Mets Merized Online

Starting Lineup

1B – Carlos Delgado (L)
2B – Luis Castillo (S)
SS – Jose Reyes (S)
3B – David Wright (R)
CA – Brian Schneider (L)
LF – Daniel Murphy (L)
CF – Carlos Beltran (S)
RF – Ryan Church (L)

Bench Players

Fernando Tatis (R)
Alex Cora (L)
Ramon Castro (R)
Marlon Anderson (L)
Jeremy Reed (L)
Nick Evans (R) (will be sent down on April 11)

Starting Rotation

1. Johan Santana (L)
2. Mike Pelfrey (R)
3. Oliver Perez (L)
4. John Maine (R)
5. Livan Hernandez (R) (will be called up April 11)

Bullpen

CL – Francisco Rodriguez (R)
SU – J.J. Putz (R)
MR – Sean Green (R)
MR – Pedro Feliciano (L)
MR – Bobby Parnell (R)
MR – Darren O’Day (R)
LR – Brian Stokes (R)

By the way… Catch tonight’s game against the fish on WFAN. 

According to MLB.com and SI.com, Scott Boras is seeking a $50 million dollar deal for the potential number one pick in this years Amateur Draft, Stephen Strasburg.

Jon Heyman writes,

“Baseball people who have spoken to Strasburg’s adviser, Scott Boras, say they believe that’s the figure Boras has in mind for Strasburg, the San Diego State pitcher some are calling a once-in-a-decade talent.”

The huge sum of money, which would more than quadruple Mark Prior’s $10.5 million haul from the Cubs in 2001, would come in the form of a six-year contract, according to SI.com, making it a similar deal to that of Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka, who signed for six years and $52 million after the Red Sox had paid a $51 million posting fee for Dice-K to leave Japan.

Heyman talked to Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten, whose club has the No. 1 pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, and Kasten wouldn’t name names when asked whom the team plans to pick.

“We intend to take the best player; we know what No. 1s get and we intend to sign that player,” Kasten said before adding, “No one’s situation is going to change the industry.”

Strasburg plays for San Diego State and is 5-0 this season. He has produced double-digit strikeouts in all six starts and now has 88 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. His fastball has been clocked regularly at 99-102 mph, and he throws a plus slider and a wicked plus change-up.

Once he latches onto a Major League team, he is so polished that most scouts expect him to make the jump to the majors in very short order.

Despite the title, I’m not one who believes in jinxes and curses hence the question mark.

Instead, I find myself exceedingly glad that Sports Illustrated has picked the New York Mets to win the 2009 World Series, beating the Los Angeles Angels.

Of course, the fine folks at SI aren’t telling me something I didn’t already know and believe in my heart of hearts. However, ti was nice of them to inform me who exactly we’d be beating on that fateful autumn day.

I’m only sorry that Sports Illustrated chose not to include the New York Mets on the cover. The one to the right is outdated and half of them aren’t even with the team anymore.

Maybe if we can reel off 15 game winning streak in April, the focus will shift back to the Mets and we can get a nice cover that features; David Wright, Jose Reyes, Dan Murphy and Mike Pelfrey. We can title it as “Mets Farm Is Fueling A Title Run”. Okay, I know it’s cheesy but you get the point.

Mets in ‘09!

The hard work has paid off for Darren O’Day, Brian Stokes and Bobby Parnell.

Adam Rubin of the Daily News has learned from a source that all three have been informed that they will be a part of the Mets opening day rosters and that they have each won a job in the bullpen.

So here is how we look now…

2009 Mets Opening Day Bullpen

Francisco Rodriguez – Closer
J.J. Putz – Setup Man
Sean Green – RH Short Reliever
Pedro Feliciano – LH Short Reliever
Bobby Parnell – Middle Reliever
Darren O’Day – Middle Reliever
Brian Stokes – Long Reliever

I don’t know about you, but I’m really feeling it with this bullpen. While I might have a few, but not many concerns about the rotation and the lineup, I have to say Omar and Jerry did a fine job putting this pen together.

I had been pulling for O’Day since we first drafted him in Las Vegas and I am glad he made the team. Stokes can bring it as hard as anyone else the Mets have in the pen and should excel as the long reliever. As for Parnell, he’s a wild card, but I can’t wait to see what he’s got.

Only six days until opening day!

It must be tough to be a Detroit Tigers fan these days. Only days after learning that pitcher Dontrelle Willis would be out indefinitely because of an anxiety disorder, we now learn that outfielder/designated hitter Gary Sheffield has been released.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Tigers have released designated hitter Gary Sheffield this morning, a startling development since the team had already guaranteed him $14 million this season. It’s the second-highest amount owed to a released player in club history, behind Damion Easley’s $14.3 million in 2003.

Sheffield signed a two-year, $28-million contract extension with the Tigers after being acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees after the 2006 season. He was one of the team’s top hitters for the first half of that initial season in Detroit, but he has struggled to produce since sustaining a shoulder injury in July 2007.

I hope this doesn’t lead to a few dozen blogs about how the Mets should pick him up…

It’s almost that time of year again.  Baseball season is upon us and you can feel it in the air.  Last Spring all anyone can talk about was the collapse of 2007.  Johan Santana came over but that only dimmed the talk of the collapse.  The bullpen had question marks coming into the 2008 season and unfortunately toward the end of 2008 we got the answers we didn’t want from the pen, answers that came to be the 2008’s season undoing.  Fast forward to 2009 and the attitude has changed even though we did have another collapse. 

The bullpen is solid now with K-Rod being our closer and J.J. Putz being our setup guy.  The Mets went from not having a closer to having 2 potential closers in the bullpen.  The Mets got rid Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, Joe Smith and Duaner Sanchez and added Sean Green and Bobby Parnell.  The Mets realized that the entire bullpen needed an overhaul so that’s exactly what Omar Minaya did.  Omar and the Mets realized that getting rid of one guy was not the answer.  The psyche of the club needed to see new arms coming out of the bullpen to get rid of the bad taste of last season. 

The lineup looks very much the same on paper except for the addition of Daniel Murphy being promoted to full time outfielder but there is more than meets the eye.  Luis Castillo has slimmed down, his body is healthy and he seems to have a new attitude going into the season.  He is dedicated to proving that last year was a fluke and the Luis Castillo that we’ve seen in the past can still play ball.  Carlos Delgado had a horrible start last season but halfway through the season turned it around and we saw the Carlos Delgado of old.  Some were questioning if that was just a fluke but Delgado’s performance in Spring Training and the WBC shows that he has more left in the tank than we thought this time last year.  He was also recovering from injuries that I believe were not fully healed like he wanted up to believe.  Ryan Church is healthy and is playing good ball this spring and of course now we’ll have a platoon with him and Tatis against lefties this season. 

This is Jerry Manuel’s first full year and the changes from the previous management are obviously clear.  Jerry is very much a hands on manager, something that Willie Randolph wasn’t.  Jerry thinks outside of the box and pushes a team first attitude.  Willie on the other hand let the players go work on themselves without him.  Jerry saw that one of the lineups difficulties last season was the ability to hit to the opposite filed and instituted that new 80 pitch hitting drill.  Watching Spring Training games and seeing our guys in the WBC I think that drill really worked.  I saw Delgado, Beltran, Wright and Reyes go the other way throughout the tournament. 

The biggest change is that the Mets have a new ballpark that they will be calling home.  A new chapter in Mets history will begin on April 13, 2009 when the Mets play their home opener once Tom Seaver pitches the ceremonial first pitch to Mike Piazza to start not just a new and hopeful season but a new chapter in Mets history.  This is a good thing, the Mets are starting this season with a clean slate which is what this team needs after the last two seasons.  Citi Field has not seen a collapse on the last day of the season for two consecutive years.  A new home brings renewed hope and confidence that this year the Mets will live up to their potential and win the division.  The Times They Are A-Changin’ for the Mets and I for one cannot wait to see what the new times brings. Play Ball!

Jerry Manuel has officially named pitcher Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter for the Mets. The news was announced moments ago on SNY’s Daily News Live.

On Friday, Manuel hesitated and refused to say whether Livan had won the job, but based on many factors Hernandez it was obvious that Hernandez had done enough to prove he was most deserving of the job.

Hernandez was tied with Johan Santana with a 3.07 ERA to lead all the starters.

He may not wow you with a 95 mph fastball, or knee-knuckling curve, but what he does give the Mets is an innings eater who will keep his team in the game.

In the last three seasons, the Mets have had over 20 different pitchers in the five spot, and maybe Livan Hernandez will give the Mets some stability there this season.

Some stories you just can’t
make up. But they are entertaining on a slow news day.

During the Mets-Orioles rain
delayed game yesterday, the Oriole announcers left after the 1^st
rain delay. So for the 8 innings afterward, there was no commentary. I guess we’re
not the only ones growing tired waiting for Spring Training to finish. The
official story is that the radio station told the announcers that they were
free to go. An hour later, the rain delay ended and the game resumed, with no
announcers.

A hairy situation was
brewing in Florida last week. Marlin manager Fredi Gonzalez instituted a
professional shape-up in the clubhouse. Long hair was supposed to be cut. This
didn’t sit well with franchise SS Hanley Ramirez(whose hair really isn’t that
long). Ramirez demanded to be traded, as well as writing an expletive across
his shirt. Luckily for the Marlins, Hanley then relented on his trade demands
and apologized for his stance. Still, if you’re the Marlins, don’t anger the
one player who has a long-term contract.

Pitcher Julian Tavarez
recently apologized for calling the Washington Nationals organization a 600-lb.
J-Lo. He explained why he signed with the Nationals with an allegory: describing
a scene at 4:00 AM, when a lonely man has had much too much to drink, and every
woman looks hot through the beer-goggles. The Nationals came along in the form
of a 600 lb. woman who looked, like Jennifer Lopez, and to him, it was J-Lo.
This might be the funniest way to describe why free-agents would sign with
Washington.

On a more serious note,
former star Dontrelle Willis’s attempt to make something of his career with the
Detroit Tigers took a huge detour. Willis, who the Tigers acquired in the
Miguel Cabrera blockbuster trade last year, could not pitch worth a dime and
couldn’t contend for the fifth spot in the rotation. Today, Willis was
diagnosed with an anxiety disorder that has placed him on the DL.  Interestingly, this anxiety disorder was
discovered through a blood test. Doctors noted a chemical imbalance in his
blood.

For anyone who follows
fantasy baseball, Kevin Gregg has won the closer role in Chicago over Carlos
Marmol.

MLB has created an app for
the iPhone, that allows you to listen to the radio broadcasts of any team, home
or away.

Till Next Time

Adam Rubin, posted tonights lineup for the game against the Baltimore Orioles.

1. Jose Reyes, ss
2. Daniel Murphy, lf
3. David Wright, 3b
4. Carlos Delgado, 1b
5. Carlos Beltran, cf
6. Ryan Church, rf
7. Ramon Castro, c
8. Luis Castillo, 2b

Jerry Manuel has suggested on a few occasions that Murphy would be his choice to bat second this season. However, he continued to use Castillo in the two hole for most of the spring. With just one week until opening day, it looks like Manuel has penciled a lineup that we just might just see again on April 6th when we take on the Reds in Cincinnati.

Obviously, Brian Schneider will be batting in the seventh spot, but for the most part this is how it will most likely play out.

I’m a little concerned about Carlos Beltran batting fifth, and wonder if anyone else shares those sentiments?

I realize that it’s meant to break up the lefthanded hitters, but at what cost?

I wonder what we can expect when the Mets face a lefty on the mound, and the lineup were to include Fernando Tatis?

1. Jose Reyes
2. Ryan Church/Daniel Murphy
3. Carlos Beltran
4. David Wright
5. Carlos Delgado
6. Fernando Tatis
7. Brian Schneider
8. Luis Castillo

This lineup seems more balanced to me with Beltran hitting third and Wright in the cleanup spot.

Manuel continues to call Murphy his everyday left fielder, and you might remember that he hinted Tatis would platoon with Church rather than Murphy. We still don’t know if that was purely to get a rise out of Church or if he meant it.

Tatis has had an impressive spring, and I do hope he’s in there no matter what against southpaws.

As for Castillo batting eight… I know many Mets fans would rather see him bat second, and who knows… maybe he will impress everyone and work his way back to the number two spot. In that event, with an “effective” Luis Castillo batting second, the Mets lineup looks very scary…

Versus LHP
1. Jose Reyes
2. Luis Castillo
3. Carlos Beltran
4. David Wright
5. Carlos Delgado
6. Fernando Tatis
7. Daniel Murphy/Ryan Church 
8. Brian Schneider

Versus RHP
1. Jose Reyes
2. Luis Castillo
3. David Wright
4. Carlos Delgado
5. Carlos Beltran
6. Ryan Church 
7. Daniel Murphy 
8. Brian Schneider

Wow… both of these lineups are deep with offense. Castillo could play a big role if he can capture his old form and help to make all of this work.

One last note… After watching Carlos Delgado in the WBC and in Mets camp, I no longer have any doubts that he will put together a full season that will be comparable to last year’s second half. If he pulls it off, this could be one of the best offensive teams the Mets have ever put together.

Those are two big if’s… Castillo and Delgado… But if I were a betting man, I’d bet good money that those two will come out and show everyone they still have plenty left in the tank this season.