In his latest post on ESPN insider (subscription only), Keith Law ranked baseball’s top rookies using a different set of criteria based solely on the immediate impact a player will have this season. Law factors in expected roles and playing time as well as his expectations for their immediate performance. One Met made the list, and here is what he had to say about Travis d’Arnaud who he ranked #16 among his Top 20 2013 Impact [...]

I realize the matter of national pride and his desire to represent Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, but Johan Santana is set to get $31 million from the Mets this year (including a $5.5 million buyout) and that’s where his responsibility lies. There’s no disputing Santana pitches hard and has been a workhorse when healthy, but the problem is staying healthy. Only in 2008, his first year with the Mets, did Santana make his entire allotment [...]

Chris Jaffe over at The Hardball Times, emailed me a link to his latest post marking several notable anniversaries today including this one: 5,000 days ago, one of the greatest stunts any manager ever pulled occurred. It was Fake Mustache Night in the Mets dugout—at least it was for manager Bobby Valentine. It was June 9, 1999 and Valentine’s Mets hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in an interleague game. It was a close game—in fact it went [...]

Updated 2/14/2013   To this day, I don’t know beyond a doubt what Clemens was truly intending or thinking. He’s never said anything different than he said that night. There remain questions only he can answer. But with the extra clarity that comes with time, perspective, and video, I’ll go this far: there should have been a fight. It hadn’t been possible in July, when I was lying on my back with my head ringing [...]

I’m sure many of us are excited to see the Mets’ catcher of the future, Travis d’Arnaud, take the field this spring. Sure, he likely won’t head north with the big club right away, but all reports indicate that he is the real deal. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely seeking the reassurance that d’Arnaud has what it takes to be a Major League catcher. Luckily, I received that reassurance a few [...]

With Tuesday’s news that Frank Francisco was being shut down due to elbow inflammation, and Parnell was in line to be the Mets new closer, I began to think about some other possible closer options. Mets fans know Jeurys Familia from being ranked on the teams list of top prospects for the past few seasons. The Dominican Republic native started last season at Triple-A as a starting pitcher, but finished in the Majors as a reliever. This season Sandy [...]

Thomas Javier (T.J.) Rivera, 2B Bats: R  Throws: R Height: 6′ 1″  Weight: 190 lb. Position: Second Base Age: 24 ETA: 2015 Background: T.J. Rivera is a fellow New Yorker, born and raised in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. He was signed as a free-agent out of Troy University back in 2011. Not much is generally expected out of guys that aren’t drafted, but Rivera seems like his is on a mission to change that. In [...]

Grant Brisbee wrote a great article last month that only came to my attention today. While browsing through Baseball Nation I came across a post entitled, Baseball’s Most Underrated Reliever. Over the last five seasons, 40 relief pitchers have posted an ERA under 2.00 with 50 or more innings pitched in a season. Of those relievers, 25 of them are still active… The average salary of those 25 pitchers: about $5.4 million. Of those 25 relievers, there [...]

Updated by HoJo at 4:45 PM Sandy Alderson was a guest of Mike Francesa where he said a few things regarding his outfield strategy this offseason. First, regarding Scott Hairston he felt there were other possibilities (trade and free agent) he was considering and that he was blindsided when Hairston signed with the Cubs and then one day later Justin Upton was traded to the Braves. He tried to hint he was working with the D’Backs for [...]

Two days into camp and the Mets have already taken two shots. The first was inevitable, that Michael Bourn signed elsewhere. Come to think of it, so was the second when Frank Francisco was shut down with elbow inflammation. The proviso was Francisco would be the closer if healthy and he is clearly not. Terry Collins told us that it may be a while before Francisco throws a baseball again. Ouch. How long he’ll be shut [...]