Once the holidays end it’s really not that far off when players start to drift into camp.  A picture or two will appear in the paper of players in the Florida sun in their warm up jerseys throwing the ball or taking a few rips in the cage.  In fact, on this very day, Wednesday, January 10, the Mets are holding a mini-camp in Port St. Lucie. So in a sense, the long 2007 season has begun, or at least somewhat.  Mini-camp is not required of all players but certainly the young ones will be there, certainly the players wanting to prove they belong will be there to hopefully impress Willie Randolph or one of the coaches.  John Main will be there and so will David Wright. You have got to love Wright; he probably has been chomping at the bit to get that uniform on again. It seems as if David is a seasoned veteran now but don’t forget he only has about 2 and a half years at the major league level.  Not only has he become one of the star players in the National League but he is becoming a leader on the Mets.  While he works out at mini-camp you know he will be chanting the Mets’ “team as one” philosophy to the youngsters.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!  Watching SNY’s Mets Hot Stove the other night made me feel as if the Mets have no shot this season.  Maybe I’m over reacting but the panel keeps talking about that big star pitcher the Mets don’t have, that one guy you can count on to go out there every fifth day and give you a win or the chance to win.  On one hand they praised the Mets for not offering a ridiculous deal to Barry Zito then on the other hand they said but the Mets don’t have him.  The typical argument regarding the starting pitching is two old guys, two very young guys, and one rookie, all valid points. But please tell me where is the team these days that has Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale as the one-two punch? Its one thing to criticize the Mets pitching but it also has to be pointed out that most other teams are in the same position. On paper the Phillies look to be the team in the east that has improved the most in terms of pitching especially with the acquisition of Freddie Garcia.  But for some reason the Phillies never seem to get it together and after the Mets season last year it’s hard to believe that Philiadelphia will be favored over the Mets, even with their starting pitching shortcomings.  Florida of course has Dontrelle and some very good young arms but there is not a lot of experience there. Both the Braves and the Nationals’ rotations have question marks too.  What the Mets have going for them is a lot of young arms that will be fighting for a starting role. And you have crafty Tom Glavine who is inspired to reach 300 career victories plus El-Duque wanting to prove he can still compete. Bill Madden, whom I have the utmost respect for, keeps hammering the point as to who is going to give the Mets 200 innings out of the crop of pitchers they have, “you just don’t know” he said in his conclusion. Right, exactly, you just don’t know. Just like you don’t know if the top pitcher you might have obtained will be a total bust or blow out his elbow.  The fact that the Mets have so many young pitchers is what I do like.  For so long the Mets rotation was full of guys with graying hair who had seen there better days, now at least we have a good idea of who may make up the rotation of the future.  Don’t forget and its still easy to overlook because of last year’s success, the Mets are still a work in progress, just ask Omar.

I’m predicting the Mets starting pitching will be fine and here’s why.  First the Mets lineup can score lots of runs and do so quickly and early.  With Moises Alou in the lineup, the offensive potential of the Mets will be even better next year than last year.  Also the Mets are a very solid team defensively, extremely strong up the middle.  Wright will continue to improve as a third baseman.  The Mets offensive players also have lots of confidence and know how to do the little things to win.  Plus Willie Randolph has a great approach with the kids and really seems to know how to instill confidence.  So what does this all mean to the starters?  They should be able to relax when on the mound, they know balls hit will be fielded, they know if they give up a run or two the Mets offense can get it right back.  The pitchers will also know they don’t have to pitch 9 innings because the Mets will once again have a strong bullpen.  And it’s not as if the Mets pitchers are a bunch of re-treads trying to hang around.  Again most are young and have good stuff.  Perhaps I’m overly optimistic but I see lots of reasons for it.  Man, April 1st can’t get here fast enough.