Category: Spring Training

Mets Spring Attendance Down

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To nobody’s surprise, attendance at the New York Mets spring training games is down 15% so far this year. The NY Post reports that the team cites the economy and the loss of so many players to the World Baseball Classic as the main factors.

It’s a bad situation for the Mets and the town of Port St. Lucie, FL. Although the overall economy is beyond anybody’s control, the World Baseball Classic is controllable. Losing 16 Mets to the WBC is too much. And not just for spring training game attendance figures.

The Mets, and every team, need some time to gel together in March. Losing so many players could have a detrimental effect on the team. That’s yet to be seen but my guess is that the Mets feel the impact in April when the regular season gets rolling.

I’ve written before that the WBC shouldn’t be played in March, it should be in November when the MLB post-season ends. And each team should be able to designate at least one player that’s too valuable to participate such as Johan Santana in the Mets case.

Mets Move Up Santana’s Rehab Schedule

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I hate to get caught up in this daily routine of updating Johan Santana’s progress recoving from some elbow pain. But it is encouraging that the Mets have moved up his rehab schedule.

Originally, Santana was going to pitch three bullpen sessions before throwing to hitters. He pitched one bullpen session on Thursday and felt well enough to pitch batting practice today before the game against the Washington Nationals.

Maybe Santana will be able to go on opening day in Cincinnati on April 6. From the comments that I’ve read from Santana, it seems like its very important to him to make that start. I have to say that Santana really shows a lot of pride in his game for a guy that’s guaranteed to make $137.5 million whether he’s on the field or not. The Mets made a great decision picking him as the guy to give a monster contract to. I remember hearing that an NFL scout said that the hardest part about selecting the first pick in the draft isn’t about talent. A lot of college football players have talent. The problem is choosing the guys that will still have a desire to win when their bank account gets into eight digits. Santana is demonstrating to us that he’s that type of guy.

Tatis Leaving Mets For World Baseball Classic

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Fernando Tatis will be leaving the Mets to replace Alex Rodriguez on the World Baseball Classic team from the Domincan Republic. I’m sure that you’re all well aware by now that A-Rod is having a cyst removed from his hip surgically and won’t be available to play for about 10 weeks.

Tatis was approached by Domincan team GM Stan Javier and Assitant GM/player Moises Alou about representing DR in the WBC.

The Mets approved Tatis’ play in the WBC despite a minor hand injury that’s hampered his playing time early this spring.

Mets Botch Santana Elbow Injury

Johan SantanaJohan Santana is still intent on pitching opening day in Cincinnati on April 6. Jerry Manuel wants Santana ready for opening day. Omar Minaya says that Santana’s elbow is fine. But pitching coach Dan Warthen says that Santana won’t be ready for opening day. Which way is up here?

I’ve written about this before so I won’t belabor the point, its beyond me how the Mets can let Santana continue to pitch without having some medical testing done on his elbow. There are MRI machines in Florida. So this story about sending him to New York for an examination is ridiculous.

I conducted a reader poll this week and 67% of respondants say they feel the Mets haven’t handled this situation properly. It’s time for the Mets to get it together when it comes to player health.

Johan Santana is a warrior and wants to pitch. I realize that after watching him pitch in 2008. So relying on his self-diagnosis to determine a course of action for his elbow stiffness isn’t realistic.

We don’t really know what the story is now. We’ve heard contradictory reports from the coaching staff, player, and organization. Be cautious and don’t take a chance on Santana being off the field for an extended period of time. That’s all we ask as fans.

Verducci: 2009 Mets Have Several Key Questions

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SI’s Tom Verducci addressed the Mets in his “Spring Training Post Cards” series today. I really like Verducci and he nailed the Mets first couple of weeks of spring training perfectly. Here’s a quick summary of the issues he addressed:

  1. Jerry Manuel has brought a looser feel to the team this season than Willie Randolph had in the past.
  2. Jose Reyes batting third is an interesting experiment and meant to push Luis Castillo, not Reyes. He suggests that Castillo may be best served batting ninth in the order.
  3. The Mets outfielders don’t have a lot of high-ceiling guys. And they don’t know what to expect out of Ryan Church after he couldn’t get it together after his second concussion.
  4. Livan Hernandez could really help the Mets if he can get about 15 starts in this season.
  5. The daily roller coaster of Johan Santana’s health is hanging over the team like a cloud right now.

I’m surprised that he didn’t mention Carlos Beltran in his discussion of the Mets outfielders. Beltran gives the Mets a lot of flexibility to play guys that don’t have outfield experience. He covers a ton of ground in the outfield and leads the other players positioning.

I’m also surprised that he didn’t mention what a bust that Freddy Garcia is turning out to be. Livan Hernandez is fine, but the Mets need to find someone that solidify the number five spot in the rotation.

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Mets To Open Season Without Johan Santana

Johan SantanaSeveral media reports state that the Mets announed that Johan Santana will not be their opening day starter in Cincinnati on April 6th. His first regular season game appearance will be on Saturday April 11th in Florida, if all goes well.

The tightness in his left elbow will preclude him in appearing in a spring training game until at least March 18th. Although the Mets appear to be doing the right thing here, I have to question why he hasn’t been examinied in Florida or had an MRI. Santana doesn’t need to fly back to New York for an MRI, as had been previously reported.

I like that the Mets are being cautious with Santana, I just question if they’re being cautious enough. He very well may be the best pitcher on the planet. And the Mets are locked into six more years with him. The Mets need to start looking at the big picture and six more years is the big picture. Santana’s left arm is the most important asset that the Mets have as an organization right now. They need to be very careful with that asset.

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Freddy Garcia Ripped Again In Second Mets Start

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I’ve been watching the Mets-Cardinals game on SNY today. Typically, I don’t spend much time watching spring training games unless I’m in Florida at the games. But Iwanted to see what Freddy Garcia looked like in his second start for the Mets.

Again, he was terrible. He gave up two home runs in two innings. One of the homers was an absolute bomb by Chris Duncan.

Garcia faced ten hitters in two innings and really looked like he was struggling. His fastball didn’t get above 90 mph and his breaking pitches didn’t look sharp.

At this point you’d have to wonder if Garcia will have a future with this team. It’s funny because I thought the fifth spot in the rotation would be Garcia’s to lose. With Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, and Jon Niese vying for the same spot on the roster Garcia’s chances are getting slimmer by the day of making the major league roster.

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