But seriously, as much as I hate to lose Jose Reyes for any amount of time I don’t think losing Reyes is a game changer. As good as he is, I think the Mets will do fine with Alex Cora at the bottom of their lineup. Can you say Rafael Santana?

In ‘84 Rafael Santana was the backup shortstop for the Mets. In ‘85 he was promoted to starting shortstop, and then in ‘86 the Mets won it all with a shortstop that batted .218, 1 HR, 28 RBI’s and led the team with 12 intentional walks. He was a solid defensive shortstop, not a Gold Glove by any means. Fundamentally sound.

Also remember Kevin Elster was the backup shortstop who batted .167, 0 hr’s, 0 RBI’s in ‘86. He was a better defensive player than Santana and was such a smooth fielder. A pleasure to watch on the field but an automatic out at the plate.

Now check out this interview with Cora at MLB.com. Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez both get chances to ask Alex questions and he does a good interview. He comes off as a leader on camera and we already know he’s a leader in the clubhouse and on the field. We saw that last year when he subbed for Reyes.

I haven’t had a chance to see Ruben Tejada play, but if he is a good defensive shortstop then we have a workable shortstop tandem for the entire year if need be. I hope it doesn’t get to that!

I’m actually fine with Reyes being out. We still need pitching. Pitching and defense wins games. As Keith would say, “FUNDY’s”.

There are few stories coming from Port St. Lucie this week other than Jose Reyes and his thyroid condition. The fact that he’ll join Carlos Beltran on the disabled list come opening day has led to thoughts of another lost season and Mets’ minor leaguers getting a shot at the big leagues. Some of the biggest names in sports journalism have gotten into the act including William C. Rhoden and Joe Posnanski.

Here are the links:

• NY Times – William C. Rhoden writes that Reyes’ thyroid problem should lead the Mets to look at rebuilding the team. “The Core” just isn’t getting it done.
• Joe Posnanski – Joe writes that Reyes is one of the most exciting players in baseball and the Mets are due for something good to happen.
• Daily News – John Harper writes that the conflicting messages about Reyes’ thyroid condition have to do with the players not trusting management on injury issues anymore
• NY Post – Mike Puma writes that Reyes was blindsided by the Mets statement about his thyroid condition that made it sound worse than it is.
• Daily News – Adam Rubin reprints a good piece about Ruben Tejada, who may get the opening day start at shortstop
• Baseball Nerd – Keith Olbermann writes about the ridiculous story that Reyes’ thyroid problem was caused by eating too much shellfish
• Fangraphs – R.J. Anderson writes that the Mets’ decision to work Jenry Mejia out of the bullpen is a short-term fix designed to save Omar Minaya’s and Jerry Manuel’s jobs more than for the good of Mejia and the franchise
• Fanhouse – Josh Alper writes that the Mets signed Jason Bay instead of John Lackey because they were more concerned about Lackey’s ability to stay healthy

In this video we talk about the starters, Francisco Rodriguez, and the set up situation.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by long-time Mets fan David Daniels. David is a Long Island native that gives his take on the state of the Mets in 2010. You can read David’s work at his site on Long Island life and tech.

Baseball’s back! Let the season begin, but before it does here is where I think this Mets team will stand at the end of the year. Stock up on your Rolaids and Tums because we’re in for another wild ride and when the dust clears this team will be in 4th place and possibly fighting for the basement of this division.

Why? This team has entirely too many issues so I’m going to start at the top:

Management - A clown of a GM, two straight collapses, a ballpark dedicated to another team, a manager fired in the middle of the night, a beat writer blamed for the team’s troubles, not to mention the Madoff mess where the Wilpons may, or may not have, lost significant money – Mets Management has one debacle after another to their credit and, yes, we will get more of the same this year. I just don’t trust this management team with making any decision bigger that deciding if “Frankie should go back to glasses.”

From managing the media, to managing injuries to managing the farm system, the Mets have failed miserably at all three. The newest instances with Reyes’ and Beltran’s most recent injuries just reaffirms that management and the medical staff are still not on the same page. Expect more bad decisions by management regarding injuries. I just hope they don’t ruin any careers.

Having solid management from top to bottom is the foundation of a successful franchise. Another losing season and Omar’s gotta go. We’re stuck with the Wilpons because I really don’t think they will ever sell the team. The Mets need a new blueprint for success. Paying top dollar for free agents and plugging all your holes with retread players is a formula that Omar has proven does not work. Let’s cut our losses early this year. No waiting till 2012 when Omar’s contract expires. The Wilpons should have a replacement for him ready to go by the July trading deadline or there will be many empty seats after July. Except me. I enjoy buying $.99 seats on Stubhub. Really!

Starting Pitching – Entirely too many question marks here. Minaya needed to get a top of the line starting pitcher this offseason to pair with Johan. He got Takahashi, a 35 year old rookie from Japan.  Last year it was Johan and a bunch of number 5 starters. This year it’s…. Surgically improved Johan and a bunch of #5 starters. With such an inconsistent and young pitching staff Omar better get a veteran presence behind the plate to help guide this staff through another rocky season. That leads me to…

The Catching Situation – Sometimes you can put a really good catcher behind the plate and that catcher can make a young and inconsistent pitching staff better by providing leadership, calling a good game and providing Gold Glove defense. So Omar immediately figures out the best defensive catcher in free agency that will make his young and inconsistent pitching staff better is Pudge Rodriguez. Omar immediately signs Pudge to a 2 yr, 6 million contract. Oops, my mistake, the lowly Nationals beat Omar to the punch on this one and Pudge was never actually considered for the job. Let’s go to our real option 1, Benjie Molina, former Gold Glove catcher with decent power to boot. Nope! He decides to sign with the Giants for less money than Omar offers because they “give me the best chance for the playoffs“. With this pitching staff, who can blame him for turning Omar down?

OK, Omar now proclaims, “let’s go with…. “OMIR SANTOS”! Omar immediately proclaims Omir Santos the opening day catcher and the hunt for a catcher is over. Psst…. bring in 11 other catchers to spring training just in case.

Luckily Omar takes time out from updating his resume to continue his quest for a real catcher and goes ahead and signs Rod Barajas. A veteran catcher with decent power and, rumor has it, he works well with pitchers. I will need to see this for myself. In my opinion he is still unproven and this could blow up in the Mets faces. Management dropped the ball on this one. A good catcher makes the entire pitching staff better. I hope Barajas can be that catcher.

It can’t be worse than last year –

Or can it? I can’t possibly see how the Mets would be decimated by injuries for a second year in a row but there is a trend with this team as players, management and the medical staff are still not on the same page.

Obviously the Met’s can’t beat out the Phillies for the division. Atlanta has a solid pitching staff this year and they always play tight, fundamental baseball. My question is will the Mets keep pace with the Marlins, a playoff contender last year with an increased payroll this year? Probably not. I certainly hope these Mets can stay out of last.

Of course a last place finish would guarantee me what I ultimately want. A well needed shakeup in management. Who is with me?

Over the last few seasons we’ve seen what could be considered missteps by the Mets trainers and medical staff. Two years ago, they flew Ryan Church around the country with a concussion. Last year they flew Carlos Delgado to San Francisco with a hip injury only to return home the next day. The Mets have a recent history of giving the appearance of not taking precautions with players that are injured.

Although everyone seems to agree that Jose Reyes thyroid problems isn’t serious, it’s the right call to keep him in New York until the course of treatment is settled. As a matter of fact, the situation may only be temporary and not require treatment at all.

From MLB.com:

ESPN Deportes quoted Reyes as having said, “The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I’m fine and that there’s nothing wrong with my thyroid. The test showed that I’m fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat, and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed.”

Reyes can still continue to work out in New York. The only thing he’s missing is playing in some games this week. But that shouldn’t set him back in his preparation for opening day.

It’s refreshing to see the Mets taking players’ health more seriously this year. I’ve been surprised that the player’s union didn’t file a complaint again the Mets given their recent history of keeping players that are hurt, or questionable, on the field.

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• Mets Reiterate That Reyes Has Elevated Thyroid Levels (nytimes.com)

This video is the fourth installment in a series of season previews that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. You can see our offseason grades, review of the catchers/Luis Castillo/Daniel Murphy, and discussion about Jose Reyes and David Wright.

In this video we get into the outfield situation with Carlos Beltran being out until May and how that impacts the team. We get into the topic of Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews, Jr. filling in for Beltran until May. Of course, we talk about our thoughts on the big offseason acquisition, Jason Bay.

You may also notice that Joe fruits his beer.

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• New York Mets’ Carlos Beltran out 12 weeks after knee surgery (sports.espn.go.com)

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• Now (Possibly) Batting Third, Jose Reyes (nytimes.com)