Their first season in brand new Citi Field certainly didn't go as hoped for the New York Mets. They were bitten early and often by the injury bug, forcing them to constantly field an inferior team which lacked efficiency in many areas. But they're not concerned with that now, but rather looking towards the 2010 campaign as they prepare for the season down in Port St. Lucie.

It wasn't a very productive offseason as Omar Minaya failed to address many aspects of his club, mainly the starting rotation. And as usual, there was a bit of controversy surrounding the way they handles Carlos Beltran and his decision to have knee surgery. But with the additions they did make, namely Jason Bay, Ryota Igarashi, Kelvim Escobar, and Rod Barajas (among others), they're hoping to field a competitive team in the very much improved NL East.

Hoping to have the likes of Jose Reyes and David Wright healthy for a full season will surely help them improve on their abysmal season last year, as will the middle of the order presence of Jason Bay. But to compete with the Phillies, Braves, Marlins, and Nationals (yes, the Nationals), their starting pitching is going to have to really perform. Whether or not they can do it with the staff they have now has yet to be seen, but I suspect they might need to add an arm or two down the line after striking out on both Joel Piniero (Angels) and Jason Marquis (Nationals) during the offseason.

In my opinion, I feel that if they key players can stay healthy, and the rotation can pitch decently behind Santana that the Mets could remain competitive down to the end, especially if they add another arm or a key bat. Whether that will be enough to propel them past the Phillies or into wild card contention remains a huge question that fortunately, we have a whole season to answer. Right not though, Mets fans are just excited to get the bitter taste that 2009 left out of their mouth, because with another year comes another opportunity, and hopefully the Mets can capitalize for once.