12/5/11

Homegrown Stars, Gregory Pron, Medical Watch, Bullpen Focus, Pedro Martinez


If Jose Reyes leaves the Mets, it will represent a rare event in modern free agency: a big-market franchise failing to retain a homegrown star in the prime of his career. But it would also be entirely in keeping with the history of the Mets, who have never had an iconic player spend his entire career in Flushing. The Mets have had homegrown players rise to stardom with them only to finish their careers elsewhere. They've landed marquee players in trades and signed free agents who had already established themselves with other teams. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204012004577074602203346834.html

11-23-11: -  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.js p?ymd=20111110&content_id=25949502&fext=.j sp&vkey=news_milb&partnerId=rss_nym  -   Gregory Pron, Kingsport (58 games): A 42nd-round pick last June, the physically gifted Pron -- he's a svelte 6-foot-6 -- batted .318 in his debut season. DePodesta gave Pron, who plated 34 runs and scored 42, a strong chance to begin 2012 with a full-season affiliate.

Medical Watch:  • LHP Johan Santana (left shoulder surgery in September 2010) made his way back into minor league starts during the 2011 season. He was due to be shut down after some instructional league outings, and the Mets said he won’t pitch winter ball, but the team expects him ready for spring training. • 1B Ike Davis (bone bruise in left ankle joint) avoided surgery after the team investigated microfracture as an option. Davis was hurt May 10 and missed the rest of the season, most of it restricted from even working out. If there are no setbacks, he is expected to be ready for spring training. • INF Daniel Murphy (torn MCL right knee) expects to be ready for spring training, although the Mets are unsure what position he’ll be able to play with both knees now in braces. www.yahoo.com

My favorite bullpen target for the New York Mets was Jonathan Broxton. Unfortunately, the Kansas City Royals signed him earlier this week. Even though Joe Nathan and Jonathan Broxton have fallen off of the board, the New York Mets remain confident that they will be able to add a quality arm to the ‘pen. For now guys like Brad Lidge and Jon Rauch remain high on the New York Mets’ radar. The Oakland Athletics’ Andrew Bailey is also a target, but the New York Mets are not confident that the price would be worth it to acquire him. I’m not a big fan of Jon Rauch and I don’t think the New York Mets have any business trading away key assets for Andrew Bailey. Maybe that means that Brad Lidge has emerged as the top option. The top name brand option at least. The one thing that remains a constant in my eyes is that Sandy Alderson and Co. need to refrain from spending big bucks on a long contract for bullpen help.

If Sandy Koufax has the left arm of God, then Pedro Martinez has the right.  Martinez, who at his prime was arguably the most dominant starting pitcher the game has ever seen, said Saturday that he intends to make his retirement official, two years after his last big league start.  The three-time Cy Young Award winner, now 40, had never fully closed the door on a potential return after his last Major League outing, in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series with the Phillies. Even Saturday, after staging a holiday toy drive in Bedford, Mass., Martinez said he still has a desire to play, but he made clear that the draw of home life in Miami and his native Dominican Republic -- his family, his charity, his boat -- supersedes everything else. http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111203&content_id=26087740&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=aw-4665391799803454627-996

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