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 [...]

During an interview on WFAN with Mike Francesa, Terry Collins said that Jon Niese would get the Opening Day start if Johan Santana is not ready. The manager still believes Santana has a chance to make the start, “It’s not doubtful,” Collins said. “If he’s not ready for Game 1, I think he’ll be ready for Game 4.” Niese, 26, took a big step forward. He became reliable, proved to be durable, and most of [...]

The Mets signed Jonathon Niese at the perfect time early last April, inking the left-hander to a five-year extension worth just over $25 million. The contract the two sides agreed to kept Niese a Met for his final pre-arbitration years (2012), all three of his arbitration years, and at least one year of free agency. The best part of the deal may be the two team options, which total $21 million and would keep Niese [...]

Pundits often say a college football coach deserves at least two years to turn a team over before anyone can honestly pass judgement.  That time provides the new coach with enough time to recruit his own players and implement his own scheme.  General managers in Major League Baseball get no such grace period.  Thus the dilemma Sandy Alderson currently finds himself in. Since taking the helm on October 29, 2010, Sandy Alderson has deconstructed the [...]

As the Mets look for ways to improve their roster heading into next year, its become apparent that their shoestring budget will force them into the trade market.  There are a million ways that could play out, but some people have their ideas.  For instance, I think the pertinent play would be for the Mets to shop RA Dickey in an effort to fill their outfield and/or catching needs.  That, however, isn’t the only line [...]

So by now, everyone has heard the news that Mike Pelfrey will not be tendered this off-season. This allows him to freely seek employment with other teams. The day this was announced (Tuesday I believe), I happened to be listening to the Boomer and Carton Radio Show while I was driving in my car. Boomer said something that immediately resonated with me, and probably many other Mets fans that were listening at that time. He [...]

The season ended about three weeks ago and now that we’ve had some time to reflect, it’s time to start handing out grades. This morning, we’ll begin with the starting pitching. The starting pitching exceeded expectations this year. I don’t think anyone thought that Jon Niese or R.A. Dickey would be as dominant as they were this year. We were also very unsure about how Chris Young and Johan Santana would hold up. Both contributed [...]

  For the most part, Mets fans were pleasantly surprised with the production of the Mets pitching staff in 2012. The bullpen kept us on the edge of  our seats the majority of the season, but the starters were one of the bright spots for the Mets. None shone brighter than the ace of the staff, RA Dickey. Some injuries prevented the Mets starting rotation from reaching its full potential, but when all the starters [...]

Its hard to fathom now, but the Mets had a realistic shot at the playoffs only one month ago.  Since then the team has taken a turn for the worst with a lot of poorly played baseball compounded by additional injuries.  In the process, the current situation has re-highlighted some glaring issues that the team’s successful first half had given us the luxury of forgetting about. First and foremost, the team’s pitching staff desperately needs [...]