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I'm happy to announce that over the past several weeks, I've been working on a website with a few guys I've met over John Sickles and SBNation's website Minor League Ball.com.  Myself (JDSussman formerly Metty5), Alskor, Gatling, and MrKupe have been putting together a baseball website called Bullpen Banter. Together, the four of us have posted well over ten thousand times on Sickles site and have had great experiences there. We aren't focusing on just minor leaguers or saber, or the Mets but we all are well versed in many areas including those two facets. We hope the site evolves into a nice community like you have here at Amazin' Avenue...

I've been a life long Mets fan, and Bullpen Banter gave me my first chance to write about my team. Below, is an excerpt of our Mets 2010 Preview.  We hope you enjoy.

I know the "excerpt" is long, but we also take a look at the off season moves and Mets prospects on our site.

Outlook

Michael Herrick: The Mets have plenty of offensive firepower with a very good core of David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Jason Bay. They have to be luckier in terms of injuries than they were last year so that should help as well.  All that said those four guys will have to carry the offense as the rest of the lineup is pretty well average at best.  There are some defensive concerns also with Castillo at 2B and Bay in LF mainly.

Johan Santana is good way to start your rotation but there isn't a whole lot behind him unfortunately.  I like Mike Pelfery and Jon Niese and hopefully the home grown arms can grow up quick and provide some stability.  A healthy John Maine should help some, but Oliver Perez is a such a question mark I'm really not sure why he's still here.

I'm not too excited about the bullpen either, mostly because I keep waiting for Francisco Rodriguez's arm to fall off.  He was worked so hard with the Angels at some point he's going to break down.  So far I've been waiting for nothing, but I think this could be the year.  If he goes down the Mets could be in some real trouble.  They have some young arms with some real potential but it might be too much to ask for them to step up this year.

JD Sussman: You're right, the injuries killed the 2009 Mets. To me, it was surprising that the Mets decided not to address their pitching woes this off-season. If healthy, they should have the bats to compete for the wild card, but Pelfrey or Perez is going to need to bring their game to another level. Even in the unlikely event that Pelfrey and Perez break out, they still don't have enough quality innings to be an impact team this season.

I'm not sure how Omar Minaya has survived the past few seasons, because he is basically inept as a general manager. The Adam Rubin, Tony Bernazard affair was nothing short of disgraceful. While that event didn't have any impact on future player procurement, the Beltran Surgery debacle could. This team's window  to compete is a lot wider than some critics are giving the organization credit for, but changes need to be swift if they plan on winning in 2010.

The offense should be good especially with the addition of Jason Bay. The issue I see is the defense. My tickets at Citi Field are right above Bay's head and I'm expecting to see an adventure out in LF. In The Hard Ball Times Annual this year, Greg Rybarczyk looked at Citi Field's effects on offense. In his piece he states that 64 home runs were "stolen" at Citi Field that would have been homers at Shea Stadium. Of those would be home runs, 48 landed for hits. I think that dispels the notion that a stolen HR usually becomes an out. In fact, Citi Field is arguably a better offensive park than Shea Stadium was. Given how spacious the field is, Omar should have focused on defense, rather than have grabbed arguably one of the worst left fielders in baseball. Omar doesn't appear to have a plan (a good one at least) and the Wilpons need to shake things up.

 

Al Skorupa: The story last year was obviously injuries and I agree this team has a lot of talent. A return to health could yield some impressive dividends in 2010. Its a shame the Beltran thing had to ruin the good feelings already.

JD, I agree it really is amazing Minaya still has a job. He's the teflon GM. I don't think he's incompetent. I think he's actually a bright guy who recognizes talent. Despite that I believe he has a couple fatal flaws. First, he doesn't understand value. He's constantly giving away value in trades where smarter GMs stockpile it. Omar has been happy to pay a premium price for the exact pieces he wants. That approach can work - especially with a Mets franchise that isn't exactly poor. The problem is it can't work forever. Sooner or later all those trades you lost and all those free agents you overpaid for drag your roster down.

Second, his management of the organization as a whole has been poor. The Beltran and Bernazard things are just the most recent examples. There's clearly something wrong with the way this organization is run. The media is handled poorly. Lots of non-stories became issues because they aren't handled correctly. I can't prove it but I would swear the Mets actively deceive their press corps and leak trade rumors in an attempt to gain an advantage. None of these things are all that terrible by themselves... but as a body of evidence they are damning.

I also agree Bay should provide a nice boost for the offense in 2010. Savor it, Mets fans... because in two or three years that memory may be all that stops you from wanting to throw Bay and Minaya off the Triborough Bridge.

Stephen Kuperman: This team is a mess. They've been consistently undone over the past few years by their lacking of pitching depth, and yet Minaya hasn't been very aggressive in trying to fix this chronic flaw. They don't need great pitchers to compete, but this is a team that should recognize the value of high-floor low-ceiling starting pitchers that can be had on the cheap. The lack of pitching doesn't really encourage their guys to get any better, either; competition is a GOOD thing.

On the bright side, the (hopeful) re-addition of Jose Reyes and the signing of Jason Bay should provide some extra offense, and that should be enough to get the Mets into contention. Of course, if Reyes doesn't come back healthy, the Mets have a big decision to make in the form of Reyes' 2011 team option for $11 million. Teams don't usually let guys with Reyes' upside hit the market, and while I can't believe that Minaya is going to let his prize Latin shortstop go, I'm skeptical that even a healthy Reyes is an $11 million player at this point. The market has changed pretty dramatically, and an injury-prone speed guy is not really my idea of a sound investment.