Do you ever wonder what guys like Johan Santana think after suffering through two straight non-playoff years?  Last year the Mets collapsed in September for the second straight year, and the Twins were a one-game playoff away from reaching the postseason.  This year the Twins are battling the Tigers for the AL Central crown while the Mets have been out of the race since July.  I know Johan likes the bright lights, but let’s face [...]

In 2007, the Phillies took the division from the Mets on the last day of the season after the Mets held a 7-game lead with 17 games to play.  Pedro Martinez faced the Phillies once in those last 17 games and the Mets lost that game. In 2008, the Mets held a 3½ game lead over the Phillies with 17 games to play.  Pedro Martinez faced the Phillies once in September and the Mets lost [...]

Blogger’s disclaimer:  This recap will be full of sarcasm.  I attended today’s game expecting to see a spirited effort by the Mets against their former teammate, Pedro Martinez.  Instead I saw things on the field I never thought I’d see in person, things that pretty much sum up the 2009 season.  Buckle up.  The show’s about to start. On a day that was supposed to be remembered for Pedro Martinez’s return to Flushing as a [...]

Indications are that Martinez is now a Phil for something like a million bucks with an incentives package worth $1.5 million, with an official announcement just hours away. Recall back in spring that Martinez supposedly wanted 5 million for the year, and this was a leading reason the Mets wouldn’t bite. Well, to many it made sound sense. Obviously, he cannot ask for too much signing now in July. From March on I have been among [...]

Pedro Martinez has signed a one-year contract with the Phillies according to ESPN. The Phillies planned to hold a news conference on Wednesday to make the announcement and introduce Martinez. Pedro can earn up to $1.5 million in incentives, and will make a couple of starts in the minors before joining Philadelphia’s rotation. The Phillies watched Martinez, 37, pitch twice last week at their baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. They came away impressed and flew Martinez to Philadelphia late [...]

They held the wrap party for “Nightmare on Roosevelt Avenue,” yesterday afternoon, and a good time was had by all. The Mets scored a month’s worth of runs to commemorate the ending of a nightmarish first half of baseball. Broken bodies, coupled with botched pop-ups equaled shattered hopes. Hopefully, now Jason, Freddy Kruger, and all of their twisted pals, can pack up their chain saws, hatchet’s, and other assorted bludgeoning apparatus, and return the bodies [...]

UPDATE 6:15 PM: Jon Heyman confirms that the Phillies are in very serious negotiations with Pedro, but he cannot confirm the $4 million dollar figure in the DR report. According to a post on MetsBlog, the Latino publication Candela Deportivo is reporting that the Phillies have signed Pedro Martinez, who last pitched with the New York Mets. As Matt Cerrone wrote in his blog, lets wait to see if it is confirmed by someone in the mainstream [...]

I know it sounds like bad dialogue out of a comic book or a Michael Bay movie but it is unfortunately true.  Omar over the last couple of years seemed to be the “Teflon GM.”  The last 2 seasons we have witnessed the Mets collapse and miss going into the playoffs by one game.  Omar did not put a team together the past 2 seasons that played baseball in October.  The way the season has [...]

Much is being made about Pedro Martinez lately. Not only will he be back soon, but that he is already negotiating with two clubs. The AP reported, Pedro Martinez could be back on a Major League Baseball mound soon. The pitcher said on Wednesday that he has had talks with the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays and hopes to sign a contract in the near future. “There’s a good chance I’ll be signing soon, [...]

I was just reading an interesting article by David Lennon of Newsday on his blog. Lennon seems all fired up about comments that were made by Jerry Manuel and Dan Warthen who both said they were encouraged by Ollie’s last start. I was kind of surprised yesterday to hear both manager Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen say they were “encouraged” by Oliver Perez’s 4 1/3-inning stint in an 8-6 loss to the Reds. [...]