Opening Day...and My Return

I had been so excited after my last post. Veiwership here on the blog was at an all time high, and I was nearing the dollar marker that Google sets in order to pay out sites like this that use Google Adsense. I then received an email from them saying that I would not be receiving my money at any point, for what I admit was a reasonable enough reason, I had clicked on my own ads (mostly because what they advertised was interesting to me as well). At that point the blog had become like a job for me, as I was trying my hardest to turn it into a job, a fate that was never in store for it. It took time to accept that fact, but with a new spring comes a fresh start.
Today, a new Mets season is beginning, and it will be back to the basics for me. I'll use this blog as an outlet to complain about the team, and hopefully praise what they are doing at times.
The Mets come into this year having not made a whole lot of changes in the offseason, but in my opinion they made the ones that really mattered. There had been a culture of disappointment and stubbornness to keep swinging away with a broken bat. Oliver Perez, who will never be the same guy he was three years ago, is finally gone. Management was finally able to get over the illusion that Luis Castillo was still a valuable memeber of a Major League Baseball team, which was proven a farce with his quick cut his was given by the Phillies.
The bullpen also has a new look, and although Pedro Feliciano is gone, the Mets were able to add quite a few quality arms and should be better in the late innings this year for it. The rotation has a couple of pitchers hoping for comeback years rounding out the back, while the young guys lead the way up front. R.A. Dickey's knuckleball may make teams think that Chris Young is throwing harder than he is the next day. We'll see.
Johan Santana is the only major injury the team is still dealing with, and he could be back as soon as June, or as late as never. If he can make it back even for August, he may be able to provide a nice boost into the stretch run. As for a wins prediction this year, I'd say anywhere from 80-93. It all depends who stays healthy, because when they are, the Mets will have one of the better line-ups in baseball, a good bullpen, and an above average group of starting pitchers.
I'm travelling out east today, but maybe I'll get to see the Mets set the tone today. It would be great if they could finally find a way past Josh Johnson this season. Ya gotta believe!