2008 Lineup Predictions...

A few weeks ago, I started to predict the statistics for each individual player on the Mets. I waited to post them because I wanted to see what others thought. Here are my predictions compared to others predictions...

SS #7 Jose Reyes

My predictions: .301 AVG, 20 HR, 74 RBI, 67 SB
Mlb.com's predictions: .294 AVG, 15 HR, 72 RBI, 73 SB
The Man's predictions: .295 AVG, 14 HR, 70 RBI, 68 SB
Eli's predictions: .289 AVG, 14 HR, 62 RBI



2B #1 Luis Castillo

My predictions: .295 AVG, 1 HR, 48 RBI, 15 SB
Mlb.com's predictions: .298 AVG, 2 HR, 44 RBI, 25 SB
The Man's predictions: .302 AVG, 2 HR, 55 RBI, 25 SB
Eli's predictions: .295 AVG, 3 HR, 46 RBI



3B #5 David Wright

My predictions: .327 AVG, 30 HR, 124 RBI, 28 SB
Mlb.com's predictions: .322 AVG, 32 HR, 111 RBI, 27 SB
The Man's predictions: .330 AVG, 34 HR, 128 RBI, 31 SB
Eli's predictions: .312 AVG, 34 HR, 123 RBI



CF #15 Carlos Beltran

My predictions: .281 AVG, 37 HR, 117 RBI, 23 SB
Mlb.com's predictions: .274 AVG, 34 HR, 115 RBI, 18 SB
The Man's predictions: .280 AVG, 31 HR, 116 RBI, 25 SB
Eli's predictions: .273 AVG, 28 HR, 105 RBI



LF #18 Moises Alou

My predictions: .307 AVG, 18 HR, 73 RBI
Mlb.com's predictions: .315 AVG, 20 HR, 75 RBI
The Man's predictions: .305 AVG, 16 HR, 65 RBI
Eli's predictions: .272 AVG, 16 HR, 73 RBI



1B #21 Carlos Delgado

My predictions: .270 AVG, 27 HR, 96 RBI
Mlb.com's predictions: .272 AVG, 28 HR, 94 RBI
The Man's predictions: .270 AVG, 28 HR, 94 RBI
Eli's predictions: .262 AVG, 23 HR, 86 RBI



RF #19 Ryan Church

My predictions: .278 AVG, 14 HR, 80 RBI
Mlb.com's predictions: .275 AVG, 18 HR, 74 RBI
The Man's predictions: .278 AVG, 16 HR, 81 RBI
Eli's predictions: .269 AVG, 16 HR, 71 RBI



C #23 Brian Schneider

My predictions: .249 AVG, 8 HR, 56 RBI
Mlb.com's predictions: .254 AVG, 7 HR, 60 RBI
The Man's predictions: .255 AVG, 10 HR, 60 RBI
Eli's predictions: .246 AVG, 6 HR, 48 RBI



When Mets 4 Life expands, our new staff of writers will predict the statistics of each individual. When they are completed, they will be posted..

Sosa interested in Mets

I know it seems like the Mets have alot of outfielders and they don't need anymore, but according to Eli over at MLB Rumors had this to say in his latest post...

Shea Hello Sammy?: One agent who asked to remain anonymous believes that Sammy Sosa would take a minor league deal from the Mets if it was offered. I haven't heard if the Mets were interested, but I am sure they would dish out a contract to Sosa if he was willing to take a pay cut.

Sosa can still hit home runs and drive in runs, there is no doubt about that... but I just can't see where the Mets can find a place for him unless he is willing to take a pay cut, and play in the minors for a while until there is a need at the MLB level... and according to Eli, only Sosa has expressed interest in the Mets. So far the Mets have not shown interest in Sosa, but our ears and eyes should be listing and looking for more details soon.


.....I wonder why Eli's sources are ALWAYS anonymous....

Marcel 2008 Predictions: Batters

Marcel has released a list of over 1400 players with predictions for each one. I took the time to go through all of these players, which are in no order, and find all of the current Mets and some former, but interesting players... First we'll start with the batters...

The format is AB/RS/H/2B/3B/HR/RBI/SB/CS/BB/K.. got that? haha.

Jose Reyes: 593/102/173/29/12/12/62/59/14/53/74
Luis Castillo: 507/78/147 /19/05/04/42/17/07/53/52
Carlos Beltran: 502/90/136/32/02/26/92/18/03/66/97
David Wright: 539/95/170/38/02/24/98/23/04/72/103
Moises Alou: 377/55/113/21/02/16/59/04/01/35/44
Carlos Delgado: 491/72/130/29/02/25/90/03/00/57/112
Ryan Church: 430/56/118/33/02/15/65/o6/02/45/103
Brian Schneider: 427/40/108/22/01/08/56/02/01/46/66

So according to this method of prediction, the Mets will not have a player on the team that will have 100 RBI or a player with 30 HR. I really can't trust this method of prediction. Its hard to say that Beltran and Wright are going to regress going into their prim years.More to come tomorrow....

Mets gave to much for Angel Pagan

I'm a day late on this one but the Mets re-acquired OF Angel Pagan in exchange for OF Corey Coles and RP Ryan Meyers. Over at MetsMerized, Joe D examines the trade for Pagan, and from his findings, I think the Mets may have made a mistake. Joe D took the time to take an in-depth look at both of the player that we traded...

Joe D on Corey Coles...

"Last season the 25-year old Corey Coles had a solid season in Triple-A batting .286 in 388 at-bats, with 11 stolen bases for New Orleans. In 2006, he led the Florida State League in batting with a .341 average and swiped 21 bases. He is a top of the order hitter with a solid batting eye, great speed and gap power. He is one of those rare kids who actually walks as much as he strikes out, and his career on-base percentage is .367. The left-handed hitter put together a 13-game hitting streak from Aug. 5-18, and also hit safely in 12 straight games from April 19-30, while recording 47 multi-hit games. Although he zipped through three levels from Port St. Lucie to New Orleans in 12 months, and made two All Star teams in the process, the Mets said he was not ready to contribute any time soon."

Joe D on Ryan Meyers...

"The other minor leaguer was 22-year old starter turned reliever Ryan Meyers. Meyers is a tall lanky right hander who turned in a spectacular season after being converted to a reliever. Last season he pitched in 33 games for Class-A Savannah and saved 13 games while posting an ERA of 2.14. He was absolutely dominating after allowing only 28 hits in 42 innings while striking out an impressive 48 batters. He only dished out 14 walks all season and batters hit only .185 against him. Prior to last season, Meyers had been very unimpressive as a starter for three years."

From looking at his post, I got very nervous that we gave up an above average outfielder with patience and speed and a young developing pitching prospect for a player who will most likely not be on the Mets after this next season. I also question why we needed Pagan. We have many backup outfielders and if we were in dire need we could have just as easily called up the now traded Corey Coles. Some of Omar's trades just dont makes sense to me. So far this off-season, i approve of 0/2 of the trades that the Mets have made.

Mets Salaries

I wanted to see how much The Wilpons are spending this year (08). These numbers are from Cots Baseball Contracts. The names that are bolded have options or are in their last years of their contract. Take a look.....

1. Carlos Beltran $18,500,000.00
   
2. Carlos Delgado $16,000,000.00
3. Pedro Martinez $11,000,000.00
4. Billy Wagner $10,500,000.00
5. Moises Alou $7,500,000.00
6. Orlando Hernandez $6,500,000.00
7. Luis Castillo $6,000,000.00
8. David Wright $5,000,000.00
9. Brian Schneider $4,900,000.00
10. Jose Reyes $4,000,000.00
11. Scott Schowenweis $3,600,000.00
12. Ramon Castro $2,300,000.00
13. Matt Wise $1,200,000.00
14. Marlon Anderson $1,050,000.00
15. Damian Easley $950,000.00

The Following players must go through the arbitration process or I cannot find the players salary. The estimated '08 salary for each player is listed to the right of his name.

1. Duaner Sanchez $ 700,000
   
2. Oliver Perez $ 4,000,000.00
   
3. John Maine $ 3,000,000.00
   
4. Aaron Heilman $ 1,000,000.00
   
5. Ryan Church $ 500,000.00
   
6. Brian Stokes $ 380,000.00
   
7. Endy Chavez $ 950,000.00
   
8. Jorge Sosa $ 1,000,000.00

So after getting dizzy from counting and typing all those 0's, the total amount the Wilpons will be forking out this season is about $110,500,000.00. This is including the ESTIMATED salaries above, and is not including the Draft, minor league players and other team expenses.

In past 7 years the Mets have spent over $100,000,000.00 four times.

• Opening Day payrolls for 25-man roster
  
• 2007: $115,231,663
  
• 2006: $101,084,963
• 2005: $101,305,821
• 2004: $ 96,660,970
• 2003: $117,476,429
• 2002: $ 94,633,593
• 2001: $ 93,674,429
• 2000: $ 79,800,000

Last year, only the Yankees and Red Sox spent more money than the Mets. In 2009, the Mets payroll might be lower than in 2008. This all depends on two things...

A) What free-agents the Mets sign.
B) If they re-sign any of our own players.

I'm hoping that the Twins decide to keep Johan Santana and let him become a free-agent at the end of this upcoming season. This will enable the Mets to pay him money and keep all of their prospects, as opposed to trading 5 player to the Twins for 1...The Braves 1B Mark Texeria is also a free-agent at the end of the '08 season. Look for Omar & Co. to try and sign some big name players next November.

Mets 08 Starting Lineup

Projected Opening Day lineup-- As of 11-30-07

SS: Jose Reyes 07': .280/12/57/78

2B: Luis Castillo 07': .301/1/38
3B: David Wright 07': .325/30/107

CF: Carlos Beltran 07': .276/33/112

1B Carlos Delgado 07': .258/24/87
LF: Moises Alou 07': .341/13/49
RF: Ryan Church 07': .272/15/70
C: Brian Schneider 07': .235/6/54

For some reason, I feel that the Mets offense will be much improved this year. Last year at times, it seemed like they struggled to score 3 runs... but with the addition of RF Ryan Church and the Subtraction of Shawn Green, I feel that the Mets offense can be at the top of the leader boards in offensive categories starting in April 2008. Jose Reyes and David Wright should also improve on their '07 performances.