John Maine

The Mets currently sit at 31-27, three games out of first place in the NL East and three games back in the Wild Card race. With just less than two-thirds of the season left, the Mets are going to need to make some things happen if they want to make the playoffs.

1)    Carlos Beltran Needs to Return Before/At the All-Star Break

The New York Mets wasted a quality start last night in the loss to the Washington Nationals . The two teams entered the night tied for second place in the National League East .

The news broke on January 19th of this year that Bengie Molina rejected a two year contract offer from the Mets to sign a one year deal with the San Francisco Giants.

I posted my thoughts about missing out on Molina here.  To summarize:

The Mets' pitching rotation is their biggest key to their season.  Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, and John Maine are all key players for the Mets this year.  If two of those three pitchers have solid years then that will deeply help the team. 

As of now, two of those guys performed while the other didn't.  Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez both had good first starts.  On the other hand, John Maine's first two starts have been a mess.

There has been a lot of talk in the streets, on talk radio, and on the interwebs today about John Maine and whether or not the Mets should keep him in the rotation.

If you read my article from earlier today, you know that I would like to see Maine get at least one more start, so I won’t get into that again.

What we should talk about is if Maine is removed from the rotation, who would take his place?

Seven games into the season is a mere second in terms of the marathon that is the baseball season. There are still a number of things that remain to be seen about the 2010 New York Mets.

That being said, I can't remember the last time I have seen a pitcher so broken in every aspect of the word. Especially after only two starts. 

Plenty of Mets haters and fans alike are quick to point out the fact that Maine's propensity to deal up gopher balls has no end in sight.

Opening Day optimism, there is nothing like it in sports.  Cubs fans have thrived on it for over 100 years.

This is, by far, my favorite time of the year on the sports calendar.  The snow has melted, the grass is turning green, and I can start to hear the crack of the bat and roar of the crowd.

The Mets can win 90 games this season.

Omar Minaya wasn't lying when he said that on a recent radio interview.

Many people would wonder how I could think that.  Well, here we go.

1. Starting Pitching