Mets Stuff - Joel Sherman, Omar, Ruben Tejada, Steve Swisher, Sandy, Pettite vs. Johan, Gil

Mets Stuff  - Joel Sherman, Omar, Ruben Tejada, Steve Swisher, Sandy, Pettite vs. Johan, Gil

It was early April. The rosters were set and Opening Day was hours away. Unexpectedly the Mets exhibition game against the Expos was cancelled due to a players strike. With a free afternoon and nothing to do, the Mets manager and some of his coaches decided to walk across the street and play a round of golf at the Palm Beach Lakes Club. Later that afternoon on their way back to the Ramada Hotel where the team was staying, manager Gil Hodges collapsed in the parking lot of a heart attack just 2 days prior to his 48th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 5:45 pm.  link

Joel Sherman on season:

Johan Santana needs two DL stints to survive just a 15-start season, but uses his savvy to go 8-5 with a 3.58 ERA when he does pitch. Jon Niese’s command and maturity catch up to his competitiveness and stuff, allowing him to become a 15-game winner with an ERA in the threes. Andres Torres tanks and the Mets turn to Matt den Dekker, who proves to be Devon White Lite: Long legs and a long swing leading to ace defense, bunches of strikeouts and some lefty pop. Ike Davis and Lucas Duda each top 30 homers, but Davis does it with Gold Glove contention defense while Duda is so troublesome in right the Mets are forced to consider whether he can play there long term. The same goes for Daniel Murphy as a definitely-can-hit, but-can’t-field second baseman.

Omar Minaya on Ruben Tejada:

“He’ll surprise you. Listen, you’re not going to replace Jose. But I don’t think Ruben is of that mindset. Ruben is a fine shortstop. He’s a young kid who can throw, catch, who is going to hit the ball into the gap. He’s a well-rounded baseball player.”

Andy Pettitte vs. Johan Santana (20 starts) — In this showdown of sage, veteran lefties who did not pitch last season, Santana gets a head start with the Opening Day assignment while Pettitte is not due before May 1. But Santana came down achy in the last week, needed an anti-inflammation shot and, thus, reminded folks that he unlikely is to make it through the season without interruption. The Mets have penciled in an extra day of rest after each of his first seven starts and already recognize there probably will be times they will have to skip him entirely as they try to avoid disabled-list stints. -  link

Sandy Alderson on lack of Yankees starts in Mets-Yankees game on Tuesday:

“That’s an issue for Major League Baseball, not for us. But I don’t know whether Yankees fans are happy to see a Yankee uniform or would prefer to see somebody recognizable in the uniform.”

                       

Steve Swisher on ST at Port  St. Lucie:

From age 8, when his father, the former major leaguer Steve Swisher, was a minor league manager with the Mets and later a coach with the big-league club, Swisher was a fixture at the Mets’ spring training. There were the days when he won $100 off Todd Hundley, joked around with the eccentric Bill Pulsipher and took what he estimated were a million swings on the back fields. Returning here Tuesday as a 31-year-old Yankees right fielder brought back a stream of memories for Swisher, who celebrated his return by hitting a home run in a 7-6 loss to the Mets in the same park where he used to shag fly balls as a youngster.