Category: Roster

Video: Mets Johan Santana on Fifth 2012 Spring Start

Johan Santana
Johan Santana (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Johan Santana didn’t start well for the Mets yesterday but his line didn’t end up looking too bad. He started the game by walking three of the first four batters he faced and giving up a hit. But he regained control and ended up pitching 5 complete innings and giving up 2 runs. More importantly, he threw 88 pitches.

Yesterday was Santana’s fifth start of the spring and he’s been throwing regular bullpen sessions in between. And there haven’t been any reports of pain or stiffness in his surgically repaired left shoulder.

Barring a setback, I would think that Santana will on the Mets opening day roster next week. He certainly appears ready for game action if he’s been stretched out to 88 pitches. Maybe the Mets will want to be extra careful and have him make a start or two at Buffalo. But the cold weather in April in Buffalo might not be the best place for him to be.

Mets Should Extend David Wright’s Contract

David Wright
David Wright (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now that the Madoff lawsuit is behind the Mets and their secret loan to MLB is paid off, it’s time to extend David Wright’s contract and make sure that he’s a Met for his entire career. The Mets paid off their bridge loan last week after the Madoff lawsuit settlement and closed on the sale of 12 shares of the team. So the financial “uncertainty”, as we’ve heard it referred to by the Mets, has been removed. They’ve started to settle their debts but they haven’t paid us back yet. The fans. They owe it to us to keep Wright with the Mets for a long, long time.

The Mets let Jose Reyes walk away for nothing because of that financial “uncertainty”. And they can’t let that happen again to Wright.

Wright deserves a similar extension to the one that Ryan Zimmerman signed with the Nationals last month. The former youth teammates should play with their respective teams for years to come. Zimmerman’s extension added 6 years/$100 million to the two years he already had left on his contract. The Nationals did the right thing with Zimmerman. Coincidentally, Wright has one year and a team option left now. Continue reading “Mets Should Extend David Wright’s Contract”

Mets Ike Davis and Valley Fever

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Ike Davis #...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

There have been a lot of reports from Port St. Lucie since yesterday about Ike Davis having Valley Fever. It’s the same condition that held Conor Jackson to playing in only 30 games with the D-Backs in 2009. Although it’s not known if Davis definitely has Valley Fever, he has some of the symptoms and had an abnormal lung x-ray about 10 days ago that led the Mets to send Davis to see a specialist.

The Mets seem to be backtracking on their previous announcement that Davis was ready for spring training without restrictions. They issued another statement yesterday to the media:

Ike Davis underwent a routine physical exam after his arrival in PSL. The exam included an abnormal chest X-ray. Following additional tests here and in NYC, pulmonary and infectious disease specialists have concluded that Ike likely has Valley Fever, which is expected to resolve itself over time. Ike is not contagious, is not taking any medication for his condition and does not currently exhibit any of the outward symptoms associated with Valley Fever. However, Ike has been instructed to avoid extreme fatigue. No additional tests or examinations are pending, but Ike will have a follow up exam when the team returns to NYC in early April. Continue reading “Mets Ike Davis and Valley Fever”

Video: Johan Santana On Facing Live Hitters

Johan Santana
Johan Santana (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Yesterday Mets ace Johan Santana faced live hitters in batting practice for the first time this spring. He pitched two simulated innings and looked pretty good. Several of the hitters remarked that his stuff looked excellent. The plan from here is for Santana to start on Tuesday against Carlos Beltran’s Cardinals and continue to monitor how he’s doing to see how he feels.

If he continues to progress and feel good on the day after he pitches, it would be great to see him start building strength and stamina in his arm with an eye towards pitching early in the regular season.

I continue to believe that the Mets season is highly dependent on how quickly Santana can return from shoulder surgery. I don’t think they’re a playoff team even with Santana. But the season could become a complete disaster without him including the possibility of 100 losses which we haven’t seen here since ’93.

2012 Mets Pitchers and Catchers Reporting Date

Johan Santana
Johan Santana (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

The Mets pitchers and catchers have to report to Port St. Lucie by tomorrow and have their physicals on Tuesday. There isn’t a lot of intrigue this year given the team’s dire financial situation. But the one pitcher that everyone will be keeping an eye on is Johan Santana. He missed all of last season recovering from surgery on his left shoulder and there are still major questions about when he can come back. And there are even bigger questions about how effective he’ll be when he does come back. The good news is that Santana only has two years left on his deal with the Mets plus a team option for 2014. I never thought that I’d be counting down the days until Santana’s contract ended.

There are some new faces in the bullpen this year. Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez, and Frank Francisco will be the newly acquired back of the bullpen. Tim Byrdak will be back as the lefty specialist. D.J. Carrasco might find himself back in the minors again if he can’t keep it together.  Carrasco might be pitching along side Pedro Beato at Buffalo this season. Beato started hot last season but ended dreadfully. He’s available to send back to the minors now that the Mets got past his Rule 5 season. Continue reading “2012 Mets Pitchers and Catchers Reporting Date”

Mets Johan Santana’s Shoulder Recovering in PSL

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Johan Santa...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

There have been quite a few reports about Johan Santana recovering in Port St. Lucie this month. The Mets are hoping to get 25 starts out of him this season while he’s recovering from surgery on his left shoulder capsule. It’s the same surgery that Mark Prior and Chien-Ming Wang had that kept them out for years and were never the same when they came back.

Dan Warthen has been in PSL and talked to Dan Martin of the Post about it:

I’ve been looking at video from when he’s been down here recently and comparing it to video from 2008, before he got hurt. It’s no different. Not even one percent. That’s extremely important.

Personally, I don’t think Santana is going to be able to make a significant impact on the 2012 Mets. He may be able to come back in June and work toward pitching every five days. But I’m concerned that he’ll never be the pitcher that the Mets expected to live up to his $25 million salary this season.

The rest of the team isn’t even close to strong enough to support the team without Santana running at full strength.

Mets Hall of Fame To Add John Franco

English: John Franco
Image via Wikipedia

I know this post is a little late since the Mets announced that they’ll add John Franco to the Hall of Fame three days ago. But I wanted to make sure that I noted this event because Franco joined the Mets in 1990 so, presumably, there won’t be any more Mets from the ’86 team joining the Hall of Fame. But the importance is that Franco played 14 years with the team and closed for most of them. He could be shaky as a closer but he usually got the job done until he moved to set up relief in 2000.

Here’s the press release from the team:

January 26, 2012 – The New York Mets today announced that John Franco, the club’s all-time leader in saves and games pitched, will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame during the Mets Hall of Fame Induction ceremony presented by Citi Sunday, June 3 prior to the 1:10 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Franco saved 276 games for the Mets over his 14-year career (1990-2004) with the team, the second-longest in franchise history behind Ed Kranepool’s 18 years of service. The four-time All-Star compiled 424 saves during his career, the fourth-most in major league history and the most by any lefthanded reliever.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be elected to the Mets Hall of Fame,” said Franco, who is currently in his fourth year as a Club Ambassador with the Mets. “I would like to thank Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz, Jeff Wilpon, the Hall of Fame Committee, all of my managers and coaches and of course my teammates. My entire family is looking forward to June 3.” Continue reading “Mets Hall of Fame To Add John Franco”