The Washington Nationals have had an offseason to forget (finding out one of their top prospect was fake), but their biggest improvement happened off-the-field with the resignation of GM Jim Bowden. The Nationals were in negotiations with Mark Teixiera before falling short. They did, however, sign perennial 40 HR outfielder Adam Dunn to a 2-year, $20 million contract. They traded for power hitting outfielder Josh Willingham and starter Scott Olsen. They lost Tim Redding to [...]

Jerry Manuel has set the starting rotation for the first week of the season. April 6 at Reds: Johan Santana vs. RHP Aaron Harang April 8 at Reds: Mike Pelfrey vs. RHP Edison Volquez April 9 at Reds: Oliver Perez vs. RHP Bronson Arroyo The Pelfrey/Volquez game should be an interesting matchup and will be a good test for Big Pelf. April 10 at Marlins: John Maine vs. RHP Chris Volstad April 11 at Marlins: Livan [...]

Joe and Evan of the morning show on WFAN, are reporting that Gary Sheffield could be signing with the Mets by tonight. They believe that one of the reasons the Mets are interested in Sheffield is because he would be able to hit his historic 500th homerun with Mets. UPDATE 3:30 PM – As part of the $400,000 deal, the Mets have promised Sheffield “significant playing time” as reported by Mike Francesa of WFAN aaccording to a [...]

The Florida Marlins enter 2009 as a young, cheap team looking to see how well they can do before they have to trade away some players. Again. The Marlins, who finished 84-77 the year prior, traded away 1B Mike Jacobs to the Kansas City Royals for set-up man Leo Nunez. The Marlins also traded Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen to the Washington Nationals for Emilio Bonifacio and two minor leaguers. Closer Kevin Gregg was dealt [...]

The hard work has paid off for Darren O’Day, Brian Stokes and Bobby Parnell. Adam Rubin of the Daily News has learned from a source that all three have been informed that they will be a part of the Mets opening day rosters and that they have each won a job in the bullpen. So here is how we look now… 2009 Mets Opening Day Bullpen Francisco Rodriguez – CloserJ.J. Putz – Setup ManSean Green [...]

Jerry Manuel has officially named pitcher Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter for the Mets. The news was announced moments ago on SNY’s Daily News Live. On Friday, Manuel hesitated and refused to say whether Livan had won the job, but based on many factors Hernandez it was obvious that Hernandez had done enough to prove he was most deserving of the job. Hernandez was tied with Johan Santana with a 3.07 ERA to lead [...]

Some stories you just can’t make up. But they are entertaining on a slow news day. During the Mets-Orioles rain delayed game yesterday, the Oriole announcers left after the 1st rain delay. So for the 8 innings afterward, there was no commentary. I guess we’re not the only ones growing tired waiting for Spring Training to finish. The official story is that the radio station told the announcers that they were free to go. An [...]

I can’t believe it… just one more week until opening day! There’s a lot of little things here and there to report this morning, and rather than inundate you with a half dozen little posts, I’ll get all of you caught up on the latest. Yesterday, the Mets lost a rain-soaked affair 5-1 to the Baltimore Orioles. It seems like we’ve played them twenty times this spring. Mike Pelfrey was supposed to start and toss [...]

Brian Stokes Trade? According to the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers had serious discussions with the New York Mets in recent days about relief pitcher Brian Stokes, the Free Press has learned, but the chances for a deal fell dramatically when the Mets determined that Stokes was likely to make their Opening Day roster. The Tigers are believed to be shopping outfielder Marcus Thames who has been linked to the Mets in the past. Last [...]

The New York Post has confirmed that the Mets cleared up their bullpen picture tonight by releasing Ron Villone, reassigning Nelson Figueroa and optioning Carlos Muniz. Barring a late move, Villone’s release means the Mets have decided to go with Pedro Feliciano as their lone left-handed reliever at the start of the season. With Brian Stokes and promising prospect Bobby Parnell appearing to be locks, today’s moves also mean Fernando Nieve, Darren O’Day and Elmer Dessens [...]

Ben Shpigel of the NY Times reveals the mounting concern over the Mets’ $36 million dollar man, Oliver Perez. Pitching coach Dan Warthen had some scathing remarks after seeing Oliver Perez fail to make it out of the fourth inning yesterday in a 10-6 loss to the Tigers. The pitching coach Dan Warthen called him “out of shape” on Wednesday after Perez failed to get through the fourth inning of the Mets’ 10-6 loss to [...]