Category: General

Hot Stove Report

Omar Minaya Omar Minaya

I haven’t posted to the site in quite a while. I started a new job in July and didn’t really have a chance to regularly update the site. That’s changed now! It’s time to get back to Mets business.

The off-season leaves some holes open in the Mets roster. Primarily, second base and catcher. The possibility of Glavine not coming back leaves a spot in the starting rotation open as well.

Second base: News reports have it that the Mets have been wining and dining David Eckstein in Greenwich. He would move from short to second and most likely hit number two behind Reyes. Keep in mind that the Mets already signed Marlon Anderson and Damien Easley, both of whom shouldn’t play every day but would be fine for short periods of time. I’ve never been a fan of David Eckstein, and the talk is that he wants a four year contract. That’s too much in my opinion. I’d rather see the Mets look at Mark Loretta for a one or two year contract. He could hit behind Reyes and with a little more power than Eckstein. I saw enough of Luis Castillo last season to know that he isn’t close to the player he was with the Marlins. The Mets shouldn’t even consider signing him again.

Catcher: Ramon Castro signed for two years. I love that signing. He’s a fantastic bench player! Yorvit Torrealba seems to be the Mets top choice to handle the majority of catching. There really aren’t any great free agent catchers out there this off-season. I don’t want LoDuca back, and I don’t think the Mets do either. LoDuca talks too much and produces too little. He’s also in his mid-thirties, the typical decline years for catchers. Jason Kendall, Michael Barret, and Jason LaRue are the other free agent possibilities. The Mets could probably get Ramon Hernandez in a trade from the Orioles if they wanted to go that direction. It would depend on how much the Orioles want for him.

Starting Pitcher: I have a feeling that the Mets might be thinking about trading for a SP. The free agent list isn’t great. Assuming that Glavine doesn’t come back, and I really hope he doesn’t, the logical possibilities would include: Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Livan Hernandez, Kyle Lohse, and Jon Leiber. There are some stretches that we could look at too. We know how Rick Peterson likes to work with “project” pitchers. The fee agents that come to mind are: Tony Armas, Matt Clement, and Wade Miller.

The bottom line is that last season is finished, forgotten, and the historic season ending collapse is over. It’s time to think about who will be reporting to camp in February.

It’s been a long time…

I haven’t written anything in quite a while. It’s time to get back to business on this site. It’s hard to criticize this team. The Mets have the best record in the NL and are 2.5 games ahead of the Braves. What more can you ask for? I’ll tell you…

Aaron Heilman (5-2 3.43 ERA) isn’t the best option anymore for the eighth inning. Joe Smith (1-0 1.31 ERA) is. Willie always sticks with veterans for much longer than he should. Smith isn’t just a side-arming situational righty. He can get anyone out.

Speaking of veterans: Julio Franco is done, caput, finished. He’s taking up a valuable roster spot. If he had any pride he would retire today instead of taking the money that the Mets owe him for the rest of the year. Maybe he could make the Long Island Ducks roster, maybe.

Shawn Green has a small crack in his foot after he fouled the ball off it last night. He’s having a nice season so far (.314 5 HR 22 RBI). But he isn’t worth nearly the $9M that they’re paying him this year. I know he’s got 12 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 SB’s but he’s really lost a lot of the pop in his bat. Carlos Gomez, Lastings Milledge, or Fernando Martinez will make a bigger impact on the team next year.

I’m not too worried about losing series after series to the Braves. As long as they stay in the rear view mirror I’m happy. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Wright’s Hit Streak Ends, Who Cares?

David Wright’s streak of hits in 26 consecutive games ended last night. Unless a player is closing in on Pete Rose’s NL record 44 games, or Joe DiMaggio’s major league record 56 games it really doesn’t matter. Who cares?

The Mets dropped one to the Braves last night 7-3, moving to 2nd place behind those same Braves. I know that Tim Hudson was the story, pitching an excellent game, but what about the Mets questionable pitching? Pelfrey was bad, so was Feliciano and Burgos showed us why the lowly Royals couldn’t wait to get rid of him. The Mets pitching is really suffering without Pedro Martinez and Duaner Sanchez.  They’ll outhit the bad teams with their excellent lineup, but they’ll struggle against teams that can pitch.

Commish allows #42 to be worn on April 15th

Jackie Robinson

Cincinnatti’s Ken Griffey, Jr. called Bud Selig asking to wear Jackie Robinson’s #42 on April 15th. That’s the 60th anniversary of Jackie breaking baseball’s infamous color barrier. Selig embraced the idea, and allowed all 30 teams to participate for one day only. So far Torii Hunter, Barry Bonds, and Willie Randolph have publicly acknowledged partcipating. Former Met Mike Cameron will honor Jackie by wearing his number. All 25 Dodger players will also be wearing No.42.

Kudos to Griffey for the great idea. Currently, only Mariano Rivera wears Jackie’s number since it was universally retired 10 years ago. Rivera was grandfathered, having worn the number prior to it’s retirement.

Let’s Get It On!

If you’re like me and have had enough of reading the meaningless columns filled with predictions for this coming season, it’s finally time to get it on. I’m ready and I hope this version of the Mets are too.

Sunday April 1st 8:05pm ESPN- Glavine vs. Carpenter

This looks to be a great start to the season. National TV, rematch of last year’s NL championship series. Don’t remind me.

Tuesday April 3rd 8:10pm SNY- El Duque vs. Kip Wells

I’m a little worried about Duque this year, and don’t understand the two year contract he signed. Did we need to sign him for more than one year?

Wednesday April 4th 8:10pm ESPN2- Maine vs. Looper

Looper had a good spring, but I still think he’ll flounder as a starter. He’ll be no better than he was as a closer, and we know all too well about that!

Enjoy the series…