Are Mets fan (and fans in general) too quick to call for the head?

Many fans, after a slow start of a team or player, become anxious about them.  This is a very very common occurrence, no matter the team or the player.  For example, as another blogger, Old Backstop made some interesting points about Fernando Tatis, the Mets' part time first baseman/utility man that I would like the point out:
Tatis is really with the Mets to be a pitch hitter/utility man who can make spot starts at first for Daniel Murphy.  He was never expected to be an all-star hitter, he was never expected to start more than maybe 30 games last season, ditto for this season.

People are saying that Bay should have been signed because he got off to a bad start.  Bad starts happen!
Same with Mike Jacobs, but he hit a home run today.  Although it may have come when they were 5 runs behind, it is a sign of good things to come.
I know the Mets have gone 2-4 to begin the season, and that they lost 2 of 3 to the Nats and Marlins, but it's the very beginning of the season, things change, players and coaches learn, players have bad days (like Johan did today).  Right now, things can only get better.  You can't expect everything to work at the start of the season; there is no way that will happen!

In the big picture, Beltran will come back in May, Murphy will come back soon, and Reyes has already come back.  These things will help the team get better.

To all Mets fans:  The Mets may have had a horrible year last year, but let things play out a bit.  It is a new season, game 2 of the Marlins series showed that.  They may not have won, but they showed fight.  They came back from a 6-0 deficit in the 7th inning to tie it in the bottom on they could win any game 8th.  They lost in extras, but this is a good start.  It reminded me of the '06 Mets; they had a chance to win any game they played, and they would fight when they were behind.  Last year, you may remember that when the Mets were down by more than 2 runs, it seemed like the game was over already.  That is not the case this year.  The Mets will have a chance to win any game at any time.  Look at it this way, the Mets have had 3 let down/unlucky seasons in a row, the ball is bound to bounce their way this year!

Interesting Reads: Bisons, Bay, Snyder, Trades

Toby Hyde of the Mets Minor League Blog takes a look at the fresh meat the Bison's got.

Ed Leyro of Mets Merized tells why Jason Bay chose #44.

Anthony McCarron of the Daily News ponders what offseason trades Omar is thinking about.

Ed Ryan of Mets Fever says the D-Backs might move catcher Chris Snyder and the Mets should be interested.

A look at Jason Bay and the (current) 2010 Mets

Though not 100% official, the Mets and Jason Bay have reached an agreement of approximately 4 years, $66 mil with a 5th year option. This is all pending physical.

I like this move. He was one of two big name players for left field this off season and we got one of them. Sure you can argue that Matt Holliday is the better of the two, but Bay is a great player. Holliday also has Boras for an agent who will run you dry for your money, so I'm sure Omar felt it easier to deal with Bay. I'm sure that's not the reason, but I'm sure it helped.

Jason Bay will find success at Citi Field due to its big outfield and the ability to hit doubles and triples while Matt Holliday and his homeruns would've taken a hit. I like this move a lot.

Current line up:

Reyes

Castillo

Wright

Beltran

Bay

Murphy

Franceour

(catcher)

(pitcher)

That looks great. Pending the health of everyone, we have a pretty nice line-up.

Now for the rotation:

Santana

Pelfrey

Maine

Perez

Niese

We need extra firepower. My ideal pitcher would be Carlos Zambrano but I don't know how likely that will be. He'd be a fantastic #2 though. Another pitcher I think would fit is Ben Sheets. You can read more on the rotation in my recent post here.

For the bullpen:

Escobar

Igarashi

Stokes

Green

Parnell

Feliciano

K-Rod

I like that bullpen. Escobar and Igarashi can prove to be huge commodities. We know what to expect from Stokes, Parnell and Green and hope for them to improve. Feliciano has been great and we need for him to stay that way. K-Rod will get more save opportunities, hopefully, and get back to closing exciting games.

As for the set-up job, I assume Igarashi, Escobar, and possibly Parnell will be competing for it in spring training so who knows.

I like this team. They have a good core and a young bullpen. Though the rotation needs to be worked on, this team has good talent otherwise. The Mets are apparently off this week and away from office, so the Bay press conference and other moves will be made no earlier then next week.

Why the Mets may be better off with Jason Bay

The Mets need a left fielder. There is no question about that. They had Gary Sheffield, Angel Pagan, Fernando Martinez, Fernando Tatis, and Cory Sullivan playing left for them last year. Not good.

The Mets need a guy who can replace Carlos Delgado in the clean-up or #5 spot. They need thump in the lineup. That thump was obviously missing last year given that they finished last in the MLB in homers. Bay hit 36 homers last year. That is the kind of power the Mets need in the lineup.

Matt Holliday may have a higher average; but per hit, Jason Bay has more extra base hits (Click here for more on this stat). That tells me that he has higher power potential, and that he is more suited to be in the #4 or #5 spot in the lineup.

The Mets also need someone to drive in all the runners they have in scoring position. They had the 7th most at-bats with RISP (1433), and the 6th highest average (.276) in that situation, BUT they had the 15th most RBIs (526). There is something wrong there. They had a 1 to 1 ground ball to fly ball ratio with RISP; the league average was 0.85 to 1 last year, that 0.15 difference makes a huge impact! The Mets can't hit the ball out of the infield! Jason Bay's ratio is 0.51. Holliday, 0.79. I would rather go with Bay there.

Holliday may be a better fielder and strikeout less, but Jason Bay has more power potential, get on base just as much, and gets more RBIs.

That's my case for Bay, what's yours?