Now that the Super Bowl is over, we can begin to turn our attention toward baseball. After all, in just a little over one week, pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Port St. Lucie. And while the stories all winter have focused on a dysfunctional Mets organization incapable of making a major move this winter (hmm, I guess Jason Bay for 66 million wasn’t a major move), you know we will all be focused on everything going on in Florida once players don their uniforms once again.

But before football becomes a memory, I must point out some differences between the two sports. First off, baseball does not need to hype its championship for two weeks before the event finally arrives. Baseball also does not depend on a large amount of the audience to tune in to see the television commercials. And can you imagine the outcry if after the fifth inning, The Who played a twenty minute concert.

That’s why I appreciate baseball. For all its commercialism, baseball does not interrupt its game with TV timeouts or other forms of entertainment. I realize the World Series does not draw the television audience that the Super Bowl does but that’s fine by me. Leave the gimmicks to other sports. Let’s keep baseball as pure as possible.

So back to baseball…

In case you missed it, Mets prospect Fernando Martinez who is just 20 years old (seems like he has been around forever) was named the Caribbean World Series MVP. The young outfielder, playing for the Dominican Republic, hit .348, slugged two home runs, and batted in four during the six games.

Hopefully, this experience will help Martinez gain the confidence he needs to become a very good major league player. However, Martinez must prove that he is a durable player. He has yet to play a complete season of professional baseball as he is often injured. And with the Mets acquisitions of Jason Bay, Gary Matthews Jr. and the incumbent Jeff Francoeur and Angel Pagan, the youngster will be ticketed for Buffalo where he needs to get more experience.  Carlos Beltran will hopefully be back before June meaning the Mets will have a very full outfield. Martinez can prove something to the Mets by playing well and healthy at triple A in hopes of contributing at the major league level come 2011.

It was great to see Jose Reyes running without trepidation last week as he rehabs on Long Island. Reyes feels great, has no pain, and can’t wait the get on the field. He will be key to the Mets offense but he cannot do it by himself. David Wright must have a bounce back year as well and Beltran must come back healthy. All in all I think with the addition of Bay, the Mets offense will be fine. The only question will be with their pitching staff. It’s time for Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, and John Main to step up. Call me crazy but I think they will.

The Sporting News baseball preview magazine is on the shelf. They pick the Mets to not make the playoffs but to finish in second place behind the Phillies. That’s a safe prediction. I believe the Mets will have a bounce back year and finish with a record above .500. However, I think if things fall right and the Mets stay healthy, they could even make the playoffs. The writers at TSN are seeing it the same way but are not committing to the Mets. Instead, they are giving the wild card to Colorado. TSN really went out on a limb predicting the Yankees will defeat the Phillies in the World Series. I guess besides the Mets, there will be no surprises in 2010.