Obviously, the Mets blogosphere was rife with articles and posts on Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo today, but it was this quote by Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal that really summed it all up for me. He writes:
For all the attention they got this spring, there are about 50 more important reasons the Mets will win or lose this summer. Among them: Carlos Beltran’s knees, Johan Santana’s shoulder, Jose Reyes’s legs, Chris Young’s shoulder, Chris Capuano’s elbow and Jason Bay’s power stroke. That isn’t to say the Mets made the wrong moves in cutting Castillo and Perez. Whatever edge Castillo had in talent over his competitors for the second-base job wasn’t substantial enough to justify the headache that would come with keeping him. And Perez’s audition for a roster spot was a charade to begin with. If anything, the Mets waited too long to release them, allowing them to overshadow just about everything else going on in spring training.
One of the keys to any Mets success this season will fall squarely on the broad shoulders of slugger Jason Bay. There’s a lot riding on Bay this season who seems to be spending most of this spring still trying to find himself as a slugger and continues to find a comfort zone with his swing and approach at the plate.
According to Steve Popper, with just ten days left until Opening Day, Jason Bay trashed his new approach at the plate that he spent most of the spring working on. He went back to his previous approach and was 2-for-3 with three RBI on Monday. He had drawn four consecutive walks before yesterday’s outburst, but I’m pretty certain that’s not why the Mets gave him $66 million dollars. Hey, whatever works.
It looks like Carlos Beltran may not play in ANY Grapefruit League games this spring as a precautionary measure in case he has to start the season on the DL. Adam Rubin explains:
Collins indicated the Mets have pretty much resolved to hold Beltran out of Grapefruit League games. That way, if Beltran landed on the DL, he may only have to miss the opening three-game series in Miami.
A 15-day DL stint can be backdated 10 days into spring training. And because March 31 is technically the MLB season opener even though the Mets open the following day, and because the Mets have an off-day on April 4, Beltran would be eligible to return from the DL for the second series in Philadelphia. That is, as long as he doesn’t play in the Grapefruit League. “We are conscious of it,” Collins said.
Beltran may play in some minor league games soon as a designated hitter, and someone will pinch run for him if he gets on base.
That’s all for today.
