The Mets let one franchise player walk away this off-season..they aren’t prepared to let that happen again. The Mets are prepared to offer David Wright a long-term contract this season. The Mets hold a $16 million club option for the 2013 season, but don’t expect that to get in the way of the Mets hope to lock up their cornerstone player. If the Mets can’t sign Wright before next season, they’ll likely start to entertain trade offers. 

Make no mistake–the Mets should (and likely will) lock up Wright. Wright has been with the Mets through their ups and downs. He has endured late season collapses, dealt with the dimensions at Citi, handled off-field issues with ownership, and most importantly, never shied away from the media. Wright has always been willing to sit at his locker and answer the hard questions while his team mates looked the other way. Wright has never been one to make excuses for his (or the team’s) poor performance. The Mets and their fans can’t ask for anything more. 

On the field, Wright has gotten off to a fast start this season, hitting an impressive .398 with four home runs, 21 RBIs, and a ridiculous .498 on-base percentage. The 20-15 Mets have surprised many people and Wright is at the forefront of his team’s fast start. While it’s ultimately his decision to stay with the Mets or test free agency, a Ryan Zimmerman-type of extension should get the deal done. The Mets owe it to their fans and David himself to lock him up. Wright has always been a stand up guy and the Mets should do the right thing and make him a Met for life. 

After yesterday’s Met opener, I had to check my calendar. Johan Santana threw five strong innings of no-run ball. The Met bullpen threw four shutout innings in relief and David Wright had the game winning hit. For a second, I thought this team was the pre-collapse 2008 Mets. Instead, it’s the new look, first place 2012 New York Mets. Granted, it was opening day at Citi Field, but Met fans felt good watching this team win a game. 

Unfortunately, Andres Torres suffered a strain calf muscle and left the game, but the Mets still got it done. It’s the first game of a 162-game marathon, but the Met arms at least showed us that they can be good. 

Baseball officially begins tonight in Miami when the new-look Marlins take on the defending champion, St. Louis Cardinals. The new stadium is apparently pretty cool (there are fish tanks behind home plate), so we’ll get to see first hand tonight! With the excitement brewing around baseball, it’s time for some bold predictions for the 2012 season. Some will be Yankee and Met related, some won’t be. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. We’ll re-visit this article in October.

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Last week, I received Wayne Coffey’s book about R.A. Dickey, titled Wherever I Wind Up (My Quest For Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball).

When he was called up to the New York Mets not even two years ago, Dickey was a journeyman knuckleballer who had spent fourteen years knocking around the minor leagues and had already started looking into his next line of work–as a high school English teacher. Today, the 37-year-old Dickey has emerged not only as the most improbable success story in the major leagues, but as arguably one of the most fascinating athletes in America.

Dickey spent this off-season climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness about human tracking in Mumbai. The book chronicles Dickey’s journey from the abuse he suffered as a child to the No.1 draft choice of the Texas Rangers in 1996. Dickey also talks about his unique relationship his fellow big league knuckle ballers. The book is fascinating and must read for any baseball fan.

For New York residents, Dickey will have three book signings in the next month.

• On April 6th, Dickey will appear at Bookends in Ridgewood, NJ;
• On April 10th, Dickey will appear at Barnes and Noble CitiCorp in Manhattan; and
• On May 10th, Dicey will appear at the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, NJ

Another guest post coming your way via Dave Thomas..Enjoy.

I like to think of myself as a guy that oftentimes if not always sees the glass as being half full as opposed to half empty. That being said, this season could be a long one to be a New York Mets fan.

When I run into people that say they are Mets fans, I quickly find a unique bond with them.

Yes, we Mets fans have always played second fiddle to the Yankees in the Big Apple; that is the equivalent of being a Los Angeles Clippers fan in L.A. The Clips could remarkably run off three or four NBA titles over the next decade and they would still be the poor stepchild to the 16-time champion Lakers.

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With the Wilpons’ financial mess emerging as the dominant Mets-related story throughout the entire offseason, it’s easy to forget that the actual team will start playing regular season games in 2 weeks.  While Team Wilpon scored a win in court, will the Mets themselves be worth watching after they didn’t add any big names following a 77-85 season?  Here are a few reasons to tune in…

I’m not going to get into the legal logistics of it, but the Wilpons were extremely lucky yesterday during their meeting with Madoff trustee, Irving Picard. In short, here’s what happened:

• The Wilpons owe $162 million to Madoff victims;
• The Wipons don’t start paying off the debt until 2015;
• After paying the $162 million, the Wilpons can get in line to collect their $178 million in Madoff account losses;
• The Wilpons can expect to collect nearly half of their losses;

All in all, this afternoon can be signified as a ‘win’ for the Wilpons. With the Wilpons encountering large stadium and television network debt in the next two years, the three year Madoff grace period will help. In addition, the Wilpons can show potential investors that their business is relatively safe.

As a sports fan, I want to see the Mets become a competitive team again. In order to be competitive, the Mets have to spend. Given the outstanding obligations, I don’t know if the Wilpons can spend to field a winning team. New York always deserves a winner and with the Wilpons at the helm, we may not see that for a long time.

ESPN– The New York Mets did not lose $83.3 million last Monday, when U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that the trustee recovering money for victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme is entitled to the profits Fred Wilpon and family collected in the immediate two years before Madoff’s arrest on Dec. 11, 2008. In fact, of that $83.3 million figure, only about $1.7 million is related to Mets-specific accounts. The remainder of the eventual official judgment will be against individual Wilpon family members, their other businesses and charities. Clearly, though, there is an impact greater than $1.7 million to the cash-strapped baseball club. Big-market baseball owners often infuse money into their teams when they struggle, spending on free agents as a stimulus to break out of a downward cycle. Already, the Mets had slashed their payroll from $143 million to $91 million in one offseason because of existing debt and operating losses. Now, with Rakoff’s decision, there soon should be even less money on hand within the family to try to weather the storm. Fred Wilpon said last week that he and his family “intend to own the franchise for a very long time.”Make no mistake: An $83.3 million obligation likely is not catastrophic to the Wilpons. It should not compel them to sell the team. It probably tightens the austerity the Mets are under, though.

Honestly, the Wilpons are in a pretty tight spot. True, the $83.3 million obligation may not be too burdensome, but don’t forget that the Wilpons have a total of $65 million in loans from Major League Baseball and Bank of America. These loans apparently compound semi-annually, so the Wilpons will likely start to fall underneath a pile of intereest payments.

The Wilpon family has another trial on March 19th where another $303 million will be at stake. The courts must decided whether or not the Wilpons knew Madoff was a fraud. Granted, I’m not a legal expert, but this seems extremely difficult to prove.

At the end of the day, the Mets fans will suffer this season and into the future. Judging from their off-season spending, the Wilpons are trying to pinch pennies which will lead to a less competitive Met team.

I think Met fans know that this team won’t be good until the Wilpons sell this team. For the sake of the fans and for baseball, I hope that day comes sooner rather than later.

On Sunday, the Washington Nationals and 27-year-old third baseman, Ryan Zimmerman agreed to a six-year, $100 million contract extension. Zimmerman, who had two years and $26 million remaining on his contract, essentially signed an eight-year, $126 million deal. That’s big bucks for one of the game’s underrated players.

While Zimmerman just collected big bucks, the New York Mets have their own late-20s third baseman who is approaching free agency. Given Zimmerman’s hefty contract, is it reasonable to expect the Mets to keep David Wright?

Will The Price Be 'Wright'--AP Photo

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Over the last twelve months, the Mets have started to perform a full makeover. Jose Reyes won his batting title and ran to Miami. The Mets stole Zach Wheeler from the Giants in exchange for Carlos Beltran. And K-Rod was dealt to the Brewers to set-up for John Axford. Those subtractions have created three big holes that the Mets will try to fill. While some holes will be larger than others, the backend of the Met bullpen is definitely an important part. After K-Rod left, the Mets relied on a Jason Isringhausen-Bobby Parnell closer by committee approach. After this duo blew a total of ten saves, Sandy Alderson wasted no time adding three relievers who have had success as closers. Free agents, Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez and Frank Francisco will compete with Izzy and Parnell for the closer’s role in Queens. With five potential closers in the fold, which player will claim the all-important ninth inning duties?

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