But our tokens of compliment and love are for the most part barbarous. Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself.
Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing. This is right and pleasing, for it restores society in so far to its primary basis, when a man’s biography is conveyed in his gift, and every man’s wealth is an index of his merit.
With that being said, here are my gifts for the Mets for the upcoming year:
Vic Black – Continued good luck with his HR rate. Black seemed to be a solid reliever but his xFIP checked in last year at 4.70 in the majors. Amazing with a 4.0 HR/FB rate will do for a fellow.
Bartolo Colon – An unlimited supply of stem cells, or whatever it is that makes him so stingy with walks (1.37 BB/9 last year).
Travis d’Arnaud – The piece of mind to know that every single Mets fan is pulling for him, something that hasn’t happened with the Mets and a catcher since Mike Piazza.
Ike Davis – When Davis came up, he would flip over railings to catch balls. Last year we sat in stunned silence as he absolutely refused to field a ground ball, instead watching it go by him as the umpire signaled fair. It’s simplistic, but Davis’ gift is effort – something we’d like more proof of him giving in 2014.
Lucas Duda – A manager to write his name in the starting lineup at first base for 140 games and otherwise leave him alone.
Josh Edgin – Freedom from being typecast as a LOOGY. As Tim Byrdak and Pedro Feliciano can tell you, the role is dangerous for your health. Also, in 64 PA versus righties last year, Edgin limited them to a .606 OPS and only two extra-base hits, both doubles.
Dillon Gee – The return of his 2012 K%
Curtis Granderson – The freedom not to swing for the fences every time up. We are big fans of doubles and triples, too, and would love to see a 38-23-23 line like he put up in 2007.
Juan Lagares – A year where runners continue to try to take the extra base on him. It’s such fun to watch Lagares charge the ball and come up firing.
Jenrry Mejia – Good health to make 30 starts.
Daniel Murphy – An implant that delivers a high-voltage shock every time he tries to hit the ball the other way when he’s ahead in the count. Last year in the 108 PA where he pulled the ball, Murphy had a .343 AVG and a .657 SLG mark. Let’s see more of that guy in 2014.
Jonathon Niese – A consistent season with results like he had at the end of 2013. In his last nine games, Niese had a 2.70 ERA, a 1.233 WHIP and a 3.64 K/BB ratio.
Bobby Parnell – The ability for Mets fans to appreciate him. Parnell was terrific in 2013 but for whatever reason, people still consider him a tad shaky on the mound. All he did last year was post a 2.16 ERA, a 1.000 WHIP and a 3.67 K/BB ratio – numbers that would not look out of place on Mariano Rivera’s Baseball-Reference page.
Josh Satin – PA at the top of the order. It makes no difference that he’s slow and playing an infield corner position – it’s a mistake to bat him lower in the lineup. Maximize the OBP that he gives.
Ruben Tejada – A quick start. Tejada went from a fan favorite to a guy we couldn’t wait to replace almost overnight. It looks like we’re stuck with one another so a big April would go a long way towards restoring our faith in our homegrown shortstop.
Zack Wheeler – Lots of starts versus the Braves. Wheeler was 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA in three starts against Atlanta this past season.
David Wright – Meaningful games in September.
Chris Young – An everyday spot in the lineup. Injuries kept him from a full season the past two years and the meme has developed that he’s a platoon player. The last time he played a full season, he put up a 4.5 fWAR.
Eric Young – Contentment with a 250-PA role on the club.
*****
Sandy Alderson – The consequence-free opportunity to tell Jeff Wilpon to his face what he really thinks of him.
Terry Collins – A luxurious retirement mansion in the city of his choice.
*****
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the readers here at Mets360! We experienced tremendous growth once again last year and I’m very happy that you come to our site on a daily basis. And I’d like to give an extra special thanks to loyal readers like Chris F., pete, Name, Metsense, NormE, Jerry Grote, AJ, TexasGusCC, eraff, Za, Metstheory22 and blastingzone – who comment on so many of our stories. Your contributions add to the site and make us all better writers. And finally, thanks to all of the writers at the site.
*****
This is my fifth Christmas wishes article. To see gifts from the previous years click on the following links:
2013 Christmas wishes
2012 Christmas wishes
2011 Christmas wishes
2010 Christmas wishes
Bartolo Colon- Shows he can pitch without the PED’s and win 15 games on “guts” and guile.
Jenrry Mejia- a break out season of good health with 12 wins
Sandy Alderson being named the new commissioner of baseball. His first decision would be to tell the Wilpons the party’s over and buy Jeff and Fred 2 season tickets to watch Marlin games.
Terry Collins- Ah yes! A luxury mansion for his ability to bring out the best in his players even when he consistently throws them under the bus. Of course it would only be a 6 month rental and Collins would have to pay the taxes.
I would like to add my Christmas wish for the mets: Sign Drew!! Fred and Jeff you guys were great this year spending all the money you did but don’t stop now your not finished! Signing
Drew would plug a big hole for the next three years and without any really good prospects in the minors they need to sign him! Imagine if they didn’t waste 7.25 million on Young they might have had enough or at least been close depending on which figure you believe they had
in there budget to having the money to sign Drew, will he put us over the top, I don’t know
but I do know he would plug a huge hole in our line up on offense and defense instead of Tejada hitting one hr and driving in 30 rbi’s Drew should hit 10-15 hr’s and drive in 50-75
rbi’s WOW what a difference not to mention goo defense that our starting pitchers will thrive on! To go this far and leave such a big hole in our line up could end up biting them in the ASS!! Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year to all of you at 360!!
Hey Brian! If you don’t mind I’d like to go back and use capital letters on occasion for emphasis. That is. If that’s Okay with you?
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!! To everyone at Mets 360.
I was at an NCSU fan site the other day reading some comments and I was overwhelmed by how many of the posters did the capitalizing words thing and my thought was — it’s a real chore to read these posts and I’m so glad we don’t have that at 360 anymore.
if you get any four of the player Christmas wishes, we’re over 85 wins.
Merry Christmas to all, and thanks to Brian, David Groveman, Joe Vasile for their core, great writings; to Name, Metsense, Chris F, Pete and all the people I jaw around with respect and good taste.
We never waste pixels and there is little doubt we are the ones changing the fortunes of the Mets.
Merry Christmas to you Brian and everyone that makes this site fun.
If I may offer Lagares a Christmas present of my own to have a .360 OBP so no one even mentioned replacing him ever again?
🙂
I just bid and won an auction for a Lagares game-worn jersey for way cheaper than you can buy a jersey at MLB!
How much? From where?
That’s because they fail to unlock the Caps and everything comes out capitalized. You guys make my day and even if I don’t agree sometimes with what’s written I still enjoy the banter from from your readers. Safe holiday to everyone.
Just landed in Cano-ttle, you know, the city formerly known as Seattle, which had to be renamed as part of Jay-Zs bargaining for the contract negotiations. I too would like to wish everyone here at Mets360 the best for the holiday season. I’ve become a better, much more knowledgable, and more passionate fan because of the quality articles, and bar-none, the best comments you can find anywhere in Mets blog-dom.
All the best everyone!
Let’s Go Mets!
Glad what you said about Murphy. While I’d like to see him at 1st, and Flores at 2nd, his bat is so much better than guys getting big $$$, and guys like Drew asking for $12mm per, that I think we’re lucky to have him. 190 hits is 190 hits. In addition, he’s been speaking of trying for more power this year, as you’ve suggested. Reminds me of Ralph Kiner, when asked, “why don’t you hit less hr’s, like 35 but maybe have a .300 average”? His answer, “Because home run hitters ride in Cadillacs, singles hitters ride in jalopies.”
An insightful Christmas List Brian, but that has been par for this site. It is the most informative, enjoyable, thought provoking site concerning the Mets. Merry Christmas to you, your staff and your families. To all my chat friends and post partners may they have all the best health and luck in the coming New Year (and Chris F you started it off right, Congrats).
For that matter, with some good health and luck (something lacking in Metland the past 5 years) maybe the Mets will give Captain America meaningful games in September. Lets Go Mets !!
Brian,
Merry Christmas. Thanks for the enlightenment and enjoyment.
Also, Merry Christmas to all my fellow compatriots who bring differing opinions but do it in a friendly, non-demeaning manner.
Another great year for Mets360. My Christmas wish for Mets360 is for the Game Chatters to not fail in 2014. 😛
My wish for Met fans is to have a little faith, not with the Wilpons or Alderson, but just in the random and unpredictable nature of baseball. We’ve all seen good teams on paper fail and bad teams on paper succeed. Preseason prediction by pundits are more often wrong that right.
Enjoyed the great banter with everyone here, especially Brian, Jerry Grote, Metsense, and Chris F!
My wish is for one or more of the young position players (Flores, Puello, etc) to play their way onto the Major league roster and provide a meaningful number of at bats and production. Also – would like to see one of the young Pitchers do likewise.
For the Mets to sign Kendrys Morales and watch him become the most productive Mets 1B since Carlos Delgado.
Sorry to burst your bubble captain america but that will never happen. Scott Boras client and the Mets have no money.
…and 18-20 steals for Lagares too.