Ten Mets Who Have Something To Prove

Ten Mets Who Have Something To Prove

Answer: The entire team.

From the owner, Fred Wilpon, to Nancy Salsiccia, the assistant manager of the Aramark food services-mezzanine level at Shea Stadium. But because this is a blog and everyone including myself has a short attention span, I will attempt to list from 10-1 who in the Mets organization has the most to prove this upcoming season. This will only be semi-serious and brief. As much as I would like to elaborate on each person, at the same time I don’t want you to throw your laptop out of the window, fall asleep and wake up with q-w-e-r-t-y on your forehead, or try to fight me when you see me out.

10) David Wright- Show us that you deserve to have a “C” on your uniform. Provide the team with the leadership on the field and in the clubhouse so that when the team starts to waver, you can be the guy to make sure a ripple doesn’t end up becoming a tidal wave

9) Nancy Salsiccia- Treat the fans at Shea with respect by keeping the sausage and peppers warm. Always have rolls. Eating greasy peppers out of a cardboard tray just doesn’t do the trick. Oh yeah, keep the beers cold by making sure the ice is on point. Also, slip the extra beer caps under a napkin so that I can flick them at annoying Phillies fans when they start to act up.

8) Phillip Humber- You flashed signs of promise toward the end of 2007. Mix up your pitches, keep the fastballs down and most importantly, show composure. Make us believe that you were worth a first round pick.

7) Duaner Sanchez- Lose some weight, get healthy, restrict yourself from going to Dominican restaurants at 3:00am, and get back in the 8^th inning spot.

6) Omar Minaya- Last season, a tired starting rotation and horrible bullpen was the direct result of your inability to get anything done before the trade deadline. A good starter, another bullpen piece and some depth at first base/a bat with pop off the bench would make this team much better

5) Mike Pelfrey- See #8

4) Pedro Martinez- Believe again that you are one of the elite pitchers of all time by rebounding from a significant injury and reclaiming the form you had earlier in your hall of fame career. Be the ace.

3) Jose Reyes- Prove to me and every other Mets fan out there that you are the real deal. Prove us that you deserve to be the number 1 pick in fantasy baseball. Prove us that you can overcome last year’s pathetic display of being a baseball player and get hot instead of cold down the stretch. Prove to us that you are maturing and that you are on your way to being a perennial MVP candidate.

2) Carlos Delgado- Stop pressing at every at bat. Get back to basics and swing at strikes that you can drive, not balls that you can ground out to the 2^nd baseman slowly. Pretend it is 2006 and that you can be a cleanup hitter again and drive in 114 runs, or at least close to it. You have at least another year in you before you are washed up.

1) Willie Randolph- Identify the weaknesses of each player on the squad and help them improve on them. Figure out how to make the bullpen work. Have trust in your players and encourage them to succeed but don’t let them make the team extensively worse by sucking too much. Realize that you are the leader and navigate the team through the slumps, the dog days, the streaks, the stretch run, the playoffs and hopefully beyond.