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Galante Likes Mets Chances

In his first column of this, his third season as an MLB.com contributor, Mets bench/infield coach Matt Galante gives his take on the Mets offseason moves, improvements he expects to see in the 2004 incarnation of the Amazins, and his belief that the Mets could be this year's Florida Marlins.

"We've improved greatly in the middle with the kid, Jose Reyes, at second base, Kaz Matsui at shortstop and Mike Cameron in center field. What we wanted to do first this winter was shore up the defense, and we did that."

Now Matt Galante is no expert (at least I don't think he is), but he's certainly towing the company line here. Everyone but my mother has written at one point this offseason that one of the Mets goals since 2003 came to a close was to shore up their defense up the middle (not to mention all over the rest of the field), and they've certainly done that. Mike Cameron is arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball (some might say inarguably), and despite hitting poorly in his four seasons with the Mariners, he put up respectable OBP numbers, posting marks of .365, .353, .340, and .344 the past four seasons.

Jose Reyes should continue to prosper, and I am confident that he will not have any major hurdles in his efforts to transition from shortstop to second base. His hitting should show improvement, as should his plate discipline. As he grows and discovers the weight room (and creatine), his power numbers should escalate as well.

Kaz Matsui is something of an unknown quantity, though I don't expect him to have any problems playing defense and running the bases stateside. His offense is going to be the big question mark, but I am optimistic and generally excited to see how he will perform.

"As for the rest of the infield, I'm excited because Ty Wigginton is going to get better at third. He still hasn't reached his potential. His ability to play third base will only increase. With that and Joe McEwing as a backup, I'm real comfortable with the infield.

Todd [Zeile] is also a good alternative for a game here and there at third base and first base. He'll be able to give Wiggy a break because he was probably worn down by the end of last season."

I'm guessing that this wasn't tongue-in-cheek. To give him the benefit of the doubt, I think there is a pretty good chance that Wigginton will get better. He was no Eric Chavez with the glove, but he wasn't a complete disaster, considering his below-average athleticism and unfamiliarity with the position. He needs to improve his peripheral numbers, as he struck out 124 times last season while picking up only 46 walks. Those will hopefully get better, and I think Galante is right that Zeile will help to keep Wigginton fresh for the stretch run as the Mets settle into their role as spoilers for those with legitimate playoff aspirations.

"You know, you always get excited about spring. Every time you start a new season, there's always hope. We went into last season with that hope. You look at teams during the spring and how they play and you think a team doesn't have a chance and all of a sudden the Marlins win the World Series. In May, the Marlins were fighting with us for the bottom and we thought we were going to overtake them. All of a sudden, they win the Wild Card."

As the saying goes, "you never know". Well, I may not know, but I think I have a pretty good idea. The Mets are not an untalented team. They certainly have the ingredients to play some exciting games and start fights in the bullpen. We'll just have to see what happens.