Jayson Stark of ESPN grabbed my attention this morning when he posted this chart showing how Toronto Blue Jays’ phenom Brett Lawrie, stacked up against some of the all time greats with his .953 OPS last season. That’s some pretty amazing company and at 22 years old, Brett Lawrie is ready to explode onto the scene as one of the game’s brightest stars and best offensive players. Since 1900, only a dozen other players have [...]

They are still talking about adding an extra wild card , but it won’t end there. The one-game playoff is bound to drag on to three games, then five …. I realize the old format will never be again, but the more you add to the playoff format the more the sport is diluted. The season drags on long enough as it is and this won’t help matters. What if there’s two teams vying for [...]

During Spring Training some of the best young prospects in the New York Mets system will get their chance to play with the major leaguers and show off what they can do. There are a fair amount of Mets fans who know quite a bit about our top prospects, but for those who don’t MMO is pleased to bring you an interview with one of the most respected experts on baseball prospects and minor league baseball. [...]

As all have you have seen in virtually every major media news outlet, Ryan Braun won his appeal of his positive PEDs test, lifting the 50-game suspension that was looming over him all winter, the first time any player has ever done so. Being such major news, we thought we’d have a few MMO staff members give their two cents on what they think of Braun’s beating the system and the fallout from this entire [...]

My buddy Mack Ade from Mack’s Mets shot an arrow into the air, and this is what happened… Mack – I have designated you as one of the “Lords of Baseball”. Well, at least you’re one of mine. The question… what two teams will play in the 2012 World Series? Jason Parks, Baseball Prospectus – Boston Red Sox vs. San Francisco Giants Joe D., Mets Merized Online – Hi Mack, I always wanted to be [...]

Ronald Blum of the Denver Post reported yesterday that commissioner Bud Selig expects baseball to expand its playoffs this season. “I really believe we’ll have the wild card for 2012, this year,” Selig said Friday night in Chicago at a White Sox fan festival. “Clubs really want it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue that the clubs want more than to have the extra wild card this year.” “We’re working on dates right now. [...]

With Prince Fielder taking off for the Motor City, he becomes yet another premiere first baseman to leave the National League. Fielder now joins the likes of Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez –to name a few– to leave for the AL in recent years. This leaves only Joey Votto, Lance Berkman and Ryan Howard as proven elite first baseman in the NL. Now 2012 will give this crop of young, talented men patrolling first, a [...]

With the hot stove season nearing its end, I’ll be chipping in a lot less on Mets news, and focus more on the upcoming First Year Player Draft in June, as I did last year. I’m currently working on my own “Top 15 Draft Prospects” list and a “Five Players To Watch” piece for the Mets top selections in 2012. Both will be ready in early February. I’m not going to do any mock drafts [...]

  Just want to say thanks again to Joe D. for posting on my blog as I go through some things. Going in today for a procedure. Have been in a lot of discomfort lately and hoping this will help. I will keep trying to post whenever I can. In the interim, some thoughts have been going through my mind I’d like to share with you. 1) I understand selling bricks on the walk ways [...]

When things are going bad with a franchise, there are times when fans will look at every decision made and search for the negatives. Recently, it seemed as though some hysteria erupted at the fact that Mike Pelfrey signed a 1 year deal worth $5.7 million to avoid arbitration. Sometimes I find that people comment on things they either do not understand or refuse to understand. For me, if I don’t understand a process, I [...]

It is almost a given the Miami Marlins will finish ahead of the Mets this season, and that was even before the acquisition of Carlos Zambrano. If Zambrano is in shape, physically, mentally and emotionally, he’ll make the Marlins better. But, I’m not ready to put a Dream Team label on the Marlins. We’ve seen how well that works before. However, the Marlins have made significant upgrades and you can guess the level of enthusiasm. [...]