Centerfield]

The starting pitching worries the crap out of me. Pedro's toe...Glavine's age, and then it gets worse from there. Trachsel, not long ago, was slotted in as a #5 starter...Zambrano is inconsistent, and our 5th starter remains a mystery.

I'm concerned a bit about the offense too, but not as much as I am with the starting pitching. Our 2 through 5 is pretty good, but our leadoff guy doesn't get on base, and it there's a chance we'll get very little production from the bottom of our lineup.

Even last year, our 6-7 slots had names like Piazza, Cameron...I'd take either of those guys over what we have there now.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Beltran is one of my bigger worries. If his 2006 isn't better than his 2005, we'll be looking at another five years of a vastly overpaid mediocre player.

I also worry that we may get fewer than 60 combined starts from Pedro and Glavine; the closer we get to 70 from them the better.

If Nady doesn't have that breakout season we're hoping for, and Floyd reverts to 2004, and Beltran continues 2005, the outfield's not all that potent.

I still sense Julio being a disaster. Hopefully, if he is, the Mets will stop using him, rather than keep running him out there in the hope that he'll eventually justify dealing Anna.

Trachsel's a minor concern. I think he'll get it together, but if he doesn't Heilman is in the wings. (Assuming, of course, that Heilman doesn't have to step in for any of the other four starters.)

I fear the July 31 deadline. I'll be quite relieved if Lastings Milledge is still Mets property on August 1. If the Mets are even within ten games of a playoff berth, Omar may start mortgaging the future.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

They stick with Nady for too long and he doesn't improve
Heilman drudges through a season in the pen, is gone at the end of the year, and becomes a very succesful starter somewhere else.
Zambrano gets too many chances.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I have no worries on March 28th - I'm too freakin' excited that the season is
going to start next Monday and I get a day off and get to go Shea.

I guess if I had to worry about something it would be Glavine, Trax, and ob-
viously Pedro contributing on a high level all year, and still beng able to do
so if it's necessary, late in the season and/or post season.

[Edgy MD]

Hi, I'm Carlos Delgado and I'm 34.

I worry that the TV station will be filled with dumb stuff, and the substance of Mets brand will degrade as much off the field as it has degraded on. New stadium (probably corporately named), new batting helmets --- lots of potential for dumbness. And well, yeah, it sounds like I want to live in my conservative little bubble, but I fear much conservative dumb corporate structuring: "We're rich, we can afford to make decisions based on proven models."

[Centerfield]

Wait a second, those batting helmets are for the regular season? I thought they were just for spring training.*







*I vaguely remember saying something in an IGT that I liked the batting helmets. That was during a day game and I couldn't see that they were two-tone and had that ridiculous design. (I thought the whole helmet was metallic blue). Later, when I caught a night-game and got a good look at the weird design, I nearly gagged. I also thought the helmets were to be used for spring training only.

[Edgy MD]

I don't necessarily think they're going to get a regular season appearance.

But I worry.

[Guest abogdan]

Oh, the starting pitching. #1 has a big toe that hurts every time he pitches. #2 is 40 years old. #3 is coming off a back injury and has been awful this spring. #4 is Victor Zambrano. #5, whoever that is, has never been a succesful major league starter. This isn't that far away from being a complete disaster.

[Theoldmole]

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song...

[TransMonk]

Always starting pitching.

I agree with giving Bannister the #5 spot, but only because Heilman is much more valuable in the pen.

This rotation is not a playoff rotation, so in order for the Mets to win the division and compete for the championship, Omar is going to have to make a move or two to strengthen the starting 5.

The only spot in the lineup that concerns me is the bottom. I can imagine a lot of 1-2-3 innings with Nady - Hernandez - Pitcher. But I don't share those concerns about 1-6 in the order.

Willie is going to have to prove he can solve a regular lineup where he is getting the best out of all of his players. The musical lineup card is not going to get it done this year.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Pitching in general. Like Keith, I think our pen goes from good in Wagner & Heilman to average in Sanchez, to a bunch of crap that throw hard.

As for the rotation, it's Petey and everybody else. I expect Glavine to be a bit better than average, and Trachsel & Zambrano to be average. I'm not sure about Bannister, but if we get average production out of him too, I'll be happy.

I just don't think we have much upside in our rotation. I feel like they're all known quantities with the exception of Bannister, whom I'm not terribly high on.

I worry about Willie making stupid choices.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

Rotblatt wrote: I worry about Willie making stupid choices.

No worries, mate. It's a lock. That's like worrying that Dustin Hoffman's character in RAIN MAN might start behaving all weird and unsocialized soon. What would be scary is if Willie all of a sudden starts figuring out how to manage MLB games. Can you see it? Day one of the season and all of a sudden he's a whiz at the double-switch, always has a pitcher warmed up when he needs one, saves his lefty PH specialist for the precise right spot, etc. Where would THAT comes from?

I'd be worried about starting pitching myself. If Glavine crashes, not out of the question for a 40 year old who hasn't pitched consistently well for the length of his contract, this isn't much of a staff.

[MFS62]

Steve Traschell’s back is not fully healthy.
Beltran can’t show us why he should be wealthy
Reyes has problems with his young hamstrings
These are a few of my worrisome things

Hernandez swings a bat like a wet noodle
David Wright is caught having sex with a poodle
Delgado doesn’t stand when somebody sings
These are a few of my worrisome things

The bullpen can’t hold down the other teams’ bashers
We’ll miss Anna Benson’s made up eyelashes
Wagner’s great fastball has lost all its zing
These are a few of my worrisome things

Willie can’t think
Of line up things
And that makes me sad
I simply remember my worrisome things
And then I just get so mad..

Pedro’s big toe problems, the fans say they knew it
We’ll regret trading Jae Seo, the fans yell “Omar, you blew it!�

[Edgy MD]

The poor Cubbie fans have to contend with opening the season with Prior and Wood on the DL.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Some scansion issues in that third verse, but overall, excellent job 62.

[MFS62]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Some scansion issues in that third verse, but overall, excellent job 62.

Thanks.
The toughest part was coming up with appropriate words that rhyme with "noodles".

Later

[Guest sharpie]

Good work, MS62. Glad to see you have no worries about the catching.

[Centerfield]

Fantastic 62.

[Elster88]

abogdan wrote: Oh, the starting pitching. #1 has a big toe that hurts every time he pitches. #2 is 40 years old. #3 is coming off a back injury and has been awful this spring. #4 is Victor Zambrano. #5, whoever that is, has never been a succesful major league starter. This isn't that far away from being a complete disaster.

I'm officially terrified.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I actually think our pitching's gonna be OK, or at least, average. And I also think it can get better easier than could a struggling O.

Offense is what worries me. Offense.

[Edgy MD]

I think, at worst, we throw four or five starts to a pitcher that doesn't belong in the bigs --- near-or sub-replacement level. Maybe Lima will be the name on those lineup cards.

As we learned last year, we can lose a lot of at-bats at second base to replacement-level performance. With all the redundancy, somebody there is going to do adequately; it's just a queston of how many at-bats are garnered by those who may not.

I suppose it's also possible that Paul LoDuca falls off a table, but Castro should provide enough coverage to catch him.

[Elster88]

I am not confident in Castro's ability to take on a starting role.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I actually think our pitching's gonna be OK, or at least, average. And I also think it can get better easier than could a struggling O. Offense is what worries me. Offense.

Can I get some action here? I say the Mets will score and surrender above league average in 2006. Do you want to take "They'll score and surrender below league average"?

[MFS62]

Bret Sabermetric wrote: Can I get some action here? I say the Mets will score and surrender above league average in 2006. Do you want to take "They'll score and surrender below league average"?

Contact Pete Ropse and find out the odds and the over/under.
Then get back to us.

What about score more and give up fewer?

Later

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Bret Sabermetric wrote: Johnny Dickshot wrote: I actually think our pitching's gonna be OK, or at least, average. And I also think it can get better easier than could a struggling O. Offense is what worries me. Offense. Can I get some action here? I say the Mets will score and surrender above league average in 2006. Do you want to take "They'll score and surrender below league average"?

Sure. Winner gets a beer on the loser.

[Willets Point]

That could be a sticky situation. Make sure you don't wear anything that stains easily if you're the loser.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Of course, there may not be a winner/loser if, as MS62 suggests, one stat is above and the other below.

How about Mike Piazza? Will he get 80 RBI this season?

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Of course, there may not be a winner/loser if, as MS62 suggests, one stat is above and the other below. How about Mike Piazza? Will he get 80 RBI this season?

The Yiddish word for someone like you is "plutgemacher," Yancy. Don't start maching plutge, please.

Oh, good. First bet of the season. File this in the Predictions Archive, Beer Division.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm familiar with a few Yiddish terms, but not that one. (My dad used to have a lot of Jewish customers at his shop in Queens, and he brought home a bunch of phrases.)

Bret, it looks like you stumped Google:

Your search - plutgemacher - did not match any documents. Suggestions: Make sure all words are spelled correctly. Try different keywords. Try more general keywords.