The LTJ Editorial: “Have we truly seen the last of Johan Santana?”

“The LTJ Editorial”
Author: Luis Tirado Jr.
Date: 11-8-13
Twitter: @LTJ81
Website: http://www.TheNYExpress.com

“Have we truly seen the last of Johan Santana?”

All through my life, I've always enjoyed getting the sports jersey of my favorite players on the various teams I root for. Yeah, it's no secret, while I do cover both the New York Yankees and New York Mets, deep inside my heart, I love my Mets. Ever since 1986 when I saw the World Series trophy in the hands of guys like Strawberry, Hernandez, Gooden, etc when I was about 5 years old, I was hooked on this team. That image to this day is burned into my memory, it's the last time I ever saw any of my teams actually win a championship that I can remember. These past few years have been rough on a diehard Mets fan like me but we have our moments here and there. One amazing memory that is actually up there with that '86 championship to a degree, was the first ever no-hitter in Mets history. I'll never forget back on June 1^st, 2012 when for the first time in team history, the New York Mets FINALLY achieved a no-hitter. I watched every inning that game getting goosebumps with every successful out leading to the 9^th inning. Once it finally happened, I knew that the player who ended up bringing that elusive no-hitter to the Mets would be immortalized forever. Of course it went to one of my favorite players on the team, Starting Pitcher Johan Santana.

Some say the decision Manager Terry Collins made to keep Santana in that game potentially led to the shoulder issues that nagged him thereafter. He re-tore his shoulder capsule going into this past MLB season and ultimately needed season-ending surgery that technically stemmed from that perfect game. He missed the entire season and being at the age of 34 years old, everyone wondered if he would ever be the same again. A few weeks ago, the Mets had the decision to pick up his team option or decline it. The team ultimately made the decision to not bring him back. At the time of this editorial, he will be testing the free agency market. There is a possibility he will return to the Mets if no interesting offers are presented from other teams. There is also talk he might be presented with a new deal by the Mets that is incentive based since he is coming off surgery and a year away from MLB. It’s the first time in his career Santana will be a free agent so this is all new to him as well as Mets fans seeing his name there.

When you look at the big picture, many questions need to be answered. Can Santana be effective as a starter again next year? Since he's towards the last leg of his solid career, would there be a chance he would change pitching positions? Maybe converting to a Relief Pitcher or even a Closing Pitcher at this point of his career? Of course the big elephant in the room is would the Mets make some kind of offer to bring him back since we are down an ace? We all know Starting Pitcher Matt Harvey will be out for all of the 2014 MLB season due to Tommy John Surgery on his throwing shoulder so we have a spot open. Would it make sense to bring back an established ace to fill the void without Harvey?

Let's try to dissect all this for a moment.

In the long-term sense, bringing back Santana would be a mistake. For the short-term idea of things, perhaps a simple one-year deal as insurance would be ideal for the Mets. I still think though, this could truly have been the last time we've seen Santana wear a Mets uniform and I'll explain why. We all know the Owners of the Mets, the Wilpons, have made it quite clear they want to bring in some top notch talent to the team to make a quality season out of 2014. They want great pitching, solid defense, hard-hitting players, and gradually mix in their young amazing prospects into the majors. The Mets farm system is one of the best in baseball, especially with pitchers. The Wilpons want to make the organization and its fans know the “youth movement” is coming, no more memories of aging superstars eating away at the finances of the team. No more old players just standing around being unproductive or way past their prime. The key is to upgrade areas with established productive players through the free agency and build from within. Sadly, a player like Santana doesn't fit this criteria anymore when you think about it. He's coming off an entire year of no baseball activity and off of back to back major shoulder surgeries. It's more than likely he's seen his better days and for the Mets to bring him back would be a setback. It would seem like they're just bringing him back for namesake purposes and not for the benefit of the long-term big picture. Sure, there is that slight chance he will return and be decent but history shows that most players don't after these circumstances. They come back and easily require a few more years of re-learning the mechanics and techniques of what made them originally famous. It's not easy to say the least.

It's sad that Santana's final moments with the Mets ended this way. I don't see him returning to the team and he will end up playing somewhere else battling struggles to keep up with everything. I'll always be grateful for his contributions to the Mets as well as finally bringing that no-hitter to this franchise. I finally got to witness something other than a championship that will be remembered for generations to come. Santana pitched that in Citi Field too, you can't put a price on how awesome it all was.

The first Mets jersey I ever bought was back in 2008. When it comes to jerseys, I always take my time and think about who I want to represent. Sure, I could have easily got one of David Wright, Jose Reyes, or even Carlos Beltran since they were all awesome at the time. Something told me though, I had to get the jersey of a true warrior. Someone who exemplified greatness and extraordinary skill. A baseball player who fascinated me every single time I saw them play this sport I love so much.

I went with #57.

Mack Ade – Morning Report – 10-11-13 – First Base, Colorado, David Price, Johan Santana, AFL

Andy Martino –

                “Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores and Josh Satin are a flawed group, but there are enough of them to push the Mets into using their resources for other positions.” - http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/2013/10/why-ny-mets-dont-expect-to-pursue-robinson-cano-jose-abreu-and-why-thats-w-0

Mack – This was the last line of Martino’s ‘Insider’ report on Wednesday evening. I’m not the biggest fan of Martino, but I agree with him here, other than the fact that I would take a legitimate run at Mike Napoli in the $13mil, 3/yr. range. If he can get more, fine, let him seek employment elsewhere. I still would like to find a way of getting Flores at least 300 at-bats in a platoon with either Duda or Davis. Frankly, you have to let the other two seek a future with a different club. You can’t carry four first basemen.

A couple of things that could develop here:

                First of all, a couple of them did play other positions but the majority of their games were on first base and their combined 2013 stats were 28 home runs and 96 runs batted in.

                There could be some off-season interest in Flores, even though he under-impressed when he was promoted to Flushing. Insiders liked the way he had the knack of driving in runs even though he wasn’t producing the overall stat line they had hoped for. Then, he came up lame and basically the season was over for him.

                The other scenario is what if Duda or Davis start the season off hot? Do you shit can the platoon?

All of this will make  lot more sense once Napoli signs somewhere. It definitely will if that somewhere is… here.

 

More Martino -

Ten years, $305 million (Cano)? When Alderson heard about his request from the Yankees, he must have said "no thanks" in considerably less time than it takes Cano to jog to first base. We're talking about a GM who wrestled with the decision to give face of the franchise David Wright an eight-year deal. People who know Alderson well say that was a tough commitment for him to make, even to a player he likes. So don't expect him to play that game with some other franchise's guy, sources say.

                Mack – Let’s understand something. Sandy Alderson hates long term deals. The Wright deal came down from the Wilpons and wasn’t his idea. He signed off on it because his bosses wanted it done.

                There is no way anyone is going to get a 5-year deal out of this guy… if… he really is in change, and right now, I believe he is. The front office believes that, with an assit by Omar Minaya, they have solved the long term pitching situation with this team. They will slot in selective free agents if and when players like Matt Harvey go under the knife.

                They also believe that their pitching almost got them to the playoff, even with the rag-tag group they put on the field. Yes, they need to replace the loss of Marlon Byrd, but I’m sure you will see at least three new every day field players to join Wright and Travis d’Arnaud.

                But, forget your five year contracts. They aren’t happening.

 

Colorado –

                Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort said that he will not consider trading either SS Troy Tulowizki or OF Carlos Gonzalez.

Mack – In fact, he said he plans on spending more money for another big bat. I’m sort of happy about this. I never expected the Mets to be able to make a deal for either of these guys and, if you have to have them on a National League team, it might as well be a bad one.

The bad news is we probably just lost about 25% of the comments that will be listed on my site, but it seems like our best bet right now would be either Carlos Beltran or Marlon Byrd, or both.

 

David Price –

                David Price told reporters Wednesday night that he expects to be traded by the Rays this offseason.

                                Mack – I know we discussed Price before, but let me remind you just how bad things are financially in Tampa Bay. This team has less attendance than Miami. Do you know how hard that is to do? The city of Tampa Bay simply doesn’t support this team and the owners can not afford to stock their 40-man with anybody but pre-arbitration eligible prospects. The team that secures Price through a trade will be the team that offers the most talented young and cheap players, not established starts. Tampa Bay also has a shit load of players hitting free agency including three other pitchers. Look, make the phone call. Offer Rafael Montero, Jeremy Hefner, Wilmer Flores, and Jordany Valdespin. What do you have to lose? They may not hang up and just say, no, take out Valdespin and “add in Juan Lagares and you got a deal”.

 

                                Johan Santana -

Everybody knows that Johan Santana missed the entire 2013 MLB season due to surgery on his throwing elbow, the second time he’s had that procedure done on the same arm. All signs are pointing to the New York Mets buying out the rest of his contract, which would be a $5.5 million buyout. Even after the buyout, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said he would “possibly” look to sign the two-time Cy Young Award winner on the cheap. http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/10/10/even-if-johan-santana-comes-back-to-the-new-york-mets-how-effective-is-he-going-to-be/?0sMtcepG3ZdaRRyW.99

Mack – First of all, define cheap. Would Santana give the Mets a home team discount and sign for $5mil more than the buyout, $10mil for one season? And exactly what would be Santana’s incentive to sign for only one season?

This is a first class gentleman who fully understands that the Mets paid him $25,000,000 to basically eat at Duffy’s last season, but he’s always been a ‘business only’ kind of guy a la Carlos Beltran.

I will tell you this… if his arm isn’t heals, Alderson will know about it. That’s not Santana’s act. He’ll be up front about his health.

If I could only crystal ball this and know that the Mets could get two quality years from this guy, just imagine the 2015 rotation.

 

AFL –

                The Mets had big hopes that OF Cory Vaughn could draw a line in the sand and begin to stat out in the Arizona Fall League. So far, he is 0-9 in the first two games, has one error, two strikeouts, and was benched for game three. 3B Aderlin Rodriquez has also started off hitless, going 0-7 through Thursday. Only Cam Maron has produced a hit, going 1-3 in Thursday’s loss.RP Cody Satterwhite earned the save in game one after a scoreless ninth inning. (Satterwhite was signed by the Mets after being released by the Detroit Tigers. He has suffered multiple years of shoulder problems and has, at time, watched his velocity go from the mid-90s to low-80s. He signed on with Indy Sioux City Explorers where he pitched in 19-games, 2-1, 0.65-ERA, 27.2-IP, 31-K, 7-BB. His overall minor league affiliated ball stat line is: 4-yrs, 6-8, 3.44, 1.55, 102-IP, 109-K, 66-BB. This looks like a quality sign and watch for the 26-yr. old to move on to Binghamton next season.)He pitched another scoreless inning on Thursday. In addition, fellow reliever, Chason Bradford has pitched 0.1 inning of scoreless ball.

 

The LTJ Editorial: “Are the Mets coddling our pitchers?”

“The LTJ Editorial”
Author: Luis Tirado Jr.
Date: 9-10-13
Twitter: @LTJ81
Website: http://www.TheNYExpress.com

 

“Are the Mets coddling our pitchers?”

 

These past few months for the NY Mets pitchers have been chock full of injuries left and right. Stemming from last season with SP Johan Santana, the Mets have a grand total of eight pitchers on the disabled list. Injuries ranging from stress fractures, surgeries to fix pain from pitching, herniated disks, and the dreaded Tommy John Surgery that takes almost a year to heal. Needless to say, is there something wrong with how Management treats their pitchers? Or could it be that the Mets are simply overprotecting them from imaginary harm? Let me explain.

Between having proposed “innings caps” in the minors, to pulling pitchers out due to high pitch counts early in games, a lot of times doing those kind of moves makes baseball sense to a degree. You have your starting pitcher hitting 80 pitches too early in a game and you worry about him getting tightened up, sore, or playing through fatigue. Most of the time these injuries come with the game, you pitch so many days of the week and only have a day or so of rest in between starts and practices. It's bound to happen because of the workload that you have with every start. I remember last year the outburst of joy mixed with fear of letting Santana pitch that perfect game because everyone worried would he last the entire year. He didn't, but I refuse to believe that him pitching 134 pitches in one game truly led to his shoulder issue that ultimately needed surgery. It was even reported that Manager Terry Collins wanted to pull him out due to fear of him getting hurt. Santana of course refused and is etched in MLB history for that perfect game, but what if Collins did indeed pull him out? Could that have prevented his shoulder injury? I doubt it, it's one of those things you can't really predict. That's my whole point. No medical staff, manager, or coach can prevent an injury based on “what ifs” because of how you're playing. One thing that I feel should never happen is limiting your pitcher because of worrying about the future.

I read a great article about a week ago in the New York Daily News about how legendary Mets SP Tom Seaver said that while he felt bad for what happened to SP Matt Harvey, nothing could have prevented his injury. Not innings limits, pitch counts, or pulling him out early because of the wear and tear of his arm. That not only just the Mets but baseball in general truly “babies” young pitchers instead of letting them go out and do what they've been doing since they were little; play baseball. That in his era, pitchers didn't get coddled or told to take it easy with their pitches, they relied on mechanics, practice, and playing at their highest. I completely agree with Seaver here because honestly, he's absolutely correct. Back in his day, pitchers pitched way more than they do now, not pitch less for concerns about longevity. They also didn't suffer any major injuries and that's with double the workload back then to what it is now.

It just doesn't make sense to have the mentality as a pitching coach or even Manager that coddling pitchers will ultimately prevent injuries. Nothing can truly predict what causes an injury and when I look at the injury report and see eight pitchers on there for the Mets, I think there is something bigger going on. It feels like management treats their pitchers like fans do with their fantasy teams.... like robots! Too many times technology gets in the way and everything is being counted and tallied against you. Trying to teach young talent how to throw slower speed pitches so you last longer doesn't make much sense to me. Especially being pulled from a game against your will because you are throwing too hard and need to be “protected” for the future. As a pitcher, you know your game and your body more than any coach thinks he knows about you. Unless you are writhing in pain and can't go the distance, then by all means, let the medical staff/coach make that decision and take you out. But if you are in a rhythm and doing your thing, it's not right to be limited because your name and age determine your playing status.

The whole reason MLB went to five and possibly six man rotations depending on your team structure, was to limit the workload on starting pitchers. However, back in the day, especially when Seaver played, it use to be four man rotations and not many severe injuries to boot. No shoulder surgeries, or hernias, blown arms, nothing. Just straight up baseball where 300 inning workloads were the norm. Let pitchers go to their potential and stop coddling them for fear of their careers. Everyone is a competitor, let that natural aggression out and let it get sorted out as the years go by. You can't prevent injury but it seems lately, coaches are preventing players from doing what they love. Let the players play because at the end of the day, injuries are part of the game. It's just going to happen in this day and age. Trying to prevent them by limiting and shutting down players shouldn't be the only option to preserve careers. Conditioning, practicing, and executing does that.

3-6-13 – Johan Santana, Jenrry Mejia, Gonzale Germen, Shaun Marcum, Collin Cowgill

Andy Martino‏ - @MartinoNYDN

Baseball Insider: Mets privately expect Johan Santana to start on DL, but not seeking pitching http://tinyurl.com/axs7qck

-Boy, is is starting to really stink like bad fish heads on the Food Channel.

I hope this isn't drama and is something that can be fixed sometime in April. Then again, 2013 is starting to look like the kind of your that's going to net the Mets one of the top five picks in the 2014 draft. 

My 2013 prediction post coming up soon (and you thought Rubin was rough...)   

Andy Martino‏ - @MartinoNYDN -

RT @Kristieackert: Jenrry Mejia did not pitch flying back to NY for tests related to his physical.    -   MetsBlog - Sandy Alderson told reporters Jenrry Mejia is returning to New York to have a follow-up to the physical he had when he arrived at camp.

        -well, to be honest, Mejia has been off my dance card for quite awhile... I really thought the Mets had something here, but whatever it was was ruined by Jerry Manuel. For now, we'll let this play out... shit, the press releases are like the ff-again, on-again rotation slots for him when Omar was around. 

        -my best hopes right now is that he becomes a successful member of the 2014 Mets bullpen.

Shaun Marcum -

"I had a little shoulder flare-up last spring, so I wanted to be smart about it this spring, especially with the extended spring, and just make sure that I was ready for whenever my turn is in the rotation for the start of the season. Because that's the most important thing, not making seven or eight starts down here. The elbow, shoulder, all that feels good."

-Okay, THIS is the kind of stuff I want to hear come out of his mouth. I was always told he was a team kind of guy and it looks like he is, though there still seems to be some kind of disconnect between the veterans in camp and the management. 

3-5 SS game at Marlins - Gonzalez Germen surrendered two runs while recording only one out in the fifth…

David Rubin emailed me earlier this week and asked why this guy was on the 40-man. I have no idea why. I do remember that he went on the same day that Hansel Robles did, right before the Rule Five Draft. Obviously, the Mets wanted to protect him for some reason. Oh yeah, someone did tell me that they like the way he can go deep into games.

Collin Cowgill

In the eyes of your intrepid columnist, from the vantage point of early March – which means this opinion may as well be written on sand – the best bet looks like a Cowgill/Valdespin platoon. It would make total sense offensively and look adventuresome from the other side of the ball. It remains to be seen if Valdespin can keep his emotions and attitude focused enough for even a halftime gig in the outfield, so Met fans will have to hope that Collin Cowgill can hack his new responsibilities: we may have a fever, and the remedy might be more Cowgill.

You can't cut Cowgill.

This is what spring training is all about.

Cut the best OFer you had out there this spring and you cut the heart out of your fan base.

3-4-13 – Nick Evans, Johan Santana, Charley Thurber, Adam Rubin

Dodgers reassigned the following players to minor league camp: Nick Evans, Dallas McPherson, Kelvin De La Cruz and Ozzie Martinez…

          I liked Nick.

          Here’s some old stuff on him:

                   Evans came to pro-ball straight out of St. Mary’s High School, Phoeniz, Arizona.

The Mets chose Evans in the 5th round of the 2004 draft and received a $217,500 bonus on his signing day. He immediately reported to the GCL Mets and hit .258 in 50 games.  Evans was 3rd in the Gulf Coast League in extra-base hits and runs and 5th in homers. Scout.com ranked him the 34th Mets prospect that year. In 2005, Evans played a ‘full’ season for the short-season Brooklyn team, hitting .252/.302/.407. He was named Player of the Week during the period of 6/20-6/26/05.

Baseball America ranks Evans as the 30th prospect in the system, OnDeck had him 28th, and InsidePitch put him #14. In addition, the pre-season John Sickles rating was C and Evans was ranked as the 18th Mets prospect. Baseball Thnk Factory said in Nov ’06 that Evans might the Mets’ ‘sleeper’ prospect.  Their actual quote:  “33 doubles and 15 HR at Hagerstown this year – some of that, particularly the double total, is helped by the ballpark, but it’s not all park-fueled. He was drafted as a 3B but was quickly moved to 1B; if he’d stayed at 3B he’d probably be on a lot more radars. I think he’ll add power; the question will be “how much” and “how soon”. 

Now on to Johan Santana, Santana was sidelined with what was called arm weakness at the time.  Some have suggested to me on twitter that this is some type of undisclosed injury to Santana which would then indicate to me another lie by this team’s front office.  However, this is now being characterized by the Met’s staff as Johan Santana not being in pitching shape.  GM Sandy Alderson then went on to say Johan Santana would probably not be able to throw of a mound for another ten days.   Well folks today Santana threw off a mound, although, not from the full distance Santana was defiantly sore afterwards saying to reporters that spring training and practice is for practice.  Santana is obviously sore with the Mets front office and in doing so made them look like fools, although, they do a pretty good job of that themselves.   However, I hope in all this Santana didn’t throw off a mound to answer a dare from GM Sandy Alderson as that could end up impacting Zack Wheeler later in the year which could then have a ripple effect on the Mets long term plan.  With that being said it probably isn’t the greatest idea to publically challenge or try to shame a veteran like Johan Santana who is known for his great work ethic

.

          I guess this is a new Mets site that is off to a quick start in obtaining a press pass from Jay… 

Mack Ade Charley, what's your guess? St. Lucie ?

Charley Thurber  - Mack,  my guess is as good as yours. Just looking forward to a healthy and productive year! I Should know more in mid or late march.

          Thurber is a potential Mets outfielder with an ETA of 2016 latest. This was a damn good college baseball player that fell deep in the draft due to freaky injuries. It was the Mets gain, so remember this name. He's not done yet.

General Manager Sandy Alderson said Francisco had extenuating family circumstances that interrupted his rehab from a December elbow cleanout. But even if the trainer had to move in with Francisco during the winter, someone from the organization should have been on top of him, ensuring the rehab program was followed and that the Mets' $6.5 million investment in Francisco was maximized.

                   The only reason Rubin gets away with these hatchet jobs he writes is the fact he wears that union card around his neck. Otherwise, he would  be the last person allowed in the Mets clubhouse.

3-4-13 – Pedro Martinez, Mike Pelfrey, John Buck, Johan Santana

So how can Pedro Martinez Help Bard and other Red Sox pitchers rebound from last year’s disaster? Pedro said that he has a good eye for mechanics, and believes he’ll know when a tweak to a hurler’s delivery may make a difference. This is what he did during his own career, closely watching great pitchers like Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux in developing his own physical and mental repertoire.  ”I’m a combination of everything,” Martinez explained. “I took a little bit of pretty much everyone and used it to build my own experience. I hope they do that the same way.”  Perhaps John Lackey, coming back from a year off after Tommy John surgery, can also pick up a thing or two from Martinez. In the midst of his string of domination, Pedro suffered a torn rotator cuff in 2001 and missed half of that season. He returned the next year as more of a control artist than a flamethrower and still went 20-4 while leading the American League in ERA and strikeouts.

Rhett Bollinger‏ - @RhettBollinger

For those curious, Mike Pelfrey threw 39 pitches with 24 strikes. Fastball at about 88-89 mph. One hit & a walk over 3 scoreless IP.

I’m still sort of shocked that Sandy Alderson cut fish so quick on Pelfrey, who was a team player and a big positive in the clubhouse. It’s obvious that the Mets were adamant about not giving out a multi-year contract, while, at the same time, Pelf’s agent knew he could get it somewhere.

            As we always say, this is first a business and this deal even bummed out Pelfrey.

All Mets fans wish him well and we’ll always think of him every time we lick the palm of our hand.

Andrew Vazzano‏ - @AVSNY

John Buck with a three-run home run. Might be nice to have a catcher with some power this year

            First thing first.

Josh Thole never claimed to have any power but his batting average was far superior to Buck last year. The problem was that Josh (I know him… I can use his first name) learned to catch at the same time the guys that threw to him learned to pitch. He brought no seasoned experience to the table, something Buck does.

Buck will not produce a BA higher than Thole did, but he will hit double digits in home runs which is sorely needed on the 2013 version of this team.

Jorge Castillo‏ - @jorgeccastillo

Yesterday, Sandy Alderson said Johan Santana wouldn't throw off a mound for 10 days. Santana did today

It seems we’re now getting into ego pissing contests which can’t be good; however, if pissing Santana off gets him back on the horse, than piss away.

$25,000,000.00 for this shit.

3-4-13 – Mike Trout, Traid Robles, Shaun Marcum, Johan Santana

Do you want to come up with a sure fire way to make sure your top player becomes a free agent when his contract runs out?

This one is easy… renew the contract of OF Mike Trout for only $20,000 above the league minimum.

I mean, wouldn’t this be a good time to throw 200K to a guy that right now is the best player in baseball?

Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, responded with: "During the process, on behalf of Mike, I asked only that the Angels compensate Mike fairly for his historic 2012 season, given his service time. In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a 'fair' contract and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process. Nonetheless, the renewal of Mike's contract will put an end [to] this discussion."… which, in my old neighborhood of Ozone Park means, ‘another time, another place, my friend…”

Trout will become a free agent in 2018.

Joel Sherman writes:

So the Mets and their fans are busy dreaming, particularly about their young pitching, notably about Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. Imagining them as near-future Nos. 1-2 in a stacked young rotation with Jon Niese behind them, and some combination of Dillon Gee, Cory Mazzoni, Rafael Montero, Noah Syndegaard, Hansel Robles and Darin Gorski filling out the starting five.

                        Click on Sherman’s name to read the rest of the article, but it really doesn’t matter what he wrote. The important thing here is that he’s writing about Mets pitching prospects… period. This is how trades begin. Stories are written for major newspapers like the New York Post and General Managers of other teams call their head of scouting and get at least one of their chief scouts assigned to each of these prospects for the next three months.

                        

Do you honestly think anybody knew what a Hansel Robles was a month ago?

Shaun Marcum (shoulder) will return to Grapefruit League action on Tuesday. Marcum was removed from the Mets' spring training rotation for a little over a week while he did some strengthening of his pitching shoulder. His shoulder gave him issues last spring, as well, but he was able to take his first turn once the regular season began. Barring a setback, that should be the case again this year.

                        Take this for exactly what it is… a veteran taking his time in an extended spring training… nothing more. Watch for Latroy Hawkins to quickly follow

@jorgeccastillo: Johan Santana just threw some long toss and is doing some light throwing from a mound

Kevin Burkhardt‏ - @KBurkhardtSNY -  Alderson said it would be 10 days until Santana got on a mound. That was yesterday. Time flies! My take on the Johan Santana story is simple- I think he was stunned how his arm simply didn't respond after his 2nd bullpen. He rested all winter, which he thought he needed after 3 offseasons of rehab. Arm is simply not responding, and it has suprised him.

Andy Martino‏ - @MartinoNYDN - Technical reason for Santana throwing bullpen today was got up to 180 feet long tossing, which was plan all along. But asked friend of Santana's if this was also "Bleep you, I can throw a bullpen just fine." That person said stories prob "motivated him."… Meanwhile, Santana, appearing displeased to be center of attention this morning, said "What is spring training for? Training."

                        $25million a year… ya know, shut the fuck up and get up on the mound…

3-3-13 – Opening Day Rotation, Lucas Duda, Johan Santana,

It’s a little early, but this might be a good time to start discussing exactly what the opening day rotation might look like. Right now, both Johan Santana and Shaun Marcum are not participating in the process. Mets official late yesterday afternoon said that they still are projecting Santana to be the opening day starter, which is fine because I plan on flapping my ears and flying to the moon that day also. I’ll change my stance here after I see him pitch 65 pitches in a March game and tell me his arm feels fine the next day. As for Marcum, I just don’t think he liked pitching as early at ST started this year, got pissed with the results, and shut himself down. Dillon Gee is a gamer so he’ll be ready and I don’t think we have anything to worry about when it comes to Matt Harvey being ready. Past that, I wouldn’t get too excited about all the Cory Mazzoni and Rafael Montero buzz. It makes for good media. But they aren’t ready to fill the bill in 2013 (what you might see is one or both of them elevate to Las Vegas rather than their originally projected Binghamton start). My guess is Jeremy Hefner would win over Collin McHugh and fill in the one or two rotations in early April that Santana might miss.

Three home runs, including a pair in back-to-back innings by first baseman Joe Mahoney, powered the Marlins to an 8-8 tie with the Mets, in front of 3,957 on Saturday afternoon at Tradition Field. New York's bats warmed up later in the game, erasing a five-run deficit. Right fielder Lucas Duda hit a solo shot in the sixth and second baseman Brian Bixler blasted a two-run, game-tying homer in the eighth.

As we have said in the past, statistics mean nothing in spring training. Thus, Lucas Duda’s lack of a batting average meant nothing. Still, with all the stealth health problems and Area 51 batting cages, it was great to see Duda go yard today. I’m telling you, get off this kid’s back and he’s going to hit between 30-35 home run this year.

Jorge Castillo‏ - @jorgeccastillo

Alderson just spoke about report that Santana didn't arrive in pitching shape. Basically said it's obvious since he wasn't ready to pitch. Alderson said Santana could've done more over the winter, "but that's a judgment he ultimately has to make about how he's feeling. We haven't ruled out opening day, altho given when we think he might get on a mound, it becomes less and less likely. The next step is actually getting him on a mound & that hasn't happened yet & it probably won't for another good 10 days or so."

Try to imagine the frustration you would have if you paid a closer six million dollars and your ace starter another twenty-five million dollars and both of them come to camp without even tossing a baseball to their neighbor’s six-year old’s son? Is there any sense of responsibility here or is this something you just create on your own. Let’s face it, if you pay me $25,000,000.00 a year… to do anything… and I know that I’m never going to get another dollar out of you once this contract runs out in a year, I really don’t have any incentive to be 100% ready on opening day. Frankly, my motivation would be to be 100% when my contract runs out.

Once again, I am surprised that Alderson is playing this out in the press. It’s another in a series of moves that won’t make things easier in the clubhouse.

2-18-13 – Week schedule, Rafael Montero, Johan Santana, Jose Valverde

Today is the first full team workout. Week schedule:

          Monday: First full-squad workout, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday: Regular workouts, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Friday: Possible intrasquad scrimmage, TBD

Saturday: Grapefruit League opener vs. Nationals, 12:10 p.m.

Mets manager Terry Collins confirmed on Saturday that Zack Wheeler will begin the 2013 season at Triple-A

Rammy Yogendra  is one of our loyal readers and is currently down in Port St. Lucie. He’s reporting back some of his thoughts on various members of the team:

Got a chance to check out the facility today.   John Buck and Frank Francisco were really friendly guys to chat with.  What stood out for me was Rafael Montero's arm.  Like your blog has mentioned over and over again, that guy has a cannon of an arm.  He is a little guy compared to Jeurys Familia but man, that guy does look like a younger Pedro.

We hope to hear more from him tonight.

Johan Santana

The 33-year-old Santana’s work will be scrutinized all spring as the Mets try to get the left-hander through a full season for the first time since 2008. Manager Terry Collins wants Santana on the mound for Opening Day, on April 1 against the Padres at Citi Field, and another 30-35 subsequent starts.

We’ve said it time again. All we want I around an 8-4, 3.85 record at the all-star break. This gets us a trade for a top prospects, hopefully someone that can play in the Mets outfield in 2014..

Folks, stay with me here and this is not an exercise in rushing anyone.

Rafael Montero will pitch 2013 as a 23-year old and will start the season in Binghamton.

Jenrry Meia will pitch 2013 as a 24-year old and will begin the 2013 season in the AAA rotation.

          And Noah Syndergaard will pitch A+ ball as a 21-year old.

And combination of two out of three of these guys coud finish the 2013 season ready to make the jump to Queens. The long shot here would be Syndergaard, but it’s being done all over the league so don’t tell me he can’t go lights out in St. Lucie the first half of the season, lights out in Binghamton the second half, an invite up in September, and a real chance in camp in 2014.

The dream rotation we have been writing about and waiting for may be upon as soon as April 2014.

But first… we need a decent year from Johan so we can go out and get ourselves someone in the George Springer-class of prospects.

The Mets continue to play down ant rumors that they are interested in signing relief pitcher Jose Valverde. Both Adam Rubin/ESPN  and Mark Craig/Newsday play it down at this point in the camp. There seems to be plenty of veteran presence in camp now and the recent addition of Brandon Lyon should close the door for the season.

Frankly, it wouldn’t shock me me if Frank Francisco knocked on the door and found no one was home when he gets around to getting in shape. Sandy Alderson and Fred Wilpon have proven before they aren’t afraid to eat a bad contract (and, for those of you still out there that wonder why they didn’t want to give Michael Bourn a 5^th year, do the homework over the past five years and add up the eaten money on bad, long term deals by this team).

2-14-13 – Bobby Parnell, Mike Carp, Mets Young Pitchers, Johan Santana, Dustin Lawley

Rotoworld: - Terry Collins wants Bobby Parnell to be Mets' closer. I also read somewhere that Parnell said he always wanted to be a closer. That’s funny, I remember when all he wanted to be was a starter. I don’t like Parnell as a closer because he’s incapable of throwing a fast ball that has any late sink. It’s no big thing in the major leagues hitting a fast straight ball. Hopefully, John Buck can get Parnell to be more comfortable with his other pitches and he can mix them up better. The problem in the past is you just knew when Parnell was going to throw it as hard as he could. That’s not good enough. Still, 2012 were decent stats: 5-4, 2.49, 1.24, 74-games, 7-saves, 23 –GF

Kevin Burkhardt - ‏@KBurkhardtSNY

If Parnell is the future closer of the @Mets, Jason Isringhausen gets a huge assist.Teaching Bobby the knuckle-curve took him to a new level

The Seattle Mariners DFA’s ex-Met OF-1B Mike Carp. Bats left. Big Mets year was 2008-Binghamton (22-yrs old) - .299, 17-HR, 72-RBI… On December 10, 2008, Carp was traded to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team trade which also included RHP J.J. Putz, RHP Sean Green and OF Jeremy Reed from the Mariners for RHP Aaron Heilman, OF Endy Chávez, LHP Jason Vargas, OF Ezequiel Carrera and RHP Maikel Cleto and sent RHP Joe Smith to the Indians. (gee… I forgot the Mets had Vargas in 2007… 2012-Seattle - 14-11, 3.85, 1.18.

Tampa Bay VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman on Mets pitching:

“The Mets have a tremendous amount of young talent. I   think those guys have done a tremendous job of acquiring some high-end young players that they can grow with, and I think that [front office] is extremely good at supplementing around those guys and also having enough good young depth. The one thing about young players is that they have tremendous upside but they also have tremendous downside. There is far from certainty from these players. For us, it’s our only way of doing business. It’s not a choice. It’s a survival mechanism.”

 Jared Diamond - Assuming Santana stays healthy, the Mets will spend the next six months trying to figure out how to handle the trade deadline. They went through a similar situation in 2011 with outfielder Carlos Beltran, and then managed to swing him to the San Francisco Giants for right-hander Zack Wheeler, a top pitching prospect. Considering the current state of the Mets' outfield—both in the majors and minors—they probably could use some reinforcements. Of course, if the Mets make a surprise run at the postseason, they could benefit from a healthy ace.

Here’s the difficulty here. You can’t limit your choice of a trade partner to one of your immediate needs. Remember, the team you would be trading Santana to will be better that the Mets (and closer to the playoff). They are going to want to keep their parent club talent on the field for the pennant race. No, this is another classic trade situation for a prospect, and nothing more.  

The real ballsy move will be trading for a top prospect that plays a position you don’t need, like C, 3B, or 1B. Uneducated Mets fans would go bonkers but Sandy Alderson know if it’s the right person, you can find another home for them for the right positional prospect you will want in the off season.

Mack - Love all the work you do. I know it is a labor of love and you probably feel unappreciated  , but there are many of us out here that check your website first every morning. Before someone jumps on you I just wanted to point out that when you were forecasting the minor league outfield this morning you omitted Dustin Lawley from PSL. That is unless you project him at 3B. My projections are dead on with yours except have Zapata staying at AA and Pron moving up to PSL with Thurber repeating Savannah. Thanks again and I enjoy your work. Your views  make a difference as to how many of us look at the organization that we love. – Marty

          Marty, you are spot on about Lawley, who I keep thinking as a third baseman. As of right now, he has played 102-professional games in the outfield, while only 72 at third. Lawley repeated Savannah last year at 23-years old (.261/.333/.434/.767, 14-HR, 66-RBI), so he really needs to giddy-up to St. Lucie (which may not happen until Darrell Ceciliani is promoted). 

And the arm is still attached...

          Yes, Johan Santana came back from major elbow surgery and proved me wrong, he is still a MLB pitcher. I would go as far to say that if he were unable to pitch again, Johan would spend an off-season in the cages and in the field to earn a spot on the roster. One thing everyone can be sure of is this guy is a competitor. In his first Major League start since 2010 he managed 5 IP, gave up only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.

          More impressive than his stats was his ability to power through with what he has. The days where his fastball sits around 92 are behind him, who knows maybe he doesn't touch 92 at all this year or for the rest of his career. Regardless, this man knows how to pitch. He knows that his real bread and butter isn't the speed at which he throws his fastball but rather the speed differential between his fastball and change-up.That differential is something I thought would be diminished with his loss of fastball velocity. However, in true Santana fashion he has proven more than just me wrong.

          With regards to his change-up there is much that has, um...well, changed. In 2010 his change-up sat where is pretty much always has, at about 81-83 MPH. This year however that same pitch is sitting at 77 or 78 which unlike 2010 keeps his differential at around 10-11 MPH, something he has done throughout his career. IT will be interesting to see if he can continue to fool hitters with his Glavine-esque pitching style going forward. I for one hope he can as I enjoy his spirit and competitive nature.


*Update - Make that back to back very good outings for Johan. Looking good thus far.

I May Be Wrong, But… Frank Francisco, Chris Young, Johan Santana, Vinnie Rottino

I May Be Wrong, But… Frank Francisco, Chris Young, Johan Santana, Vinnie Rottino 

 • I’m just not sold yet on Frank Francisco. He looks a lot like K-Rod on the mound, but the ball just doesn’t get to the plate as fast. He admits that he’s currently not 100%, but who says they are at this point in the pre-season? He told a New Jersey newspaper that he likes when the opponents have a big inning because that means he will be coming in. First, that’s bullshit. Closers come in when opponents don’t catch up and you have the lead. They also come in mostly when an inning begins. Someone needs to sit Frank2 down and explain what his job is.

 • I’m thrilled that reports say that Young may sign with the Mets sometime next week. I assume it is a minor league deal that would allow him to attend camp in April and rehab in May. This could be the replacement for Mike Pelfrey come June. Monday’s Matt Harvey outing has slowed down the chants of his arrival, and Miguel Batista and Chris Schwinden could hold down the fort in April. Young also brings an immediate upgrade in your rotation and sets up a 2013 opening day rotation of Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Young, Harvey, and Jeurys Familia. Sweet.

 • I never thought the world would ever see Johan Santana throw a baseball 86 times on the same day. That alone is a victory, but his rebounding from a bad start was old-Johan. I don’t know what Coach Dan said to him when he came to the mound, but it sure worked. Big, big news. Much bigger than the return of David Wright.

 • Vinnie Rottino had two more hits on Monday. This is my kind of utility player. He can play either corner outfield position, third, first, and he can catch.

Will the real Mike Pelfrey please step up

The success of the Mets rotation this season will depend on health. First, there is Johan Santana. We all know he is recovering from surgery and that the process will still take some time. Though he is showing tremendous strides this spring, he still will be treated carefully as the season progresses.

Other starters like Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and R.A. Dickey will have to not only stay healthy, but stay consistent. If they do that, it will most likely come down to one man: Mike Pelfrey.

His 2010 was a sign of progress, as he posted a 3.66 ERA in 204 Innings Pitched. More importantly, he only gave up 12 home runs. The following season (last year) he digressed. While allowing 21 home runs in 193 Innings Pitched, he posted a 4.74 ERA.

The question with the former Mets first round draft pick, is which Mike Pelfrey will we see in 2012? The answer to that will go a long way to seeing how successful this team overall can be. In his very first start of Spring Training, he allowed four runs in 2.2 IP.

Those runs came primarily on two homers from St Louis Cardinals bats. He settled down to last 4.1 IP, and would have had a respectable line had he not allowed those long balls. While it's true that results like this are not particularly important this time of year, it can be used as a gauge to measure his progress in the offseason.

He used his cutter and changeup as opposed to his sinker. The results were mediocre. His sinker was crushed for the most part when he did go to it.

With all this said, the Mets will be looking very closely at Pelfrey this month to see if he has made any significant adjustments to his arsenal in order to move on from last seasons' debacle.

If this start was any indication, he hasn't.