On April 4, in front of a packed Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OH, the New York Mets headed out onto the field with lofty hopes for the brand new 2005 MLB season. Hopes were high after an off-season in which new General Manager Omar Minaya lured some of the leagues premier free agents such as outfielder Carlos Beltran and pitcher Pedro Martinez to Flushing, and solidified the team's fielding by trading for first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.
Unexpectedly, "the new Mets" (as Beltran dubbed the team) did not meet expectations at the onset, losing their first five games. Finally, the team put itself together and won its next six games; since then their performance has been solid and, at press time, stand at 17-14, fourth place in the competitive NL East division, but just 3.5 games out of first.
Heading into the season, many baseball analysts doubted the strength of the Mets bullpen, referring to it as the team's greatest weakness. However, starting pitcher Kris Benson who recently returned from the disabled list, said, "The relievers have settled down and I don't think that's really an issue."
Nevertheless, it is crucial for the Mets bullpen to maintain leads late in the game. Closer Braden Looper has gotten off to a poor start with a 4.61 earned run average. He explained that a closer is always going into a game in a risky situation, "and when they get the save they're just doing their job, but when they blow it they're the goat."
Another X Factor for the 2005 Mets is catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza, in the final year of his seven year contract, has seen his production drop over the past few years, and it is imperative to the team that he returns to his All-Star form. So far this season he has been streaky, pounding the ball one night, but flailing at it another. Overall though he has looked better and has already hit six home runs.
As of April 7, the 2005 Mets payroll was at $101,305,821, third in the major leagues, but amazingly less than half that of the cross-town rival New York Yankees, whose 2005 payroll is at $203,306,817. Interestingly, for the many Yankee-haters across the country, the Yankees began dismally, falling into last place and eight games under .500 for the first time since 1995. Recently, they have picked up their play, winning five straight, but Yankee fans, along with owner George Steinbrenner, cannot be happy with their poor performance. The Yankee "dynasty" has not won a World Series since 2000, but in the meantime they have spent close to three-quarters of a billion dollars trying.
2008 Woodie Awards