How many of you are sitting at home tonight, wondering and asking yourselves how long it will be until we finally see Zack Wheeler wearing that uniform and hurling 98 mph fastballs from the mound at Citi Field? The question is not an easy one to answer and in fact it’s a perfect paradox by virtue of the logical arguments one can make for either side. It’s a conundrum, that much is true, but it’s [...]

Las Vegas 4, Albuquerque 3 Last night I was at Cashman Field to witness the ace of the Las Vegas 51s and prized prospect Zack Wheeler on the mound. In many ways Wheeler lived up to the hype and pitched as expected. However, what I did NOT expect was the competitive spirit he displayed. His poise is more expected of a crafty veteran than a kid three weeks shy of turning 23. Wheeler pitched well, keeping Albuquerque [...]

You can learn a lot about a baseball team from its locker room. The clubhouse is where relationships form, character is revealed and leaders speak out (or not). For the major league rookie, clubhouse real estate is valuable — sometimes priceless. Imagine being the rookie who spent eight months out of the year next to Sandy Koufax? Roberto Clemente? Lou Gehrig? Tom Seaver? These were model athletes, wise and humble men, who used their talent [...]

I mentioned in my introduction post that the Mets might want to consider moving Mike Pelfrey to the bullpen. Now I am saying that it is time that they do something. It’s become increasingly difficult to rely on him in the starting rotation. One thing the Mets may want to try is to move him to the bullpen. Give him the long-relief role, that way he can still eat innings for the Mets. In most long relief [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]