Here’s some video from SNY showing the Mets excellent tribute to Gary Carter on opening day 2012. The team did a great job bringing in Carter’s widow and kids for the tribute. They have a “Kid 8” patch on their sleeves this year and an image of the patch on the outfield wall.
Carter’s family all threw out the first pitch of the game as well. The Mets did a great job with the tribute to Carter. Check out the video below.
Mets GM Sandy Alderson spent some time with Joe and Evan from WFAN before the game yesterday. They really hit Sandy with all of the relevant topics that we’ve been talking about as Mets fans. They talked about the realistic expectations for the season, signing David Wright to an extension, his thoughts on the Joey Votto contract and more. It’s definitely worth a listen.
Click here to listen to the full interview.
The Mets had a great opening day with Johan Santana looking good for five innings of shutout ball. The pre-game ceremony celebrating the life of Hall of Famer Gary Carter was bittersweet, bringing back some great memories of the 80’s teams. But things went awry in the seventh inning when Andres Torres left the game with a calf strain and immediately went on the disabled list.
The problem is that center field is a position that the Mets are extremely thin at. The most likely scenario is that Kirk Nieuwenhuis joins the big league team. He missed a lot of time at Buffalo last year with a shoulder injury. And he’s been working out at Port St. Lucie instead of going to Buffalo with the rest of the team. If healthy, he’s the best option to play center field for a couple of weeks until Torres gets back. Maybe he’ll shine and take over the job and not give it back to Torres.
Scott Hairston is the backup center fielder. But he’s definitely not an everyday center fielder. He could fill in for a game or two here or there but he’s shaky in the outfield. You don’t want him out there everyday for two weeks.
Seatcrew.com is sponsoring a contest for optimistic Mets fans! It’s the beginning of the season so there’s reason for everyone to be optimistic about their team’s chances this season, even Mets fans despite the doom and gloom predicted by most experts. I want to know why you’re optimistic about the Mets this season. Explain in the form below why you’re optimistic and excited about the Mets in 2012. The best entry, judged by me, will win the tickets courtesy of SeatCrew.com. Continue reading “Contest: Free Tickets for Mets – Giants April 23, 2012”
Here’s a great app review of the MLB AtBat 2012 app for the iPhone from my two friends Kerel Cooper of OnTheBlack.com and David Daniels of Mets Report fame and his own site DavidDaniels.com. Check out the review for the features in the AtBat app for this season.
I bought the 2011 AtBat app for Android last year and loved it. MLB Advanced Media did a great job with it and I really liked being able to listen to the radio feeds for the home or away team for every game.
The Mets finally locked in Jon Niese to a contract extension after days of speculation that this was coming. The contract is similarly structured to the deal that Derek Holland recently signed with the Rangers. The deal is 5-years/$25 million plus two option years that could max out the contract at $52 million.
It’s a good deal for Niese. He lost four arbitration years and gave up only one free agent year if the options aren’t exercised. Niese in 22-23 with a 4.39 ERA for his career but he is left handed. I’ve always like Niese but never thought he was worthy of a significant contract extension.
Sadly, this is the biggest contract Sandy Alderson has signed since becoming GM of the Mets more than two seasons ago. That goes to show you the sad state of financial affairs of the Mets.
Mets manager Terry Collins announced the 2012 rotation this morning. I have to say that I’m happily surprised that Johan Santana will start opening day on Thursday at Citi Field. I know there are no expectations for this team. But having Santana out there on opening day is huge.
Santana will be followed in the rotation by R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Dillon Gee.
I’m still not expecting much this season but Santana pitching every five days makes this team much more interesting to me. Does this news give you any hope for the 2012 season?
The Mets Report 