26-year old righty swinging Jeff Francoeur was outstanding for the Mets after coming to them from the Braves in a trade last year (for Ryan Church). Francoeur played in 75 games for the Mets in which he was 90 for 289 (.311 avg, .836 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 10 homers and 41 RBIs. Francoeur played in 157 games overall for the Mets & Braves last season in which he was 166 of 593 (.280 avg, .732 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 15 homers, 76 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Mets need him to hit like he did for them last season and not be the batter he was for the Braves. Francoeur only made 1 error in 154 games in RF last season showing average range. He does have a gun for a arm however as he nailed 11 baserunners that tried to challenge him.

28-year old switch hitting Angel Pagan played 6 games in RF for the Mets last season and he didn’t make any errors while showing good range. Pagan even threw out a runner trying to challenge him when he was in RF.

24-year old righty swinging Nick Evans can also play some RF. He played in 30 games for the Mets last season and he was 15 of 65 (.231 avg, .660 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: C+

The Mets were hoping to have a healthy 32-year old switch hitting Carlos Beltran this season. But, he decided to have knee surgery over the winter which will likely keep him out until sometime in May. This is a huge blow to the Mets as Beltran is one of the best players on the team. Beltran played in 81 games for the Mets last season and he was 100 of 308 (.325 avg, .915 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 10 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Beltran is also a solid defensive center fielder. He played in 77 games in CF for the Mets last season and he made 2 errors while showing good range. Beltran also had 3 assists from CF as he has a decent throwing arm. The Mets hope that Beltran won’t have any setbacks in his recovery because they need him in the lineup.

28-year old switch hitting Angel Pagan got a lot of P.T. in CF last season but he will have to beat out 35-year old switch hitting Gary Matthews for the starting job until Beltran returns to action. Pagan played in 88 games for the Mets last season and he was 105 of 343 (.306 avg, .837 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 6 homers, 32 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Pagan made 2 errors in 61 games in CF for the Mets last season while showing below average range. Pagan had 4 assists from CF in 2010 so his arm was a strength last year.

35-year old switch hitting Gary Matthews will get a lot of P.T. for the Mets this season. He played in 103 games for the Angels last season and he was 79 of 316 (.250 avg, .697 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 4 homers, 50 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Matthews only made 1 error in 56 games in CF last season for the Angels while showing average range. He also had 1 assist from CF.

21-year old lefty swinging Fernando Martinez is also available in CF for the Mets. He played 8 error-free games in CF for the Mets last season while showing outstanding range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE METS IN CF IN 2010: B

The Mets took almost all of their free agent dollars this winter and gave them to 31-year old righty swinging Jason Bay. Bay played in 151 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 142 of 531 (.267 avg, .921 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 36 homers, 119 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Bay did whiff 162 times last season so don’t expect him to put up a .300+ batting average in 2010 but what he will do is bring big time power to a team that didn’t have much of it last season. Bay is not just a hitter however as he didn’t make any errors in 150 games in LF last season while showing outstanding range. Bay also had 15 assists from LF last season as he often dares runners to challenge him.

35-year old switch hitting Gary Matthews was brought in over the winter in a trade with the Angels and he will be one of the Mets’ backup outfielders in 2010. He played in 12 games in LF for the Angels last season and he made 1 error while showing out of this world range.

28-year old switch hitting Angel Pagan is also back to provide depth for the Mets. He played in 20 error-free games for the Mets last season in LF while showing out of this world range.

21-year old lefty swinging Fernando Martinez is considered to be the Mets’ top prospect but he got a rude awakening in the majors in his first taste of it last year. Martinez played in 29 games for the Mets last season and he was 16 of 91 (.176 avg, .517 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Martinez also played in 45 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 51 of 176 (.290 avg, .877 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 8 homers, 28 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Martinez didn’t make any errors in 11 games in LF last season for the Mets and he showed above average range there and had 1 assist.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE LF IN 2010: A

27-year old righty swinging David Wright had a off year power wise but he still played well in 2009. Wright played in 144 games for the Mets last season and he was 164 for 535 (.307 avg, .837 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 10 homers, 72 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. I think his production numbers were way down last season because of the injuries to Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes not because of Citi Field. The Mets need Wright to get back to his production from 2005-2008 when he averaged 105.8 runs scored, 29 homers, 112.3 RBIs and 21.5 stolen bases per season. Wright made 18 errors in 142 games at 3B for the Mets last season while showing slightly below average range.

If anything were to happen to David Wright the Mets would likely slide 35-year old righty swinging Fernando Tatis over from 1B. He played in 27 games for the Mets last season and he made 2 errors while showing outstanding range. He is a natural 3B.

34-year old lefty swinging Alex Cora and 27-year old switch hitting Anderson Hernandez could play 3B in a pinch but neither of them have the bat for the job.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2010: A

26-year old switch hitting shorstop Jose Reyes is a big key to the Mets in 2010. He only played in 36 games for the Mets last season and he was 41 for 147 (.279 avg, .750 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 15 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. The Mets need Reyes to stay healthy all year and produce like he did from 2005-2008 when he averaged 113.3 runs scored, 13.5 homers, 66 RBIs and 64.5 stolen bases per season. Reyes made 5 errors in 35 games at SS for the Mets last season but he showed below average range likely because of his hamstring problem. Look for him to rebound both with the bat and the mitt in 2010 for the Mets.

34-year old lefty swinging Alex Cora will be the Mets’ top backup at SS in 2010. He played in 82 games for the Mets last season and he was 68 for 271 (.251 avg, .630 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 1 homer, 18 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Cora played in 56 games at SS for the Mets last season and he made 6 errors there while showing outstanding range. The Mets hope they don’t have to play Cora as much in 2010 as they had to in 2009.

27-year old switch hitting Anderson Hernandez will be the #3 SS for the Mets in 2010. He played in 38 games at SS last season and he made 6 errors while showing pretty poor range there.

29-year old lefty swinging Russ Adams will provide some depth at AAA for the Mets in 2010. Adams played in 8 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 4 for 20 (.200 avg, .438 OPS) with 2 runs scored. He has 286 games of major league experience with a career batting average of .247 with a .685 OPS. Adams also played in 60 games in AAA ball last season and he was 59 for 207 (.285 avg, .754 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 2 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Adams didn’t play any games at SS for the Jays in 2009 but it’s his natural position.

25-year old switch hitting Luis Hernandez will also likely start the year in AAA. He played in 37 games for the Royals last season and he was 15 for 73 (.205 avg, .475 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Hernandez also played in 55 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 60 for 198 (.303 avg, .725 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 1 homer, 26 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Hernandez is pretty slick with the mitt as he only made 1 error in 23 games at SS for the Royals last season while showing good range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SS IN 2010: A