tough year for baseball on Matt's mind

This is the least excited I've been about baseball leading up to opening day in a long long time.  I've even cancelled my mlb.tv subscription this year!

Honestly, I'm going to chalk it up to my mets having such a abysmal offseason and bleak future.  I don't blame Sandy Alderson for this at all. He hasn't had much to work with.  Hopefully, now that the Madoff stuff is settled, there will be a clearer future in place.  Even if they're not winning next year, as long as a clear vision is in place, I think I can be excited and root for the Mets as I have in the past.  However, in its current state, I'm being taken over with apathy.  I guess my fantasy team will keep my focus mlb a bit this season, but it's my attention because of a hobby, not my attention because I'm a fan.

Yu must come here and pitch.

Yes, I'm talking about Yu.  No, not you, Yu Darvish.  I hear that negotiations are slow, but he's heads over shoulders above the competition in Nippon league, and he has to come over and on top of that dominate this league too.  That's the best thing for Yu who always seems very loyal to his country (despite the culture against non-japanese).  He'll become the new pride of Japan (ichiro's on his way down), will further ligitimize the NPB pitchers (only Nomo had unquestionable success).

Sign him Nolan.
Sign on the dotted line Yu.

Get It Done.

Happy April 1 2011!!!

It's the REAL opening day now! Yeah, there were a few games yesterday, but today, the Mets play! HOORAY!

So, here are a few tidbits, and thoughts on the season that is underway:

1) Mets - at best, can hope for a .500 season.

1a) I'm not sold on Mike Pelfrey. He'll be ok, but FAR from an ace. he would be a #4/#5 on a good rotation (3 would be a reach imo)....on the Mets, he's the ace. go figure.

1b) I'd be surprised if Beltran and Reyes are still Mets by the end of the season. If they have a chance to get prospects, they'll jump on it. unfortunately. Reyes - man. my first jersey ever... and he's going to be on a different team :(

1c) Krod also gets traded. no way he stays a met and finishes 55 games.

2) Because the Mets aren't going to be great, how about the O's, since they're my home team now.

2a) O's will be lucky to break 75 games. Everything has to finally start going right for them to get to 500 because of the division.

2b) that means Weiters needs to start hitting, Jones needs to start hitting. Markakis needs to return to his pre contract numbers. Matusz, Arrieta, Tillman, & Burgesen need to be AWESOME.

2c) Lee, Vlad, & Hardy need to be at their best, fighting for a big payday in the offseason.

2d) Brob needs to stop getting hurt....

2 in closing: that's a lot of ifs...

3) I'm rooting for the Pirates, Cubs, and Indians to do well.

4) i'm worried about my fantasy team.

Wait. Castillo's gone, but...

Ok, so, Luis Castillo just got cut. BUT!... err, really? Ollie's still around?!?!?

I'm sorry but, as bad as both of them are, Castillo as of the moment before he was cut, he had a more realistic chance of being the better 2b option vs any of the other 2bman in the running, vs the chance that Ollie beats out all the other lefties in bullpen.

Castillo was actually having a better spring than any of the other guys. and it was so bad that Collins had to put another name into the mix (Hernandez) because Emaus, Murphy, and Turner just weren't doing it...

Meanwhile, with all the other lefties in the pen, Byrdak, Misch, O'Conner, Tankersley are all competing with Ollie. Byrdak is going to be the go to lefty (think Feliciano of '11), and if we're looking at someone to fill in with the Takahashi '11 role, Misch is clearly better than Ollie.

Anyways...

just my rant of what else doesn't make sense in metland.

Springtime.

So, I started this blog last year, thinking I'd actually make regular posts. And like every spring, I'm filled with optimism, because it's a new year. So here's a new dedication to starting this all over again. I will regularly talk about baseball here, rather than just brooding over it in my head.

1) I don't play for real baseball. I play fantasy baseball. It takes a lot of hard work, a pinch of luck.

It's like for real, only it's fantasy! But seriously, I love being a stathead geek and picking and choosing favorite players of mine. I think my greatest joy is finding the 'sleepers'. The guys who nobody else notices, but I see as someone who's poised to break out. And i pick them with like the 20th round pick, and he plays like he should've been picked 10 rounds earlier. I think I did that with Choo with the 20th round in 2009 or picking Jorge De La Rosa in the same year off the waiver wire.

2) What a year for the Mets. They have two guys that should obviously be dropped (Oliver Perez & Luis Castillo), but they won't. I think ollie deserves all the criticism he gets, and hope he never pitches in the major leagues ever again. not that I'm wishing bad on the guy, but I wish that no other fan base will ever have to bear with his wild inconsistencies and selfish play ever again. As for Castillo, I can't blame the guy for taking the contract. Omar should never have given him that contract. He was ALWAYS going to be a slap hitter. decently high OBP. Old legs, that are losing speed. And bunting way too often. He should never have been treated the way he was, as it was Omar's own fault for giving him the contract, and not moving him when they could.

AND, I hope Jose Reyes stays with the mets for life. I hope he shows a career high OBP (370's? please?) Show's his legs that got him 78 steals in 07. and plays the defense he's wow'ed everyone with.

AND, I hope Wilpon eventually sells the team to good owners who are real baseball people and won't meddle in the day to day operations, and will provide solid financial base to make a good team. a solid 125-150 mil payroll that a big market team should have every year, and the smart GM to find the people worth giving the contracts to.

3) I hope the Orioles finally start contending this year. The AL East is such a tough division, but If Matusz becomes the ace that he can be, Burgeson, Tillman & Arrieta can be the good pitchers that they can become, they have a shot. I think the offense will come this year, but the real worry is the pitching. The young pitching really needs to come into its own.

Here's to spring.

Here's to optimism.

the ups and downs of a season

So, pretending that you know what the past few months have been like for me as a baseball fan... Let me tell you... it's stupid of me to love baseball as much as i do, and devote this much time to it.

maybe I should quit....

Allegiances, aka, Baseball.... how I hate thee

As a matter of full disclosure, I feel I must divulge my allegiences. And while I may not feel the misery that is felt in the south side of chicago, I have experienced much anguish for most of my life. With baseball, my allegiances seem to run close to my geography. I was born in Korea, and while I left before I was three, I already was a fan of the newly formed Korean league's OB Bears

(yes, named after the beer)

I had an OB hat, and though I don't remember, I also had a whole uniform...

But, that came to an end after moving to Elmhurst, NY and going to church in Flushing, NY... yes, that flushing. and what would I see every sunday, but:

And while the big blue stadium lured me in, it was this moment:

that lasts in my mind and claimed me as a Mets fan. I was supposed to be in bed then, but my sister and I were looking around the corner of the hallway at the tv, trying to watch without my parents noticing me. Of course they spotted us, but unexpectedly, my dad told us to come join my parents on the couch and watch with them. :-)

I have always loved and followed the Mets (though I did become a bit uninterested during the mid 90's post strike), but I have a few other teams that I will on occasion root for. First is the Pirates. after spending my college years in that town, and seeing PNC park go up and going to the inaugaral game alone - first row in the left field corner... it just makes me feel like i was a part of the agony, and I want them to succeed.

I also live in Baltimore, and will root for the orioles. And since I came to this town in 01, all I've known for the O's are the losing seasons...again, I'm part of the agony.

These are my allegiances. And it is because of these allegiances that I suffer and at times despise baseball. But it will always pull me back.