Mets Merized Online

While Mets fans are pulling their hair out and arguing over what the organization should do to make the team better, ESPN and David Wright along with other dream players have taken a moment to help bring smiles to critically ill children through the Make-A-Wish program. Make-A-Wish Foundation, Walt Disney Company and ESPN have come together once again to make dreams come true. ”My Wish” will air July 5th through July 9th on SportsCenter at 10 a.m. E.T. on Sunday and 6 p.m. E.T. Monday-Thursday. On Thursday, July 9th the special will feature our very own David Wright. Matthew Vojack’s dream was to meet the All-Star 3rd baseman of the New York Mets and his wish was granted...

The Cuban team announced their players for the World Port Tournament, and  Aroldis Chapman was originally listed as a pitcher for the team. But, according to a Cuban newspaper report, Aroldis Chapman has in fact defected.  The tournament was scheduled for July 2 through 12th, and Chapman was scheduled to be the opening day pitcher in the tournament, but he never showed up.  The English version of the article is here. For those who are not familiar with Aroldis Chapman, he is probably one of the top five pitchers in baseball under 25.  He is Yu Darvish without the polish, a kid who can hit the radar guns at 102 miles per hour, but can be erratic with his command.  He showcased himself...

To begin, let me first commend the Mets on the remarkable fight and resiliency they displayed yesterday at PNC Park where they beat the Pirates 9-8 in ten innings. I thought they showed remarkable courage and fight under some intense adversity. These days, the Mets are not only faced with the challenge of battling the opposing team, but also must contend with the ghosts of two collapses, a media that loves to pour on the heat, and a fan base that has become far too impatient and angry. That’s a lot of things they have to overcome each time they take the field, and yet they manage to do it with a team comprised mostly of backups, aging veterans, and players that were called up from the minors...

In this week’s Get To Know a Prospect, we will take a look at a 22 year old catcher who, although he is on the DL right now, in the last two seasons has started to make some noise in the Mets system as a catcher to watch. This catcher goes by the name of Josh Thole. The Mets drafted him in 2005 in the 13th round and that year he played his first “season” of professional ball with the Mets at the age of 18. Thole has really flown under radar in the Mets system for two reasons. First, he hasn’t really started to hit above average until last season and second, a few years ago the Mets signed the then 17 year old Francisco Pena, who was supposed to be the catching star of...

The last time the Mets were in Pittsburgh, I wrote a piece about PNC Park having similar effects to the Mets as Atlanta’s Turner Field once had, and to an effect, still has.  Over the past few years, PNC Park had become a house of horrors for the Mets.  They failed to clinch the division title there in 2006, they suffered repeated late-inning setbacks there and earlier this season, the Pirates won all three games played there, with a fourth game being rained out and made up today. Before today’s game, the Mets were 6-10 in Pittsburgh since 2005.  Early on, today’s game appeared to be the latest in a long string of losses at PNC Park, as the Mets fell behind 5-0 after three...

Binghamton 1, New Hampshire 12 Every pitcher for the Mets gave up runs, with Brad Holt giving up the first 4 to take his 2nd EL loss. It just got uglier after he left the game. The offense had 10 hits and drew 4 walks, but went just 1 for 10 with RISP, in scoring a single run. The Mets left 9 on base, with 4 players taking 0-fers, Ike Davis (0 for 4, K, .257), Josh Petersen (0 for 4, K, .288), Ruben Tejada (0 for 3, BB, .272, 0 for his last 10). Jose Coronado, Caleb Stewart and Shawn Bowman had multi hit games. 2b Jose Coronado 2 for 5, 2b, K, .258 cf Jon Malo 1 for 4, .298 rf Caleb Stewart 2 for 3, run, HR, RBI, BB, K, .167 3b Shawn Bowman 4 for 4, 2b, .293 dh Lucas Duda 1 for 4, K, .266 Brad...

The international signings have begun, with the first salvo reported by the New York Mets.  According to Baseball Prospectus the Mets have signed Juan Urbina to a bonus of over $1 million.  Juan Urbina is the son of Ugueth Urbina who has a fastball that sits at 88-89 but reaches 91.  As he matures and gets stronger that fastball should increase in velocity.  He also has a curveball that is advanced for his age per Baseball America. For those of you who may not remember, Ugueth had his major league baseball career interrupted because of an incident in the Dominican Republic.  In 2007 he began serving a 14 year old jail sentence when he attacked five workers on his farm with a machete and...

Yesterday while a guest of Kevin Kennedy’s Inside Pitch on Sirius XM, former Mets closer and captain John Franco, threw a spit ball at his former team when he was asked to comment on the current state of the Mets. “Watching them almost every day, there’s no leadership there,” Franco said during an interview with SIRIUS XM. Nobody wants to step forward and be a leader. Something is missing and it’s hard to put your finger on it. They got some great, talented players – Jose Reyes and David Wright and Carlos Beltran, now Johan Santana’s there – but I just can’t put my finger on it.” Franco then got more specific and gave details on a conversation he had in spring training...

According to mlb.com, Major League Baseball will be expanding the rosters for this year’s All-Star Game from 32 to 33 players.  The extra player added will be a pitcher, allowing for each league to have 13 pitchers at its disposal.  This move was deemed necessary because last year’s Midsummer Classic lasted 15 innings, prompting both managers to use all of their available pitchers.  The last time rosters were expanded was in 2003.  That move was made for similar reasons, as the previous year’s All-Star Game ended in a 7-7 tie because the National League had used up all of their pitchers. If you recall, during last year’s All-Star Game, Mets third baseman David Wright...

Alright the Mets finished June with a 9-18 record, more injuries, more sloppy play, and they dropped below .500. June also, included an unforgettable dropped pop-up and losing 5 of 6 to the Yankees. Now all Mets fans have to try their hardest to forget about last month and look forward to what July has in store. The month of July started out on a positive note with the Big Pelf throwing a gem, resulting in a Mets win.  Even though the Mets only scored one run, Mets fans should be satisfied with the performances of Pelfrey, Sean Green, and K-Rod.  July will be getting even better very soon.  Omar Minaya may finally make a trade for us and put us back in contention in the NL East.   July...

The Mets salvaged the final game of the series and avoided a second consecutive sweep thanks to starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey. The game looked like a colossal mismatch on paper as another makeshift Mets lineup took on one of the best starting pitchers in the game in Jovani Gallardo. Gallardo absolutely dominated the Mets and struck out 12 batters, but in the sixth inning the Mets were able to get to him when Luis Castillo led off with a ground rule double and came around to score on a base hit by Ryan Church. That run would end up being the only score of the game. Mike Pelfrey was the big story today as he had his sinker working and his fastball had great explosiveness up in the zone. Pelf pitched...