Tag: Alex Cora

Mets’ Jose Reyes To Return Saturday

Jose Reyes will come back to New York and return to the lineup against the Nationals after playing in rehab games in Florida.

Courtesy of Wikimedia

Jose Reyes has been rehabbing in Florida and getting in shape after his bout with a thyroid problem. He’s playing in one more game today and then coming back to New York tomorrow.

The Mets plan to have Reyes in the lineup on Saturday against the Nationals. That’s the first day he’s eligible to come off the disabled list after being added retroactively to March 26.

From NY Times:

“Barring any setbacks, we anticipate that, the physical conditioning part of it is going extremely well,” Manager Jerry Manuel said. “He’s getting enough at-bats, so we will do another evaluation on Thursday after he plays in St. Lucie.”

I think that we all like Alex Cora, but hate seeing him on the field everyday. Reyes’ return is going to be huge boost to this team in the field and the clubhouse. I can’t wait to see him back out there on Saturday.

Mets Spring Training- Oliver Perez Fails Again

What a let down for my first day at Mets spring training this year. Oliver Perez gets rocked for 7 runs including giving up 3 home runs. Even Johan Santana had a rough day against the Triple-A Cardinals team. It was tough all the way around. Alex Cora got hit by a pitch in the hip and came out of the game too.

It’s really beyond anyone’s capability to comprehend what’s going on with Perez. There’s no consistency from game to game. And I’m a firm believer that there never will be. He may be able to put a few good starts together but not enough to warrant anyone’s expectations that he can do so with any regularity.

The only good news of the day was that Jose Reyes played in the minor league game and went 1 for 5. He didn’t go crazy on the bases, but did get out and do some running. It sounds like Reyes is still holding out hope to play on opening day. Even if he doesn’t make it into the lineup next week, he’s not far away from being ready to play.

Here are my photos from my first day here at Digital Domain Park:

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

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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’ Jose Reyes Out 2-8 Weeks

Jose Reyes

Image by penner42 via Flickr

It’s been a strange few days of Jose Reyes injury news. First, he went back to New York for tests but it was nothing serious. Then we find out today that it is serious enough to keep him out of the lineup and on the disabled list to start the season. You have to wonder how this story took such a dramatic turn for the worse for the Mets.

We’ll definitely be seeing too much of Alex Cora at shortstop… again. Don’t get me wrong. I like the guy and he must be tough as nails to play as long as he did with the thumb injuries that he had last year. I just don’t want to see him playing short every day. Ruben Tejada would be interesting to see, but at 20 years old he may not be up to the task.

Reyes is the most exciting player on the Mets team. The Mets are lucky that this injury announcement came after the big single game ticket sales date came and went. You have to wonder if there’s a correlation between the timing of those two events. It’ll be very interesting to see how many empty seats there are at Citi Field without Carlos Beltran and Reyes in the lineup every day for the first month or two.

This could have a big impact on the futures of Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya. The two seems to be clinging to their careers with the Mets by a thread as it is. It’s been pretty clear from their public statement that the Mets need a fast start for them to survive into the second half of the season. A fast start will be a lot more difficult now when they’re leaving spring training without their fastest player.

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Voice of the Fan: Mets 2009 Offseason Inactivity

Epitome of a Met Fan

Image by Michael Mase via Flickr

I haven’t been worried about the Mets lack of making a splashy free agent signing or trade until now. But if they can’t get something done within the next week or so, we do need to be concerned. I’ve talked to a lot of Mets fans that are starting to freak out that John Lackey is off the board and the Mets seem to be bargain hunting for free agent pitching and outfielders, not to mention the lack of depth in the organization.

In this continuation of my voice of the fan series you can read what frequent commenter Mark Jones, aka MetStatHead, has to say about the Mets offseason so far. If you’re interested in having your voice heard here at The Mets Report get in touch with me on my Contact page. Read on for Mark’s thoughts.

Continue reading “Voice of the Fan: Mets 2009 Offseason Inactivity”

More Mets Injuries: Johan Santana, Jeff Francoeur

NEW YORK - APRIL 29: Johan Santana #57 of the...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

If you weren’t at work today and were watching the game, you noticed that Jeff Francoeur wasn’t in the lineup or the dugout. He was at the doctor getting his thumb examined after making a diving catch yesterday. The result is that he has a torn ligament in his thumb, the same injury that plagued Alex Cora for much of the season. Francoeur is day-to-day right now.

On a more serious note, Johan Santana will be the next victim patient of the Mets medical team for some pain in his left elbow. Apparently, he’s been feeling some pain since after the All-Star break. He won’t be in Florida for his scheduled start tomorrow. Nelson Figueroa will replace him in the rotation.

I haven’t been a proponent of sitting anyone for the rest of the season if they’re healthy enough to play. I feel that the Mets owe the paying fans something. And that something is putting some decent players on the field. But I have to say that Santana is the one guy they shouldn’t mess around with. He needs to be healthy for next season. So if he needs to call it a season now, they should err on the side of caution with him.

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Mets Alex Cora To Have Season-Ending Surgery

NEW YORK - JUNE 23: Brendan Ryan #13 of the S...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

With the Mets completely out of the playoff picture, Alex Cora decided to go ahead and have surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb. He also has the same injury in his left thumb and will have surgery on that one in about five weeks. The Mets haven’t announced who will replace Cora on the roster yet.

There’s been a lot of speculation about whether Cora will be back with the Mets next season. He’s playing on a 1-year/$2 million contract this season. From all accounts, he’s brought some great leadership and professionalism to the team. The Mets players and front office really like him.

Although Cora really had to earn that $2 million because of all of the Mets injuries, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that he’ll be back. Every team in MLB falls in love with their first guy off the bench, until the next offseason rolls around and that player wants more money or the team finds someone else that they like.

I just hope that Omar Minaya doesn’t get silly about offering Cora a multi-year contract like he did for Marlon Anderson.  I’m all for Cora getting another one year deal but let’s not go crazy and expect him to produce, or even play that much, for more than one season at a time.

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