10 Things To Expect From The Mets in 2010

1. The Mets will not be sold in 2010. This doesn’t mean it won’t be sold some time in the future, but the Wilpons are operating this team as if they will own it for generations to come and they officially are not for sale.


2. Omar Minaya will not be fired by the Wilpons. It simply isn’t going to happen under their watch. This doesn’t mean he won’t be replaced as General Manager, but, if that happened, I would expect him to be named something like Executive VP in charge of Operations. The Wilpons and Minaya are joined at the hip. Period.



3. Jerry Manuel will be thrown under the bus. Someone has to be made accountable for this season and it sure as hell ain’t gonna be Fred, Jeff, or Omar.


4. Jose Reyes’ contract will be extended through the 2015 season. There has been man-love between him and the brass since day one and he will eventually retire as a Met. None of his recent injuries have diminished his value to this team.



5. Luis Castillo will be shut down so he will be ready to play 2B for the Mets in 2011. The Mets will try and cut a deal for him in the off-season, but it will not happen. Ruben Tejada’s bat did not develop to the Mets liking and Reese Havens can’t keep off the DL, so the best out there is the guy they have.



6. Jenrry Mejia will become a rotational starter for the Mets. He’ll start off technically as the SP5 but SP2 seems to be the direction he will be going come the spring of 2011. The Mets are content with a 2011 rotation of Johan Santana, Mejia, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, and R.A. Dickey and I don’t expect to see any additional starters signed in the off-season.



7. Carlos Beltran will play his last Met game as a centerfielder on the last day of this season. The Mets will also try and move him in the off-season, but the chances are slim they will be able to put together a great deal for him. Look for him to return next year in right field.



8. Jeff Francouer will be traded before the season is over for some degree of a prospect. Players will attempt to throw a going away party his way but he’ll swing at that too.



9. Josh Thole will end the season as the starting catcher.



10. 2010 will, in many ways, be a pre-cursor to what will happen in 2011. The Mets need to clear contracts which don’t expire or have options until 2012. Yes, John Maine and Francouer will be gone, but this team won’t compete again until players like Beltran, Oliver Perez, K-Rod, and Castillo are a “financial history”.



I may be wrong… and, I hope I am.