Jamie Shoemaker wrote an article for TTF, named “Where
will Michael Bourn play?” In it he says:
“B.J. Upton to the Braves. Denard Span to the Nationals. Ben
Revere to the Phillies. Chris Young to
the Athletics. Angel Pagan to the Giants. Melky Cabrera to the Jays. Shane
Victorino to the Red Sox…. Michael Bourn to
… whom? … Mets
– I guess they would have the money but why would he sign there? Also have
serviceable prospects for much cheaper.”
Maybe, we as Mets
fans, are sometimes a little too close to the picture. Does the rest of the
baseball world think that the reason the Mets haven’t signed a top outfield
name is because of the “serviceable prospects” they have in their system? I
assume they are referring to Kirk Nieuwenhuis and
Matt den Dekker, right?
I want to believe that the Mets can solve this from within, but I just
don’t see it, especially for 2013 and 2014. There is a crying need for a solid
25/85 bat to fit himself inside the David Wright, Ike
Davis and Travis d’Arnaud 3-4-5 we all
dram about come May. I happen to think Lucas Duda will
do just fine in the seven hole and produce a 25-75 season.
One more bat, Arnaud, and Zack Wheeler could
make for a nice 2013.
Anthony Mccarron
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-gee-weight-shoulder-surgery-fixes-clot-article-1.1229554?localLinksEnabled=false wrote about Dillon Gee:
Dillon Gee is about one month
into his off-season throwing program already and he’s noticed something
different. In years past, even when he was coming off healthy seasons, the
first few weeks of throwing felt “real awkward” as his arm and legs and body
rekindled his pitching motion and there was always soreness afterward. These
days, however, Gee is fresher after he throws, looser. It’s a wonderful feeling
coming off the scariest stretch of his pro career, one in which a blood clot
discovered in his right shoulder led to anxious thoughts about life and his
baseball future and, ultimately, a successful surgery.
Boy, we needed this kind of good news about now in the off-season. It
is vitally important that both Gee and Johan Santana come
to camp healthy and ready to compete. None of us are expecting that much from
the 2013 season… heck, the team just traded a pitcher that was singularly
responsible for at least 10 victories… and we’re all exciting in the direction
the team’s pitching is going, but it’s still around 18 months away having all
their best pieces in place. My 2013 rotation is Santana, Matt Harvey, Jon Niese, Gee, and Jenrry Mejia and it will remain that until the Mets
decide elsewhere regarding the SP5 slot, or if one of these guys come to camp
with a damaged wing. So far, so good.
Ken Belson
wrote:
On Dec. 21, Standard & Poor’s
lowered its rating on the almost $700 million in bonds issued to finance Citi
Field, and it said the outlook for them remains negative. The bonds are now
rated BB, from BB+. That’s two notches below investment grade, junk bonds in
the parlance of the debt market. Jodi Hecht, an analyst at Standard &
Poor’s, cited “cash flow volatility,” noting that “a large portion” of the
money pledged to pay off the bonds is “game-day revenue,” which includes sales
of club-seat tickets, concessions and parking. How the Mets play will affect
the prospects for this revenue, she said. Standard & Poor’s “may lower the
rating if cash flows continue to decline due to a combination of poor team
performance, slow economic recovery, overcapacity in the New York region,” she
added. Attendance has fallen three straight seasons, and the Mets have finished
in fourth place four consecutive years.
I may write about
this team… heck, I might even still root for it… but I definitely do not invest
the few dollars I have left in them, especially if their bonds are tied to
ticket sales and RA Dickey shirts. Regardless of whatever you have read online
about the Wilpons, trust me… they don’t owe a penny regarding this team. They
can walk away from this rich for five generations and stick both you, the
consumer, and the City of New York, with the debt tied up in this stadium. My
strong suggestion to you is to just root for the team and leave the financial
portion of this story to periodicals like the Wall Street Journal. Lots of
bloggers have tried to “expose” this story and have got it partially wrong. I
choose to stay in the minors.
I couldn’t help but notice that
ex-Mets pitching prospect, Roy Merritt, pitched
on Sunday night. Merritt is a perfect example of so many pitchers that show so
much promise early on, only to hit that
wall at the AAA-level.
The lefty flame-thrower was a 29th round pick in 2007 out of
a favorite school of the Mets, Southern University, and he began his Mets
career going 2.88 in 17G at Kingsport in the same year. It only got better in
2008 (Brooklyn: 25-G, 1.49, 55-K in 42.1-IP) and we all began to write about
the ‘live one’ the Mets found in the late round.
AA-ball, which has cost so many pitchers their careers in past, didn’t
seem to get in the way of Merritt. First, he went 3.45 in 56-G in 2009,
followed by 3.86 in 60-G in 2010, but it was AAA that turned out to stop
Merritt in his tracks. A short stint in 2010 resulted in a blistering 14.54
ERA, while 2011 produced 5.26 in 31-G.
The dream was over and Merritt was released by the Mets. Right now,
he’s pitching for Tigres de Aragua ( 3-G, 8-ER, 9.0-IP, 8.00-ERA) after going
4.42 in 5-G in the VWL.
We write about so many of these young prospects that seem to have this
game all figured out in the lower levels, but the journey is just beginning for
so many of them. Sadly, the game spits out many more of these stories than we
care to remember, no less write about.
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