Good Saturday morning. A little talk in the clubhouse about Team USA losing last night to Mexico. The operative word being “little.’’ I’ve only been here a few days, but trust me on this one, after doing 20 some Spring Trainings the days are usually all alike. We’re usually in the clubhouse by 7:45 in the morning, sometimes earlier depending on where the game is that day. The first thing most players do is head [...]

Updated by Joe D. at 5:00 PM Here’s a brief update to this morning’s Jordany Valdespin post. Dog-house or not, it would seem like a big mistake to me if Valdespin fails to go north with the Mets when all is said and done. That said, Terry Collins continues to downplay his chances of making the team, saying, “It’s March 8th. I’ll wait.” It could be the manger’s way of keeping the 25-year old Valdespin motivated. Valdespin [...]

Over at NJ.com, the online home of the Star-Ledger, Jorge Castillo tells us that during  the offseason, Mets manager Terry Collins, personally called infielders Justin Turner, Josh Satin, Zach Lutz and Brandon Hicks to give them all the same piece of advice – be prepared to play some corner outfield. As far as any experience either of the four have roaming the green pastures, it’s almost nil. Once upon a time, months after he was [...]

It is not surprising that GM Sandy Alderson indicated today it is “less and less likely,’’ Johan Santana would be ready for Opening Day. Alderson attributed that to Santana not being in good shape when he reported to spring training because he didn’t go through his normal off-season routine after extensive rehabbing the previous two winters. “From my standpoint, his arm is fine, as far as we know,’’ Alderson told reporters. “Was he ready to pitch [...]

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, righthander Chien-Ming Wang tossed six shutout innings to lead Chinese Taipei to a 4-1 victory over Australia. The 2013 World Baseball Classic is officially underway. As the tournament kicks off, the sentiment from most fans I run into is that they view the WBC as a “big pain in the ass”. Some fans resent the fact that their team’s top players have bolted their Spring Training camps in Arizona and Florida [...]

R.A. Dickey had a great outing, notching his 18th win of the season, and the Mets offense showed up today in their 6-2 win. R.A. Dickey took the hill today in the rubber game, and was strong through six and two-third innings. Dickey allowed eight hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out five. R.A. gave up three of his eight hits in his final inning of work so the line looks a [...]

Is that super-utility man Mark DeRosa on the Mets’ 2012 roster? No, just our own versatile version: Justin Turner. Turner burst onto the scene in 2011 and was an RBI machine in his first extended big league action. But even so, Turner said at the Kids’ Holiday Party that he’s not taking anything for granted in anticipation of this season. “I’m still going to go in there, just like I did last year, to win [...]

Amid the sadness of losing Jose Reyes to the Miami Marlins, the Mets organization spread some holiday cheer the afternoon of Dec. 13 at the team’s annual Kids’ Holiday Party in the Acela Club at Citi Field. Students from local schools performed holiday tunes, enjoyed a free lunch and received a gift from the big guy himself, Santa Claus. But hopefully the pressure of having kids sit on his lap didn’t affect Santa’s rehabbing knees, [...]

  Miguel Batista had another good outing spoiled by a blown save, but Nick Evans had a huge day in the Mets 7-4 win. Game Notes Miguel Batista took the mound, and pitched another surprising game, but was not as sharp as his last outing. Batista went six innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking four and striking out three. Batista wasn’t hit hard, but he had Marlins batters chasing bad pitches consistently. While [...]