As camp opens, the Mets key cogs could be coming together.
Last season, the Arizona Diamondbacks surprised the sports world by not only exceeding expectations but by winning the National League’s Western Division title.
This season, it could be the New York Mets that surprise.
Manager Terry Collins anticipates that Johan Santana will be ready when the season starts. He also wouldn’t be surprised if the Mets receive a pleasant surprise from an unknown source.
It could be an unheralded rookie, a return to form by Jason Bay and David Wright or Santana being the Santana of old.
Players respect Collins. He doesn’t pull punches when he states that while the other Eastern Division teams were adding stars and the Mets were losing them, a sense of optimism remained.
“It’s human nature to say, ‘Wow, we’ve got a challenge on our hands,’” Collins said to reporters. “The thing I want to get these guys to understand is it’s not acceptable to say, ‘Well, we’re not supposed to be very good.’ I will not stand for that.”
Collins doesn’t deny that the Mets aren’t the division’s most talented team, but he has been around the block a few times. He seems to relish the chance to pull off an upset.
“It’s not always the best team that wins, it’s the team that plays the best that wins. We’ve got to be that club.”
The Seattle Mariners lost Randy Johnson in 1998, Ken Griffey Jr. in 2000 and Alex Rodriguez in 2001. They won 116 games in 2001.
Santana has thrown off a mound twice so far. He will have a better idea of how his shoulder is responding deeper into spring training.
Collins intends to have former world champion San Francisco Giants outfielder Andres Torres lead off. Torres surprised in the 2010 season. He has the talent.
Daniel Murphy’s bat makes him the second baseman.
Shortstop Ruben Tejada is only 22-years-old. Of course, now that we all know what an overrated statistic batting average has always been, we won’t mention that Tejada batted .284 in 376 plate appearances in 2011.
Why were Jason Bay (.245), David Wright (.254) and Angel Pagan (.262) criticized for their batting averages? Daniel Murphy hit only six home runs with 24 walks and a .362 on base percentage, yet the first thing that is mentioned is his .320 batting average.
Santana has a message for Mets fans.
“Be positive. We’re here, we’re getting better, and a lot of these guys are excited about being back. We’re going to have fun and win some games.”
Harold Friend writes for TheFanManifesto. Follow us on twitter.