Grapefruit action seems to be dulling the panic that echoed throughout Mets camp following news of Jose Reyes missing possibly 8 weeks of action due to a thyroid condition. Frankly the club has shown many positives in pre-season action, the negativity was clearly premature and their greatest area of concern, pitching, has shown great promise. That said, I tend to withhold all judgments until regular season action begins in less than a month. Preseason is a [...]

In 2000, Mike Hampton helped the Mets win the National League pennant.  After the Mets lost the World Series to the Yankees, Hampton left New York for the better school systems in Colorado.  (The $121 million given to him over the course of the eight years he signed for had nothing to do with it.) Apparently, Hampton wasn’t the only pitcher to turn down money from the Mets in 2000, only to sign with Colorado.  [...]

We all know the Mets added a power bat in Jason Bay, are still dealing with injuries/medical issues to key players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and have huge holes in the starting rotation.  But I haven’t heard as much talk about the bullpen.  A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote a blog on this site about how the Mets’ revamped bullpen, a terrible weakness in 2008, would pile up K’s and [...]

Tim Marchman of SI.com, had an interesting piece yesterday in which he ranks each MLB teams core players. By his definition, core players would be the top four players. By his reckoning, the top five quartets in baseball are as follows: 1. Yankees (CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson) 2. Phillies (Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins) 3. Mets (David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay) 4. Red Sox (Dustin [...]

Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported yesterday that Tampa Bay Rays RHP Andy Sonnanstine could be on the trading block. There will probably be plenty of trade rumors surrounding Rays right-hander Andy Sonnanstine over the final few weeks of spring training. But no one has made a formal inquiry yet, one major league source said Monday afternoon. Among the teams that could use another starter: the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Mets, Twins, Dodgers and Nationals. [...]

Here are some questions I asked of Mets beat writer, Brian Costa of The Star Ledger, during his live chat yesterday. Joe D: Will Bobby Parnell get lost in a numbers game and start the season in Buffalo? Will he ever revert back to starting as opposed to relief? Brian Costa: I don’t think he’s in danger of not making the team, but in that bullpen right now, nothing is certain. He may one day [...]

In a sign that Mets shortstop Jose Reyes might be out closer to eight weeks rather than two weeks, the Mets are reportedly looking at Cristian Guzman as a possible temporary replacement. Rich Coutinho of ESPN reported via  Twitter, The Mets may be looking for another SS since Reyes could be out a few weeks- I am hearing the name Cristian Guzman has been discussed. I like Guzman and he’d be an obvious upgrade over both [...]

Pretty soon, all the pre-season bantering will end and the regular season will be underway. There are 19 days left between now and opening day on Sun, April 4th. The Amazins play 20 games, including two split squad, and most notably, a fitting test for them are the 4 games against the Cards, which will certainly feature near full regular season lineups. The real talk for now is what’s happening on the field in PSL with [...]

This is the time during Spring Training that all Major League teams start to cut down their rosters, sending some players down to their Minor League affiliates, while others are sent on their way right out of the organization. The funny thing about this process is that there are very few surprises as to who stays and who goes. Sometimes a young player with just a little minor league experience makes such an outstanding impression that [...]