5 4 3-30: - Mets Offense, 3-League Realignment, Tony B, Warthen on Pelf... and Long Tossing

Mets Offense:

The good news is the Mets should trot out a better offense than they posted in 2009. The bad news is that there is a very big gap between the best Mets lineup and the worst Mets lineup. That usually means the talent is spread out across the spectrum. Jerry Manuel needs to arrange talent from great (Wright, Bay) to awful (Barajas, Francoeur). It’s situations like this where lineups do matter, and the wrong one can cost a lot of runs.  -  baseballmusings

3-League Realignment:

The National League would also house eight financially viable markets with the same set of qualifications stemming from government backing, cable TV support and corporate financing. The NL would have the New York Mets, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the Chicago Cubs as permanent members. St. Louis would be the fifth team; San Francisco would the sixth club. It is extremely hard to find the seventh and eighth teams to fill out the league although cases could be made for Washington and perhaps Denver. - dailycaller

Tony B:

Left-hander Jon Niese will be the fifth starter (one scout said, “He won’t be No. 5 for long.”), shortstop Ruben Tejada will start the year with the Mets and supremely-talented right-hander Jenrry Mejia may make it as a reliever. GM Omar Minaya was determined not to take Mejia to start the spring, but the momentum seems to be swinging the other way. Plus, Fernando Martinez re-established his value as a bright young outfield prospect and first baseman Ike Davis looked terrific, especially at bat. It’s too late to give ex-Mets exec Tony Bernazard his job back, but if removing his shirt and being impolite once or twice were his only faults, firing him seems like a bad call now. - Jon Heyman

 -Jon said this, not me...

Warthen on Pelf:

"I'm not concerned," Warthen said. "The conditions, the wind, have a lot to do with the home runs. He threw some four-seamers up in the zone on purpose today, probably not a good decision on his behalf. He wanted to let it fly a little bit today and he did. He was in the 95 [mph] range, which you want to see before the season starts.

"He threw some really good splits and some off-speed pitches, held runners, did all the little things you want him to do. When he was down, when the sinker was working, he was getting his ground balls. I thought it was a productive day for him." - northjersey.

Long Tossing:
 
Allan Jaeger, of Jaeger Sports, believes he has the program that can save pitchers from injury while increasing their velocity. Jaeger’s program is rooted in a traditional baseball exercise, long tossing. Since the early days of baseball, players have been long tossing. Most performed long tossing because they believed it strengthened their arm. Jaeger agrees. "If muscles are inactive for a long enough period of time, or aren't used close to their desired capacities, the life is taken out of them. When muscles are given proper blood flow, oxygen, and range of motion, they are free to work at their optimum capacity. A good long-toss program is the key to giving life to a pitcher’s arm." - baseballprospectus