Mets catching prospect Josh Thole, appeared in todays 7-2 loss to the Tigers and singled in his only at-bat. If you haven’t heard of Thole before, get used to hearing his name. Adam Rubin recently wrote: Thole, now 22, is the Mets’ best catching prospect, a title he did not have last spring. He was not even a full-time catcher then. But Thole, after a breakout season at Class A St. Lucie and a superb [...]

Early this week, I participated in Adam Rubin’s chat and I was lucky enough to get two questions in. My second question was regarding last year’s top three picks from the June Amateur Draft. Joe - Which of last years three First Round Draft Picks (Davis, Havens, Holt) will we see in the big leagues first?  Adam - Definitely Holt. He’s not in big-league camp, but I bet we’ll see him borrowed for Grapefruit League games. Tony Bernazard [...]

Just heard some great news from Kevin Burkhardt who announced that the Mets have canceled Johan Santana’s MRI that was scheduled for Monday. Burkhardt cited two reasons… 1. Santana is feeling good with no discomfort in his elbow. 2. The inclement weather (Nor’easter) in New York played into the decision as well. Either way this has to be viewed as good news on the Santana front. Also, there is some speculation that Santana hurt his elbow [...]

ESPN is reporting that Jim Bowden resigned Sunday after four seasons as the Washington Nationals general manager, leaving under the cloud of a federal investigation into the skimming of signing bonuses given to Latin American prospects. He has maintained his innocence in the matter, but said Sunday, “I’ve become a distraction.” “It’s an emotional decision. It saddens me. But I feel it’s in the best interest of two of the things I love the most, [...]

David Lennon of Newsday reports, This has to be considered good news. Johan Santana made it through this morning’s bullpen session without interruption. He began the workout by long-tossing with K-Rod at about 150 feet — though Santana was lobbing it compared to Rodriguez — then threw about 19 warmup pitches from the mound, with the catcher in front of the plate. When Santana finally had the catcher move back into position, he threw 31 [...]

As reported by David Lennon of Newsday, Can’t say this was unexpected. Johan Santana will have his scheduled bullpen session in a matter of minutes. But when he is done, Santana will hop a plane to New York and be examined by team physician David Altchek tomorrow at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Those tests are expected to include an MRI. GM Omar Minaya said the decision is a “precautionary” move and Santana is expected [...]

Today is a big day Mets fans. Not big in terms of a potential make or break game… It’s too early for that. However, depending on how Santana feels after his bullpen session it could be a big day in what could become a make or break decision. In a little while, Johan Santana will take one of the bullpen mounds and throw some of the most important pitches in his Mets career, or at [...]

Spring training is here! Even if the games don’t count for anything, it’s still good to see live baseball once again. Welcome to my first pre-season installment of Hot/Not. So far this spring, we’ve had the good, the bad, and the Freddy Garcia. The Good*Jose Reyes looked really good coming out of the three hole this week. At first, I was opposed to this move because his stolen base count might go down, but I’d [...]

Update 3:00 PM – Adam Rubin reports that Johan Santana may not appear in a Grapefruit League game for at least two weeks because of elbow tightness, and the ace wouldn’t rule out missing an Opening Day start in Cincinnati on April 6. Original Post 10:17 AM – Newwsday is reporting that Johan Santana met with GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel for 40 minutes this morning about the best way to handle his [...]

Redding Will Pitch Today – According to several reports, pitcher Tim Redding will throw a bullpen session today. It will be his first time pitching since he was shelved with some soreness ten days ago Just Call Him Babe – Bobby Kielty decided to abandon switch hitting yesterday and then came out to pinch hit in the ninth inning… The result was a Ruthian blast that.went for a three-run homer. The Mets came up short [...]