Where will the Mets finish in 2011?

[Kingdom]

Ah yes, my favorite team to sit back and enjoy their timely demise. All snide remarks aside, the Mets were cash strapped due to all their previous poor decisions and weren't really active in the market.. well at least in bringing in new guys. They stuck with bargain bin players, which you never know when you can strike gold (i.e. Buchholz could be a very good low risk high reward gamble). Pretty much the same lineup is intact, just throw in Scott Hairston to compete with Pagan or Bay if they slip, tumble, or get hurt. Pitching wise, they added Chris Young, Taylor Buchholz, and DJ Carrasco to the mix but things could get entertaining as you never know what the Hell the pen might do (as per the norm). And any time Oliver Perez is pitching, we might witness an epic fail.

Will David Wright's off season statements fire this team up, or will they again be the butt of many baseball jokes?

[love_that_reefer]

I got them finishing dead last. The Mets are old and I see them selling off some pieces at the deadline. Bay and Santana are huge question marks and the rotation isn't pretty. The bullpen isn't much better either. The Nationals and Marlins both improved so I see the Mets falling to the cellar of the East.

[Kingdom]

That would be awesome.

[realmofotalk]

Pedro Feliciano was their only reliever who made 80-90 games every year, and now they lose him to the Yankees.

[Trendy Bastard]

I have them finishing last for the same reasons LTR listed.

[catman]

Not a good team this season. They will be fortunate to win 70 games this year.

[Fitzy]

The Mets are a team that should go the rebuilding route. They just seem to have been acquiring players lately that have not been producing to the amount of contract they are making. I predict they end up in last place once the Nationals batters are all not injured and start hitting.

[ljshorty89]

The Mets have surprised me, to be honest. I believed on Opening Day, and still do, that they are still too talented to fall to the cellar. The Nationals are on the way up, but the Mets lineup (when healthy) is one of the best 1-6 in the NL (Reyes, Pagan, Wright, Beltran, Davis, Bay). The rotation isn't that good, but Niese and Gee are very solid pitchers, Dickey and Pelfrey are passable, and Capuano has been decent. Chris Young getting hurt was bad news, but if Johan comes back halfway decent...the Mets will have 6 pitchers that should start regularly.

They're not a good team, but if they do the smart thing, get rid of Beltran and K-Rod either at the deadline or after the season, and then they build around Reyes, Wright (I maintain that they CAN sign both, whether they will is another story), Davis, Niese, Gee, and some of the younger guys....they don't have to blow everything up.

[love_that_reefer]

Reyes is definitely playing too well for the Mets not to re-sign him. I just don't think they will pay him what he wants. Next years free agent class will be headlined by Reyes, Pujols and Sabathia. I hope the Giants are checking in on Beltran and what it will take to get him. I would like to see him playing LF for the Gmen.

[ljshorty89]

I hate getting repetitive, but as I said in the "biggest disappointment" thread, the Mets will have the money to re-sign Reyes if they want to. Reyes has said he "doesn't want to imagine" playing elsewhere. I'm not saying it'll be easy or the Mets will sign him, but the possibility is there.

As for Beltran, I would be surprised if talks about that happening don't come up between the Mets and Giants as we approach the deadline.