Mets:
I love the relaxed attitude Jerry Manuel brings to this club. It’s so anti-Willie Randolph that it makes me smile. The Willie Attitude would tell guys like K-Rod, Reyes, and in this instance, Santana to calm down and keep their composure, but Manuel likes to let the guys be themselves, although he knows when to step in if they are going to far. I think this is going to be an exciting season for us Mets fans to enjoy. To see Johan’s handshake parade, look below.
http://dailystache.net/archives/1845
The Mets will celebrate a home opener in a new ballpark on April 13, but sentimental fans arriving at Citi Field will detect many reminders of Shea Stadium. The giant Home Run Apple, a 9-foot-diameter fiberglass fixture at Shea since the 1980 season, stands guard beyond the right-field bullpen.The New York City skyline that adorned Shea’s scoreboard — with a memorial ribbon over the Twin Towers — now sits atop a restaurant beyond the centerfield fence.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/04/07/2009-04-07_mets_to_mark_their_amazin_areas.html
If I were Omar Minaya yesterday, I would’ve headed back to my hotel room, alone, and opened up a nice bottle of wine. Not a big celebration–things didn’t go perfectly, after all–but a simple moment of relaxation and a private allowance of self-satisfaction. The bridge from Johan Santana to Victory held.The Mets took their share of first place and improved their Opening Day record as they beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1. Johan Santana wasn’t outstanding–he walked four batters over 5 2/3 innings and encountered some difficulty in the sixth–but he was very effective. Despite those four walks, he settled down and limited the Reds to three hits and one run while striking out seven. Considering there was a lot of doubt Santana would make this start at the beginning of spring training, I think it’s safe to call it a big success. But the big story here is what happened after Santana left the game. More specifically, in very un-2008 form, the Mets’ bullpen held a one-run lead for 3 1/3 innings. As I said, Santana struggled a bit in the sixth, his pitch count elevating. Darnell McDonald led off with a single, and Joey Votto followed with a single to right-center. McDonald tried for third, but Carlos Beltran’s throw struck him and skipped past David Wright. They held McDonald to third, but Votto was able to take second on the error. Brandon Phillips hit a sacrifice fly to deep left, bringing home McDonald. Johan got Bruce to foul out for the second out before being removed due to his pitch count, 99 pitches.
http://www.metsgeek.com/articles/2009/04/07/daily-mets-recap-april-7th-2009
Mets: Surprise player: Luis Castillo… Disappointing player: Francisco Rodriguez… Big crisis: Citi Field dimensions are too big… Prospect who will help: Bobby Parnell… Story that just won't end: Whether they should bring Pedro Martinez back
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090406/SPORTS01/904060355/1274/RSS0901
Opening day was a success for the Mets. The story people are making the biggest deal about is the bullpen. Sean Green, J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez did a great job after starter Johan Santana left the game with 2 outs in the 6th inning. The thing to remember is that this is one game out of 162. Putz and Rodriguez will not appear in each of the remaining 161 games so positive reviews of the performance of the bullpen are premature. Let’s see how the rest of the group pitches before we comment.
http://mostlymets.golddave.com/?p=1551
How many Mets fans were waiting for the bullpen to blow yesterdays game? I could hear the screams of “here we go again” on Encarnacion’s line out in the sixth? - Everyone will talk about Daniel Murphy’s homer and two RBI’s, but what impressed me the most was his defense on the aforementioned line out.
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=9303
Mets 2, Reds 1: Those of you who followed ATH last season will recall that I don't have the Extra Innings package and I don't watch 15 games a night. On a good night I watch parts of two games, on an average night I watch most of one, and some nights I don't get any. This feature is about parsing box scores and game stories and trying to extract a couple of worthwhile observations from the stories they tell rather than tell you something you couldn't figure out if you had seen the game. Indeed, the best part of ATH is when someone who actually saw one of these games makes a comment explaining something I missed. Reader APBA Guy is the master of this for A's games (and it's necessary -- since they usually end the latest, I often give the A's the shortest shrift). Anyway, this game -- which took place while I was toiling at the office -- seemed to have something I missed. Something that can explain how Johan Santana went 5.2 innings with seven strikeouts and four walks and only threw 99 pitches, while his counterpart Aaron Harang went 5 innings with only two strikeouts and three walks, yet threw 114. Easily explainable, sure -- the Reds were hacking except when they walked and Harang went deep on most hitters -- but I'm having trouble picturing how that all went down. Of course, the most critical thing that went down was the Reds only scoring one run with runners on second and third with no one out in the sixth, but those things happen when it's 39 degrees and windy and crappy out.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/shysterball/article/and-that-happened040709
Between Citigroup's struggles and Bernie Madoff's connections to the Wilpon family, bad money mojo surrounds the Mets, but is that any worse than fumbling playoff spots on the season's final day two straight years? For all of that, the Mets are favored to christen brand-new Citi Field with a division title. Despite question marks in their rotation and their outfield corners, the arrivals of Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz correct last year's most glaring flaw, and the trio of David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran forecast to be among the league's five most valuable hitters according to WARP. (827 RS/721 RA
http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8707
Bisons:
The Mets are back in the International League for the first time since leaving Norfolk after the 2006 season, as the new affiliate of the Buffalo Bisons. Thepreliminary roster sports OFs Fermando Martinez and Nick Evans and Ps Jon Niese and Eddie Kunz; all could wind up making it to Citi Field at some point this season. That should be another fun team to watch, as will Pawtucket, Columbus. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, etc. - in fact, the International League as a whole will be a prospect-laden league this year, especially closer to the end of the season when guys like Pedro Alvarez, Alonso, and others move up through the ranks. I might even spend nearly as much time at Durham as at Five County - if Paula will let me :)
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/minor_key/discussion/the_minors_are_starting_the_minors_are_starting
B-Mets:
The big names within the New York Mets' minor-league organization are elsewhere. The players tabbed as the system's hottest prospects are opening this season either to the west at the team's new Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo or down south in Single-A ball. The Binghamton Mets' opening day roster doesn't have the slew of high-profile prospects it has had in the past. The B-Mets have five of the prospects that Baseball America ranked among the top 30 in the organization. The highest ranked prospect is opening-day starter Mike Antonini, who's rated 15th. It's the first time in more than a decade the B-Mets have not started the season with any of the prospects ranked in the top 10 in the system. "There are no big names, but you'll be impressed with how many guys here move up the organization at one time or another," third-year manager Mako Oliveras said
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090407/SPORTS02/904070339/1118/sports
Binghamton Mets
2008 record: 73-69
2009 manager: Mako Olivares
What's on deck: The B-Mets could have a very strong starting rotation to begin the season. LHP Mike Antonini logged a 2.77 ERA over three Minor League levels last year, including a late-season stop in Binghamton. ... RHP Dillon Gee impressed in Spring Training with the Mets after compiling a 2.92 ERA in a year that also ended in Binghamton. ... Not to be forgotten is RHP Dylan Owen, who won Most Valuable Pitcher honors in the Florida State League last season. ... Charged with handling that hot shot trio will be C Josh Thole, who hit .300 last season and while leading FSL catchers in fielding percentage. ... It will be interesting to see if well-regarded players like RHP Brad Holt and SS Reese Havens can make it to Binghamton by season's end
http://buffalo.bisons.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090331&content_id=547515&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
General:
Baseball's independent press corps, once the most powerful in American sports, is fading. As newspapers cut budgets and payrolls, the press boxes at major league ballparks are becoming increasingly lonely places, signaling a future when some games may be chronicled only by wire services, house organs and Web writers watching the games on television. It's not clear how many newspaper beat writers and columnists will vanish. Some major dailies in baseball towns like Boston and New York say so long as they exist, they will never stop covering their teams. Online-only sources have filled some of the void, and independent Web sites have popped up where fans gather to comment on the games as they happen. In many ways, baseball writers are no different than other professionals whose industries are being shrunk.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123906424665995337.html
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