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.