I have to tip my cap to Billy Wagner, Tom Glavine, Jose Valentin and Julio Franco, who all supported Willie Randolph and his decision to suspend and fine Duaner for his lateness and poor work ethic. Each of them were very vocal about the importance of being focused this season and keeping your eyes on the prize. The great thing about this Mets team is that they have a clubhouse full of determined leaders and [...]

This is the first installment of our Mets Minor League Roundtable. This week we asked  Ed Tsunoda of NYFS (NY Future Stars) eight questions about some of the top prospects in the Mets minor leagues, and which ones we can expect to see at Shea in the very near future. NYFS is one of my favorite New York Mets websites and you can visit them at http://www.nyfuturestars.com. They feature great articles on all the rising stars in the [...]

Mets manager Willie Randolph announced yesterday that injured reliever Duaner Sanchez had been sent home for the day for repeated lateness. "He had been a little tardy for a couple of days," Randolph said. "We have a rule of being on time, so I sent him home to where he lives ." Randolph said he expects Sanchez back today. Sanchez has not yet thrown off a mound in spring training as he recovers from shoulder [...]

Tom Glavine continues to impress this spring as he pitched another 3 scoreless innings yesterday during the Mets 7-2 win over the Astros. He now has 5 scoreless innings in the early goings of the exhibition season and has only given up 4 hits. He certainly looks like he is ready to capture that 300th win and begin his trek into the Hall of Fame once the season ends. Along the way, I hope he can show off a 2007 [...]

On Monday, March 5th, Adam Rubin of the Daily News was kind enough to give us some of his time to answer a few questions for Mets Merized Online. Adam Rubin has been the Daily News’ Mets beat writer since 2003. He is a Long Island native and author of “Pedro, Carlos and Omar: The Story of a Season in the Big Apple and the Pursuit of Baseball’s Top Latino Stars.” (A link for the book is on this page.) Currently Adam is [...]

Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks Jose Reyes has MVP potential. Check out this great article by Adam Rubin of the Daily News. In the article he quotes Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and David Wright, who all acknowledge what Jose Reyes means to the team. David Wright: "You look at Jose and he sets the tone. That’s not knocking any of the other guys, because you can make strong cases for those guys as [...]

  Steve Phillips is at it again, and on Thursday afternoon on the "Mike and the Mad Dog" radio program on WFAN in New York, Steve Phillips predicted that the Mets would finish third in their division, that their starting pitching wouldn’t hold up at all and the Phillies and Braves would finish ahead of them. He has been taking jabs at the Mets ever since he was sent packing by the Mets. He never [...]

What an excellent column Ken Rosenthal wrote today for Fox Sports. After reading his story I feel so much better about the future of the Mets outfield beyond 2007. Maybe Omar knew exactly what he was doing when he signed Moises Alou to that one-year deal, and why he hung on to Shawn Green, whose contract expires at the end of this season. It looks like the Mets have some huge prospects on their way [...]

In my heart of hearts, there is no doubt that last year was just a dress rehearsal for the New York Mets. Sure I was devastated as I watched that backdoor curve freeze Carlos Beltran in game 7 of the NLCS for the last out. But I also understood the significance of everything we witnessed last season. It was a total cumulative collaboration of team work at it’s finest. Despite all the adversity, the Mets [...]

Although this offseason was not littered with any big name acquisitions and lavish press conferences unlike the last two seasons, the Mets will certainly have many new faces reporting to camp at their in Port St. Lucie complex this spring. Of course the team has also sustained some losses, and most notable among them were Cliff Floyd, Chad Bradford, Brian Bannister, Roberto Hernandez, Chris Woodward, Darren Oliver, Steve Trachsel, Victor Zambrano, Heath Bell, Royce Ring and [...]

  On a day that Willie Randolph proclaimed that only Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez were guaranteed a spot in the rotation, the stage had been set for New York’s very own reality show. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, The Contenders: A Shea Stadium Showdown. First, lets meet the Executive Producers, Fred and Jeff Wilpon. This is where our story really begins. After a thrilling season which saw the New York Mets come within one strike of [...]