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 [...]

According to Yahoo! Sports, All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez returned to New York Mets camp on Monday after being hampered by conjunctivitis for more than two weeks. He also threw a very successful bullpen session this morning at Port St. Lucie. Rodriguez had been told to stay away from the team until the pink eye cleared, but the contagious infection took longer than expected to improve. He was sick when he reported to New York’s spring [...]

I’ve always been a Mets fan.  Well, since around 1970 or so…that’s as far back as I can remember.  So even though many of you have read my work on there the last six-eight months about how frustrated and annoyed I am with the way the team has played and the direction they have gone in with personnel, a new season is upon us and optimism reigns supreme. Let’s face it, every baseball fan loves [...]

I was ready to accept the fact that Omar Minaya made a really horrible decision when he re-signed Oliver Perez last year to a 3-year deal worth $36 million.  I was a Perez fan back in the 2006 playoffs, especially when he did a commendable job starting Game 7 of the NLCS.  Of course, since then Ollie has battled injuries and inconsistency, mostly the latter.  And he was really pretty bad last season, ultimately finishing [...]

I knew I wanted to write something about the Mets’ starting rotation after reading an article in The Sporting News about the Mets being one of this off-season’s “losers,” citing the fact that they did not address the “gaping holes” in the starting pitching rotation.  Well, yeah, but we are likely going to go into the 2010 season with a starting staff of Johan Santana, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, Ollie Perez and Fernando Nieve.  And [...]

Any day now, pitchers and catchers will begin reporting to spring training all across Florida and Arizona.  In a few weeks, all teams, including our Mets, will begin their spring training games, and then less than two months from now, Johan Santana will likely be throwing the first live pitch for the Mets since last October. Usually around this time of year, once the Super Bowl has been played and sports docket is less than [...]

Free Agent sinker-baller Joel Pineiro, one of the top free agent pitchers left on the market, is available no more. Pineiro has agreed in principle to a $16 million/2 year deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Pineiro started his career with Seattle, as a starter, before shifting to a bullpen role with mixed results. He made his way to the Cardinals in 2007, and as many down-on-their-luck pitchers do when they come to a Dave [...]

Ben Sheets, who after refusing to throw for teams early in the offseason, will apparently put his repaired right arm on display for suitors. Sheets, 31, has drawn interest from many teams, though it has generally been tempered because of his exorbitant contract demands for a pitcher with injury problems. Sheets has asked for a $10-12 million deal for at least two years. While interest in him is there, those numbers have scared off most [...]

I have to be honest, I didn’t think GM Omar Minaya had it in him to land Jason Bay.  I was ready to chalk up the 2010 season to rebuilding and maybe finishing in fourth place, but Minaya’s pursuit and subsequent landing of Bay to play left field for the Mets and possibly bat cleanup has changed my outlook of this team.  Not entirely, of course, but this is a solid move that injects a [...]