Most of the attention concerning the Met outfield the past few weeks has gone to Jordany Valdespin, both for his character and his play on the field. However, there has been one player who has very quietly got on a roll, and may be able to plug a hole in the still-fluctuating outfield: Marlon Byrd. Byrd captured the attention of Mets fans and earned himself a spot on the roster with an incredible spring training, [...]

Left field has always been used as a kind of defensive dumping ground for many teams trying to find a way to get a bat in the lineup.  Not requiring the arm strength considered de rigueur for Right, and less daunting in the presence of a fleet centerfielder, it is often a place for players whose offense demands playing time, but are not “natural” outfielders and have been blocked from a preferred position by a [...]

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York writes a column about how the Mets went about building their current outfield which started with a joke and ended with a joke in my opinion. Rubin spoke with Scott Hairston who dismissed rumors that the Mets had made him an offer, but understood the situation and respected Sandy Alderson’s decision. “There were times where I wasn’t sure what they wanted to do, so I waited. But as a [...]

Are the Mets in desperate times now?  With how our offense has failed to click lately, I think so. I was under the impression that we had a few guys that could actually play the outfield for us – and then we went out and signed Rick Ankiel. I remember the player Ankiel was after he switched positions from pitching to play the outfield, so there is hope for production.  But, if we needed a player with [...]

Big day on WFAN for the Mets – or at least during Mike Francesa’s time slot. After a 10 minute rant against the Mets to open the show, he had Sandy Alderson on for 15 minutes a few hours after that. There was a lot said by both of them – good and bad. Tonight you’ll get the rant, tomorrow you’ll get the interview along with my thoughts and summary. This wasn’t easy to transcribe [...]

In my game recap last night I mentioned the remarkable catch by Mets outfielder Juan Lagares as the highlight of the game. Here is the video of that catch; Opposing pitcher Jeanmar Gomez looked like he hit a sure-fire single against Mets starter Matt Harvey. But wow, what a grab. Lagares hasn’t gotten it together yet at the plate, but he will. back in February I spoke highly of him and said he’d be a Met before the All Star break and that [...]

Usually, it isn’t until after the All Star break, when we need to combine series to come up with 3 Ups and 3 Downs. This week was an exception with the Mets winning 2 out of 6 games against the Chicago White Sox & the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unless the Met offense wakes up real soon, we’re going to be in for a long season. Sorry to say, a first baseman batting .190 in the middle [...]

Among the highs and lows to already come out of the first month of this season, the continued improvement of Daniel Murphy has certainly been one of the brighter spots to this point so far. Playing out of his natural position, Murphy has slowly made the proper adjustments on both sides of the diamond. After being jostled all over both the infield and outfield, Murphy has finally found himself a home at second base with [...]

Terry Collins says a lot of things that will raise eyebrows whenever we go to these pre and post game press conferences. Many times he’ll say one thing on Monday and then do the exact opposite on Wednesday. Just to cite two recent examples remember when he proclaimed Collin Cowgill the everyday center fielder on Opening Day? Cowgill then proceeds to start in just 6 of the next 15 games. Or how about two weeks [...]

Pinch-hitting is one of the more difficult things to do in the sport. After sitting for up to two hours, you are given little time to get loose and thrust into position of trying to hit a 90-mph., fastball or nasty fall-off-the-table breaking stuff. Few do it well, but the Mets’ Jordany Valdespin has a knack for coming through with power. His three-run homer Wednesday was his sixth in two years with the Mets. He is indeed, a [...]