Beltran 8, Delgado 6

According to the NY Daily News, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado waged an all out Home Run wag against each other in the Hiram Bithorn Stadium located in Puerto Rico. Mets GM Omar Minaya and owner Jeff Wilpon watched from the dugout with ear to ear grins on their faces as the two Mets battled it out in front of 10,000 screaming fans. Beltran defeated one of his bestfriends in a close matchup, final score Beltran 8, Delgado 6. Beltran hit 5 balls out of Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for Beltran. If he can hit the ball like that in the regular season we are in store for a great year.

Piazza Cleaning-up in San Diego

Formet Mets C Mike Piazza has agreed to a 1 year $2,000,000 contract with the Padres. Piazza will bat clean-up for San Diego. Good luck Mike, thanks for the memories.

LOOGY???

The Mets currently have no LOOGY in their bullpin. For those of us who don't know a LOOGY is a Left-handed One Out GuY. The only solid left handed reliever on the Mets is Billy Wagner and he is the closer. Royce Ring is currently the only other left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster and did not impress the Mets enough to keep him on the major league team (in a very small sample size) in 2005. In 15 games Ring went 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA. However in 6.1 innings Ring posted a 1.42 ERA against lefties. This is not bad but it is a very small sample size. The Mets also have several LHPs, who are not on the 40-man rotation, that are invited to Spring Training. Names include Pedro Feliciano, Mr.Koo (Dae-sung Koo), Matt Perisho, and Mike Venafro. Pedro Feliciano will be returning to the Mets for his fourth season. He has had a career 4.21 ERA in 51 games. He was off for all of last year. In his last season (2004) lefties hit .128 against Feliciano. Mr.Koo has showed us all that he can make a nice slide into home, but can he get lefties out. Well according to his splits from last year, Koo posted a 3.65 ERA against left handed hitters in 12.1 innings. This is not terrible but it is not what you want from a LOOGY, granted this is a very small sample size. In 22 innings Matt Perisho posted a 3.86 ERA against lefties. While this is a larger sample size than Mr.Koo's it is still very small, and the numbers are not what is expected of a LOOGY. According to MLB.com Mike Venafro's ERA against lefties was 2.00 in 2004. Venafro did not pitch last year. I do not have enough information on his career splits to make an informative guess as to if he will be a good LOOGY. So as you can see the LOOGY job is up in the air. All four of these guys could get the job, but they will have to earn it in spring training. If I had to make a guess I would say Royce Ring would be the LOOGY in 2006. He is the youngest and was a former top prospect. If he could harness some of the greatness he once had he could definitely be a good LOOGY.

Reyes Headed To The Classic?

The Daily News has reported the Mets SS Jose Reyes has been asked to represent the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Reyes will serve as SS Miguel Tejada's back-up. Head coach of the Dominican Team, Manny Acta, says that Reyes will take SS Rafael Furcal's spot on the roster. Furcal had surgery on his right knee on Jan. 11. Acta added that he does not expect the Mets to ask Reyes to decline the invite. Personally I think Reyes needs to come to spring training and work on some aspects of his game. But it is his decision, and I know he wants to represent his country. I just hope he does not get injured. This team will take a major hit if Matsui has to play SS next year.

Mets Avoid Yet Another Arbitration

Mets.com has reported that the Mets and RHP Jorge Julio agreed Friday to a $2,525,000, one-year contract. I dont know much about Julio, but what I do know is that he is a work in progress. So I guess the question is, is Julio worth $2,525,000. I guess we will find out when the season starts.

1 Through 9

Today we are going to take a look at the Mets line-up in 2006. 1B- Will be Carlos Delgado. Delgado is a monster at the plate. He is a great power hitting lefty, and an RBI machine. 2B- The most unknown spot in the line-up in 06'. Chances are that Kaz Matsui will be the starting 2B to start the season, but could loose his job to Anderson Hernandez, Bret Boone, or Jeff Keppinger. - Kaz Matsui- Matsui will have to show the Mets as well as the fans something in 06' in order to maintain his job. He has shown flashes that he can play, but is unable to put it all together. He needs to put together his first half of 04' and his second half of 05'. Kaz has talent but has so much pressure on him to produce. In my opinion Kaz will put it together in 06'. He showed me something in the second half of 06'. He made some nice plays and hit for a good average (.301). - Anderson Hernandez- Hernandez is also a good candidate for the job. He is a defensive machine. He has been working on his hitting in winter ball and has put up some good numbers (.307 in 40 games). He hopes to earn the job in spring training. - Bret Boone- Boone will be 37 this year. In 2004 his average took a major drop but he still drilled 24 HRs. But in 2005 he stunk up the place, and did not play more than 88 games. Boone has never been anything special on defense. From 1998-2005 he did not play a single season where he did not commit 7 or more errors. - Jeff Keppinger- Keppinger was given a shot to play in the Majors in 2004. He hit .284 in 116 ABs. He went to spring training in 2005 with high hopes, but was shot down when the Mets did not give him a real shot. He went back to the Tides to start 05' and did a decent job. He will return to spring training this year, and hopes to make the team as the starting 2B or as a utility player. In my opinion I think we will see what Kaz Matsui can truly do on the field and in the batters box in the upcoming season. If he cannot do it Anderson will step up as his replacement, and will probably do a fairly good job. As for Keppinger I think that he will have a backup role with the Mets, or serve as a trade chip. SS- Jose Reyes will be the SS. Jose is fun to watch and is a big fan favorite in NY. He needs to work on getting on base. As for his defense I think Reyes is ok. He gets the job done. He has a cannon for an arm, but he is no Raphael Furcal. 3B- David Wright will man 3B this season and for many seasons to come. Wright is an amazin' player. He hits the ball hard, and can go the other way. I expect Wright's numbers to increase. We all know that the major flaw in his game is his defense. He fields the ball well but his accuracy is a bit off. When Wright was on WFan for Mets Caravan he said that he has worked on his throwing. If he can master throwing, I think Wright can challenge Scott Rolen for the NL Golden Glove at 3B. LF- Cliff Floyd will play in left this season. Last year was Cliff's best year in the majors. He and David Wright led the Mets last year. Cliff conducted a chat with the fans on mets.com today. When asked if he thinks he can repeat he said, " Yes, why not?". Cliff batted great, and also played great defense. He should have won the Golden Glove last year, Cliff committed only 2 errors in 152 games last season. He also led all outfielders in outfield assists. If Cliff can stay in shape, I have no reason to believe that he will not repeat last year’s performance. And he should win the Golden Glove too. CF- Carlos Beltran will play center field this season and for 5 more seasons after that. Beltran needs to show Omar, Willie, and the fans of NY that last year was just a bad year. He played injured for most of the season and I admire that. He needs to stop trying to be the Carlos Beltran of October, and be the true Carlos Beltran. The Carlos Beltran that plays phenomenal defense and gets on base. I predict that Beltran will hit 20-25 HRs in 06', while batting around .280, with 35-40 stolen bases. As for his defense I expect nothing less than a Golden Glove like season. These are the kind of numbers that Beltran is expected to put up. If he can be around those numbers I will be satisfied. RF- This is another question mark in the Mets line-up. The two top candidates are Victor Diaz and Xavier Nady. - Xavier Nady- I don't know much about Nady but what I do know is that he has good defense at many positions including LF, CF, RF, 1B, and 3B. This is a good indication that he will be on the 25-man roster, but will he be the starting RF? - Victor Diaz- Diaz is out of shape, but that may be to his advantage. For a big guy Diaz can run. He stole 6 bags in 8 attempts. He has pop in his bat, and is still learning to be an outfielder. Seeing him play last season tells me that he can do the job. When he plays defense he looks a bit sluggish. If he can keep his mind in the game he can do a good job as the RF. I don't know who will walk away with this job but I am sure it will be one of these two guys. This problem may not be solved until mid season. If I had to pick, I would pick Diaz, but that is just my opinion. C- Paul LoDuca- LoDuca will be the starting catcher. He works hard, plays good defense, calls a good game, and lets face it anybody is a better thrower than Piazza (despite this we still love you Mike). LoDuca will not be Mike Piazza in the batters box but he is one of the top 5 hitting catchers in the game today. He is a clutch hitter, and will be a nice fit at catcher for us. Next Years batting line-up should look like this: SS- Jose Reyes CF- Carlos Beltran 3B- David Wright 1B- Carlos Delgado LF- Cliff Floyd C- Paul LoDuca RF- Nady/Diaz 2B- Matsui/A. Hernandez P- Tommy Glavine is the best hitting pitcher on the team (my opinion) Will this team win the World Series? Just ask Cliff Floyd.... (Taken from Cliffs Online Chat with the Fans on Mets.com) CESAR_VALVERDE: I wish you the best for next year. What are your expectations personally and for the team? Floyd: I hope to be healthy and help my team win the World Series. CESAR_VALVERDE: Are the Mets a World Series team? Floyd: Yes, don't you think so?

Can He Do It?

On January 10, 2006 our New York Mets signed first round draft pick Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey was drafted 9th overall in the 2005 draft. Pelfrey is known for his great fastball (92-97 MPH). In an interview conducted by Pat Andriola of Shea Faithful with Wichita State pitching coach Brent Kemnitz, Kemnitz said Pelfrey has excellent control. He also went on record by saying: "Mike has to get comfortable, get some innings in A ball, and get in sync there. Then he could be called up by the end of the year or next year. I’m not saying one of the guys in the rotation immediately, but they’ll want to get him called up in September. If I had to guess he’ll do well in the minors, get comfortable, and at some point he’ll be called up this upcoming season. You’ll see him pitch at my guess in 2006. I know you need him to get acclimated, and I think he’ll do it and him being a great MLB pitcher is all bout him getting comfortable." The question is when will Mike make it to the Bigs? I agree with Kemnitz that Pelfrey can make it up by the end of this upcoming season. The Scouting report on him says that he has an excellent fastball, a power curve with some slider action as well as a change-up. He is on the fast track to the big leagues, and barring all possible injuries I believe he can make it in 06’. Do you?

" A New Bag of Tricks "

I read a very interesting article by Anthony McCarron in today's Daily News. It is about veteran RHP Tommy Glavine. In the article Glavine says "It's like, 'Hey, all right, I have a new bag of tricks,' so to speak. I had it working for half a year and, boy, I'd like to do that for a whole year. You couple that with the changes we've made as a club and it's an exciting time." Like Glavine, Mets Pitching Coach Rick Peterson also uses a catchy analogy to refer to Galvine's renewed ability on the mound: "He rewrote his recipe". Glavine calls his stuff "a new bag of tricks", Peterson calls it a "recipe". Whatever it is I am sure we would all like to see Glavine give us one of his Atlanta like seasons in 06', the question is will he? And the answer is, almost. I can pretty much guarantee that the Glavinator will not give us 20+ wins, like he did five times with the Braves, but he may be able to pull off 13-15 wins. His breaking ball is nasty. Complementing this with his excellent change-up spells success for Glavine. Glavine is 25 wins away from his 300th career win and because his contract will expire after 06' he may not be wearing a Mets uniform, but I for one would like to see him win number 300 in orange and blue.

The Rotation

Everyone seems to think that to think that the Mets rotation has been crippled due to Omar’s moves over the last two weeks. I feel that is not the case, the rotation now has less depth but I feel is still the best in the National League East. The moves made to strengthen the bullpen will allow our vets to come out early in games, and overall keeping the arms of our pitchers fresh down the stretch. It is nice to think that a trade for Zito is in the works now Benson is gone. It would be great if that was true, but if it is not I still feel that our current rotation is strong enough to win our Division. I liked Jae Seo as much as the next guy, but felt that there was much uncertainty surrounding his ability to offer a repeat performance of last year. He is a crafty righty who has impeccable control. To get some good bullpen help for him was a good move and will help down the stretch. I always saw Benson and Trachsel as the same type of pitcher, a guy that can hold down the middle of a rotation. Trachsel had enough time to recover from his injury and will probably eat the most innings of all the Mets. And that is the difference between them Benson appears to be a one half pitcher who is overpaid. Let’s not forget that it was Trachsel who was the most consistent pitcher for the Mets over the last few seasons before he was hurt last season. Now with a better team around him and the much needed run support, I feel that he will surprise many people this year. Another surprise this year will be Aaron Heilman, this guy does not need to be in the bullpen, he needs to prove himself to be an elite top of the rotation pitcher. Let’s on forget that this guy pitched a complete game one hitter and was rewarded with a trip to Norfolk. The ability to get both righties and lefties out will propel him to stardom. The only weak spot on our rotation happens to be Victor Zambrano, no matter how good he starts a game or how nasty he looks in a given inning, he somehow finds a way to lose. I feel with the added offense and the revamped bullpen should help VZ get 12-14 wins this year. Because of the Kazmir trade he has been given a very long leach. I feel that it will be him not Heilman that will be the cause of the Mets to acquire another starter. I see the Mets having the chips to make a midseason trade for a Zito- type starter if they need to. This year many new faces in the minors will emerge to be pawns for low key deals during the season. As for Pedro and Glavine, they will be what they always have been barring injury. That is all you can expect from your vets. All in all there is much to expect from the Mets this year and good pitching will be one of them.