By definition, Jon Niese is correct, he is not a No. 1 pitcher, an ace if you will. However, in relation to his status on the Mets, he is the man. There is no denying Niese’s importance, but his designation of being the leader of the staff should be emphasized more today against Miami than in the status of an Opening Day starter. After two victories to open the season, the Mets have dropped two in a [...]

The New York Mets wind up winning two out of three games in opening series against the San Diego Padres. All three games featured excellent starting pitching for the Mets, and the first two games featured some pretty decent offense for the Amazins’ too! Here are the 3&3 for the series. Matt Harvey: The kid was outstanding – make that brilliant – in Wednesday night’s game. Matt Harvey tossed seven shutout innings, and struck out [...]

The cold didn’t bother Matt Harvey last night, but the Mets will pay close attention this afternoon to Dillon Gee if the temperatures drop during his start against the San Diego Padres. In the quest of rooting for good stories, Gee is up there in his attempt to come back from emergency surgery to repair a blocked artery in his shoulder that caused his right hand to go numb. Simply, you can’t throw if you can’t feel the ball. [...]

With Pacific Coast League action kicking off tomorrow, April 4, MiLB.com has released their top ten prospects to watch from the PCL in 2013. The Mets will have two of the top five players on that list when play opens up tomorrow in Travis d’Arnaud (4) and Zack Wheeler (5). It’s unclear how long many of these players will remain in the PCL, as they are some of the more exciting prospects in all of baseball, [...]

The Major League Baseball season is almost under way, and you know what that means: prediction time! Alas, for Mets fans it seems like most predictions are not so favorable for our loveable Amazin’s, but pay no mind to those Negative Nancy’s. I’m here to give you some good news: the Mets are a decent team. Am I being subjective? Maybe a little, but that doesn’t mean I am wrong. I can very confidently say [...]

With the first pitch of 2013 set to be thrown in less than nine hours, it’s about time we reflect on the spring. This past weekend, I visited Viera and Port St. Lucie to catch two Mets spring training games: Thursday vs. the Nationals, Friday vs. the Cardinals. There wasn’t much to be excited about in Thursday’s game. Shaun Marcum was supposed to start, and, as we all know, he was scratched. His status is [...]

With four days until Opening Day, most teams have their rosters, rotation and batting order set. The Mets are not most teams. Their three remaining exhibition games will do little to answer questions for manager Terry Collins, who undoubtedly won’t be satisfied with what he sees Monday and will be mixing and matching for weeks. The Mets think David Wright and Daniel Murphy will be ready, this after serious doubts just days ago. How things [...]

Reliever Elvin Ramirez has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations to free up a spot on their 40 Man Roster. That they got anything for him is a mind-blower to me. His 5.48 ERA in 20 MLB appearances will hardly be missed. This one was the easiest cut/trade/release of all. The Mets’ 40-man roster now stands at 38. In other Mets news, the team announced their rotation today. Jon Niese will start Opening Day against the Padres, followed [...]

Updated 3/22 I wanted to share Adam Rubin’s projected Opening Day roster which is not too dissimilar to what I projected. Rotation: Jon Niese, Shaun Marcum, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee and Jeremy Hefner. Bullpen: Bobby Parnell, Brandon Lyon, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Atchison, Josh Edgin, Pedro Feliciano and Greg Burke. Infield: Ike Davis, Justin Turner, David Wright, Ruben Tejada and John Buck. Outfield: Lucas Duda, Collin Cowgill and Jordany Valdespin. Bench: Marlon Byrd, Mike Baxter, Anthony Recker, Omar Quintanilla [...]

According to the Star-Ledger, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spent some time on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio channel yesterday discussing the Mets. Christie has been a long-time Mets fan, and will be in the stands on April 1 when the Mets take on the San Diego Padres on opening day. Christie went through a list of players he likes, which he considers the nucleus, and includes David Wright, Ike Davis and Daniel Murphy. He’s also excited [...]

When talking about Jon Niese… well that’s the thing. Niese isn’t often spoken about, particularly as a respected pitcher in the NL East, an esteem he deserves after his 2012 campaign. Granted yesterday’s outing in which the young southpaw gave up  four runs over 2 1/3 innings in Venezuela’s 14-10 routing of the Mets is not the Jonathon Niese that should be respected. That Niese is the Niese who hurled a one-hitter against the Padres in [...]