The Agony of Being a NY Mets Fan Part 2 How I would Fix the NY Mets

So what's the answer? I know, as many Mets fans out there do, we all have our theories. For me though, first you have to decide: is this a win now team, or a team that needs rebuilding? Personally, I think it's a win now team, if for no other reason then the fact that Santana, Beltran, your two best players, are in their prime at 30-plus years of age. With that in mind, I would say to myself as owner "We are a win now team. So let's spend and give it our best shot, even if we have to eat some contracts and over-pay a bit." So here is my plan for the 2010 New York Mets.

• I would try to trade Castillo and eat some of his contract. It's only for two years now and he had a good bounce back season so a team should want his services.
• I would undo a terrible wrong and sign Orlando Hudson like we should have done.
  
• I would make Murphy our full time 1st baseman with no excuses, maybe just a utility man to give him a day off every three weeks (Tatis?).
• I would seriously see what the market is for Jose Reyes and if I can get some major pieces for him, I would move him (It hurts me to say it. I mean I have the guy's autographed baseball, so I'm not a Reyes-hater).
• I would look over our entire outfield. Jeff Francoeur looks like a player so I would give him a full season. For left field, I would make my first major off-season acquisition and sign Matt Holiday
  
• With Beltran's status up in the air, I would go two ways. If he's good to go but has to miss some of the beginning of the season, I would use a stopgap player (Pagan?). If he's out for 2010, I would start looking for a major league centerfielder (Wells, Crawford, Bay?).
• As for catcher, I would keep Santos. He's a solid backup but for our starting catcher, I would go after Benji Molina as a stopgap until we go after Victor Martinez or Joe Mauer in 2011.
  
• As for the rotation, Santana is a given. Aside from trades, I would sign John Lackey, release Maine and Livan, put Neise in and give him the whole season, and try to move Perez. Then I'd go after Bedard or try to trade for Kazmir, Holiday or Webb.
• As for our GM, I would give him one more year with free reign to spend what he wants for that season. It's make or break for him.
  
• And the Manager.....well I could give Manuel one more shot.. or I could go after Bobby V with an all-star squad Hummmm?
  

In the end, those are just fantasy dreams, like any other Mets fan. After daydreaming, you open your eyes. You remember that you are a Mets fan. This is your team and you know what you're going to expect from them, don't you? But you hold out hope with the simple phrase in the back of your head repeating: "Hey! If I make it through these tough years and all this suffering, it's going to be so sweet when they win it all!" I never believed that until the Giants won it all two years ago and that phrase was proven true to me. So I say to all those Mets fans like me: keep watching with "cautious worry," and think, hey it could be worse, we could be talking about the New York Knicks.... oh don't get me started on them!!