This isn’t to share an overly rosy prediction for the 2011 season. This isn’t to ignore the clouds that have been swirling around the Mets for quite awhile now. This is about remembering that the Mets play the sport of baseball.

Ah yes, baseball.

– Dave Rosado, Hot Foot Blog.

In his post, Rosado goes on to explain how he hopes to start paying more attention to the on-field Mets than the in-court Mets, and I can’t imagine many could argue with that.

But since he reminded everyone that the Mets play baseball, I’ll take the opportunity to extrapolate and remind everyone that anything can happen for the on-field Mets in 2011.

We expect — rightfully, based on the information we have — that the Mets will struggle to contend with the Phillies and Braves this season. But as I’ve admitted before, I dismissed the Reds and Padres as “unlikely to contend” before the 2010 season. And both did.

I imagine the sense of Met-fan fatalism surrounding the club’s prospects for 2011 will fade as soon as Spring Training starts and we begin reading more about who is working on a new pitch and who is in the best shape of his life. And by Opening Day we’ll all have convinced ourselves that the Mets are well on their way to October baseball, ignoring odds that are long for various reasons.

And that’s good, because otherwise what’s the point?