Ben Shpigel of the New York Times baseball blog, BATS, is doing a Q&A with fans today regarding the Mets.

He answered this question I posed to him about Duaner Sanchez…

Hi Ben,

Many folks are saying Duaner Sanchez is the key to the Mets season this year. If he can be as good as he was before his injury, the bullpen can fall into more specific roles. Do you agree that Duaner is such a big factor in terms of how well the Mets will do this season?

Thanks,
Anthony

BEN SHPIGEL: I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he’s the key to the season. Maybe a little too steep. But the key to the bullpen? Absolutely. If he’s healthy, everything else should fall into place. I don’t think the Mets are going to push him early — no back-to-back days or multiple-inning stints right out of the shoot — but sharing (or taking over) the set-up role with Aaron Heilman strengthens the back end considerably. Picture a starter going 6 innings, Pedro Feliciano facing a tough lefthander and Heilman/Sanchez leading the way to Billy Wagner. That’s what happened for the first four months of 2006 until Sanchez’s car accident. They made do without him, but they’re a much better team with him.