According to a report on Mets.com, former Mets manager Joe Frazier died on Tuesday in Broken Arrow, Okla., at age 88, according to the New York Times. Frazier managed the Mets for the entire 1976 season and 45 games of the ’77 season, spanning most of the time between Yogi Berra and Joe Torre. Frazier’s Mets went 86-76 in his first season at the helm, but stumbled to a 15-30 record in his second campaign, [...]

According to the New York Daily News, sources have told the paper that Howard Johnson has decided to leave the Mets organization.  Johnson played for the Mets from 1985-1993, joined the coaching staff in 2007 as first base coach, and later became the hitting instructor.  He served in that role under Jerry Manuel, and while he seemed headed for reassignment once the team dismissed Manuel at the end of last year, team insiders assumed that [...]

I thought that the start of Spring Training would be just what Mets fans needed - that hearing the sounds of gloves popping and bats cracking would get all of us back to talking about Mets baseball. Finally, I thought, we could stop talking about Madoff and start talking about who will fill the last two spots in the rotation or win the second base competition. I guess I was just being naive. Like Al Pacino said in the Godfather [...]

Here’s a look at Scouting Book’s Top Mets Propsects for 2011. It’s actually the first prospect list I’ve seen this year that still has Fernando Martinez has the top ranked outfielder in the system. 1. Jenrry Mejia RHP (#54 overall) 2. Wilmer Flores SS (#74 overall) 3. Reese Havens SS (#142 overall) 4. Fernando Martinez OF (#150 overall) 5. Dillon Gee RHP (#159 overall) 6. Matt Harvey RHP (#166 overall) 7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis OF (#169 [...]

Albert Pujols is undoubtedly one of the greatest players the game of Baseball has ever seen. It simply goes without question. If dominance was a person he would look like the chiseled Latin Superman that is Pujols. Today, he and his agent Dan Lozano, turned down St. Louis’ contract extension. The terms of the deal, at least according to the tight lipped Cardinal hierarchy of General Manager John Mozeliak and Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., will [...]

Is that a sweet set of wheels or what? Those Italians sure know how to make a sportscar. Francisco Rodriguez spoke to reporters today and was as contrite and as apologetic as he could be. He took responsibility for his actions and said he learned a valuable lesson that will not be lost on him. He is very grateful that he is still with the Mets, his thumb feels great, and he’s looking forward to [...]

According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Mets have signed lefthanded reliever Justin Hampson to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training. Hampson, 30, hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2008 when he went 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in 35 relief appearances with the Padres. He was originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 28th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, and is 5-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 79 appearances in his [...]

A couple of weeks ago, in the post you can read below, I said Daniel Murphy was the early favorite for the second base job. Of course my comments were tongue in cheek and just making light of his early showing to Spring Training. That said, a few hours ago during a televised press conference on SNY, I believe that Terry Collins may have tipped his hand regarding who his favorite is for the everyday second [...]

This morning, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon spoke to reporters at the Mets Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie and addressed the Madoff related lawsuit and how it effects the Mets. MetsBlog posts the following recap: He says the Mets/Madoff situation has been a distraction, and he feels bad for his family who has taken a lot of criticism. He says they will fight this situation and will be victorious in the end, and will [...]