According to the NY Post, Pedro Martinez is trying something crazy during training. He’s pitching occasionally with his eyes shut. He explains:

“It’s to get the feel of your body doing things naturally,” Martinez said. “It helps you mentally. Once you throw with your eyes closed and have no idea where it’s going, it makes it easier to hit the target [when your eyes are open].”

Martinez will be joined this year by Johan Santana, making for a World Series quality team of veteran all-stars. This line-up is expensive, giving them a payroll that may be over 140 million this year. But the great team line-up should prove good for Mets tickets sales which are currently 10 percent above last year.

Expectations are clearly high. With the building of the new stadium, huge salaries on contract, it’s time for the Mets to prove what they’re made of. It’s time for them to have the kind of season that every team is shooting for, but they seem particularly set to achieve.

“We expect to be in the playoffs, and deep into the playoffs,” said Mets CEO, Fred Wilpon. With those kinds of expectations, huge salaries, big ticket sales, this will be a fun season to watch.

The Mets won the National League Title last year, but they’ll have a much more difficult time defending that title this coming year.

The New York Times says, “The Phillies upgraded their rotation. The Braves bolstered their bullpen. The Marlins still have loads of young pitching.”

The Mets haven’t been to the World Series since 2000. What’s their true chances of being the winner this year?

According to a recent computer analysis, very good. The Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm or PECOTA analyzed the projected player statistics, calculated runs and scores for all of the teams, and then decided what the teams’s records will be. In this case, the PECOTA calculated that the Mets will be in first place in the National League East. Second place will be the Braves, and third place will be the Phillies.

With the Mets Rotation of Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Orlando Hernandez, they are the team to beat in the league. This is good news for NY fans, hoping that one of their teams makes it to the World Series this year. So make sure that you buy your Mets tickets now, and be ready for a season of high expectations.

The Mets have what Ben Shpigel of the New York Times calls, “the best pitcher in baseball.” The agreement process sounds a bit grueling. It took 72 hours and 90 minutes. The final cost: $137.5 million over 6 years. That is some big cash. But they feel it is worth the price for the former left handed pitcher from the Minnesota Twins.

The Mets first had to aquire the rights to negotiate with him. They made a deal with the Twins, giving them four prospects. The Twins gave them 72 hours to make the deal with Santana. When it appeared that they needed a little more time, they petitioned the Twins for another 2 hours, which they were given.

The haggling that went on to secure this deal was obviously two sided. The Mets wanted to give Santana a five-year deal, but he was demanding six. In the end, he got his way, and he got his extremely generous contract.

The Mets had a strong team this last year that ended prematurely. The hope is that this will put an extra positive spin on a potentially great 2008 season.

Mets tickets should sell well without him. But with a genuine star pitcher, his presence will hopefully pay for itself.