Jose Reyes, considered by many to be one of the game’s best leadoff men when healthy, is by most accounts from Port St. Lucie, looking great and ready to go. But is he really a great leadoff hitter? Sorry to disappoint you, but a career .335 OBP is far from great and as far as leadoff men goes, I’d say it’s probably below average. Even in his best season in 2006, Jose Reyes topped out at [...]

Look who’s back!? Mike Piazza is in Port St. Lucie today to coach the Italian baseball team, against the Mets team of prospects.  He seemed to be very cool, calm, and collected.   Before he went to the field to get ready for the game, Piazza did a 10 minute session with reporters.  He talked to them about ownership, the Wilpons, and other things. This was what he told reporters about becoming a owner in MLB. [...]

I haven’t done one of these in a while, but I wanted to promote a comment from one of our readers that I thought was very interesting and might stir some debate. Shamsky wrote: My brother-in-law who has been in Port St. Lucie for almost 3 weeks now, has told me some interesting stuff about what he’s seen at Mets camp where he goes almost daily. Last night while talking about second base, he said [...]

Mets ace Johan Santana, who will start the season on the disabled list, took a small step this week in his rehabilitation from Sept. 14 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. Santana threw on back-to-back days from flat ground twice this week and said he is “progressing little by little.” He had been throwing every other day, three times a week since arriving in camp. “It’s coming along pretty good,” [...]

While reading this post by Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, I came across some information that may play a big role on this supposed seven pitcher battle for the final two pots in the rotation. See what you think: Young’s contract was specifically structured for him to be a starter. He receives a $1.1 million salary, and can max out at $4.5 million with 31 starts and 180 innings. Similarly, Capuano’s contract was structured [...]

Do you guys remember the post where I discussed how Chris Young would benefit the Mets? Well, Chris Young had another solid outing today and is well on his way to cementing the number four spot in the rotation. All told, Young has now tossed five innings without allowing an earned run in exhibition play. Today against the Marlins, he pitched three innings and allowed a pair of hits and a pair of walks while striking out one. “Today I wasn’t [...]

As reported earlier by Ken Nelson and Richard Sandomir, Mario Cuomo who is trying to broker a settlement between the owners of the Mets and the trustees representing the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, said Thursday that he was working with both sides on a daily basis. Cuomo spoke to reporters at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan where he greeted lawyers for the trustee and the owners [...]

Some hopeful news from Andy Martino of the Daily News this morning. While Oliver Perez remains officially in the rotation competition, the Mets have decided internally that he will not be a starter during the regular season, sources say, and the team remains likely to release its $36 million pitcher before Opening Day. But Perez probably pitched well enough Thursday to earn another Grapefruit League appearance. With most of the front office watching from the [...]

Hey everyone!  Here is the Morning Grind! While the back end of the rotation is somewhat up in the air the leading contenders appear to be newly acquired arms Chris Young and Chris Capuano. Chris Young seems to be a lock for the fourth spot but why is Capuano considered the leading man for the fifth? With a year  of transition on the horizon and fixing the mess of the former regime, why not give the young guy, in this [...]

Terry Collins was a guest of Mike Francesa this afternoon on WFAN and had some interesting things to say. Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog recapped most of the interview, but here are some of the attention-grabbers. He’d like to start trimming down the roster sooner than later, especially with four second baseman competing against one another, and nine relievers battling for two spots in the bullpen. He would like Daniel Murphy to be on the team, because he’s ‘swinging [...]