Here's where some of my friends stand on the first half of the 2006 campaign:

    Joey

Watching the Mets was a huge part of my childhood, as my father, may he rest in peace, had been an extremely loyal fan.  Unfortunately, the Mets struggled through many gloomy seasons between 1973 and 1986, but we learned to appreciate the silver lining in every cloud (and it was often overcast at Shea).  Rooting for Kingman to hit a home run, proud that Mazilli could throw with either arm, convinced that Craig Swan would win a cy young had he been on another team.  This year, I have often found myself thinking, I wish my father could see this team, because it is made up of so many things we Mets fans can be proud of, youthful exuberance (Wright and Reyes), established excellence (Glavine, Beltran, Martinez, Beltran and Delgado), a strong bullpen, a closer who, despite his difficulties, has promised he will improve and a coach we can love despite his years as a Yankee.  Yes, I know my father would love this team, and I would have him read your blog, because he would also love the well written thoughts of another loyal Metsie!

    Dave

I’m still trying to figure out where we’d fit Kazmir on the staff.

    Kenny (aka Friends of Felix Millan)

For the Mets not to make the playoffs would mean one of the worst collapses in history. With over half the season gone, the Mets are slated to win 96 games and the Phils only 74. But the Mets have shown they can go into prolonged funks too. It's just masked by the horrible NL East and the large lead they built up at the start of the season.  So, I'm bullish on the Mets winning the NL East and cautiously optimistic from there. It's the AL East that looks like it's going to have an old fashioned pennant race.

I need to remind myself that I've tremendously enjoyed the season thus far and I'm thankful for that.

    Will

1. Reyes - awesome talent; no reason to expect anything less in the second half.

2. LoDuca - catchers tend to wear down, and loduca is notorious for fading.

3. Beltran - streaky, as always. should be about the same in the second half.

4. Delgado - i'd expect more from him. or he's in decline. Neither would surprise me.

5. Wright - see reyes.

6. Floyd - he got hurt just as he was getting hot. its too easy to say he will do better in the second half - he's the wild card. he could carry the team for a stretch or he could be close to done (one injury too many?).

7. Nady - i'm not yet sure if i like nady or if i think he should play every day for a contending team. looking ahead to 2007, i dont know if i'd let floyd go so easily and have to depend on Milledge and Nady. As it stands, Cameron was a high price to pay for this guy.

8. Valentin - he is a good hitter. but he's old. i bet they upgrade this spot -grudzelanik?

For me, as always, its gonna come down to the starters. and right now, its not looking great. Pedro broke down last year and is doing it again this year. He is small and no longer throws hard so he relies on his genius and incredible location, which are not particularly reliable in my view. Glavine, despite his resurrection this year, is similarly unreliable: too much nibbling and junk. Same, obviously, goes for El Duque and Trax. So, unless they make a move for a front line starter that can throw hard and change speeds they are gonna struggle in the playoffs.

And all of this nibbling is causing short starts and overuse of the pen.

I hope some combo of maine, pelfry and bannister can help us. Though I bet omar makes a move. I'll be bummed if he trades bannister (or even maine) to get another over-the-hill starter like Livan Hernandez.

In a perfect world, barring trade: Pedro, Glavine, Trax, Bannister/Pelfrey are our playoff starters. This leaves El Duque to replace Heilman if he continues to suck as our 7th inning guy. I dont see them making a move to displace trax, and honestly i dont know if its justified. He is a veteran and might surprise by being exceptional in the playoffs - think Jon Leiber, a guy with not the greatest stuff who has been a great big game performer.

Trax can do it too. he has a lot of pitches and if his curve is sharp and within his control he is very effective. I've been saying all along that you need elite pitching to win, so i dont like the starters we take into the playoffs, but this is what we have and the offense could carry us.

   Russ 

While it's very exciting that the Mets are obviously the class of the NL, it's kind of like being the best finger painter in Nursery School, nobody really remembers you the next year.  After the spanking we took from the AL squads including one of the worst teams in the league (orioles) 3 things are obvious:
1) The Mets have mostly finesse pitchers.  Finesse pitchers get their fannies whacked like an accountant at an S&M dungeon by power laden AL teams.
   
2) The NL style of ball such as speed and defense and situational hitting just can't keep up with the AL which has better hitters and currently better pitchers.
   Strikeouts foil many a hit-and-run attempt. 
 
3) Pedro is the key to this season.  If Pedro is healthy at the end of the year and Duque can continue his resurgence, we have 3 reliable pitchers which is all you need in the playoffs which have multiple days off.  If any of our top 3 ain't startin, then the train ain't departin!  (apologies to Gary Templeton) 
 
Hopefully, Brian Bannister makes it back from the hole he's hiding in or maybe Pelfrey comes up and makes us forget Seaver.  Otherwise, while it has been a great season so far it's probably going to be a frustrating October.
 
In short, it's the pitching stupid!
 
Good going on the site!