·
Talked to
Jeff Kaplan. This will be the big year for
Jeff. He’ll jump to AA and we all know how important that is. Last season
combined Lucy-Bing: 49-G, 3.52, 12-SV. I asked him for his goals for ST:
“Every year I come to spring training
with the goals of making a team and making sure I am ready for Day 1. As well
as being ready to compete, making sure I am healthy and strong is always on my
mind. I had a very good off season, and I feel I am in the best shape of my
career. Lastly, spring training is the place to get the competitive juices
flowing, seeing live hitters and being around the complex will get me ready for
the upcoming season.”
·
Adam Rubin on the
rotation…
STARTING PITCHING: Johan
Santana missed the 2011 season while recovering from surgery to repair a
torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. Despite optimism, it remains an
open question whether he can pitch every fifth (or sixth) day for a full
season. Terry Collins said he hopes to get
25 starts from Santana, but the history of returning from this injury isn’t
great. Chien-Ming Wang took exactly two years
from the surgery to reappear in the majors. Mark Prior never
found himself again. Other than Chris Capuano's defection
to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a two-year, $10 million deal, the rest of the
Mets’ rotation remains intact: R.A. Dickey, Jon
Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee.
The depth is thin. If Santana cannot pitch, or a starter needs to go on the
disabled list, other starting pitchers in camp include Miguel
Batista, Garrett Olson, Jeremy Hefner and Chris
Schwinden. 2010 first-round pick Matt Harvey will
be in major league camp, but may not appear in the majors until September. Zack Wheeler, the team’s top prospect, who was
acquired last July in the Carlos Beltran trade, is not in big league camp and
should see the bulk of his action at Double-A Binghamton this season.
I
may not like the guy, but Rubin knows the Mets better than anyone. The key thing in this paragraph is
Santana’s ability to pitch every five games. I don’t think he’ll pitch one, but
we’ll see, If I’m wrong, don’t be surprised if the Mets don’t carry six
starters out of camp.
Clearly these numbers show a
talented player. Four of out his eight seasons (including his last 3) he has
recorded an OPS of over 1.0 and hit for a great average. He is also hitting a
lot of homeruns in not many at bats. 33 homers would be an excellent MLB season
and he did it in about half as many at-bats as most guy big league guys (for
instance Ryan Howard and Ryan Braun both hit exactly 33 HR last year but did so
in 644 and 629 at-bats respectively). His promo video is also very telling.
While the over the top production makes it hilarious at points, it does
showcase (see what I did there?) a guy with incredible athletic ability and the
raw tools of strength, speed, coordination and baseball instinct to be a top
MLB player. I will leave you with his WBC slash line to ponder and be in awe of
until he reports to spring training: .458/.480/1.000.
·
Mets
infielder Justin Turner scored his first run
of the 2012 season on 2-10… or the Cal Sate Fulerton Alumni team that played a
scrimmage against the 2012 Titans.
·
Joe Posnanski had a fascinating chart on his blog this
week. This represents the amount of players (by age) that have had great
seasons in baseball.
This
pretty much confirms what we all knew anyway. The ages of 24-31 are a player’s
peak period to not only perform, but secure a big contract.
And,
if you sign someone to a lengthy contract past their 32nd birthday,
well, buyer beware.
·
Ex-Mets On The Move
o
P Scott Linebrink signed a minor league deal
with St. Louis – In 2006, The Mets gives up Xavier Nady and Heath Bell and
gets Linebrink and Roberto Hernandez
3 comments:
Scott Linebrink was never a Met ... the Mets received Roberto Hernandez and OLIVER PEREZ in that exchange.
like the title says...
my bad
And Heath Bell left along with Royce Ring in the ill-fated trade for Jon Adkins and Ben Johnson.
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