Category: Roster

Jose Reyes’ Thyroid Problem Over

Jose Reyes is returning to Port St. Lucie after two weeks at home recovering from a hyperthyroid condition.

Courtesy of Wikimedia

There’s some huge news today for us. Jose Reyes has been cleared to play again. The thyroid condition that kept him on the shelf for two weeks is sufficiently resolved for him to go back to Port St. Lucie and start working out and playing again.

I can’t think of anything that could be better news. I was dreading the thought of starting the season with Reyes and Carlos Beltran on the disabled list. It would seem like 2009 all over again.

Jerry Manuel told reporters that he thought Reyes would need 10 spring training games to get ready for the season. And Omar Minaya said that they would just see how things went and couldn’t commit to Reyes starting with the team on opening day. No matter how it shakes out, this is better than the possible eight weeks that Reyes could have been away from the team.

Here’s some video from ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

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Dear Minaya: Break Up The Mets Core

David Daniels writes that the Mets core is broken. Omar Minaya needs to make some creative moves to fix a team built around stars that aren’t performing.

Courtesy of killrbeez via Flickr

It seems that every year it’s the same old story. We can’t seem to get our All-Star center fielder and All-Star shortstop on the field together. Whether you want to call it back luck, bad management or you just chalk it up to the fact that these two are injury prone, we can’t afford to keep both players if they keep going down so much. What to do…?

If I were Omar Minaya, I would trade one of these injury prone superstars to get a top line starting pitcher. If I had to trade one, here’s who I’d trade:

Carlos Beltran? – At 32 years-old and with two years left on his contract, if he can get back by May, get some playing time under his belt and show off the five-tool, Gold Glove, All-Star center fielder that he is, a trade involving Beltran by the July trading deadline could bring back at least a #2 starter and some major help for the minors. Re-stocking the minor leagues for future trades should be a priority and a front line pitcher would certainly help us now. Of course we would need a strong defensive center fielder to replace him to cover such a large outfield at Citi Field. Is F-Mart that guy? I’m not sure but he certainly stacks up to Reyes when it comes to nagging injuries.

Continue reading “Dear Minaya: Break Up The Mets Core”

Mets’ Ike Davis is on the Rise

Ike Davis
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

Mets first base prospect Ike Davis is having a big spring. His slash line to date is .500/.560/.909 after having an excellent season in the minors last year. We listed him as one of the five Mets prospects that could have an impact on 2010. It’s a great situation for the Mets to have an heir apparent at first base.

The big question is what the Mets will do with Daniel Murphy when Davis supplants him at first base. That’s “when”, not “if” Davis supplants him. There’s no question in my mind that Davis will be ready to square off against major league pitchers at some point this season. That poses a big problem for Murphy.

Regular readers here know that I don’t think Murphy is a full-time solution at first base. After the 2009 disastrous experiment in left field, it doesn’t look like Murphy is going to crack the lineup anywhere else either. Murphy looks to me like he could make a decent career in the major leagues as a pinch hitter/role player. But I don’t think he can hit enough to play every day and he certainly doesn’t appear to be able to play the field other than the infield corners.

Continue reading “Mets’ Ike Davis is on the Rise”

Jenry Mejia Should Make Mets Team

Dwight Gooden at Candlestick Park in San Franc...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s a young man’s game now and Jenry Mejia is a young man with a good arm. Sure, he’s only pitched 7 innings so far this spring to a 1.23 ERA. But he’s looked good doing it. I’m not buying into the hype about Mejia. It’s a simple equation. The Mets are built to win now and Mejia can help them do that. It’s that simple.

You may think that the Mets would take Mejia north next month because Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya are trying to save their jobs. They’re not looking out for the kid. They don’t care about his future. There may be something to that, I don’t know. But if you read Ken Rosenthal’s column today on Fox Sports, it sure seems that way according to Rosenthal.

To get back to where I started this post, baseball isn’t a game for 35+ year-old players anymore. The worm turned with the MLB 2003 steroid report and testing for steroids and amphetamines. It’s back to being a young man’s game again and we have to face that fact and this new reality. Dwight Gooden made the team and won 17 games as a rookie when he was 19 years-old. Mejia is 20 years-old and he’s not Dwight Gooden, but if he wins a spot on the roster this spring we need to accept this new reality. The funny thing is that the new reality is the old reality.

Continue reading “Jenry Mejia Should Make Mets Team”

Jose Reyes Goes Down – Call FEMA!

NEW YORK - MAY 11: Jose Reyes #7 of the New Y...

But seriously, as much as I hate to lose Jose Reyes for any amount of time I don’t think losing Reyes is a game changer. As good as he is, I think the Mets will do fine with Alex Cora at the bottom of their lineup. Can you say Rafael Santana?

In ’84 Rafael Santana was the backup shortstop for the Mets. In ’85 he was promoted to starting shortstop, and then in ’86 the Mets won it all with a shortstop that batted .218, 1 HR, 28 RBI’s and led the team with 12 intentional walks. He was a solid defensive shortstop, not a Gold Glove by any means. Fundamentally sound.

Also remember Kevin Elster was the backup shortstop who batted .167, 0 hr’s, 0 RBI’s in ’86. He was a better defensive player than Santana and was such a smooth fielder. A pleasure to watch on the field but an automatic out at the plate.

Continue reading “Jose Reyes Goes Down – Call FEMA!”

Mets Links: Jose Reyes Thyroid Dominates News

Mets Spring Training - José Reyes

There are few stories coming from Port St. Lucie this week other than Jose Reyes and his thyroid condition. The fact that he’ll join Carlos Beltran on the disabled list come opening day has led to thoughts of another lost season and Mets’ minor leaguers getting a shot at the big leagues. Some of the biggest names in sports journalism have gotten into the act including William C. Rhoden and Joe Posnanski.

Here are the links:

  • NY Times – William C. Rhoden writes that Reyes’ thyroid problem should lead the Mets to look at rebuilding the team. “The Core” just isn’t getting it done.
  • Joe Posnanski – Joe writes that Reyes is one of the most exciting players in baseball and the Mets are due for something good to happen.
  • Daily News – John Harper writes that the conflicting messages about Reyes’ thyroid condition have to do with the players not trusting management on injury issues anymore
  • NY Post – Mike Puma writes that Reyes was blindsided by the Mets statement about his thyroid condition that made it sound worse than it is.
  • Daily News – Adam Rubin reprints a good piece about Ruben Tejada, who may get the opening day start at shortstop
  • Baseball Nerd – Keith Olbermann writes about the ridiculous story that Reyes’ thyroid problem was caused by eating too much shellfish
  • Fangraphs – R.J. Anderson writes that the Mets’ decision to work Jenry Mejia out of the bullpen is a short-term fix designed to save Omar Minaya’s and Jerry Manuel’s jobs more than for the good of Mejia and the franchise
  • Fanhouse – Josh Alper writes that the Mets signed Jason Bay instead of John Lackey because they were more concerned about Lackey’s ability to stay healthy
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Video: Mets 2010 Pitching Preview

This is the fifth installment of season preview videos that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. You can see the other videos on offseason grades, catchers/Daniel Murphy/Luis Castillo, Jose Reyes and David Wright, and the outfield.

In this video we talk about the starters, Francisco Rodriguez, and the set up situation.

http://blip.tv/play/guougcyrJAI%2Em4v