Mets: Tim Leary, Mets Trial, T.J. Chism, Tim Byrdak, Josh Thole

The New York Mets traded pitcher, Tim Leary to the Kansas City Royals for Frank Wills on January 18, 1985. Leary was one projected to be the ace of the Mets pitching staff, but he injured his arm in his major league debut which required surgery.Even though he ended up having a long career, he never did live up to the tag of “pitching phenom”.  http://realdirtymets.com/2012/01/18/this-day-in-mets-infamy-with-rusty-the-would-it-surprise-you-if-edition-01-18-11/

Seen one way, a trial is exactly what Wilpon and Katz have said they wanted: a chance to formally rebut claims that they profited improperly from investing with Madoff and built their fortunes on his fraud. After the lawsuit was filed a year ago, they labeled it a strong-arm attempt to provoke a settlement “by threatening to ruin our reputations and businesses which we have built for over 50 years. This is a flagrant abuse of the trustee’s authority and we will not succumb to his pressure.”  Seen another way, a trial is potentially a big risk for Wilpon and Katz. At trial before Rakoff, the trustee will be seeking as much as $386 million from them. The Mets, as a club, have lost roughly $120 million the last two seasons and have added to hundreds of millions in existing debt by borrowing $25 million from Major League Baseball and $40 million from Bank of America over the last 15 months. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/sports/baseball/judge-rejects-bid-by-madoff-trustee-to-appeal-ruling.html?_r=1

T.J. Chism (LHP) - Chism will anchor a very talented bullpen at Savannah this year. He should be one of the team’s closers, if he pitches as well as he did last year for Brooklyn. In 2011 he went: 3-0 with a 1.14 ERA, and 6 saves. His WHIP was 0.88, and his opponents batting average was .179. In a recent interview with MMO, T.J. described his pitches: “I throw a 2-seam and 4-seam fastball which I usually work around 87-89 topping out around 91 from a 3/4 arm slot. A change-up and slider which range anywhere from 75-80 mph depending on how I feel that day. My change-up and slider really excelled when I moved to the 3/4 arm slot during the beginning of my second year. And I was able to locate my fastball alot better as well.” http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/01/prospect-pulse-the-2012-savannah-sand-gnats.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MetsMerizedOnline-GetMetsmerized-NewYorkMets+%28Mets+Merized+Online%29

The same can be said for virtually all left-handed specialists, but if Tim Byrdak’s exposure to right-handed hitters is limited in 2012, he should be able to turn in another good year out of the bullpen. His career splits against left-handed hitters aren’t nearly as great as they were last year, but even a return to his career norm would be good enough for his role on the team. Although Byrdak turned 38 at the end of October, he hasn’t shown any signs of physical breakdown yet, and considering the Mets’ relatively minor investment in his arm, it would not be the end of the world if he encounters an injury at some point this year.  http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/18/2715749/2012-mets-player-profile-tim-byrdak

A 13th-round draft pick in 2005, Josh Thole made his Mets debut in September of 2009, but spent most of 2010 as the backup behind new acquisition Rod Barajas, a power hitter without good on-base skills. Past his prime and subject to prolonged slumps, Barajas was never meant to be more than a stopgap solution as well, and by late summer he was traded to the Dodgers. Thole entered 2011 as the starter, but as evidence by the Mets’ signing of Ronny Paulino last December, new GM Sandy Alderson was still a bit unsure of Thole’s ability to carry a full load.   Thole’s 2011 season was a mixture of ups and downs.  He played well at times, but showed his inexperience behind the dish.  The one thing that will keep him in the Majors is an overall improvement defensively and his bat.  His offense was for the most part underwhelming in 2011, so it remains to be seen if he will still be the starting catcher by August of 2012.  For that to happen to he needs to improve upon a lot of areas of his game this upcoming season.