Kuzul

With less than a month until New York Mets pitcher and catchers report to spring training in Port St. Lucie, Florida, many predictions about this 2012 squad have already been published. 

Whether these estimations have the Mets written off in a deep National League East, or as a sleeper candidate to finish above .500, you never know until game 162 is in the books.

It’s easy to be optimistic about this team as a life-long fan, but lets see what Mets “experts” have to say about this team as the 2012 preseason is only weeks away.

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The New York Mets are only 6-13 on this young season, but the possibilities of a mid-season fire sale are quickly becoming a reality if the team continues playing uninspired baseball.

Honestly, the worst thing that could happen to the 2011 Mets is they play bottom-of-the-barrel baseball, and when the July trade deadline comes around, GM Sandy Alderson plays no favorites and puts a majority of the team on the trading block.

The ever-real thought of Jose Reyes being shipped out this coming July are already depressing enough as it is, so the thought of a complete fire sale just wouldn’t sit right with Mets fans.

Here are five things that need to happen NOW in order for the New York Mets to avoid a fire sale mid-way through the 2011 baseball season.

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I saw this today on ESPN.com and just couldn’t help but comment on it: 

“There’s nothing the Mets would love more this spring than to have Carlos Beltran play well enough to make himself tradable in July. So scouts are already bearing down on him just in case.

But when we asked one of those scouts if he could see himself recommending that his team trade for Beltran, his answer said it all:

‘Noooooo. I’m rooting for him, because I feel bad for him, seeing a guy who was once a great player limping around with a brace on his knee…But would I recommend him? No— because I don’t want to get fired.'”

So, these scouts feel bad for the guy because he’s limping around on a brace?

Last I checked, Beltran is brace-free and is hitting .256/.326/.513 with two home runs in this early season.

Now granted, that’s not going to get you any undisputed All-Star votes, but from a guy that we barely saw in 2010, I’ll take that kind of production any day of the week.

Beltran is due $18.5 million in 2011 and despite moving to right field and playing mostly part-time, he’s doing fairly well for “a guy who was once a great player limping around with a brace on his knee.”

I’m not going to refute anything a scout says because, well, they’re a scout and they’re paid to make these assumptions. But from a die-hard Mets’ fan point of view, Beltran has reached his expectations and could potentially overachieve them as the season prolongs.

What makes everything even more promising? Beltran finally believes in himself, believes in his knees and believes in his abilities.

Talking about playing in all three games of the Mets vs. Braves series, one of them being a doubleheader, Mets manager Terry Collins told ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, “I talked to Carlos last night and he told me, ‘I want to play all three.'”

Collins also went on to say, “I think there will be a time [when] he’s a seven-day-a-week player.”

All pretty promising if you ask me. It all makes it that much easier for Carlos to find a new team after the 2011 season, when his contract is up with the Mets.

While there is still the chance of a midseason trade on the horizon for Beltran and the Mets, it seems too slim of a chance to get your hopes up.

For that, I wish Carlos all the best during his last season with the New York Mets and with his future in the MLB.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

One could make a great argument that New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is the heart and soul of the Mets, both offensively and defensively.

Unfortunately, due to many outside issues pressuring the club financially, you can also make a great case that Reyes will more than likely not be on the squad in 2012.

Whether it’s the Mets’ financial woes dealing with the Madoff ponzi scheme, or GM Sandy Alderson’s statement that, “it makes good sense to see him play a time or two before we make decisions”—either way, it seems like Reyes is more than likely a goner.

Quite depressing, to say the least.

However, as Reyes continues to return to the vintage form that we’ve seen thus far in 2011, he will at least command a decent amount of compensation on the trade block.

Here are the seven teams that will more than likely get in on the Jose Reyes bidding war come the July 31st MLB trade deadline.

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Amidst the recent bullpen shakeup after the New York Mets respectable 4-5 start to the 2011 regular season, questions arise as to how fourth outfielder Scott Hairston will continue to fit himself into the Mets future plans.

As Jason Bay continues to make strides in his return from a bad back, his arrival could prove detrimental to Hairston’s playing time in the Mets outfield.

Struggling to begin the season and a witness to non-roster invitee Willie Harris nabbing a majority of the left field playing time, Hairston is now apart of a four-man bench while hitting just .071 with seven strikeouts in 14 official at-bats.

Posting those types of numbers would make anyone wonder why his spot on the roster couldn’t be given up to a minor leaguer ready to prove himself in the low-pressure opening weeks of the baseball season.

Guys like Nick Evans or Fernando Martinez could be better options off the Mets bench over the 30-year-old Hairston, but it’s still too early in the season to give up on him ever finding his power-stroke.

It’s apparent he hasn’t lost his touch for the long ball as he went deep a few times in spring training, but until this point in the season, Hairston has failed to show the same power potential a player like Evans or Lucas Duda could bring to the Mets bench.

Hairston obviously fits on the bench as the lone righty power option to foil the power we’ve seen in Daniel Murphy’s bat, but if that stroke doesn’t materialize from Hairston, Collins’ option to make a strategic decision will no longer be effective.

But, again, it’s just too early to throw in the towel on Hairston and judging his Met career off just 14 at-bats would be thought as ludicrous by most fans.

To be honest, they gave Gary Matthews Jr. 58 at-bats to prove that he wasn’t worth the time and effort needed to bring him to New York, so Hairston still has plenty of time left in his Mets career.

As the team continues to grind their way through the month of April, Hairston will be given plenty of opportunities to prove his worth as a lifetime .734 OPS hitter in Collins’ fluid lineup card.

But once again, the inevitable question will be brought back up: How long will this Scott Hairston experiment last?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Philadelphia Phillies cured? Say it isn’t so.

But what if that figment of our imagination came true? What if the World Series favorite Philadelphia Phillies were indeed cursed from here on out?

Looking at the way this team is shaping up for the 2011 season, I’d put my money on the Phillies being cursed… here’s why.

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While many baseball experts already count the New York Mets out of playoff contention this early in the spring, the Mets have many athletes that can surpass expectations enough to make a legitimate comeback in 2011.

As the team continues to work hard in Port St. Lucie, here is a list of the seven recovering New York Mets that will have the biggest impact on the 2011 MLB season.

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As Carlos Beltran continues to nurse a sore knee and Fernando Martinez, Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis keep getting reps out in right field, Cory Vaughn should be the long-term solution for the New York Mets‘ vacant right field position in the future.

With so much negative publicity surrounding Mets ownership and their mediocre farm system, it’s nice to finally be able to talk about a shining prospect exceeding expectations.

Cory Vaughn is the son of former big leaguer Greg Vaughn, who was known for his big bat back in the day.

Now, no one here is predicting that Cory will one day replicate his father’s 355 home runs and 1,072 runs batted in—even though it’s more than possible—but as the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Vaughn played his college ball at San Diego State University under the watchful eye of Mr. Consistency himself, Tony Gwynn.

If this isn’t an interesting amateur résumé, then I don’t know what is.

A 2010 fourth-round pick under former Mets GM Omar Minaya, Vaughn started his first year of professional ball at short-season Brooklyn of the New York Penn League.

While he benefited from the weak pitching of low-A ball, Vaughn also showed some serious upside by smacking 14 home runs in a park described as a place “where home runs go to die.”

In Brooklyn, Vaughn also produced a .307 batting average, .396 OBP, 14 doubles, five triples and 12 stolen bases.

While it’s still too early to call this kid a stud, if you compare his numbers to the zero home runs, 17 RBI and .256 batting average that Ike Davis put up in his time at Brooklyn, it’s obvious he already has a leg up on the competition.

Vaughn has been scouted as a very patient hitter who is not a free swinger. He waits for his pitch and can capitalize on a mistake. He is close to mastering the art of taking pitches to get a count he likes and isn’t fooled easily.

This all has been apparent so far this spring, especially in Vaughn’s first at-bat with the big league club.

He knew exactly what he was doing before he stepped to the plate and executed his plan accordingly, taking pitches and fighting his way to a 3-1 count. He then launched the 3-1 offering over the left field wall for a home run in his first major league action.

This all seems like an indicator that the excellent coaching he’s been exposed to may be getting through to him.

Another plus going for Vaughn is that he is not as highly touted as most all-around, five-tool athletes usually are.

With the media exposure kept off Vaughn, he will be given the time to mature and grow into his big body that could one day be smashing balls out of spacious Citi Field.

As seen with the development of Fernando Martinez, it definitely is better for such a young guy to not be put under the microscope so early in his professional career, and Vaughn seems to be doing well while flying under the radar.

As Beltran’s status continues to be a question mark and the three amigos get the greatest number of looks from manager Terry Collins this spring, Vaughn’s right-handed power bat could very well make its way to the big leagues in the near future for the New York Mets.

Barring an injury or slow performances on his way through the Mets minor league system, I wholeheartedly believe we will be seeing Cory Vaughn sometime in the future, whether the near or distant future, manning right field for the New York Mets.

But only time will tell.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Despite a strong showing from New York Mets lefty Oliver Perez on Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals in Port St. Lucie, Perez may be on the fast track to the bullpen come Opening Day.

According to Andy Martino of NY Daily News, while Perez is still officially in the competition for the fifth starter role, his low velocity and streaky consistency made him a viable candidate to get cut early this spring as Mets executives watched from the stands this Thursday.

While manager Terry Collins continues to stand by his word saying, “I wouldn’t say his job (was on the line), but we certainly were going to revisit the (situation),” sources telling the Daily News seem to be headed in a different direction in regards to Perez’s roster spot.

The team was very close to absorbing the $12 million left on Perez’s contract before his start on Thursday, but his two scoreless innings of two-hit ball with no strikeouts and an even more surprising no walks, has seemingly saved his Mets career for another day.

Perez could be slated for one last start this spring to save his career, but let’s get this straight. This isn’t going to be a sudden revival of a once promising career that Perez showed flashes of back in the 2006 NLCS.

He’s as good as done, and if he remains on the roster come Opening Day, he will be used as a strictly left-handed reliever/long reliever, but even that’s being optimistic.

No matter the coaching and the amount of times he says, “First-pitch strike – that’s the goal,”(NY Daily News) Perez will never live up to the $36 million contract he signed, and because of that, Oliver Perez is as good as done for the Mets – and fans couldn’t be happier.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As Spring Training is well underway, these are the 10 games that any baseball fans must see.

Whether you go watch the game live, listen to it on the radio or buy MLB.tv (which I highly recommend), these games will showcase top talent from both the major and minor league system of each respective team that any fan should witness.

Here are my top 10 games, what do you think should also be added to this list?

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