Money Well Spent

Opening Day was everything Mets fans have waited for since acquiring their ace Johan Santana. I don't want to get into a large amount of stats in this post but just talk about the game, but Santana looked great with 8 K's and allowing just 2 runs on a home run by Josh Willingham. He was in complete control with his change up and having righties standing their looking on inside fast balls. The pitching lineup of Santana, Wise, Schoeneweis, Sosa and Heilman recorded 11 K's and Sosa had a huge strike out with the Marlins threatening in the late innings.

Our lineup against their first lefty of the season came to play, well at least for one inning. The Mets hitters scored 6 of their 7 runs on 5 hits in the 4th innings, capped off with a David Wright bases loaded double to the left center gap. Mets starters hit well and showed that without Alou they still can be dangerous against lefties. Everyone in the lineup looked comfortable and out to make a point in their first game.

Overall the game couldn't have gone any better for the Mets, they got the pitching performance from their new ace, and the middle of their lineup produced runs like they needed them too. Tomorrow the Mets send Pedro out for his first start against the Marlins and their young lineup.

Mr. DL Looking For Early Come Back

In an article on Mets.com, Moises Alou talked with Marty Noble of MLB.com about setting his sights on a late April return to the Mets lineup. Alou states in the article that :

"I came to camp in the best shape of my life," he said. "Since November, I was in great shape. I never lost my playing shape ... I never got fat or had a beer belly. Whether I was going to come back to play or look good in the beach, I was in shape. ... And I had to pop off about getting 500 at-bats. It wasn't popping off. I was serious"

I love his enthusiasm I really do but, "Moises Don't Rush Back To Soon." I know that we need his right handed hitting in the lineup but I rather him in mid-May when we know he is completely healed and can try and last the rest of the season. We don't need him to play at the end of April just to have him go on the DL in May or June. The fans and front office will panic and try and bring up F-Mart when he is not ready and throw off his development. So Moises all I can say is "Rest Up, You'll Need It."

Getting Ready For Opening Day

So with the start of the MLB season just two days away and the Mets opening day just a week away, the rosters are shaping up for all teams. Starters are getting their final work in and hitters are trying to get into rhythm (which seems to be happening for some of our lineup). The Mets rotation may have taken its final shape today in their game against the Cardinals. The Mets got handed a huge loss by the score of 14-4. The game featured a battle for the 5th spot in the rotation for the Mets but the one guy competing for the spot might have won it without throwing a pitch. El Duque made his second spring start going just 3 innings and giving up 5 runs and fell behind almost every batter. The young Mike Pelfrey came in as relief and didn't fair any better. He went 4.1 innings and gave up 8 runs on 13 hits. Nelson Figueroa's could have become the front runner after this game for the Mets.

In other news for the Mets, a once talked about option for left field became available. Toronto's Reed Johnson was released today by the team with Shannon Stewart becoming their everyday left fielder. The big question is that the right handed bat of the bench the team was looking for to fill in for Alou. Only time will tell i guess...........

Complete game results the Cardinals game

A Test For Dauner Sanchez

An article for MLB.com written by Anthony DiComo talks about the health of Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez. The growing concern of the article focus not on the health of the 7th inning set-up man but whether his arm is ready for opening day. The Mets need to know if Duaner can pitch on back to back days with out feeling fatigued.

Dauner Sanchez on being ready for back to back outings:

""Everything is a process," Sanchez said of pitching on back-to-back days. "I know I can do it. Is it the right thing to do? I don't know."

As a Mets fan i can only pray that his arm can handle it. With so much talk about the Mets looking to trade a bullpen arm to get a guy like Marcus Thames, Dauner's roll becomes more and more important. I want to trust that he can go on back to back days but i am not in a rush to throw him out there in the first month of the season and risk another injury.

Bullpen Getting Interesting

So, I was not to bright and bought tickets to go see the Mets play the Astors on Sunday for their split squad game in Kissimmee. Don't get me wrong I love my Mets, but they really didn't bring much of any star power. I wasn't expecting anyone spectacular but I was hoping to see a Endy, Marlon Anderson or even a Castro. The Mets sent Angel Pagan, F-Mart, Jorge Sosa, and Nelson Figueroa. I was upset to know that Pedro was making his spring debut a little over a hour down south, but this spring I have come to enjoy watching Nelson Figueroa pitch. The guy is a great person for baseball. He is great to the fans and always has a smile on his face, well execpt when he gave a blast to Lance Berkman.

His finishing line for the game was 4innings pitched, giving up 1 hit on the solo home run and striking out 2, while walking 3. His control was a little off but he was keeping hitters off balanced all game with different timing on his delivery. He got some of the Astors All-Stars to look a little silly on some of their swings. I would love to see him being the Mets long reliever this season and he has had the type of spring to challenge for it. His main competition for the role if El Duque isn't thrown into the pen will be Jorge Sosa.

Sosa did pitch after Figueroa in the Astors game and he did look better than Nelson. He was dominate against every hitter, getting ahead on almost every batter and striking out 4 batter in 3 innings, he also struck out the side in the 6th inning. With the way Nelson is performing I wouldn't mind seeing the Mets trading Sosa while he is pitching well to get a good backup OF/1B. We will see what the Mets decide to do but I am definitely becoming a nice little battle out in the pen

Complete Box Score from the Astros Game.

My Mets Weekend In Port St.Lucie

The Mets "Maine" No. 2 Starter

With another great outing today against the Marlins, did John Maine just help his cause to become the Mets number 2 starter? I saw Maine pitch last Sunday in Port St.Lucie against the Astors, and he looked great. Before the game i was standing in the front row of the left field stands watching him warm up before his start and he was spot on in the pen. I mean Castro's glove was barely moving an inch. During the game Maine was unhittable. Not one hitter really made great contact against him and he ended the game with four innings of no hit ball.

Today was just about the same. Unfortunately I was unable to go see the game but the box score shows his dominance. Maine threw 5 shutout innings while allowing just 3 hits and striking out 6 of the 20 batters he faced. I am fine with John Maine being our #2 guy on the mound in any series, no matter if its a regular season series or a playoff series. I had a feeling that he would be something special when we got him with Jorge Julio for Kris Benson. You always got to watch out for those throw in guys when teams make trades. Thank you Baltimore!!!!

5th Starter???? Who's It Going To Be?

Looking at the way the season starts this year, the Mets may not need a 5th starter until after the home opening series against the Phillies. So where does that leave the Mets and who they take with them back home to Shea. Many baseball people say that Pelfrey hasn't done enough this spring to make manger Willie Randolph think hard enough to make it a race for the 5th spot. The only hope I think Pelfrey has is that he shines in his last few spring starts going at least 5 or 6 innings in each of them and hope El Duque struggles to make it back. Right now El Duque is set to make another simulated start before going into a live game. With only a few weeks left for spring baseball, El Duque will most likely be left back in Port St. Lucie when the Mets make their trip to Miami to start the season. He will get an extra start or two in PSL and should be ready for the home stand in the second and third week of the regular season, which will most likely mean Pelfery will be back in New Orleans with the Triple A team.

Personally i don't know who i want to be the 5th starter. Yes, we need to see what Pelfrey can bring as a starter on the Major League level for a full season. But if El Duque can pitch the way he pitched for most of last season I would have to say I want El Duque every fifth day. If he can't produce on that level then I am comfortable giving Pelfrey the spot. All I can do is thank the lord for the Mets not giving Kyle Loshe almost $5 million a year like the Cardinals did to be our 5th or 6th starter. Thank You Omar!!!!!

Injury Update

In a recent article from MLB.com, the Mets injuries take a front seat to their title hopes. Marty Noble, writer of the article looks at the current health of the Mets after 3 weeks of spring baseball. Players talked about in the article are: Delgado, Church, Alou, Schneider,Castillo and Pelfrey's and Reyes near collision, (so basically almost the whole team, lol)


Its nice to see a lot of the starters back playing. Yesterday against the Cardinals Beltran was in center field for the first time this spring, mostly because the game was played without a DH. Reports say that Castillo will be in a game this weekend. The opening day roster should be playing together at the start of next week besides Alou. I can only hope the team can start to gel in the final weeks of spring and start the season off on a hot streak. We are the oldest team in baseball and injuries are going to happen so a hot start could help in a long season with a thin minor league system.

Best Outing Of Spring For Perez

The Mets got back to their winning ways toady by defeating the Orioles 6-2 in Port St.Lucie. Oliver Perez started for the Mets and was opposed by the new #1 for Baltimore, Jeremy Guthrie. New York had the majority of their starters in the game, but still were without second basemen Luis Castillo.

• Perez threw 4 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out one
• Jose Reyes collected his first triple and his first stole base of this spring
• Angel Pagan came up huge again with a pinch hit 2-run homer in the 7th inning. Pagan leads the league in hits with 18 this spring
• Delgado went 0-3 today making him 0-5 with 5 k's since his hip injury
• Wagner and Heilman both threw scoreless innings following Perez in the 5th & 6th inning

The Mets and Mike Pelfrey will travel to Jupiter on Thursday to take on the Cardinals and Braden Looper

It's nice to see the Mets get back on the winning track after a few games with Boston. Two great signs from this game for me. One, Angel Pagan continues to show the coaches he deserves to start in left field on opening day. I watched this kid play 3 games in person and i like him. He is very athletic and runs very well to add to the team speed. I still wouldn't mind another insurance guy like Thames (he can still backup Delgado) but only if its for a guy like Schoenweis. The 2nd thing is that the main bullpen arms are doing well this spring. It's nice to those guys putting last years collapse behind them. The alarming thing to me is the two Carlos's. Not so much Beltran because he is making some contact, but Delgado is not doing much at the plate. He is 0-5 with 5 strikeouts since coming back from the hip injury, and with him coming off a year like last year it's starting to scare me that he is breaking down. I can only pray for two more weeks with no more injuries.

World Series Match Up In Spring???

World Series Champions Boston Red Sox traveled to Port St.Lucie today to take on the New York Mets. The Mets got back their big bats from injury to go against the defending champs. Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado both made their return to the Mets lineup today. New York also sent out their prize off season acquisition Johan Santana for his third start this spring.

• Santana went 4 scoreless innings, he struck out 4 of the 15 hitters he faced and walked none. This was his first outing this spring without giving up an earned run.
• Both Carlos's went hit less in 5 combined at-bats, Delgado had 2 strike outs and Beltran played DH in his first spring outing.
• Angel Pagan had another hit to add to his spring totals, he also scored the lone Met run in the 8th inning.
• The game ended in a tie, 1-1 in 10 innings

Pedro was scheduled to pitch tomorrow, but with the Mets taking a long road trip to take on the Red Sox's again he will stay back in camp and pitch another simulated game. Mets will send out Nelson Figueroa to start against the Sox.

With Injuries Mets May Have Options

At the end of Spring Training teams will have some decisions to make about their rosters. The following list are players that can be lost by their current team if they decide not to add them to the 25 man roster and ship them to the minors. The list include some interesting names that could help the Mets this year. Thanks to Christian from Metsmerizedoline.com

Player List

Down In Port St.Lucie....

Hey everyone, I am currently down here in PSL enjoying my share of Mets Spring Training games. I'm not going to talk about what happened during the games so much, but talk about the players and the interactions during the games. I'll post links at the bottom of the post of complete game stats from Mets.com.

First game was on Friday in Winter Haven where the Mets took on the Indians. I arrived before the Mets buses so I took in some of the Cleveland players on the practice fields. C.C. Sabathia is a large man, in height and weight. Also Josh Barfield and a few other players stopped and signed autographs for the fans. When the Mets arrived, two buses of players unloaded with a lot of unfamiliar faces. The only players that were recognizable to most fans were Oliver Perez, Angel Pagan, Pedro Feliciano and Anderson Hernandez. I recognized a few of the other young players myself, but there were a ton of faces and names I never heard of. The young players were very friendly and willing to sign for me; also the coach's were nice enough to stop too. I ended up with 12 signature's that day including "Hojo", Jerry Manuel, Sandy Alomar Jr and Sr, Anderson Hernandez, Matt Wise, and Pedro Feliciano. All in all it was a good day with a Mets victory.

After a 3 hour road trip to PSL I arrived in town at 10am on Saturday just in time to watch the Mets finish up their stretching and throwing on the back practice fields. The whole team looked to be out there, with a few bodies missing like Pedro and Beltran; their parking spots were empty all day too. The team joked around with each other for some time while stretching. Scott Schoeneweis was the only player to sign before security escorted everyone back to the gates. During batting practice I was able to snag some autographs from Joe Smith, Matt Wise, Hojo, and Guy Contti. On the back fields Jose Valentin was showing he was healthily by belting a few home runs over the right field fence through a strong wind. He is scheduled to play in Sunday’s game. Also, the Mets got Ryan Church, Damon Easley and Brian Schneider back on the field during Saturday’s game. Church had two hits, Easely and Schneider both had a home run. Reyes and Wright had left the players parking lot before the game ended with a Mets loss.

I’ll be posting pictures of my trip after I get back during next week.

Mets Vs Marlins
Mets at Indians

Another Starter Added To The M.A.S.H Unit

Moises Alou is sidelined for 4-6 weeks after having hernia surgery today. Alou flew to New York to have a groin injury looked at and it lead to today's surgery. The rumors surrounding the Mets and Tigers getting a deal done for Jorge Sosa in exchange for Marcus Thames might become more than just a rumor now with Alou out for Opening Day.

It's a deal they have to make in my opinion to sure up some back-up roles. The bullpen is thin i understand but we have a lot of good young arms proving themselves this spring. Thames could play either corner outfield spot and spell Delgado on days lefties pitch. A situation that might happen is that F-mart gets to the majors earlier than he thought. Which i don't think will be good for his development. I love the potential he has but not MLB ready yet. Pagan is playing well right now and we might need to use him till Alou gets back and if we cant land Thames...........

2 Days until my Mets Weekend in PSL

Mets Keep It Rolling With Win Over Fish

John Maine made his 2nd start of the spring the same day he got his contract renewed. Maine went 3 solid innings and got offensive support from the hot hitting Angel Pagan. Read the full story from today's game here.....

Mets Vs Marlins

Johan Santana makes his 2nd start for the Mets on Wednesday as he takes on Brad Penny and the Dodgers.

For the next few days the blog might be a little slow as I get ready for my Mets weekend in PSL. I will be attending 3 Mets games and hopefully getting some autographs and I will definitely be posting pictures from the weekend.

A Disgruntled Prince

In a story relased by ESPN today, The Milwaukee Brewers have renewed the contract of their young star first baseman Prince Fielder. Unfourtanitly Prince wasnt happy about the renewed contract by stating :

"The fact I've had to be renewed two years in a row, I'm not happy about it because there's a lot of guys who have the same amount of time that I do who have done a lot less and are getting paid a lot more. But my time is going to come. It's going to come quick, too."

Prince shut up and go play baseball. Do what you did last year and when arbitration comes your way next year you'll get paid big boy.

El Duque Looking Far From The No. 5 Starter

Today El Duque was scheduled to throw his first batting practice, but after warming up in the bullpen with pitching coach Rick Peterson, Orlando decided to shut it down and not go on to throw the BP session.

Below is a video from Matt Cerrone of SNY and Metsblog.com. Matt is down in PSL for the first time with the Mets. Thanks for the video Matt and keep up the good work.

NL East Rivalry Ends In Extra Innings

The Braves traveled down from Orlando to PSL to take on the Mets. Atlanta didn't bring to many regulars and the Mets had a lineup mixed with starters and bench players.

• Mike Pelfrey made his second start of the spring and continued his hot start. Pelfrey went 3 innings of scoreless baseball, giving up 2 hits and one was a infield single. Pelfrey has yet to give up any runs this spring and is starting strong like last spring.
• Angel Pagan is fighting hard this spring to win a job on the 25 man roster. Pagan added a single in the 2nd inning, giving him 8 hits already this spring..
• Billy Wagner relieved Pelfrey in the 4th inning giving up 1 run in an innings worth of work.
• In the 10th inning back up shortstop Ruben Tejada hit game winning double that drove in Michel Abreu who was filling in for Delgado who is still out with his sore right hip.

Alright so the Mets are on a minor roll here playing mostly with their bench players, which is a good sign. The health of the Mets are still a little of a concern with Beltran, Chavez, Easley, Castillo,Valentin and El Duque not seeing any action yet this spring. Not to mentioned the list of players who are facing injuries from playing this spring: Delgado, Church, Anderson, Schneider and Gotay who went down with an injured ankle on Sunday.

On the bright side though, I can't be any happier with the start of Mike Pelfrey. i know he started this way last spring and then got destroyed in his first few starts in the regular season but this is a great sign especially with El Duque struggling to get back on the mound.

Mets Sweep Dodgers Over the Weekend

The Mets finally get their first wins of spring training this weekend by defeating the Dodgers in a home an away series. Saturdays game was a pitchers dual, with both teams combing for just 1 run and 6 hits. The Mets won the game on a bases loaded HBP with one out in the 9th to score the victory.
Game 2 versus the Dodgers featured a lot of bench players for the Mets in Dodgertown. Oliver Perez started and went 2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, with some poor defense behind him. Aaron Heilman threw another scoreless inning of relief in the 3rd after coming in for Perez.
The Mets will head into next week with 4 games against NL East opponents and a game against the AL Central Champions from a year ago, Cleavland Indians. That game will be airing on ESPN on Friday and 1pm est.