We sit now, finally, at the beginning of a new era in Queens. Sandy Alderson is at the head of a team that was crafted by someone else, and that is over-achieving to play .500 baseball. The first major trade of the season has occurred, with K-Rod going to the Brewers. Most of the one-year-deal players brought in during the spring seem to be readily available to any team willing to kick the tires, and Alderson seems poised to start running things his way this off-season. Nobody can really tell when the Mets will be serious contenders again, but hopefully a few seasons of competent and responsible player management will pave the way to sustained success.
Quick opinion on the season so far:
It's impossible to overstate the importance of having so few "automatic outs" on the roster as compared to previous seasons. This is reflected by the apparent "gritty/scrappy" offense of Turner, Murphy, et al. A team is far more likely to rally when they don't have a roster full of rally killers.
David Wright, Ike Davis and Jose Reyes are good, but may not be the kind of superstar talent necessary to compete with the modern iterations of the Phillies and Braves. The roster could use some bona-fide offensive players in the outfield. Something to look out for in the future.
Turner, Murphy, Thole, R. A. Dickey and Capuano are fun to watch and great players to root for, but may bring in more in an off-season trade than what they produce on the field. Unfortunately, at this point the team should be focused on getting better no matter what. I'm glad that Alderson has to make the hard choices and not me.
Lastly, I'm all for the K-Rod trade. It was the responsible thing to do. Frankie was always a bit more of a headache than he was worth anyway.
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