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.

2-24-13 – Zack Wheeler, Cory Mazzoni, Collin Cowgill, Darin Gorski

-How can you not be excited about Zack Wheeler after watching that? Yes, the fastball was all over the place, but the velocity sat 93-96 ( I did record him once at 97). The good news was the fact that his fastball did have sink and it seems to just jump out of his hand, mainly due to the fact that he hides the ball so well at the time of release. His slider actually was more accurate and effective. It seemed to me that someone forgot to tell him that he’s not going to make the roster this year, but, trust me, the beat guys will be all over this with Terry in the post-game presser.

-You have to be happy with the 4^th inning at bat of 2B Jordany Valdespin. He worked that pitcher and hung in there for the pitch that scored Marlon Byrd and tied the game. Last year, Valdespin would have easily made the third out, but he fought off pitch after pitch.

-Speaking of a good debut, Marlon Byrd sure looked like the old version that once was an all-star.

-I find it interesting that Cory Mazzoni was ‘showcased’ in the first exhibition game of the season. No one knows exactly how to project this kid. He’s another of those control pitchers that doesn’t rely on his fastball to blow you away. Case in point were the two strikeouts he produced in the 5^th inning using his off-speed stuff. I have Mazzoni going back to Binghamton where he had 14 starts last season (5-5, 4.46). There just doesn’t seem to be any room for him in Las Vegas and he needs to master AA first, like he did the first half of the year for St. Lucie (12-starts, 5-1, 3.25).

There was nothing wrong with OF Collin Cowgill’s first Mets at-bat.  First, he doubles in the leading run and then scores from second on a groundball error to first base. This is the kind of hustle 

Terry Collins talked about earlier this week

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Jed Weisberger‏ - @jedleyq -

Considering Cowgill came to the #Mets for disappointing prospect Jefry Marte, any contribution he makes is a huge plus.

Anthony DiComo‏ - @AnthonyDiComo

Overheard in #Mets clubhouse: "We need more Cowgill!" I smell a t-shirt...

Darin Gorski was next on the mound. Gorski threw only in the 88-90 range and they keep saying he’s being considered as a lefthander out of the Mets bullpen this year. Gorski’s go-to pitch is his curve and he lives on the corners. He wasn’t as sharp in the second inning and almost hit 40 pitchers, but he got out of the outing with no runs scores which gave Wheeler-Mazzoni-Gorski a 6.0-IP, 0-R stat line.

OMG, Reese Havens got an at-bat. Ground out. Gone.

The knuckle-curve of Bobby Parnell was impressive.