Amazon: Amazin’ Avenue Annual 2011: New York Mets Preview
Official Site: Amazin Avenue Annual
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I placed my order for mine today, and am looking forward to checking it out. I post a review of it once I get a chance to sit down with it in a week or two.

My only question is how can a dude get to be a a part of this? It’s a goal for 2011!

Some of the highlights are:

–Jose Reyes will leadoff, but he feels Angel Pagan is the best fit to bat second, as he’s someone who has the patience to take pitches and give Reyes a chance to run and “do his thing”.

–Collins will sit down with Carlos Beltran when he arrives in Port St. Lucie and come up with a game plan – he will have an opportunity to prove his knee is healthy and play centerfield, but the situation will be resolved, one way or the other, after 10-12 games in Spring Training.

–He feels Luis Castillo is among those fighting to win the second base job, as he says he’s determined to be in much better shape this year.

To read the entire version head over to MetsBlog.com and read the entire thing as it has some pretty interesting stuff.

I know the last 3 or so years have been brutal, but according to him it could certainly be worse.

As painful as the past three and a half years have been—essentially, every moment since Carlos Beltran watched Adam Wainwright’s Bugs Bunny curveball swoosh past him in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series—the Mets are not, in fact, doomed. The vast majority of teams in Major League Baseball would love to be in the Mets’ position, with a loyal fan base, a pretty stadium, a surprisingly fertile minor-league system, and, of course, hundreds of millions of payroll dollars. In 2006, the Mets, with their core of David Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, seemed primed to dominate the NL East for years. It has all gone wrong since then. But it’s not too late: Wright is only 27 years old, Reyes 26. Minaya and Manuel might not be the right men to steer this ship in the right direction—and nothing is going to help them catch the Phillies this year—but the Mets can still fix this. Here’s how.

It’s a great article to read if your like me and want to start to focus on what needs to be done to fix this. My views have changed from cheering for the team day-to-day to trying to look forward more and try to see where this is all going.

He touches on how the Mets draft philosophy has to change and they need to go after those bonus babies, exactly as we have yelled and screamed about here at the Pundit.

What’s more is probably part of his closing paragraph:

Clean house.
All of these moves are basic ones that almost any management team in baseball might have made. They are not ones the current Minaya-Manuel tandem have shown any tendency to even consider. (The Mejia decision was made only because Wilpon threw some chairs around in Atlanta.) What these moves require is a fresh perspective, an efficiency expert to come in, see what the Mets have and don’t have, and trim the fat.

Go give it a read – it does a great job of summing up my feelings as a dire Mets fan.
Will Leitch: No Miracle Required

Thanks to the Hotfoot guys for the heads up with the link.

This is no shock in my opinion, the Phils are a dirty team and get then cry at things like Jose Reyes’ celebrating. I cannot wait to see these guys hit rock bottom one day, remember what goes around comes around. I am glad the Rockies guys were smart enough to pick up on this and bring this to the attention of MLB. I am no idiot, no matter how good the Phils are or how small their park is there is no way they knock Johan around for 10 runs without cheating. Obviously, the Mets were privy to this as they changed Santana’s delivery in the next start. Just another reason to hate those bastards who live in our shadow!

Here is an interesting piece about the “Highest Paid Players In 2010″ by team put together by Mike Axisa:  MLBTradeRumors.com

Let me introduce you to Dillon Gee, possibly the next Mets prospect to make an impact:  MetsMerizedOnline.com

Here are some pretty graphs about how Frenchy is coming back down to Earth.  We love pretty graphs!  : TheRopolotans.com

For some quick hitting Mets pics and info do not miss the Hot Foot: HotFootBlog.com

Good article on why officials at Citi should let fans “sneak down” late in games, it’s stupid to not really:  MetsPolice.com

Keep up with what’s going on down on the farm by checking in with Adam Rubin: ESPN New York: Adam Rubin

UPDATE: Matthew Cerrone also added this.

Check out Paul and BK’s site right here

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