New York Mets 2010-11 Winter report

[sonny10305]

When I last spoke to Daniel Murphy he had not made up his mind about when he was going to go to spring training; he was leaning on going down yesterday and that is exactly what he ended up doing. Seven guys showed up at yesterday at the Digital Domain Park complex, including Murph and Nick Evans. I was proud and happy to hear that cause it proved a real sense of commitment to the 2011 season. Terry Collins was thrilled to see them show up early. These guys are not paid to be out here right now, it’s all about the game and getting a head start. Murphy, driving in from Jacksonville, was actually the first player to arrive which is nothing unusual for him, he likes to get down there and get settled in he says since there's nobody out there yet there are plenty of swings going around with plenty of groundballs to take. Yesterday afternoon he had three or four position players and almost five or six coaches out there which he likes cause it is a great time to get a lot of one-on-one work with people who are familiar with the position you are trying to master. Another plus for Murph was the with such a small group Collins was able to take a very hands-on approach, he pitched batting practice, tossed infield practice and even shagged some fly balls. Ya gotta love that.
Murph has been saying all winter that he was looking forward to a new camp with Collins, he likes the fact that Terry has been on the minor league side as well as big-league, so he kind of understands what it takes as far as communication throughout an organization to be on the same page. I wondered how the workout yesterday compared to the ones he had with Manual last year and Murph said it was similar, but Collins said he plans to make some changes come spring training.

Yup, Daniel is in heaven right now feelin great and thinking positive hearing him sound so upbeat and happy just made my night. Evans got in late and will start his workouts today and DWright is also expected today,
how bout that

Just a couple of hours after R.A. Dickey's two-year, $7.5 million contract was finalized the Mets cleared their slate of arbitration cases and reached a settlement with outfielder Angel Pagan who signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract for 2011; that's double what he made last year and worth every penny if you ask me. So now that’s done, Pelfrey Dickey and Pagan all signed up and ready to go. Great news.

Still to come Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 15 First workout for pitchers and catchers: Feb. 17* Position players report: Feb. 19 First full-squad workout: Feb. 21 Grapefruit League opener: Feb. 26 vs. Braves.
I am getting so excited I can hardly breathe

Kevin Burkhardt will be packing soon he is heading down there February 13th to start reporting on all the action for SNY

 

[syam24]

Glad to see all the arbitration dudes are taken care of, one less headache, and hopefully no hard feelings from the players standpoint. Two short weeks til the pitchers/catchers report, I'm ready. This Wilpon thing is getting messy, GO AWAY, only baseball, no business crap!!!

 

[sonny10305]

Yes Syam, It is good new to see those guys all set to play. I know Dickey was very opposed to going into arbitration and was hoping not to have to go there. Dickey would have been a free agent next offseason.
Pagan won't be a free agent until after 2012. Pelfrey not until after 2013.
With Santana out till June we will need Pelf and Dickey more than ever. I expect Pelf to have a great year and RA will continue to daze and confuse batters with that knuckler and fastball. “what wuz that“

The big question remands who will play center, Beltran or Pagan. Both guys have said they would play where ever is best for the team. I think that because of the admiration Beltran has for Pagan he would move to right without any fuss. Pagan spent many months at Beltrans home in the off season learning the center field position there is a real bond between the two.

Not much happening in Florida Murphy worked with Collins again. Nick Evans arrived last night and is working out today. DWright is expected any day now prolly Friday. The only other major leaguer players to show up so far is Taylor Tankersley.

 

[sonny10305]

A little bird told me this morning that Andy Pettitte will announce his retirement tomorrow.
Big loss for the Yankees

Tonight on Mets Hot Stove Kevin Burkhardt discusses what’s next for the Mets. He also has a talk with Josh Thole who spent most of the winter at home in Arizona working with a trainer preparing for 2011. Josh is going to spring training on Monday, he will report a week early. He says it’s cold in Arizona and wants to get someplace warm. Hey Josh, a word of advice, if you think it’s cold in Arizona stay away from NY.
If you think guys like Thole who do not do winter ball lay around and take the winter off you should know he works almost everyday with a trainer. I put together a couple of clips to give you an idea of what his day is like. In the 10 seconds if you think you see Ike Davis you are correct, someone yells “Ike where ya goin” Ike has been working with Josh, both live in Arizona.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFaTxFoUaZw[/ame]

 

[sonny10305]

Nick Evans, Chris Capuano, and Mike Nickeas have arrived in Florida to begin spring training, love seeing these guys arrive early. Collins is very happy to see them. Dono where Ike is phone keeps going to voicemail which says out of town will return all calls on Monday, where ya hiddin Ike whacha up too? Josh Thole is in Vegas attending a wedding at Caesars Palace and will leave on Delta to West Palm Beach on Monday. Josh was walking down the Vegas strip with his wife yesterday and some guy next to him chats Jets Jets Jets!
Then he spotted Josh and chanted Mets Mets Mets.
Josh’s Super bowl prediction green bay by 34-21

Congrats to Mike Pelfrey and his wife Angela who gave birth to their second child yesterday.
She joins 18-month-old big brother Chase Michael who will join the Mets rotation in 2031.

Evans (center) with Capuano and Nickeas sighing autographs yesterday.

 

[sonny10305]

It is beginning to really look like spring training in St Lucie this morning, There are now a total of 27 players there now many arrived this morning and more on the way. Already there David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans,Taylor Tankersley, Mike Nickeas, Bobby Parnell, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Chris Capuano and Dillon Gee along with a bunch of minor leaguers.
Pitchers an catchers aren't do to report for another eight days, guys like Wright, Murphy, Parnell, Evans, and Nieuwenhuis are to be given special pats on the back for showin up early and supporting the new manager.
I am told Collins is elated to see so many guys show up early.
Josh Thole left 9am this morning thinking saying "I hope I packed everything", he left with 4 bags so I guess he has it all covered, jez Josh, brought enough stuff,

Kevin Burkhardt will do one more Hot Stove show on Thursday before heading down to Florida Sunday night to join up with the guys to report from there.
That is always a lot of fun; I look forward to that every year, as does KB

 

[sonny10305]

New arrivals yesterday to spring training were Josh Thole and Jason Pirdie.
Daniel Murphy and Luis Hernandez took grounders at second base. Murphy is still wearing the knee brace he wore all winter. I asked if it bothered him and he said not really, he wore it all thru winter ball and it did not restrict him in any way in fact he played very well. It’s a small brace like the one you might wear playing softball, he still sole bases and hit his doubles with no problems related to his knee or the brace, so no biggie. He plans for now at least to wear it in to the start of the new season and beyond, he just feels more at ease having it on. I am sure you guys remember he tore a ligament in his right knee last season. Before that, he sprained his right knee while running the bases last year in spring training.
Hernandez, was taking grounders for the first time since breaking his right foot in September in that fouling off a pitch from Tim Hudson. You may remember he homered on the next pitch that game, barely made it around the bases, and then required surgery.

Nick Evans took grounders with Daniel and Luis and worked at third base.

Brad Andress has been hired as Mets strength and conditioning coordinator, he takes over from Rick Slate, who was not retained by the new front office. Brad served nine years, from 2000-08, with the Colorado Rockies as the strength coach monitoring the players’ year-round strength and conditioning programs. Josh Thole, Nick Evans and Ike Davis are very familiar with Brad they all spent time working with him in the off season in Arizona. Best of luck Brad

David Wright said yesterday that there will be no excuses for the Mets, no pity party it’s time to put up or shut up. David addressed the Madoff mess which he said is everywhere, and no one is expecting much from the team this year and David wants it clear there will no making any excuses not for him or for his team.
Whew, sounds like David is sounding more an more like the team leader, some are saying today that yesterday with the comments made he has crossed the threshold to being the leader the team needs. Finalizing his thought with “Internally, the idea is that things haven’t gone the way that we’ve expected them to go now that I’ve been here seven years,” In spite of hearing David’s remarks Terry Collins will not name anyone captain for 2011. He wants to wait it out till he can see all the guys in action. Um..Terry…no one else but DWright should be captain, give him the title dude.
You would think David would be busy enough with the training he has going on but not our boy Dave, he wants to pick up on Terry Collins idea of starting up a bowling league, he loves Collins' idea to get the team together for weekly bowling nights. David often bowls during the winter in Virginia

Murph and Luis yesterday

4

 

[gtru1981]

Hey Sonny, are you down their at Spring Training?? BTW, Nick Evans looks awsome for someone who just turned 30 lol

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Gtru, Evans does look good he spent the winter putting on some muscle, prolly in the best shape of his life right now. I think you will be impressed by him when you see him in a few weeks.

Before I write anything about spring training I have to vent a little about all the negative press we keep hearing about the Mets. All we hear is how bad the Madoff mess is and how it is going to affect the team this year. Well it might in the way they spend money but that is all; all these media guys who are saying how the players are deeply concerned and could take that onto the field where it will make a difference in he way they play are full of it. What BS that is, this year in particular the team has a great outlook on the new season, due in no small part to Terry Collins who does intend to bring up the topic at the start of spring training, but only to ensure players are focused on what they ought to be doing and that is preparing to win games. Terry said yesterday 'This is out of our control; we can only worry about the stuff that we can control, and that's our performance on the field. We're going to make sure that is brought across the first day down here."
I am so sick and tired of the media and all this negative talk about my Mets, it used to be just concern over the starting rotation which of course I will admit has weakness but now that the Yankees have a worse rotation then we do how come we don’t hear about that? What hey say is yes, the Yankee rotation is in trouble but not to worry the mighty Yanks will fix that so not to worry, but when it comes to the Mets, just as it has been for years, it is a different story it’s all doom and gloom. The players are not buying into this and some like Dwight in particular are as fed up hearing about it. look at what has been going on in spring training this year, as of today there are 32 players in camp already and pitchers and catchers don’t officially report next Tuesday, all of em working out voluntarily at the complex. I have told you guys who are there are like Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans, David Wright and Josh Thole, to name a couple.

This morning our new bench coach Ken Oberkfell arrived as well as Mike O'Connor and Russ Adams. They just keep coming on their own time and full of enthusiasm and a deep desire to get started and have a championship year. So do I think the Mets will win 90+ games, win a division or more? Who the Hell knows, no one can say they won’t… NO ONE.

You just can’t just say the Mets are in for a bad year now, they haven’t even played one single game yet, I want the media to stop being so negative and give us a chance to play some before you tear us down. To that end I called Kevin Burkhardt who I think you know is a field reporter for the Mets and host of Mets Hot Stove and a friend, I vented my frustration to Kevin over the way the Mets are being talked about so early without even giving them a chance to prove one way or the other what they have in them this year. I told Kevin before you come down to Florida (he leaves on Sunday) you have one more Hot Stove from NY, how about putting something positive in that show keep the negative out, the fans will appreciate that and I know the players and Terry Collins will for sure. Kevin said “I’ll try my man, it’s spring training we have to stay positive” those were his exact words to me.
I don’t know what KB will say tonight on the show but I am hoping for nothing but positive things.

Ok I’m done bitchin.now back to Florida
As I mentioned Jon Niese was one the pitchers to come in early and yesterday he went through his first workout in Port St. Lucie. Jon joked he was grateful to get out of a brutal winter back hoe in Ohio. Jon was fed up with the ice and snow saying couldn't throw many pitches back there unless he did it in his snow shoes.
He is feeling great unlike last year when he was recovering from a hamstring injury that required surgery and left him in bed for weeks. This year he can spend spring training working on things with his health good and oh yes…a spot in the rotation.

Ken Oberkfell wasted no time and early this morning took batting practice with Josh Thole

Dan Warthen due to arrive at complex Friday

Wright yesterday leading the jog with Evans and Murphy right behind

 

[sonny10305]

Misty drizzle falling all day with some showers in St Luice so outdoor workouts have been cancelled.
Most of the guys in the gym, some doing a little in the batting cages and that's about it.
No workouts scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.
The fun really begins on Monday.
Dan Worten did get in camp, says Johan Santana has started throwin a little.
My thanks to Kevin Burkhardt for a great upbeat positive Mets Hot stove this week.

 

[sonny10305]

The complex is closed again today. Tomorrow it reopens when Pitchers and catchers officially report,
the guys have physicals Wednesday and the First pitchers and catcher’s official workout Thursday.
Position players are expected to report on February 19, with the first full squad workout expected to take place on February 21. The boys play their first Grapefruit League game against the Braves in two weeks; you can watch it on the WB Sat Feb 26th at 1:10.
I posted a full spring training schedule last week about 15-16 games will be televised on SNY and WB

Workouts are fun to watch and are mostly open to the public they are free. The guys usually start workouts around 8:30 and go till about noon. Plenty to watch all day and the guys are all accessible.

Friday Capuano threw a bullpen to David Wright who wanted to give Chris a sense of facing hitters.

Jose Reyes is supposed to arrive on Tuesday, Ike Davis right behind him later this week. Ike is still in Arizona working out and playing in Arizona State University's alumni games. Yesterday he singled, walked and had an RBI with teo at bats. Brad Holt is there as well he said he still hopes to get to Citi Field at the end of the year which is a good possibility if things go as planned.

Kevin Burkhardt is busy packing today he leaves for Florida tonight and will have plenty to report all thru spring training. KB will also call some of the spring raining games on SNY and the WB on off days for Gary Cohen who is still busy with basketball. Kevin does an outstanding job filling in for the master Gary Cohen.

 

[sonny10305]

Poor goofy ole Oliver Perez showed up at spring training a couple of days early Sunday and went to the complex to work. Trouble was the complex was closed yesterday but no one had told Ollie so the poor sap found the gate locked and headed back to his car and drove away. He insists he is ready to play and said "I know what I got to do to get back to show everybody what kind of pitcher I am, I have to prove it to myself, because in the past two years, I've had injuries and all that kind of stuff. I think that's really tough for anybody. I think you have to be a grown man and understand sometimes it's really tough." When Ollie was asked how he felt about the fact that for neither Sandy Alderson, Terry Collins or Dan Warthen never make it to watch him in Mexico, Perez said: "It's kind of far to go to Mexico." He poor fool is just completely clueless. This morning Terry Collins said that he met with Oliver Perez and Sandy Alderson about his role. Perez requested being a starter, and Collins said he would oblige early in camp and check him out in that role. Ya have to remember that is what Terry has said all along that when Ollie got in he was going to sit down and come up with a plan that everybody was on the same page with. Collins wants to see where Ollie could help the most. Terry also added that Ollie's raring to go, he feels great and is determined to put the last couple of years away. Ollie told Terry he wants a chance to make this club as a starting pitcher, and Terry told him he would give Ollie that opportunity. Collins also said he will make his own evaluation of Perez, not rely on what happened in the past.

Kevin Burkhardt said he would have more on Ollie and the days events tonight on Geico Sportsnight 10pm on SNY.

Among the new arrivals today was Pat Misch who was up and throwing, Mike Pelfrey and RA Dickey who were playing catch in main stadium
Chris Young also here and threw his first bullpen session in Port St. Lucie
Reese Havens is here in from Arizona talking about that surgery he had last year that ended his season. They took an inch off a rib that was rubbing against another rib on his left side and also irritating the oblique. Reese started hitting last week and said: he was finally starting to feel like a baseball player again and that he felt like he was getting close and would be ready for spring training. Good seeing you dude all the best


Oh look, the boss is here, Sandy Alderson has arrived at the complex with John Rico

Terry Collins and Wally Backman what do you suppose they were talking about? “Terry here is how I would have done it”

Terry Colins and Ollie Perez “Gee, I never thought you’d actually show up”

 

[gtru1981]

So you beat me to this! I laughed my butt off about Ollie going yesturday and the place being closed and no one telling him. Ollie is a joke and i do think the Mets should just cut him loose and pay whatever money they owe this loser. After this year, no one will want him and he probaly knows that! Him beggin for a starting position is a joke, but they probaly will let him try it out during Spring Training. But Met fans hate him and he probaly crack with all the booing and stuff! If you want my opinion, just cut loose both Ollie and that other loser. So much young talent out their that wants 2nd base. Dudes like Sonny's boy Daniel Murphy who shows up early and is working his ass off to get a spot deserve it more.

The Mets made more off season news with pretty much being broke than anything else. My co-workers made so many jokes about it lol, saying they would only pay 2 bucks for the team since that is all they are worth (this coming from Red soxs fans). They Mets need to rebrand and show fans and others the great talent they actually got!

 

[sonny10305]

Gtru, the thing about Perez is I can not get past that he has lost like 5 mph on his fastball and could not find the strike zone with a GPS. Second he acted like a fool last year when it was obvious he needed help and could no longer pitch on a major league level. He refused to go down to the minors for that help in figuring out what was wrong, instead he held a roster spot for ransom sat and Sulked in the bullpen.
Ollie did play winter ball in Mexico and for the most part stunk up the place, Ollie asked for his friend Rafael Arroyo to join him for the offseason, catching bullpen sessions and taking notes during Mexican winter league games and feeding information back to Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen.
Arroyo thinks that Ollie should not be written off; he said he saw a lot of positive things his strength and velocity was back up and he felt Ollie’s confidence was building back up. So Collins and Alderson are giving Ollie another shot at winning a spot in the rotation it all depends on how well he does in spring training. I will go into this with an open mind and let the pros make the decision on what to do with Ollie but for my money he’s a bum and needs to go I would much rather see Chris Young and Chris Capuano in the #4 and 5 spot. with D.J. Carrasco to work the seventh inning, handing the ball to Bobby Parnell in the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez for the ninth, at least that’s how I sees it. I watched Capuano pitch and loved what I saw, he command the strike zone and impressed me a lot. DWright loves him as well

So after two days closed The Mets' spring training complex opened again this morning for voluntary workouts. Last of the pitchers to arrive was K-Rod who still has 52 weeks of anger-management sessions to deal with. I am curious how he will handle the Mets plan to alter his usage so that he does not finish 55 games this season. Reason being not to trigger a $17.5 million vesting option for 2012. What happens otherwise is that K-Rod would get a $3.5 million buyout in addition to his $11.5 million salary for this season and become a free agent next offseason.

Jose Reyes is expected today have not seen him yet but Lucas Duda and Zach Lutz arrived this morning. both will be in major league camp.
Ike Davis also got in this morning form Arizona two days before he had originally planned,you will remember I told you he was playing in Arizona State University's alumni games. Daniel Murphy who was the first to greet Ike is excited to get started training with Ike and Reyes in that second base spot.
Murphy said. He picked up some things form Jose when he played first last year when he was at short before he had his thyroid issue and is excited to get started again.
I know, Murphy, Murphy, Murphy it seems it’s all I write about but he has so much determination and drive to win you can’t get away from that. I just admire him so much. Even on Friday after the regular workouts Murph fielded grounders at second base while Terry Collins watched. Collins would love for Murph to win the second base job but has also said time and again he wants Murph somewhere on his roster. Although Daniel is a strong candidate to play second, the problem may be Emaus cause of his status as a Rule 5 selection, thing is if Emaus does not remain on the major league roster, the Mets must offer him back to Toronto.
So if Emaus or even Castillo beats out Murphy, Daniel will in all probability be on the bench with Scott Hairston, Chin-Lung Hu, Willie Harris and, most important to me my bud Nick Evans, who is a strong fielder and capable of playing all the positions. Hairston is another worry for Evans cause he is also a righty hitter with similar versatility as Nick and could hinder Evans' chances of making the team, a plus for Nick is that Collins is a major supporter of Evans.


Mookie is here

David Wright plays catch during warm-ups Today.

Ike Davis first day ready to go

K-Rods Lamborghini arrived today

 

[sonny10305]

Yesterday Jason Isringhausen was in camp, I did not know what was up with that but now we know he has been offered a minor league deal. I guess with some of the bullpen questions still unanswered having another arm could not hurt but I don’t expect much to come from this. He didn't pitch in the majors last year at all, before that he pitched less than 10 innings for the Rays; I think his ERA at the time was around 5.70. So what to expect from a guy who hasn't pitched in two years and hasn't been good in four I dono plus he’s 38 years old now. Listening to Sandy Alderson speak, it sounded like he was only inclined to offer Isringhausen a minor league contract and ticket to minor league camp not the big league camp.
I am a little confused by that. This morning Ike Davis had a pen session with him

Lucas Duda will be playing at Triple-A Buffalo this season which he will tell you and I would agree will be the best thing for him cause he will get to play regularly, something he would not do in the majors.
We need him to develop as many of us know he can just in case we need him to fill in for Pagan, Bay or Beltran, after Evans of course He had expected to play winter ball, but he had problems with shin splints and a thing with a heel that bothered him so he stayed in California during the offseason instead.
He talked abut the rough time he had last season on the majors after playing so well in the minors. In fact he was just as miffed as we all where and could not understand what was going wrong even to questioning himself. But he feels he started to play better towards the end of last season and hopes to continue that now. Lucas played exclusively in left field in about 20 starts with the Mets last season, but when I first knew him he was a first baseman. Anyways he will do well to pay in Buffalo for a while along side guys like Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Fernando Martinez and Jason Pridie.

Yesterday when I mentioned my choices for staring rotation I did not mean to leave Dillon Gee out of that possibility, as I said it will all come about when we se these guys in spring training games. As for Pat Misch, who I have known for a couple of years now, still has issues with lefty hitters, he knows he needs to pitch as well as he dos against the righties, so maybe we will see him make the team as a long man, not a lefty specialist. He is another one who like Nick Evans is out of options, so if he pitches well this spring, look for him to take on that long man role. Let’s face it, the long man will be important this year with the status of the back of the rotation, we may not see too many of those guys pitching in late innings. By the way, and yes I am gonna talk about Murphy again, since we will not have a lot of strike out pitchers in the back end will mean more work for our infield defense meaning Daniel will have to show what he can do in that second base position which I know he will do. As to turning the double pay which is Murph's number one priority right now, he talks about it constantly, I should think now that he is surrounded by guys like Backman, Tuffell and Chip Hale he can’t help but learn how to turn that double play We are counting on those guys to help Murph figure it all out and turn him into a great defensive second baseman. We might not need that defense when Pelf or Dickey are pitching but Murph has that covered as well by playing outstanding offense.

Francisco Rodriguez has arrived he was throwing a pen session today.

Johan Santana will be here later even thou he can’t pitch yet his presence will be huge for the team just having him there will just add to the enormous feeling of positive energy already in the club.

Jose Reyes arrived and looks absolutely terrific I am thinking now that DWright is correct Jose is going to have an enormous year. Wait till you see him
here he is arriving in camp, based on what he is carrying it looks like he will have no worries on getting dehydrated

 

[syam24]

Driving home from work last evening, heard Daniel Murphy on WFAN with Steve Somers. Daniel was very upbeat, and sounds raring to go. It was a pretty easy interview, no real tough questions, but Daniel anwered all of them and presented a very positive attitude to every issue, ranging from his injury recovery, chances of winning the 2B job, lineup, pitching rotation, and Wilpon/Madoff stuff. Let's hope that translates to the rest of the guys and gets us some good results this season.

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Syam Murph is always as you heard him upbeat and positive, he is like that now and was like that all winter in the Dominican. I spoke with him at least once a week while he was there and never bitched or compined about anything, just happy to be there and looking forward to the new season.

The workout sessions are getting more intense, Collins could be seen everywhere, that dude has so much energy and passion it can not be described.
Excellent workout’s this morning with pitchers doing fundamental stuff, covering first base, bunting, comebackers loads of fun.
Manuel Alvarez threw a pen yesterday it looked like he has a decent 2 seamer
Chris Young also looked good plenty of good extension.
Johan is here and looking great, he was all over the place greeting shaking hands and always with a smile on his face. He met with fans signed stuff, and lemme tell you just havin him in camp is a wonderful morale booster. We dono when he will, pitch prolly not till June or maybe even July. Will he be as good as ever know one knows yet but if that shoulder keeps him from being the old Santana he will still be a force to recon with cause he will reinvent himself and find ways to win games . He is a very savvy pitcher knows how to manage and run a game; he will just have to change do things differently. As a pitcher not a thrower we can count on him doing that.
Another question is Tobi Stoner we did not see much of him over the last two seasons due to surgery issues to remove bone spurs and chips from his right elbow, the there was shoulder impingement. But Tobi was talking yesterday and said he had good range of motion and was optimistic about playing again after getting some good news from the docs

Angel Pagan got In today along with Scott Hairston and Willie Harris I met Angel in Brooklyn last year when he was honored at a Cyclones game, KB introduced me we had a nice talk friendly and open. I dono if he will remember me, prolly not, but I will try to get to him later and see if I can speak with him. As for who will start out at the center field position Terry Collins said he plans to meet Saturday with Carlos Beltran. I know you guys heard him say Carlos would be first in line for that job but he also said that he believes Beltran would be best served playing right field this season, so that there's less running involved because you don't need to worry about balls in both gaps. I would certainly agree with that, plus of course what ever Terry decides a switch could easily be made midway through spring training if needed, Carlos is athletic enough to make the switch fast,

I saw Bobby O walking around the camp and later found out he is going to work with Kevin Burkhardt doing live feeds from Florida for the SNY Mets Hot Stove. You may recall I don’t much care for him, even called him a windbag once or twice. But I liked him and the way KB worked so well together last night, so maybe I need to take a fresh look at this guy and stop the badgering. I think it was when he ragged on Daniel Murphy that turned me sour on him again but he has changed his tune on that and now supports Murph…kinda.

Speaking of Mets Hot Stove it will be on Mon, Tues, Weds and Thursday next week and Kevin will do at least one of the live shows from Duffy's tavern as he did last year, KB said he will only do next weeks show form there and that may be all. Kevin will also do many of the play by plays during spring training games staring on the 26th in place of Gary Cohen who still has basketball duties to do.

John Maine has agreed to a minor league deal with #Rockies. Too soon to say if he will make the big league club, there is a chance he may not even start the season with the Rockies and he has an out clause if he is not on the roster by “early in the regular season.

I was sorry to learn that Howard Johnson has decided not to stay with the Mets, he was offered the hitting coach job at St. Lucie or with the Cyclones in Brooklyn, but has decided to move on. I really hoped he would stay with us; the idea of him in Brooklyn really excited me. Oh well, maybe he will do a Mookie and return some time later. Good luck HoJo you were one of our best. I just realized that 2011 will be the 25th anniversary of that ’86 team of which HoJo played such an important role.


Jon Niese throw a bull pen today

Johan Santana played a little catch inside the main stadium

Big Pelf checks out his bat

Jose Reyes is here

Terry Collins and Francisco Rodriguez

 

[syam24]

Sonny, Did you call into WFAN one early morning this past week? The dude who was on with Tony Paige, was talking like it could have been you, saying how the NY media was all very negative about the Mets, the Wilpon issues, and their chances this year. The guy who phoned in from Port St Lucie was talking very optomistically about the Mets and their seasonal prospects. I happened to be awake, couldn't get back to sleep, so switched on my radio to see what was shakin' on the FAN.

 

[rysmiley88]

Winter Report....Mets still Suck!! Happy Season!!

 

[sonny10305]

Nah Syam that wasn’t me, sorry I missed that. I have spoken to a few sports guys about that and truth is the negative talk has cooled some. Brandon Tierney and I have spoken of it often and he has made big steps towards toning that down including on his Wheelhouse show there is a noticeable difference.

rysmiley.....God will get ya for that

It is very clear to anyone you ask that Terry Collins is irate (he will say disappointed) that Luis Castillo has not arrived in camp yet. Terry feels he should have arrived before his required date to show support as so many others did. He is expected later today as is Jason Bay who also could not be bothered getting in early.

Collins continues to be a presence on the field, now he ha s taken to using an air horn to blast any player who is slacking, all in fun of course. We are calling him Sgt Collins now

Carlos Beltran did get in and this morning and he could be seen running, the interesting thing about it for me is that he was not wearing a knee brace even thou he has said he will wear one this season. He is planning on doing a 7-10 day running program to test running bases, pain level, and such and then there may be decision on if he plays center or right. He also said something interesting that may mean he is warming up to the idea of moving to right when he said he thinks RF may prolong his career.

Sandy Koufax came into camp and was the star of the day, so much excitement over his being there especially of course with the pitchers. Chris Capuano asked to speak with Sandy and got not just that wish but Koufax worked a lot with Capuano on stance, mechanics, change-up. How cool is that.


Check out the fans giving Sandy the superstar treatment

R.A. Dickey came to camp this morning looking very cool in his biking shirt and shorts. He said rode his bike 12 miles from home to the camp which he has been doing everyday, that’s24 miles round trip Although Friday his wife picked him up he put the bike on a rack on top of car. His bike of choice is Orbea. I found out he has been training for triathlons for the past two and a half years, although he hasn't participated yet.

Along with the pitchers workout the best thing to watch here is Murphy working at second base with Teufel, Backman and Hale, it is a thing of beauty. Wally Backman would hit a ground ball out to shortstop who would then flip the ball to Murphy (sometimes (Emaus) who would toss the ball to first base. Chip Hale filmed the whole thing on his FLIP camera, and then they would gather around to watch the video and micro-manage each play with the two boys, AWESOME!

Backman hits the ball to the shortstop

The throw to first

Hale records the play

Josh Thole was out making like an acrobat rolling around and doin some catchin…havin fun there Josh?.