Rounding The Bases

One post to recap all of your Mets news from the web…

I Feel Fine – Everyone is breathing easier today after a whirlwind 24 hours that had some of us fearing the worst about Johan Santana’s sore elbow. He threw without incident yesterday, and it was Johan himself who insisted that he didn’t need an tests and that he was fine. The Mets will still monitor him closely, but as one of our readers said, “the Mets have dodged a major bullet”.

Give Peace A Chance – According to Neil Best’s Watchdog, David Wright and Mike Francesa have buried the hatch. Apparently, Francesa announced on his Ch. 4 TV show that he and the Wright spoke for 45 minutes on Friday after Francesa’s show from Port St. Lucie. That sucks… I wonder how hard Fat-cesa had to beg before Wright agreed to end the feud?

World Beaters – Fifteen Mets players are leaving camp to play in the World Baseball Classic. Among them are Jose Reyes (Dominican Republic), Oliver Perez (Mexico), Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico), Wright and Putz (U.S.), Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela) and former St. Lucie Met Shawn Bowman (Canada).

Redding, Willing and Able – Tim Redding threw off a mound Saturday for the first time since being shut down with discomfort in the back of his right shoulder. The righthander reported no difficulty and said he remained on track to pitch in his first spring game a week from Sunday.

No Power Shortage At Catcher – The Mets got a whopping eight RBIs out of the catcher position, with Brian Schneider blasting a grand slam as part of a five-RBI day and Ramon Castro adding a three-run shot. The Mets also had a three run blast from Carlos Delgado who started his career as a catcher.

Better Late Than Never – Tony Armas Jr.’s visa issues have been resolved and the righthander arrived in the Mets’ clubhouse at 7:50 on Sunday morning. Armas went 1-0 with a 7.56 ERA in three appearances (one start) for the Mets last season. He went 5-7 with a 2.54 ERA in 17 starts for Triple-A New Orleans of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Snow Day – It’s brutal out there, so I hope you’re all home like me being a lazy bum and watching Sponge Bob Squarepants.