With all the talk about #2 through #4 of the rotation for the Amazins, the 5th spot is as up in the air as an Ike Davis homerun. There are arguably about three or four pitchers contending for the spot. After a tenuous 2009, a clear message is being sent to everyone not named Santana or Rodriguez on the pitching staff: The best pitchers get the spots. Pure and simple. Let’s take a look at the prospective back-enders. We need solidification in the rotation and the #5 spot is no exception. here are the top three contenders along with their updated spring stats.

Jon Niese - 7.71 ERA, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 5 K  

Considered by many including Jerry Manuel to be the #5 starter and will have to pitch himself out of the job to lose it to anyone else on this list. It may take a big collapse to push him out of this spot. His big league experience is slim, but he did pitch admirably for the big league team when called up. He pitched 6 games in 2 years. He’s healthy and has shown no ill effects from the leg injury that derailed his season. All he needs to do now is pitch his tail off. The consensus pick.

Fernando Nieve – 6.00 ERA, 6 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 2 K

The dark horse in the race for the 5th spot. He sported a 3-3 record in 7 games (2.95 ERA) last year at a time when the team really needed him desperately due to pitching woes. Now that he’s over the leg injury that put him down last year, he could very well upend Niese for the final spot. The only true difference between them is that one is a lefty and the other is a righty. Sounds trivial? That may make a huge difference as the Mets could use competent lefties in their rotations to offset the lefty heavy lineup in Philly, for one. Plus, Nieve is out of options and Niese is not.

Nelson Figueroa – 0.00 ERA, 8 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 9 K

What’s to say? Figgy has been up and down and all around and rumor has it that the Buffalo to La Guardia Shuttle will be named after him, Figgy helps his cause this spring by pitching eight scoreless innings in his three appearances this spring. Figgy (and the Mets) know that if he is sent down once more, he may have seen his last opportunity in a Mets uniform. He clearly has been verbal about playing in Flushing and wants to remain with the team. He’s pitching, not only like he wants to stay as a Met, but like someone who intends to make it really hard for the powers-that-be to choose anyone else for the 5th spot.

Who do you like for the 5th spot? I’m going to say Figgy should be given the spot, allow Nieve to be the long man, and bring Niese along slowly. This gives the Mets room to move if Niese has to be sent back down since he has options left. Figgy and Nieve can be interchanged at the 5th and the long relief spot but I think Figgy deserves one last chance to make an impact. That’s my perspective. What’s yours?

Updated 3/11 12:50 pm

Reyes Will Be Okay, But Needs To Completely Shut It Down For A Few Weeks…

In a surprise development to the Mets and Jose Reyes’ agent, the shortstop will remain in New York for several weeks and open the season on the DL.

Test results to determine the extent of Jose Reyes’s hyperthyroidism confirm that his levels are still too high for physical activity, according to a release by the Mets.

Doctors have told him to rest and make changes to his diet. These steps, along with medication, should allow his thyroid levels to return to a normal level. At that time, Reyes will be able to resume baseball activities. When this might happen is still very uncertain according to a conference call by Omar Minaya.

This will not be treated with medication and they do not have a specific timeframe.

The fact of the matter is that Reyes is will have to be out for weeks as opposed to days said Reyes’ agent, Peter Greenberg who is also on the conference call.

Even if he does return to physical activities, he will still have to go into some sort of extended spring training to be in condition to play everyday. For now, he has been ordered to completely shut down all activities.

Get well soon, Jose.

Thanks to Matt Cerrone for his live updates on MetsBlog of the conference call.

Updated 3:20 pm

The Reyes situation has just gotten a little more clearer and less muddled after GM Omar Minaya talked with reporters in response to comments that Jose Reyes made that he was fine.

“I had a conversation with our doctors, a conversation with his representative and we’re all in agreement that he has elevated thyroid levels.”

One of Jose Reyes’ agents, Chris Leible, confirmed the call with Minaya and said there is no communication issue.

“We’re on the same page with the Mets and we’re waiting for the test results.”

Also, according to a report by Adam Rubin, a source told him that Reyes may not even need any treatment and that just a simple dietary change could be the only course of action.

Updated 11:20 am

According to David Waldstein of the New York Times, Jose Reyes has a ‘mild and perhaps temporary case of hyperthyroidism,’ which might not require treatment, as stated by his agent, Peter Greenberg.

“We’re waiting for the final results tomorrow,” Greenberg said, “but all indications are that it’s the most minimal case of hyperthyroidism possible.  The doctor was very pleased and so is Jose.”

According to Waldstein, Reyes could be cleared to play within days.

Maybe this isn’t nearly as bad as the Mets doctors let on…

Original Post 1:30 am

Hours after the New York Mets issued a statement via SNY that said Jose Reyes has an overactive thyroid, the star shortstop said “No way, my thyroid is fine.”

Here we go again…

In a story that gets stranger by the minute, Reyes told ESPN Deportes’ Enrique Rojas that he’s fine.

“The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I’m fine and that there’s nothing wrong with my thyroid. The test [taken to follow one conducted during his physical] showed that I’m fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed.”

Last week doctors cleared Reyes to play Friday, but team doctors in New York wanted to take a closer look at him and scratched him from his scheduled game and had him fly to New York for more testing. The Mets said on Tuesday that Reyes is expected to remain in New York while the results of additional blood tests are used to determine his treatment after tests confirmed he has an overactive thyroid. The additional test results aren’t expected back before Thursday.

This is the second time in as many months that the Mets and one of their players have had conflicting reports about their health, diagnosis and treatment, the other being Carlos Beltran.

It looks like this will become yet another media circus, as once again it appears that somewhere between the player, the doctors and the Mets there is a total breakdown in communication.

In a span of three hours, both the Mets and Jose Reyes have issued statements regarding this alleged thyroid condition, and each version is a complete contradiction of the other.

Why does this keep happening?

According to Adam Rubin, of the Daily News, Jerry Manuel  does in fact intend to use Jenrry Mejia in short relief appearances. First, Mr. Rubin’s quote, than my outrage.

Look for Manuel to get his way with Jenrry Mejia, at least as far as working the 20-year-old righthander as a reliever from this point forward in camp. If Mejia does end up with Double-A Binghamton, it’s likely he won’t be ready to enter the rotation immediately there, since he won’t be stretched out. My expectation is that from this point forward in camp, Mejia will work as a reliever rather than get three-, four- or five-inning work.

As Joba Chamberlain got torched in yesterday’s game between the Yankees and Tigers, I can’t help but see the similarities in his evolution to what the Mets are proposing to do with pitching phenom Jenrry Mejia.

Chamberlain gave up six runs on five hits and three walks over 2 1/3 innings on Wednesday. The situation for Chamberlain rapidly deteriorates, and what was once their can’t miss ace of the future, may now be a longshot for the rotation or even the bullpen.

This unfortunate turn of events is the price the Yankees will have to pay for jeopardizing the long term future of a cant-miss top of the rotation starter, just so they could have a solid option in the bullpen for a few months. It was a doomed short term strategy that bore some fruit for three months at the expense what could have been a sensational career as a Yankee ace.

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it…

If the Mets truly believe all that hype that they have been dishing out on Jenrry Mejia, and still proceed in a like manner, it would be akin to or even worse than the trade that sent Scott Kazmir to the Rays for Victor Zambrano.  

There are plenty of good rants today on why the Mets shouldn’t proceed on the course that they have seemingly embarked upon.

No good will come out of this situation, unless a few months of right-handed relief is worth more to you than a top of the rotation starter in 2011 and beyond.

Let the kid go to AA or AAA and hone his craft so that we can reap the rewards of our patience for the next decade.

The time for short-sightedness must come to an end.

As all Mets fans are anxiously waiting for the prognosis for the treatment of Jose Reyes later today, we should all sit back and be thankful for what the Mets have done in this situation.

The Mets are being extra cautious as they should be. The communication gap was more a case of Reyes not understanding the situation, and nothing that the Mets did improperly. 

Reyes, who was cleared to play by doctors in Florida was sent back to New York at the request of the Mets Organization and their doctors for further examination. Met fans who had to suffer through the fiasco of 2009, should take this as a positive step and a blessing in disguise.

In previous situations the Mets flown a player days after a concussion across the country in total disregard for their health. If this was the reason Ryan Church was back on the disabled list later that year, we can’t say, but we can be sure that the Mets were not using rational thought. In addition, the handling of the Beltran situation this winter made it seem the organization was leaning toward Beltran opting against surgery and rehabbing thorough his knee problems. To me all of these actions were penny wise and dollar foolish. We might have gotten to see the player back in the field quickly, but they  would eventually spent more of the season on the disabled list because they were not allowed to properly heal, leading to further complications.

In the new situation with Reyes, I am very pleased to see that the organization is being much more cautious in how they handle the star shortstop.

In the past it would not have surprised me to see Reyes playing through this weekend only to find that he is going to be out through the all-star break due to some thyroid complication that was not resolved with some simple treatment when it was diagnosed.

As we all wait patiently to see our star shortstop back on the field, I urge you to relax and be thankful for the way this is being handled.

Jon Star from Bleacher Report had a well researched piece on which parks were the most difficult to homer in during the 2009 season.

He writes that PETCO Park ranks number one and remains the hardest place in the big leagues to homer in.

Star lists Citi Field as the second most difficult and writes,

Citi Field became notorious for its lack of home runs last season. Tall walls, a significant cut out in the right-center field power alley, and a deep center field limited home run totals in the park’s debut season to 1.60 per game. The Mets have since decided to lower the wall in center field in hopes of sparking some offense. We shall see.

As far as the easiest park to homer in… you guessed it, Yankee Stadium.

We watched as home runs exploded out of Yankee Stadium at a ridiculous rate in the first half of 2009. Yankee Stadium eventually cooled off, allowing 237 home runs in 2009 which was short of the 300 it appeared destined to allow last April. Nonetheless, the dimensions are not true to the dimensions of its predecessor. The straightaway left and right field fences are not only closer, but the walls are shorter.

Combine that with the fabled Yankee Stadium jet stream, and the Yankees’ new home is the easiest place to knock one out of the park.

Citizens Bank Park ranked in second to last place just ahead of the Yankees.

Check out his complete article at Bleacher Report.

Seeing highlights of Nationals’ pitcher Stephen Strasburg from yesterday’s game against Detroit bummed me out just a little.  I love watching great pitchers do their thing, and it’s especially exciting to see young pitchers like Strasburg break into the bigs and blow hitters away.  But I’m just a bit bummed out, because he’s in the Mets’ division and will most likely be facing our team a lot over the next few years.  I’m bummed out because when I start to think about it, there are going to be three aces in the division that will be considered as good as or better than our ace, Johan Santana.

You’ve got Strasburg, who is projected to reach the big leagues as early as July of this coming season.  Then you have Florida’s Josh Johnson, the Met Killer.  And Philly, despite trading away Cliff Lee, replaced him with the perennial all-world Roy Halladay.  The Braves are the only NL East team without a so-called “ace” (or in Washington’s case, potential ace) at the top of their rotation.

Sure, the Nationals and their fans have earned the right to have the type of dominant pitcher that comes along a few times every decade.  Strasburg is being compared to a young Pedro Martinez, and that’s really saying something.  But Johan had another elbow surgery, he’s a year older, and the Mets’ rotation behind him has more question marks than ever.  So every time we see a guy like Strasburg or Johnson or Halladay join a rival team or get called up, it’s effectively and by association making the Mets a little worse.

I’m curious what you all think, so feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions on this matter below.

I have a sneaky suspicion that someone from the front office, maybe even Omar Minaya, took Jerry Manuel on the side and told him how it was regarding prospects Jenrry Mejia and Ike Davis.

Yesterday, in the lesser of the two big miscommunication snafus, the other being Reyes, Minaya made a statement contradicting what Manuel had said two hours earlier regarding Mejia’s chances of starting the season in the Mets bullpen. It ain’t happening is what Minaya said.

Today, Jerry Manuel is singing a different tune and sounded more like… well like a real major league manager instead of a 13-year old fan who just got his favorite players autograph.

When asked about Ike Davis after the young first baseman hit a mammoth 410 foot homerun in yesterday’s game, Manuel had this to say about the kid’s chances of making the team.

“Some unforeseen things would have to happen in my opinion for that to happen . It’s a little bit more difficult to make that decision based on a position player unless everybody just has to be 100% in agreement that that’s the right way to go. I would say more young pitchers have made the jump than more young, unproven position players. I could be wrong, but I would think.”

You see… the previous version of Jerry Manuel would have probably already proclaimed Ike Davis the opening day first baseman, insisted on adding an Ike Davis Bobblehead Day to the promo schedule, and dug out his vintage ”I Like Ike” button from his attic and sported it wherever an SNY camera could be found.

Here’s the thing though…

Why do Omar and Manuel feel as if they have to commit to anything at this point? There is still plenty of spring training to be played and they come off like idiots to me when they speak in absolutes regarding who will make the team and who wont.

What if Ike Davis ends the spring with six homers, a .435 batting average, and leads the team in RBI’s and slugging?

On the flip side, what if Jenrry Mejia gets torched in his next two appearances and ends the spring with an ERA north of 5.00?

It’s one thing when us bloggers suggest things like who should make the team and who shouldn’t based on such a small sample size, but to hear our leaders speak like that whenever they have a microphone shoved in their face is ridiculous to me.

The Mets don’t just have a communication gap, they just can’t communicate period. It’s gotten so bad, and so nauseating and so conflicting that I wish someone would just issue a gag order on both of them. Can anyone remember the last time either of them said anything substantive?

Thanks to Adam Rubin for providing the quote.

Watching Johan Santana’s understandably horrific spring training debut yesterday, something dawned in this Mets fans head.  No, there is no fear whatsoever that Johan is a different pitcher post-op, in fact, quite the contrary.  Based on his velocity and arm slot, I am positive he will have a monster year.  The reason I have absolutely no fear that Johan will return to form this season, is the same reason that I really began to fear for the 2010 NY Mets sometime during the third inning of Tuesdays 8-4 loss.

I have no faith in the other four starters behind Johan, and I can’t imagine how anyone inside or outside the Mets dugout feels any differently.

Johan Santana has an impeccable history of performance and dominance; in fact he has already recovered from the same surgery once before, only to earn a CY Young award the following season.  Not one other pitcher in the potential starting rotation has even had more than one full successful season.

Yes, Mike Pelfrey has great stuff, was drafted highly, and showed flashes of brilliance in 2008.  Yes, John Maine was a top pitching prospect in the Orioles organization and has shown flashes of brilliance in 2007.  Oliver Perez has shown nothing but inconsistency at best and Jon Niese has hardly proven a thing at the major league level.

This has been discussed ad nauseam  throughout the entire off season, so then why does it seem like we have all been brainwashed into forgetting how marginal our starting pitching really is?  Watching Johan get hammered and not worrying whatsoever about his season really brings things things into perspective.

Will anyone feel confident if John Maine gets roughed up in his next start?  Will anyone worry if Oliver Perez gives up 5 runs again (even if he is throwing strikes)?  What If Mike Pelfrey misses another bullpen session because of his knee?

My point is that we are indeed the underdogs this year.  I think some Mets fans are already forgetting this as spring training can sometimes cause all of us to be overly optimistic at times.  Front office communication issues aside, the Mets are not a complete team this year.  Unless we somehow turn one of our five in-house catchers into a dependable innings eater, 2010 will no doubt be a grueling uphill climb.

The good thing is…. the champagne always tastes sweeter at the end!

The Grapefruit League afforded the 6-3 Mets fans the opportunity to see some of our rotation’s hopefuls at work and get a glimpse of what we will be expecting to see in less than a month. There were a lot of things to be happy about if you’re a Met fan… and quite a few things that were the topic of some discussions.

Johan Santana made his Grapefruit League debut today against the Houston Astros. Johan gave up 4 runs in 1 and 2/3 innings. He threw his slider effectively, which showed that his elbow is much better as that pitch is very difficult to throw if the elbow is not right.

The final line was six hits, one walk, and a homer to Kaz Matsui, for our ace.

After a trying year of health issues, it’s good to know that Santana can throw his signature pitches effectively and is in good health. Not great numbers, I hear the skeptics saying in the background, but nothing to be concerned about. Besides, it’s Spring Training and the games don’t mean that much.

This was huge step forward for our ace.  Johan just needed to show he was healthy and he did that. These kind of results aren’t important right now. Chillax, Mets fans.

Oliver Perez made his debut against the Nationals and under the mandate of pitching coach Dan Warthen, he just needed to throw strikes. If nothing else, Ollie accomplished that throwing 33 of 49 pitches for strikes. His line was 3 IP, 5 R, 7 H, and 1 BB. He felt good and looked comfortable (for Ollie) on the mound. So why the opposing reactions from fans on Perez as compared to Johan’s performance today? That’s one to ponder, I suppose.

One point of note is RBIs. A lot more of them this Spring than anyone expected as compared to last spring.

David Wright (with his 2nd home run this Spring) and the hot hand of Ike Davis have been very hot and productive. That’s good news if it can translate over to the regular season.

The Mets left far too many runners on base last season, and I believe the approximate number was about 9 players LOB per game last year. You do the math… My head hurts!

That could have easily and without much argument, equated to, at least, two dozen wins going the other way. Maybe more. I think we have a stud on our hands with Ike. We just need to take our time and let him develop.

Seeing D-Wright pounding the ball instead of obsessing about pulling the ball to right field makes this a very interesting development for our on-field product.

Even Johnny Maine, although also being dealt with cautiously due to recent arm issues, pitched very well with a win this week. He threw 39 pitches (21 for strikes) in 1.2 innings and allowed just one run, two hits and on walk.

We will definitely see more from all three including Big Pelf as we get through March. I’m very encouraged about the overall health of the arms. That was a crucial sticking point for us last year and it appears to be a non-issue so far this year.

Additional notes

Chris Carter, chomping at the bit for a roster spot, hit two home runs in the same inning against the Marlins on Monday, which is a very rare feat and distinction even for a spring exhibition. Jenrry Mejia, who has been lobbying to start for the Mets as opposed to the expected bullpen assignment, had a great outing on Monday, and now has allowed two hits and no walks and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings pitched. I believe Mejia is being stretched out. Time will tell, though. And how about Hisanori Takahashi who showed why he should be considered a lock for the team with three shutout innings and only one baserunner allowed on Sunday afternoon.

Lots of positives. You just need to open your eyes and look for them. Keep an eye on Bobby Livingston, Fernando Martinez, Ryota Igarashi, Russ Adams, and Shawn Bowman. They’re all playing pretty well too. I hope you’re all as encouraged as I am, as we have plenty of good reasons to be optimistic for a change. Different air, different demeanor, and I am hopeful for a different result on the field. LGM

The Mets have confirmed that Jose Reyes does have a hyperactive thyroid gland and that he will remain in New York for more testing.

Results of those tests will not be know until Thursday at the earliest.

This is not something that we didn’t already know, but it’s the first time the Mets have actually confirmed as much.

Before the volley of doomsday posts hits the Mets blogosphere, let me add that most experts do believe it is very treatable with medication, but there is a chance Reyes may not be ready by opening day according to some sources. That said, it’s not expected that he would miss much playing time if any.