Category: Spring Training

Mets 2010 Mini-Camp Starts

Florida - Port St. Lucie - Tradition Field
Image by wallyg via Flickr

A few of the Mets are in Port St. Lucie for a few days before pitchers and catchers have to report. By far, the best coverage that I’ve seen is from Adam Rubin at the Daily News. He’s got this thing covered like a blanket.

It’s good to see that Johan Santana and Oliver Perez are there. The word is that Perez has been working out in Arizona and his knee is in good shape.

You really don’t know what you have at this point but it’s good to see some of the guys there making an effort. And if you read Jerry Manuel’s comments, it’s all about making a fast start to the season. I’m not sure if that’s more about having a good season or saving his job. Either way, I’ll take it.

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Mets 2010 Spring Training Reporting Dates

Tradition Field - Spring Training Home of the ...

Image via Wikipedia

Pitchers and catchers have to be at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, FL on February 18. The rest of the position players are required to be there by February 23. And the first workouts are scheduled for February 25.

If you’re planning a trip to Port St. Lucie, the spring training schedule of games begins on Tuesday March 2 against Atlanta.

In my mind, the biggest question mark coming into spring training is “What kind of shape will Oliver Perez be in when he arrives?”. I’m sure there will be some new faces that haven’t signed with the Mets yet too, like Bengie Molina and possible another first baseman, maybe even Mike Lowell.

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Mets Spring Suffers Huge Loss

tradition-fieldIn the middle of the worst U.S. economy since the Great Depression, the Mets felt the effects more than any other team in the Florida Grapefruit League this spring according to a report in the NY Post. Tradition Field suffered a year over year loss of 16.3% in ticket sales this year. That’s an average of almost 1,000 fewer fans per game over their 16 game home schedule. Compare that to the Yankees loss of just 1.6% over last year’s spring ticket sales.

The Arizona Catcus League losses were even worse. From the NY Post:

Teams in the Cactus League in Arizona suffered far worse drops, however. The Padres’ attendance fell a whopping 30.8 percent, while Texas dropped 26.2 percent and the Angels 25.1 percent.

In my mind, this goes to show that the Mets organization severely underestimated the effect that the current economy would have on spring attendance. They should have adjusted ticket prices and promotions to compensate for the environmental factors that they were up against.

The Mets didn’t bring in any “big splash” free agents that would draw fans to Tradition Field. Francisco Rodriuguez doesn’t really qualify in the same way that CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira did for the Yankees. Hopefully, the Mets learned a lesson the hard way and will apply what they learned to the high-end ticket prices this season at Citi Field.

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Mets Over Orioles 9-8 To Complete Spring Training

mike-pelfreyThe Mets are finally headed back to New York after what feels like the longest spring training in history. The WBC lengthened spring training, seven weeks long, was arduous at best.

Mike Pelfrey wasn’t very good today, only pitching four innings and giving up eight runs on ten hits. Pelfrey only got 13 pitches in his previous start because of a rain delay, so he may have had a little rust at this early point in the season. I’m not concerned about Pelfrey at all. I like the progress that he’s made over the last year.

The Mets are flying back to New York tonight for a few days before the season starts on Monday against the Cincinnati Reds. The exhibition games gets started at Citi Field on Friday night against the Boston Red Sox at 6:10pm and again on Saturday afternoon at 1:10pm. Both games will be televised, Friday on SNY and Saturday on WPIX.

Its exciting to see the Mets play at Citi Field but I don’t get too fired up about exhibition games. I’m not going to Citi Field until the games count. At the prices the Mets are charging, and considering the economy, I want to get the most for my entertainment dollars. For those of you that are going to the Red Sox games, I’m not saying that its a bad idea. I’m just saying that I prefer to see the Mets starters putting in a full game and playing to win.

I’m ready for the season to start!

Mets 2009 Roster Set

Johan SantanaThe Mets made their final cuts today. Bobby Kielty and Elmer Dessens were assigned to Triple-A Buffalo and Fernando Nieve was released. Kielty had a great spring getting 54 at-bats and hitting .296/ .365/ .407. We’ll be seeing him with the big league club at some point this season. Dessens only pitched 3 innings this spring so we don’t really know how much he has left. We’ll find out as he spends time at Buffalo. Nieve was picked up after being cut by pitching-poor Houston a few weeks ago. He pitched 10.2 innings to a 6.75 ERA… that’s not going to get it done in a tryout situation.

Here’s the roster to start the season:

Catchers
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro

Infielders
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
Jose Reyes
David Wright
Marlon Anderson
Alex Cora
Nick Evans

Outfielders
Daniel Murphy
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Jeremy Reed
Fernando Tatis

Starting Pitchers
Johan Santana
Mike Pelfrey
Oliver Perez
John Maine
Livan Hernandez

Relief Pitchers
Francisco Rodriguez
JJ Putz
Bobby Parnell
Brian Stokes
Pedro Feliciano
Sean Green
Darren O’Day

Livan Hernandez isn’t officially on the roster until he’s needed in the fifth game. Actually, the Mets could go for a couple of weeks without him but Jerry Manuel is choosing to go with a straight five man rotation to start the season. Expect Nick Evans to head to Buffalo when Hernandez’ spot in the rotation comes up.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Mets Release Valentin, Spivey, And Armas

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=799568&PublisherId=1326MLB: MAR 17 Spring Training - Mets at Braves

Sadly, the Mets have released Jose Valentin as well as Tony Armas, Jr. and Junior Spivey. At 39, Valentin doesn’t have too many options available to him to continue his MLB playing career. He may be able to catch on with a lower-level team looking for a utility man/veteran leader type of player.

I’m sure that Valentin asked to be released so he could look for a big league job elsewhere. He had a great season in 2006 for the Mets but has been slowed by neck problems over the past two seasons.

Tony Armas, Jr. and Junior Spivey have also been released. I don’t think that either player would have been a factor for the big-league club. But both of them could have filled out the roster at Triple-A Buffalo if they were needed.

Armas did get into three games with the Mets last season but certainly isn’t a critical loss at the big league level. Spivey hasn’t played in the majors since 2005 and was brought in just a few weeks ago on a minor-league contract.

Mets Sign P Ken Takahashi

Ken Takahashi signed a minor league deal with the Mets only days after the lefty was released by the Toronto Blue Jays. Takahashi is 39 years old and only pitched in one exhibition game for the Blue Jays. He’ll be an insurance policy at Triple-A Buffalo in case the Mets find as they get into the season that they really need a lefty in the bullpen. Currently, Pedro Feliciano is the only lefty reliever on the team.