Jason Marquis never got the off season phone call he hoped would bring him home. The Staten Island native entered free agency wanting an offer from the Mets, but when it became evident the team wasn't interested he signed a two-year deal worth $15 million with the Nationals.
"I wanted to come home to New York to play in front of family and friends -- you've got people on your side," Marquis said before the Mets beat the Nationals 14-6 in an exhibition game. "Washington showed aggressiveness. They wanted me."
He said he isn't sure how far discussions with the Mets got, because he instructed his agents to only get back to him with serious offers. The Mets' name never came up. "I wasn't expecting anything," Marquis said. "[But] it was very disappointing when we didn't hear back from them." - link
But here in the early days of spring training, most of the buzz has been about impressive young talent that was supposedly not there when Bernazard was dismissed.
Manager Jerry Manuel has been raving about the prospects who he thinks could help the Mets this season — like 20-year-old Jenrry Mejia, who has drawn comparisons of sorts from Manuel and Dan Warthen, the pitching coach, to both Mariano Rivera and Dwight Gooden. Both men think that Mejia, with his electric tailing fastball, has a chance to make the opening day roster. Manuel already yearns for him to be the setup man. - link
Potential. That’s the word that may eventually haunt Lastings Milledge most. Not now. No, he is still only 24 years old, and has the time and, er, potential to silence his naysayers. Potential has two definitions in sports: one, for a prospect, rookie or young professional like Milledge, potential is a hopeful, optimistic word. The second definition is reserved for mostly former first-round draft picks, ballplayers... link
"Mike Pelfrey's right knee is still intact, so at least his spring debut was fruitful in one regard. From a performance perspective, Pelfrey wasn't sharp yesterday. He allowed seven hits and four runs over three innings, including a three-run homer to Eric Bruntlett in the Mets' 14-6 exhibition victory over the Nationals. It could have been much worse for Pelfrey and the Mets. Cristian Guzman hit a line drive off the outside of Pelfrey's right knee in the second inning, but the right-hander escaped with a contusion and remained in the game. Pelfrey finally looked good in the third inning, retiring all three batters he faced. "Early on I was trying to spot up and hit some locations and I ..." - link
John Maine:
When I look at this Met list using my profiling system I targeted John Maine as the player who possesses the most risk of relapse. The diagnosis of ’shoulder weakness’, which was also given to Kelvim Escobar, indicates a more complex injury/rehab since we’re not just dealing with a tissue repair but a neuromuscular re-education.
John Maine’s system demonstrates an EXO-somatic patterning, making it more difficult for him to break old habits and create new ones. His sensory system is actually highly refined, which is a blessing/curse since he’ll be able to monitor his progress closely, but he’ll also have a lower threshold for pain or dysfunction. I’d love to see him work on extending his leg drive and using his opposite hip to keep his arm slot in the safe zone. - link
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