During World Series week we discussed the complete overhaul of the San Francisco Giants starting lineup from 2010 to 2012. I suggested that theirs was a strategy of “doing it wrong quickly” and after looking more deeply into the matter, I’m standing by that theory. Further, it seems to be a strategy that the Giants have employed for a while, and it’s worth investigating the construction of their 2010 squad as well. Let’s start with the 2010-2012 turnover first, however, honing in on the World Series starters at each position.

The confetti hasn’t been entirely swept up in San Francisco and already, stories about potential Met moves this off-season have stretched into the realm of the absurd. Don’t take my word for it; check out yesterday’s Post story about Cody Ross. Mike Puma writes about “sources” and uses phrases like “could target, ” while not supplying a single attributed quote to a Met official. Mike might just as well write that his dog told him this rumor. Right on cue however, the story gets posted on Metsblog!

The Mets aren’t getting

Hope died quickly for Mets fans after the 2012 All-Star Break, turning into despair. The season seemed all but lost, and in many ways, another step backward for the organization. That is, until Matt Harvey arrived.

After a breakout 2011 season that saw him win 13 games, the future looked bright for over-achiever Dillon Gee. And, Gee built on that promise with even better performance in the first half of 2012, but unfortunately, the season ended with more questions than answers.

After tearing up the AL East with a 17-save campaign for the Toronto Blue Jays as a 31-year-old in 2011, Frank Francisco was the Mets’ biggest free-agent signing last winter – they hooked this big fish for two years, $12M to solidify the all-important ninth inning closer role. That’s right, folks: we have another year of watching Frank-Frank try to close the door on potential Mets victories.

Despite showing an intriguing skill set during spring training, Josh Edgin was left behind come April, finally making it to Flushing in mid-July. Once a member of the big club, Edgin saw plenty of duty out of the bullpen, performing with mixed results until he was shut down for the season on September 20th due to what was deemed enough use for one year.

David Wright missed out on winning the Gold Glove this week – the powers that be decided Chase Headley of the Padres was more worthy.  They know that the Gold Glove has nothing to do with home runs, right?  In fact, Headley’s Baseball Reference dWAR was 0.0, while Wright’s was 2.1.  So, essentialy, a replacement player (defensively) won the award.

Ah well, there are more important games afoot when it comes to Wright.  Conventional wisdom around baseball has it that Wright will re-sign with the Mets for a 7-year deal in addition to his option year.  Former exec Jim Bowden predicts it will cost the Wilpons about $18 million per year.

But what if he doesn’t re-sign?  There are indications that talks have hit a snag.  Who would be the most logical TRAID..er..I mean…trade partners for the Mets, and who could they get in return?

Of course, the Mets have other needs, most notably outfielder and catcher.  A.J. Pierzynski has hit the open market.  He would make sense for the Mets in the short term.  He’s a solid backstop and a good hitter, but he’ll be 36 on opening day 2013.  And he’s a left-handed hitter, which would make him less of a match with Josh Thole, who needs to stick around to catch R.A. Dickey.  Perhaps the Mets could retain Shoppach and part ways with Thole, but that doesn’t seem likely.  Of course, there’s no law against carrying 2 left-handed hitting catchers anyway.

Bullpen is another area that needs help.  How about Ryan Madson?

But chances are, they won’t be signing any big free agents this offseason.

Meanwhile, the Astros have joined the Mets in going back to a more retro look.  They accidentally leaked the cap on their website – I have to say, I like it much better than the recent look.  So at least they’ll be well-dressed as they take a good beating by the AL West.  Who else should revive the classics?

So, we’ll see what kind of offseason the Mets have in store for us.  Stay tuned for the drama.

Let’s see … R.A. Dickey climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, wrote a bestselling book, threw back-to-back one-hit shutouts, won 20 games, and may have bagged a Cy Young Award. Is there anything else he could have accomplished over this past year?