Tag: Jerry Manuel

Mets’ Maine May Lose Rotation Spot

NEW YORK - JULY 10: Manager Jerry Manual #53 ...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Mets have to think long and hard about pulling John Maine from the rotation. But he’s had two awful starts to begin the 2010 season. And what has he done recently that he deserves any more of a chance than that? The Mets can’t allow him to put up stinker after stinker. Where’s the fast start that Jerry Manuel’s been telling us about? Maine is killing that fast start.

You may recall that I recommended that the Mets non-tender Maine last October. Clearly, that’s looking like the right move in hindsight. But that’s neither here nor there at this point.

Despite getting bombed for 3 runs in 0.1 IP last night, Fernando Nieve should take over the spot. He can lengthen out after working out of the bullpen. He was fighting Jon Niese for the last spot in the rotation three weeks ago. So it won’t take him long to be ready. It’s a no-brainer to me. Continue reading “Mets’ Maine May Lose Rotation Spot”

Marlins 3 – Mets 1 April 8, 2010

New York Mets Angel Pagan reaches first base in the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsAll spring long Jerry Manuel talked about the need to get out to a good start this season. This wasn’t the way to do it, losing a series at home to the Marlins. It’s really disappointing to see. The keys to the game were:

  • No offense- The Mets only had 7 hits and Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur combined for 4 of them
  • Jon Niese- He pitched pretty well going 6 IP giving up 3 ER, but not good enough to get a win

The Nationals come to town tomorrow for a three game series which is critical that the Mets take, if it can be critical in April. What a bad way for the Mets to start the season…

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Jose Reyes’ Thyroid Problem Over

Jose Reyes is returning to Port St. Lucie after two weeks at home recovering from a hyperthyroid condition.

Courtesy of Wikimedia

There’s some huge news today for us. Jose Reyes has been cleared to play again. The thyroid condition that kept him on the shelf for two weeks is sufficiently resolved for him to go back to Port St. Lucie and start working out and playing again.

I can’t think of anything that could be better news. I was dreading the thought of starting the season with Reyes and Carlos Beltran on the disabled list. It would seem like 2009 all over again.

Jerry Manuel told reporters that he thought Reyes would need 10 spring training games to get ready for the season. And Omar Minaya said that they would just see how things went and couldn’t commit to Reyes starting with the team on opening day. No matter how it shakes out, this is better than the possible eight weeks that Reyes could have been away from the team.

Here’s some video from ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

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Mets Links: Spring Training, David Wright, Mike Jacobs

I haven’t done a “Mets Links” post in a while so I decided to bring that back this weekend. There’s plenty going on in Port St. Lucie this week with only two weeks left before the regular season starts. I’ve got some good links for you so read up below.

  • Remembering Shea – Live posts from PSL including images on #1 celebrity Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld
  • Daily News – Somehow Mike Lupica got on a kick of writing about the Mets this week. His first column is about how the Mets should stick with Jerry Manuel for the long haul. I have no idea where he came up with this one.
  • Mets Today – Mike Jacobs is starting to work out at catcher again. It’s a great move for him to try to stick as the 25th man on the roster as the emergency catcher.
  • Daily News – Lupica’s second Mets column of the week is a fluff piece on David Wright. Just what we needed. Another column about how Wright is the face of the franchise.
  • Crave – A Japanese university created a batting tee that rests the ball on bed of air instead of the tee. Check out the picture, it looks pretty good.
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Jenry Mejia Should Make Mets Team

Dwight Gooden at Candlestick Park in San Franc...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s a young man’s game now and Jenry Mejia is a young man with a good arm. Sure, he’s only pitched 7 innings so far this spring to a 1.23 ERA. But he’s looked good doing it. I’m not buying into the hype about Mejia. It’s a simple equation. The Mets are built to win now and Mejia can help them do that. It’s that simple.

You may think that the Mets would take Mejia north next month because Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya are trying to save their jobs. They’re not looking out for the kid. They don’t care about his future. There may be something to that, I don’t know. But if you read Ken Rosenthal’s column today on Fox Sports, it sure seems that way according to Rosenthal.

To get back to where I started this post, baseball isn’t a game for 35+ year-old players anymore. The worm turned with the MLB 2003 steroid report and testing for steroids and amphetamines. It’s back to being a young man’s game again and we have to face that fact and this new reality. Dwight Gooden made the team and won 17 games as a rookie when he was 19 years-old. Mejia is 20 years-old and he’s not Dwight Gooden, but if he wins a spot on the roster this spring we need to accept this new reality. The funny thing is that the new reality is the old reality.

Continue reading “Jenry Mejia Should Make Mets Team”

Mets Links: Jose Reyes Thyroid Dominates News

Mets Spring Training - José Reyes

There are few stories coming from Port St. Lucie this week other than Jose Reyes and his thyroid condition. The fact that he’ll join Carlos Beltran on the disabled list come opening day has led to thoughts of another lost season and Mets’ minor leaguers getting a shot at the big leagues. Some of the biggest names in sports journalism have gotten into the act including William C. Rhoden and Joe Posnanski.

Here are the links:

  • NY Times – William C. Rhoden writes that Reyes’ thyroid problem should lead the Mets to look at rebuilding the team. “The Core” just isn’t getting it done.
  • Joe Posnanski – Joe writes that Reyes is one of the most exciting players in baseball and the Mets are due for something good to happen.
  • Daily News – John Harper writes that the conflicting messages about Reyes’ thyroid condition have to do with the players not trusting management on injury issues anymore
  • NY Post – Mike Puma writes that Reyes was blindsided by the Mets statement about his thyroid condition that made it sound worse than it is.
  • Daily News – Adam Rubin reprints a good piece about Ruben Tejada, who may get the opening day start at shortstop
  • Baseball Nerd – Keith Olbermann writes about the ridiculous story that Reyes’ thyroid problem was caused by eating too much shellfish
  • Fangraphs – R.J. Anderson writes that the Mets’ decision to work Jenry Mejia out of the bullpen is a short-term fix designed to save Omar Minaya’s and Jerry Manuel’s jobs more than for the good of Mejia and the franchise
  • Fanhouse – Josh Alper writes that the Mets signed Jason Bay instead of John Lackey because they were more concerned about Lackey’s ability to stay healthy
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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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