New York Mets 2010-11 Winter report

[syam24]

Have fun, but don't hurt those shoulders, Josh!!

 

[sonny10305]

Not much going on today, off day for most.
This morning many of the guys had their physicals and then a bunch of went bowling.
The first official full-squad workout is tomorrow, Terry Collins plans to give about a 20 minute oration to the players before the first full-squad workout. With an intrasquad game Friday and first Grapefruit League game Saturday, hitters will face actual pitching during the first workout Monday. Some guys don’t like that cause it can be difficult the first day of spring training to face pitchers who already have been training at the complex.

Can you believe it’s finally almost here, the first spring training game on Saturday. Jenrry Mejia is scheduled to be the starting pitcher against the Atlanta Braves.
I am so excited I have all I can do from not peeing in my pants with anticipation.
It will be a bitter sweet day cause the next day, Sunday, I head back home and the real world again.
My dad is coming down Thursday to spend the last few days with me here that will be fun.

I met Chris Young today, OMG that dude is tall, he is 6-foot-10 seriously, I had a creak in my neck from looking up to him while we spoke. It will be interesting to see how the batters do facing him, because he is so tall they will think his 88 MPH fast ball is really like 95 cause his arm will be so close to the plate when he releases the ball. He won’t even have to throw the ball that hard cause it will get to the plate so fast.

I saw Fernando Martinez in the clubhouse but he was not in any uniform just street clothes not sure what he is gonna be doing Don’t know the kid but maybe Monday I will try and approach him find out what his plans are.

Turns out Luis Castillo had a good reason for not coming to camp early; his older brother is set to undergo serious surgery Monday. Apparently Castillo never told anyone not even Collins till now, he did not want anybody to know, and he didn't want an excuse.Terry Collins who has been moaning and groaning about the fact that Castillo was not in camp early feels bad today after finding out the truth Collins said he felt “selfish."

Jason Bay finally made it to camp yesterday he was in the gym working out much of the day. He was joking about the fact that he drove in with his Ford Explorer comparing K-Rods arrival in his Lamborghini,
Bay said “It's not a Lamborghini, but it's got power windows and Sirius radio"
Umm, Jason… me thinks Lamborghini’s have power windows.


Jason Bay points out his car is not a Lamborghini.

Daniel Murphy describes his on deck circle routine

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It6v39U2U08&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

[sonny10305]

I mentioned yesterday that the boys were going to go bowling on their day off yesterday; it turned out to be a really fun time for them. Lots of bonding and high sprits prevailed. David Wright led Mets Bowling Night with a whopping 259, which is awesome. To put it into perspective the number two score was 188 which Pelfrey scored. josh thole had a decent night bowling.131,130,163!
It is all started when Terry Collins said last month that he wants to instill team unity. He started this bowling idea with David Wright and Jason Bay they want to try and have weekly bowling nights during spring training. When DWright was asked how he managed that terrific score he said "Pure athleticism,"
Collins was totally into the Mets spirit with a Mets logo painted on his bowl.
.
A few pictures

I mentioned yesterday that Jenrry Mejia will start the Mets' pitching rotation for the first four spring training games on Saturday against Atlanta, now we know that he be followed by Manny Acosta, Pedro Beato, Taylor Buchholz, John Lujan and Armando Rodriguez.

I did find out more about Fernando Martinez, he says he feels great and is hoping his season won’t as it seems always to be full of injuries. Even thou he is in camp now he fully expects to be at Triple-A Buffalo to open the season. He also felt that the turnover in the front office has been a little hard on him. He thinks is a tuff to see new people I've never seen before, he is one of Omar’s guys

The Mets announced today that they've re-signed Jesus Feliciano to a minor league deal. Prolly be assigned back to Buffalo.

Jason Bay sounded like man on a mission saying he does not feel like he has anything to prove after hitting only six homers last year. He went on to say that he is not out there to try to prove anything, and that more than anything, I just want to get back to the player that he knows he is. Jason feels that he lost that a little bit last year. This year he will go out there and be consistent and be the player he is supposed to be.
Sounds good Jason.we all want that

I guess Ruben Tejada has heard everyone saying he is a great defensive player but his offense needs a lot of work, he countered by taking Mike Pelfrey deep during batting practice today. Atta boy Ruben you show em, but you still need to go to Buffalo for a while

Luis Castillo is a bit of a mess, I told you guys yesterday he was not in camp early cause his brother had major surgery, it was clear that was on his mind today going on and off the field (once in a golf cart) making calls after the surgery, he is not sure yet if he needs to go back to Dominican Republic. Would not be surprised if he is gone by end of the day

Did not like seeing Willie Harris taking grounders at 2b…… you know why

As I mentioned Mets Hot Stove on SNY will be on four times this week starting tonight with Kevin Burkhardt and Bobby O who by the way could be seen riding around in an SNY golf cart planning the show. What happened to getting exercise guys?
Kevin said that Bobby O watched RA Dickeys bull pen and will give his analysis on tonight’s show, promising it will be a great segment. That and all about the First full squad workout and a talk with Jason Bay and others.
Chris Carlin hosts again tonight.


Today’s full squad workout

David Wright and Ike Davis work on a fielding drill from their knees during the first day of full-squad workouts

Jason Bay after making a catch during the outfielder' fly-ball drills.

Jose Reyes accepts a pickoff throw at second base

 

[sonny10305]

Carlos Beltran looking real good today, so good in fact he is doing full workouts with team.
Ultimately what that could mean is that Carlos may DH in early Grapefruit League games.
The Mets will have DH until March 10. Originally Carlos was to miss the first week or two of games.

Pat Misch got some encouraging news today it’s possible he may be the Mets' long man/spot starter.
Chris Young and Chris Capuano are the frontrunners for the final two spots in the rotation, but Misch has asked to get a spring-training look also in that role, and Terry Collins said yes.If you think about it we will need a good long man with the state of our rotation I just don’t expect Young or Capuano to go deep into games, so Pat could be that guy. Misch is out of options; he already has been removed from a 40-man roster and sent to the minors before. That means, if he does not make the team, he must be exposed to waivers, where one of the other 29 teams can select him. If he went unclaimed, he would have the choice whether to report to Triple-A Buffalo or declare free agency.

I got more excellent news today with the arrival of Paul DePodesta, he is the new guys who is overseeing the minor leagues, who said the team's camp for 25 top prospects not in big league camp is scheduled to have its first workout Thursday afternoon. I have a lot of good buddies on that list I can not wait to see play again including Matt Harvey, Cory Vaughn, and Darrell Ceciliani.

Hope you guys saw that great piece Kevin B and Bobby O did with the pitchers last night on Mets Hot Stove it was awesome. Tonight Kevin will have Johan Santana and Jose Reyes on set, and we will also see Beltran take BP and watch Murphy taking dp drills at 2b. All tonight on SNY at 7pm

Evans and Wright this morning

 

[sonny10305]

About to head on over to Duffy’s tavern with my dad and Uncle Joe where Kevin Burkhardt is doing the final Mets Hot Stove for the season. Guests tonight will be RA Dickey, Josh Thole, Daniel Murphy, Mike Pelfrey and David Wright, Join us tonight at 7PM on SNY

This will be my last post here in Mets Winter report, it has been a blast writing it and I hope you guys found it informative and fun, Special shout out to Syam, Saucy, gtru1981 and all who have contributed

Don’t forget, Saturday is the first spring training game Mets vs. Atlanta, it will be televised nationally on Pix11 at 1:10 pm and repeated on SNY at 7

See you soon in my Mets 2011 thread

I had to finish with a great picture of the one and only David Wright

 

[syam24]

Sonny, Thanks for another great job thru the winter keeping us updated on the Mets' happenings. Looking forward to the exhibition games and season to come. I see in the boxscore of Sunday's game that Ollie is already pitching himself off the team. Nothing appears to have changed for him. On a sad note to end the winter msg board, former Dodger great, Hall of Famer, and a member of the NY Mets for a short time, Duke Snider passed away today. Sadness throughout baseball for a great gentleman and player.

 

[sonny10305]

Sonny, Thanks for another great job thru the winter keeping us updated on the Mets' happenings. Looking forward to the exhibition games and season to come. I see in the boxscore of Sunday's game that Ollie is already pitching himself off the team. Nothing appears to have changed for him. .

The pleasure was mine dude, l love witting about my boys
I am back home and back to work in New York with all those great spring training memories boucin around in my head; it was an awesome experience I will never forget.
I will be keepin touch with many of the guys and let you all know if anything good comes up but I am not planning on reporting on the spring training games
I did talk to Darrell Ceciliani and Cory Vaughn late Last night and they told me about Ollie Perez
who is as you said the same ole Ollie, he as a train wreck on Sunday walking three batters loading the bases and walking in a run. He surrendered four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out only three batters in two innings He only threw 19 of his 45 pitches for strikes.
On top of that his velocity was down, he was in the 81-83mph range best he did was 85mph.
Collins is expected to make a decision about the last two spots of the rotation on or around March 10th, which would be two days after Ollie's next scheduled start
On the other side of this was Chris Young who was spectacular. Retiring all six batters he faced
Murph was very happy with his game yesterday with a two run double that changed the game

 

[sonny10305]

If you guys want a good laugh Ollie Perez will throw again today. ( I just can't bring myself to say pitch when writing about that clown) The game is on SNY at 1PM. Baring any last minute changes KRod will pitch for the first time this spring as well. Murphy will play second and bat fourth and my boy Kirk Nieuwenhuis is also on the roster, he is one to watch. With Gary Cohen off to do his basketball thing Kevin Burkhardt will fill in the booth doing play by play with Keith Hernandez and Ralph Kinner

Not for nothing but Dickey struck out Pujols yesterday… TWICE! I’m jus sayin.
Abs, are ya watching?

 

[gtru1981]

So looks like Mets fans are going to be very happy about this.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...tarting_pitcher_during_regular_season_ac.html

Looks like Ollie may be released prior to opening day! The new ERA will finially starting cleaning out these horrible players and contracts!

 

[syam24]

Even though Ollie evidently pitched okay, by that, I mean threw two shutout innings, he needs to do a lot more to gain a roster spot. His speed on his pitches is way down. I think, even if he does an average job this spring he'll be gone. For him, the best would be to pitch okay, get picked up by another team, with the Mets left holding the salary bag. Of course, for the Mets, salarywise, 2012 can't get here soon enuff.

 

[sonny10305]

Thanks gtru and syam for keeping this thread alive, I appreciate hearing from you guys. Both of you have touched on Olllie Perez a subject that is on everyone’s minds.
That outing he made on Thursday Just delayed the inevitable and bought him at least another start which will prolly be on March 8 when the Mets have split-squad games against the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. With all those split-squad games coming up the Mets will need pitching but our best hope is that after that he will go to Triple-A somewhere. I doubt that Ollie will not be on any MLB roster to start season, no one thinks that any scout who would recommend that to his boss. Certainly no one expects him to make the rotation….absolutely no one ….well maybe Ollie or his agent. The fourth and fifth rotation spot are pretty much a given with Chris Young and Chris Capuano both of whom are having excellent springs. Some like me would have preferred Ollie had crashed and burned again on Thursday so the Mets could finally make the move to get of rid of him, but in true Ollie form he continues to torture all of us. As syam said the velocity on Ollie’s fastball has been in the low-80′s. Hell, I could throw harder than that when I was 15…please. And that is no to mention his breaking pitches which are simply not there. I would like to point out that the Major League average fastball last season for starting pitchers was 90.mph, in fact R.A. Dickey had the lowest average fastball at 83.9 mph. How sad is it when a knuckleball pitcher throws harder than Ollie does.

Mike Piazza is in Port St. Lucie as Team Italy's hitting coach, I sure wish I could have been there for his arrival,
I had heard he was coming but just missed him, Mike is on my wish list of players to meet.
Not so good for his first game today with prospects beating Italy 8-1

Jason Pridie is dealing with right hamstring tightness and has not pitched since Wednesday. Jason said he is not worried he just wants to be cautious, he has a history of repeated strains of that hamstring

Daniel Murphy continues to work as hard as he can now he is sneaking off to the batting cages after everyone leaves, and not just to improve his defense.
As I told you guys many times when ever I speak with Murph the subject of mastering second base always comes up, he continues to work on his double play, mostly of all his pivot. There is a pitching machine in the batting cages, so he goes in there and turn it on and work on transfers and footwork without worrying about finishing the play and throwing. It is what he calls his “me time” he can get a feeling for his body and what It can do, figures out what he needs to work on and what he is not as good as it could be
He got a nice vote of confidence form Reyes this week when Jose said he is used to working beside different players, but the transition with Murphy so far has gone well. Jose agrees that turning the double play is going to be the hardest part for Murph, but he has been working on that a lot, and the more he works on it, the more comfortable he feels with Murph and so far it's been good. Murph is still waiting for his chance to turn a double play in a game, something that has not happened yet.
As to one of the other guys competing for the second base job, Just so ya know the word is getting louder and louder that Castillo will be out soon. But ya did not hear that from me

Just a reminder that SNY will broadcast four of the next Mets spring training games in a row starting tomorrow, the games begin at 1PM and are repeated at about 7PM.
Over at ESPN on Sports center Ike Davis said that he did what he thought was a fun interview,
DWright is on as well, It plays over and over but I think the first showing is at 6PM tonight.

I will be talking to Murph and Evans on Sunday night, I should have more to tell you guys on Monday.

 

[Sausy]

Hadn't posted here in a bit,but wanted to thank sonny for his incredible pics and perspectives from Mets spring training down in Florida...a lot of great info,really fun.positive stuff.Also thank gtru and syam as well for as sonny says,helping keep this thread alive.I've been frustrated though regarding the Mets ownership situation and I don't post well dealing with agita,but I think Terry Collins and the players as sonny has shown really have a great attitude and mindest in this spring camp.They want to prove all the experts wrong,they're hungry and with such a passionate true profressional as David Wright taking more a leadership role,trying to promote a positive,deeply competitive example I have no question they are going to be tough for even the best clubs in the NL East.

It's what I see though regarding their business approach that concerns me...and seeing in the papers calls by some to trade off our best assets,even David Wright and rebuild completely...because it more and more appears the Wilpons actually made off well by Bernie Madoff and weren't too interested in probing about how good to be true so many of the returns were they may have benefitted by the ripoff scheme he built up.They neded a loan last November by MLB that just was disclosed for operating expenses....they need maybe to sell off half or give up total control of the club to be in stable financial position again.They insist they won't sell off control and may need to slash expenditures for the next few years to just stay afloat....New York Met fans have been through enough shit with this club,and possibly because they won't sell we have to admit we may not field a club worthy of the resources of a big market and a spanking bright gorgeous brand new stadium?I hope sonny has some answers from his sources around the Mets that can give me more certitude that isn't a possibility....that we'll be run for the next few years straightening out the Wilpon finances as modestly as the Florida Marlins,with no big budget to hold on to our best or made trades or free agent signings for others.We don't have the strong farm system yet that could make the Mets longterm competitive without going outside the system....a few gems,like Darren Ceciliani and Cory Vaughn for example that sonny totally loves,but that depends on how they progress beyond Brooklyn and A ball.Jennry Mejia....he's talented but a major question mark.Matt Harvey....great arm,bulldog workhorse makeup but also untested.

What are Met fans supposed to expect from Sandy Alderson?It was supposed to be,wait till all those bad contracts are done after the 2011 season,then we'll spend like the Phillies and the Red Sox.Then Alderson says we don't want to be locked in to $140-150 million in salary obligations,we want to be considerably under that.We may be saving $60 mil after this year but we won't really re-invest those savings for new players,at least not big ticket ones.Who the fuck are they kidding?You have to keep up with Philadelphia for certain,Atlanta,even Washington for fucks sake wants to act more aggressively...you have to allocate wisely....of course SOME flexibility is needed but if the mandate from ownership to Sandy Alderson is help protect our investments by watching salary,if they cannot gain a significant flush of new revenue from an investing group without holding down salary...well,fuck them!They gambled with their investments and because they may have gained on the back of others,even without deliberate intent..... Mets fans may get fucked again by an ownership more interested in covering its hide than making right all the incompetence and idiocy they tolerated and even toolk part in ever since the complete breakdown of September,2007.

If Bud Selig REALLY cares about the best interests of the game,he'll pressure his good friend Fred Wilpon to go 50-50 or sell outright controlling stake to someone who wants to do things right for New York Mets baseball and give the fans and the manager and players who are changing the on field chemstry of our boys for so much the better a real fighting chance instead of looking at a string of 80-85 win,decent but not contending adequate seasons.The Wilpons actions should have consequences....if they can't put all the resources available in this market into bettering the club,get out of the way and let someone who can and will get the opportunity.

Sorry for my rant,but the Wilpons get me more and more annoyed every day.

 

[Sausy]

And now seeing Carlos Beltran has tendinitis in his left knee and will be rested the next 4-5 days,not encouraging.Glad his contract is up,and even if he has a decent year,good bye and thank you very much...not blaming him but his knees have been taking a huge toll over the past three years,and who knows how much even moving to right field will make a difference in keeping him healthy and placing less stress on the knees.To perform beyond expectations,Carlos will have to do quite a bit at the plate and I just don't know if his knees will allow it.

 

[sonny10305]

I hope all of you read carefully what Saucy wrote regarding the Mets, in particular the madoff mess. Saucy articulated the situation very well something I have not been able to bring myself to do.
I have avoided writing about that cause I wanted to stay completely positive about the Mets 2011 and wanted nothing to do with anything negative. Of course it was rather silly of me to try and avoid that big elephant in the room but that is what I chose to do. I am very grateful to saucy for his insight and well written analysis of that situation.
I have to tell you during the entire time I spent in Florida with the Mets in spring training the Madoff mess was not discussed, in all of my talks with the players and coaches the subject rarely if ever came up and no one wanted to talk about that. The Mets wanted nothing negative in the camp only good spirits and hopes were high and the future wan only thought of in the positive.
When my dad and uncle came down he spent about 15 minutes talking to Terry Collins and the subject never came up in fact when Dad did mention it Collins quickly changed the subject. The exact same thing happened with my Uncle Joe and Dan Warthen, just pitching no Madoff.
I had gone on a mission with a lot of media guys asking that they spend more time on the positive and stop dwelling on the negative, it started with Kevin Burkhardt who understood my feeling and agreed with them stopping the negative and madoff stuff completely
There I gut all that out, thanks saucy for making me see the reasoning for finally talking about it.

Sandy Alderson, Terry Collins and Dan Warthen met this morning and decide as expected to shift Oliver Perez to the bullpen race, as of I write this they have not yet talked to Ollie about it. What I am hearing today is there are no set number of relief appearances after which Perez will be released. but, barring some miracle comeback from Ollie in the next week Perez's days are numbered as a Met, they finally now feel the best thing to do is to eat the $12 million owed this season. I see no point in moving Ollie to the pen I mean for what purpose he is so useless and why should that clown be allowed to continue holding a roster spot hostage when there are so many kids that can be so much more useful.
Take Jason Isringhausen for example, if you have watched him pitch you had to be as impressed as I am His pitches stayed at about 90 miles per hour and what I was especially interested I was he had unrestricted movement, I had wondered if he would have, he also showed us resilience, pitching yesterday for the second successive afternoon, no small thing for a pitcher his age. AND his velocity was up from the day before as well. He is just one of the many guys who need to be considered for a spot we have a lot of good pitchers now, in fact this spring has been all about the pitching which has been very good we loose games cause the offense has been lackluster except of course for Daniel Murphy who currently leads the team in hits and RBS oh..doubles too.

Before I go on I have to tell you how excited I was to see Cory Vaughn hit that homer yesterday, oh my goodness did that ever feel good. His first shot in the majors and he does that. Whew!
Cory is a good friend I met him last year when he was with the Cyclones we often played golf together last summer. When he hit that ball I knew at the sound of the bat it was gone and watching him run those bases was awesome I am so proud of him. Seriously can you imagine what it had to feel like for him to have done that? He later told me his phone was packed with messages and texts everyone he knows wanted to show the love.

I guess I should mention Carlos Beltran and the “little tendinitis” in his left knee. Good grief the man plays one lousy game runs the bases once and now needs a week off. Are you kiddin me??
Forget all that crap you are hearing from the Mets and even Collins remember they are the king of the spin doctors. The fact is If Beltran can’t even DH now, how is he going to play the field three weeks from now? Answer he can’t I expect Beltran most likely will stay in Port St. Lucie when April rolls around, and continue to get himself into shape during extended spring training.
This of course is good news for Nick Evans who as you guys know is working his butt off for a spot on the roster. With Beltran out the Mets will have an opening in the outfield for me that should be Evans. My everyday prayer is for Evans and Murph to be on the opening day roster if you read my stuff that should come as no surprise. They are my boys I want that very badly If Evans does not play the outfield another shot for him would be if Murph gets the second base job leaving room on the bench for Nick.

That second base job is looking better and better for Murph everyday, not only has he been having an outstanding spring but at least twp of the other candidates have not. Brad Emaus is batting .210 this season of course he has only played a coupe of games but he also made two errors already at second. Ohhhh aint that too bad Justin Turner has a bruised left thigh after a collision with Nyjer Morgan on Tuesday and may miss a couple of days. Oh now ain’t that a shame. Yeah I know not cool to feel good about any player’s problems but hey we are talking about Nick and Daniel here so all bets are off.
Murph will DH in today’s game and Chris Young gets the start. Koby Clemens, Rocket's son, in also playing the lineup at DH with the Astros.

Heard some positive news form Jason Pridie, who I told you had hamstring tightness, he said he's available now and is listed as a reserve for today’s game he is also on the travel roster for Thursday's split-squad game at Jupiter.

KB who is very close to Mike Pelfrey told the story of how Taylor Tankersley had some fun with big Pelf. Pelf is a new father and Tankersley‘s wife is about to give birth. So when Mike saw Tankersley's wife he asked when she is due. She looked at Pelf and said “Due with what?" Pelf for a second thinking he made a mistake wanted to crawl under a rock but Tankersley then jumped in and said any day now. So a big laugh was had by all

 

[sonny10305]

We have been waiting for Murph to finally get his shot turning the double play and yesterday it sorta kinda happened. Murphy turned a double play at second base catching Adam LaRoche’s line drive and doubled Jayson Werth off first base to end the bottom of the fifth, but no pivot at the bag was needed sooooo maybe another time

A look at the second base competition clearly shows who the front runner is, I mean do the math

Player AB AVG OBP SLG INN E

Castillo 17 0.176 0.263 0.176 23 1

Emaus 15 0.133 0.278 0.133 33 1

Murphy 29 0.276 0.300 0.414 29 0

Turner 18 0.167 0.211 0.222 15 0

Ok so that’s a small sampling but I don’t wanna hear that. Murph is killin with his bat and having no problems at second. Thing is he does not get to pay there every game cause Collins needs to see all of them in action.
As of this morning Murph has the day off with Castillo at second and Emaus at dh.

I wrote and told you guys about the Mets bowling league and how great Dwright has been bowling but last week he had some real competition from Izzy who played really well. I’m thinkin the boys were hustled cause the first week Izzy was sorta just feelin the action not doing much and everyone thought he was not going to be much of a threat. Then in the second week he shows up with his own ball and wiped everyone out and led week 2 with a 239 and David bowled a 181. Then last week Izzy was still high scorer with a 225. David was second with a 218 Sure sounds he hustled em. Only David and Collins have their own ball.

David later joked that his baseball was getting in the way of his bowling career
Funny man Ike Davis ran up to Izzie while he was up and started talking in his ear trying to break his strike streak.
Now things are getting serious, last week Izzies team wore their own bowling shirts so this week DWright suited his team with shirts as well (ya can’t out due Wright) the boys have all gotten bowling shirts

Check out the boys in their sparkling new bowling shirts. I dono about you but that idea of Collins had of having the bowling leagues set up to bring the guys together sire seems to have worked.

Team Issy

Team Wright

As for Ike, leeme tell you this kid should not bowl, at least not where anyone can see him. The kid doesn’t even put his fingers in the ball holes he just cups it like a volleyball and flings it down the lane. I have played golf with him and he isn’t much better at that ether. He won’t mind me telling you that cause he wears it proudly.

Take a look at Ike and David talking golf.



So he first cuts are in and the first reassignments are Tejada, Josh Stinson, Tobi Stoner, Manny Alvarez , John Lujan and Armando Rodriguez, Zach Lutz, Kai Gronauer, Jordany Valdespin, Fernando Martinez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Kai Gronauer. The moves reduce the total number of players in Mets camp to 45

Some of guys I will be watching and expect back sooner than later are Kirk Nieuwenhuis Tobi Stoner and Fernando Martinez.

 

[sonny10305]

Ike davis is fine after that minor accident, the driver in front of him slammed on the brakes and so did Ike so he was rear-ended by the car behind him.
Very minor Just a little bit of damage to the back bumper.
Ike's plan for the day off yesterday was supposed to be a simple one just some fishin...oh well

So now there are 5
Collins has added Luis Hernandez to the mix for the second baseman job
And......He's the frontrunner

As my grandmother always says when she has stress "I'm takin the gas pipe"

 

[Sausy]

Yet according to the New York Post,the winner of the second base battle is light hitting Luis Hernandez,who played some there last year but didn't even figure in the battle.Daniel hit well and fielded fine from what I've noticed and what sonny posted....Castillo has come on some with his bat,but looks like he will be released,Terry Collins hasn't been impressed by his defense and likes Luis Hernandez defensively.But the thing is we do't know how Carlos Beltran will hold out,we don't know when Johann Santana will realistically return to the rotation,and at what level.We need Daniel's bat...he's going to hit a lot of doubles and can drive the ball,and Collins was saying earlier second base is increasingly becoming an offense oriented position.Dan Uggla now for Atlanta is that much better defensively than Daniel could be?Jeff Kent was solid defensively but not an incredibly quick defensive presence but he sure could hit in his NL career...I'm bummed Daniel isn't being given a serious chance here losing out to a guy never even in the competition.All he's done for the organization...moving positions when asked without question,fighting back from a knee injury,showing himself one of the most dedicated and professional guys in camp...all so he can be a pinch hitter and spot player.Fucking sucks.

Glad to hear Ike is okay.What is Collins thinking though with Murphy?I hate to wish ill on a player,but I'm hoping Hernandez can't hit his weight and Daniel is put in a couple days,starts hitting and doesn't let go!

 

[sonny10305]

Oh Saucy my boy this whole second base thing is making me nutz.
Collins has backtracked on the Hernandez choice saying only that he was a major consideration. A couple of things can hurt Murph, first of all there is that Brad Emaus thing with the front office not wanting to loose him which would happen if he does not get the job cause of the Rule 5 thing he is also a favorite of J.P. Ricciardi. This weekend Murph finally got the chance to turn the double play twice and committed errors both times. Collins has been saying over and over he wants Murphy’s bat but wanted to see what he could do defensively so this weekend did not help his case. But if Murphy does not get that job there is little doubt in anyone’s mind he will end up on the team in a bench spot. He would be an outstanding player in that position and could easily be the Mets' top pinch-hitter and utility man, he could play first, second and third base
Then you have to consider the possibility of guys like Ike Davis or David Wright ever get placed on the DL, Murphy could easily step in on an everyday basis. Of course no one wants that... I’m just sayin. Murph has said it over and over again he just wants to be on the team in any position they have for him

Saucy you mentioned a couple of other points, I recall Collins said he valued offense above all else when considering his second baseman, citing Chase Utley and Dan Uggla as an example So where does Hernadez fit in there? Certainly Murphy and Emaus have the power, hell even Turner’s minor league numbers were good. So what is Terry thinking now going against what he said if he picks Hernandez. Add to that Castillo could be released by the end of the week, so no second base job no more Castillo which is fine by me. Turner still has minor-league options, so he'll likely be sent down soon. My concern is J.P. Ricciardi, is very high on Emaus, who must be carried on the 25-man roster the entire season or be offered back to the Blue Jays. Ricciardi might insist that Emaus be kept, my blood boils when I think of the reason for that

I talk to Murph at least once a week, last week we spoke more, we hung out along with Nick Evans a lot while I was in Florida he is a good friend and one hell of a guy but that has nothing to do with the fact that as a baseball player, lover of the game as well as a Mets fan I have to say Daniel Murphy deserves a spot with he Mets, he has worked harder than anyone to get that job and deserves it. His bat is better than guys like Jason Bay and his numbers are up there with guys like Wright, Davis, Pagan and Thole, he needs to be a Met.

As for Ike Davis he is feeling no effects at all of that car incident, in fact yesterday he went-2 for 3 with 3 RBI He is a little bummed that his new car got hit when the driver in front of him suddenly hit the brakes causing Ike to stop short causing the chick driving behind to not stop and rear ended Ike damaging the back bumper on his new Chevy pickup.
I forgot to ask him if he ever continued on his fishing trip with Jason Isringhausen, gotta do that.
The police were called and they backed Ike’s story and that he was not at fault, The cops also said in the report police report said. there were no signs of any alcohol or drug use by the two drivers. and that Ike was very cooperative and pleasant to deal with The woman who hit him did not receive a citation.
But Hey... she got to meet the Ike man

I dono what is up with Beltran while the team plays in Grapefruit games he is on the backfield Although he has now been cleared for all baseball activities including taking batting practice and participating in some fielding drills as of this morning Terry Collins does not yet know when Beltran will be able to play in a Grapefruit League game, and yet in spite of that said he still hopes to have him in right fielder for Opening Day.
Go figure that one

I dono what Wright is saying here to Murph but I love ya man comes to mind

 

[sonny10305]

Today is another cut day, no official word yet on who will be gone but my spy tells me so far
Jason Pridie, Russ Adams, Boof Bonser, Igarashi, Taylor Tankersley,Tim Byrdak nd Dusty Ryan have been called into Collins office. More to come later I am holding my blackberry at the ready for more news.
But those guys were called into the office for a reason, expect them gone

I saw the lineup card for todays game with the Braves and Castillo is on it battin fourth,
so he is safe for today anyways

Turns out there were causalities from the car accident Ike Davis had the other day.
Before the fishing trip he was going on with Izzy Ike had purchased some live bait and put them into his pickup,
after the accident he found them all dead

 

[sonny10305]

^^Just heard Dillon Gee, who prolly will headline the AAA rotation with Jenrry Mejia, and Josh Stinson, was optioned. It should be over now with official announcement anytime now.