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TAKE A DEEP BREATH ... NOW HOLD IT ... HOLD IT ...
Every newspaper has been publishing previews of the Mets season (NY Times, NYPost, the Star-Ledger, etc.). I, however, want to indulge in something a little different: I wish to extrapolate what we will probably see from what we have already observed. This should be fun to see just how wrong most of my wild guess will be in September!

• Matsui, SS - The first couple of months will be painful as he experiences MLB parks and pitching for the first time in "live" situations. He will strike out a lot and likely make a dozen errors through May. However, this is a player with something to prove and the tools to accomplish just that, and will be seen as the Real Deal by Mets fans before the All Star break.
  
  
• Reyes, 2B - We all saw him and loved him from the first day he arrived - and the added bonus of his presence was forcing moribound vets Alomar and Sanchez out of New York!
  Yet with his recurring hamstring problems, I am reminded too much of Ron "Hammie" Gardenhire and John "Hammer" Milner. Both were Mets famed not for their abilities, but for their tight hamstrings and resultant DL stints.
  I hope - HOPE! - Reyes does not join them in infamy, and I really WANT Reyes to be the home-grown centerpiece of a Mets revival, on a par with Tom Seaver, Lenny Dykstra, even Lee Mazilli.
  When Reyes is healthy, he will be a magnificent presence in the lineup and on the field. But you can't lead from the DL. I fear he will be missing from the roster for another 2-3 months in 2004.
  
  
• Floyd, LF: I expect a debilitating injury and DL time every year from this fellow. With his admissions that his surgically repaired achilles tendon is still bothering him, I anticipate his missing a month or two of time.
  I think he would be best batting behind Piazza, protecting Mike's bat like Rusty Staub protected Dave Kingman's in the mid-70s. Whether that is 3-4 in the line up, or 4-5, depends on whether anyone on the team can hit better than either he or Mike.
  
  
• Piazza, C: Unless he is hit with another unexpected freak injury like his groin tear last May, expect another stellar Piazza-esque year of monster home runs, smashed doubles to right-center, and a .300 average. He looks healthier than he has in years, and his hitting this spring has looked sharp.
  
  
• Cameron, CF: A known strikeout champ. Unless he improves his eye at the plate, we can expect a lot of rally-killing Ks like we had from Jeromy Burnitz and Mo Vaughn. Cameron's glove is a stupendous defensive upgrade from Cedeno/Burnitz/Timo Perez, though how can everyone have forgotten Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the symbol of Art Howe's incompetence at managing his players? (Although Jae Weong Seo and his issues this spring make him the current poster boy.)
  The news that Cameron came to camp with a painful bone spur in his big toe was annoying - couldn't he have noticed such a thing at the end of last season and gotten it taken care of, six months BEFORE opening day? -, but he's hardly mentioned it since.
  Despite all this, I think Cameron is headed for a career year at Shea. Just call it a gut feeling.
  
  
• Phillips, 1B: Graceful as a penguin in rollerblades, he is still a substantial upgrade from Mo Vaughn and is a competent fielder - despite never having trained for the position. While he's no Keith Hernandez or John Olerud with the glove, he can hit like them, going for a .300 average with some power.
  Phillips runs even worse than Eddie Kranepool (who at age 25 was described as "runs like a 35-year old carrying a piano on his back"), making him an iffy choice in the number-3 hole, but it would be a waste to bury his bat deeper in the lineup. Look for him to battle Piazza for the season-long endurance and batting average leads.
  
  
• Spencer/Garcia/Valent, RF: My only question: can any of these guys play the other outfield positions? Or are they all utility right fielders, the position dominated by strong-armed, power-hitting guys who can't catch a fly ball from the first days of Little League?
  I expect Valent to eventually end up with the bulk of playing time, as Garcia becomes an embarassment over his brushes with the law, and Spencer becomes more valuable on the bench than in the field. Or maybe Jeff Duncan could be recalled from Norfolk after re-learning how to hit, and provide not only a great defensive fielder in right, but an excellent backup to Cameron in center.
  By trading Timo and ignoring Shinjo, the Mets managed to get rid of all their best fielders. They need someone who can play the OUTFIELD, not just "a" field. Shea's right field will be the laughingstock of the majors, wait and see.
  
  
• Wigginton, 3B: Aggressive, hard-nosed, and utterly charmless. Teenage girls won't be bugging him like they will the other third baseman in town (no, not Todd Zeile). He can hit, he works hard to become a better third baseman, he's not afraid of anything except maybe a curve on the outside corner. He struck out far too often flailing at that pitch last year. I like watching him play and was a huge advocate of him on the Mets message boards last year, but he is clearly expendable should a better third baseman come along. He excels at nothing and is merely adequate; unless he changes that and wins either a Gold Glove or a batting title, we won't be seeing him much past this season.
  

Extensive, but this is fun, talking about my team. Whhoo hoo! Were I making the batting order tomorrow, I would present the following, based on what I know and have observed through the newspapers:

Matsui - Wigginton - Phillips - Piazza - Floyd - Cameron - Gutierrez - rightfielder - pitcher

I think on opening day tomorrow, we will instead see from Art Howe (for I have seen him allow Veteran Status and Politicking determine his lineups, as opposed to good baseball sense):

Matsui - Gutierrez - Floyd - Piazza - Cameron - Phillips - Spencer - Wigginton - pitcher

My final fearless optimistic prediction: Art Howe will be fired as manager on August 31 and replaced by the right-field ballgirl, who will inspire the team to finish with a 21-9 September record!

Let's Go Mets!