Mets Spring Training Questions
NEW YORK– By Mo Miller
Entering the 2012 season, it’s been six years since the Mets have made the playoffs. The last three years have been dreadful, seasons to forget. Coming into the 2012 season, things look bleak. The Mets are rebuilding and waiting for their prospects to grow and become Major League ready. However, if things go right the Mets could be a competitive team and surprise many people. Here are some of the story lines coming into the 2012 season.
Johan Santana- Since joining the Mets Santana has had trouble staying healthy. Can he remain in the rotation all season? Can Santana return to something resembling his old Cy Young form? How much will fatigue factor into Santana’s pitching considering he hasn’t pitched in a Major League game in close to 18 months?
Jason Bay- Two years into the Jason Bay contract, and so far it hasn’t looked good for anyone. In Bay’s two years as a Met, he’s combined for a .251 average, with 18 HR’s and 108 RBI’s. Combined. In two seasons. So what will 2102 hold for Jason Bay? With the outfield walls coming in and coming down, will Bay’s offensive numbers improve? Will Bay return to the offensive threat he was in Boston and Pittsburgh?
Mike Pelfrey- After a good 2010, Pelfrey was awful in 2011, going 7-13 with a 4.74 ERA. Will Pelfrey return to 2010 form and lower his large ERA? Pelfrey gave up 21 home runs in 2011, so can he re-find that sinker, that was so good in 2010, and keep the ball down?
David Wright- Wright is coming off a year where he had a back injury and only played 102 games. Wright’s contract has a $16 million club option for 2013. Were Wright’s offensive problems because of his back issue alone? Will Wright get traded at the trade deadline if the Mets are not in contention? What type of offensive threat will Wright be? Will he show his opposite field power again and return to old form?
Josh Thole- Mets GM Sandy Alderson & Co. decided not to pursue a veteran catcher and go with the youngsters in Thole and Mike Nickeas. Thole’s defense was lacking last year and at times he looked lost behind the plate; he led the NL with 16 passed balls. Can Thole improve on his defense and be competent behind the plate? Thole, who was expected to be a good average hitter, hit a woeful .268 in 2011. Can Thole improve on his offense and raise his average close to .300?
Jonathon Niese- Niese has had trouble his whole career staying healthy. Can he stay healthy for a full season in 2012? At times in 2011 Niese looked like an All-Star with an amazing curveball. Can Niese return to that form and be consistent with his best pitch?
Ruben Tejada- The Mets let Jose Reyes walk, handing the shortstop reigns to the 22-year-old Tejada. It is clear Tejada can play shortstop at a Major League level, but can he play it over a long 162 game campaign? Tejada’s offense was very up and down in 2011, at times looking like he could hit in the Majors, but often not being able to get the ball out of the infield? Who is the real Tejada? Can he hit well consistently over the span of the long season?
Daniel Murphy- The past two seasons, Murphy has had trouble staying healthy, getting both knees blown out the past two years. One thing for sure is Murphy can hit, hitting .320 in 109 games last season. The Mets are ready to give Murphy the everyday job at 2B, but can he defend it properly? Can he turn the double play, something he had trouble doing in 2011?
Bullpen- Yet again, the Mets had problems in the bullpen in 20111. Alderson & Co. made the bullpen a priority over the off-season, signing Frank Fransisco and Jon Rauch, while trading for Ramon Ramirez. Can the bullpen finally be stable? Can they close out games and hold leads for the Mets? Can they keep games close and give the Mets an opportunity to come back and win games late?
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered yes for the Mets to be successful in 2012.
Yankees Trade A.J. Burnett To Pittsburgh
A.J. Burnett’s tumultuous three year tenure with the Yankees will come to an end. The Yankees and Pirates have agreed on a trade that would send Burnett to Pittsburgh for two low level minor leaguers, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. New York would pay $20 million of the $33 million remaining on his contract, Rosenthal said.
The prospects going back to the Yankees are 25-year-old righty reliever Diego Moreno and 21-year-old lefty LF Exicardo Cayonez. Moreno fared well as a reliever in advanced A, but struggled a tad in AA. From Ben Badler: “Diego Moreno can get his fastball into the high-90s. Also went undrafted in the Rule 5 draft in December.” Cayonez is still slowly developing as a player and may need more time in the Gulf Coast League before he goes to Short Season A.
The deal is pending MLB approval and a passed physical on Sunday, but those are seen as formalities. Burnett had a very good season in helping the Yankees win the World Series in 2009, but he went 21-26 in 2010 and 2011 with ERA’s north of 5 and had control issues throughout his tenure in the Bronx.
That being said, Burnett will be a low risk addition for the Pirates, joining Charlie Morton, Erik Bedard, James McDonald and Kevin Correia in the rotation. There will be less pressure in Pittsburgh and the rigors of the AL East will be replaced by the light hitting NL Central.
The $13 million the Yankees are saving will allow them to fill their bench with an infielder and an outfielder, expected to be Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez. Ibanez’s lefty power stroke and ability to still field somewhat adequately as a corner outfielder would make him a good fit with the short right field porch in New York.
Of course, all this is contingent on the two sides agreeing to prospects coming to the Yankees, approval from Bud Selig and a passed Burnett physical.
Cespedes Agrees To Contract With Oakland Athletics
Yoenis Cespedes, the Cuban born outfield who owns their home run record and gained much fanfare by coming to the United States, has agreed to terms with the Oakland Athletics, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown. The terms of the deal will be four years and $36 million, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Cespedes was expected to sign with the Marlins, who play in Miami with a large Cuban population, or teams like the Cubs and Tigers. Cincinnati scored an upset a couple of years ago when they signed heralded pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman and Oakland has seemingly done the same with Cespedes. The A’s had holes in their outfield after losing Josh Willingham and David DeJesus to free agency, and Cespedes will ably fill that.
Michael Vick & Tiger Woods Are America’s Most Disliked Athletes
Forbes magazine took survey results from Nielsen and E-Poll market research to determine which athletes were most disliked. NFL fans have largely forgiven Eagles QB Michael Vick, but the casual sports follower will always remember him for his dog fighting charges. Vick is tied for the most disliked athlete with golfer Tiger Woods, who is still reeling from his personal issues of a couple of years ago. Here’s the entire list.
1) Michael Vick/Tiger Woods- Both got 60 percent dislike ratings, with Vick more harshly disliked according to the Forbes ratings.
3) Plaxico Burress, WR, New York Jets- The “shot heard ’round the world” is still affecting his dislike status, which is at 56 percent.
4) Ndamukong Suh. DT, Detroit Lions- His face stomp of a Packers player on Thanksgiving and his reputation as a dirty player has his dislike rate at 51 percent.
5) Kris Humphries, F, New Jersey Nets- His short-lived marriage to Kim Kardashian and the way he was portrayed has his dislike rating at 50 percent, making him more even hated nationwide than…
6) LeBron James, F, Miami Heat- James became a villain when he bolted Cleveland to join Dwayne Wade in Miami, and his dislike rate is still at 48 percent because of that.
7) Kobe Bryant, G, Los Angeles Lakers- His recent divorce with high school sweetheart Vanessa didn’t help, but some people just think he’s a phony. His dislike rating was 45 percent, barely lower than LeBron’s.
8) Terrell Owens, WR, Allen Wranglers- Though he didn’t play pro football in 2011, Owens is still hated by many fans at a 45 percent rate. Owens is dealing with some money issues, so he’s going to suit up and play in the Indoor Football League.
9) Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees- Baseball’s most hated player is viewed as a cheating drama queen who can’t come through in the clutch. His dislike percentage is 44.
10) Kurt Busch, NASCAR- His temper tantrums led to a parting of ways with Penske Racing, and his the most disliked driver at 42 percent.
Manny Ramirez Used Corked Bat With Indians
Manny Ramirez hit 236 home runs during his 1993-2000 run with the Cleveland Indians before signing a huge free agent deal with the Boston Red Sox.
In 2000, the Pacific Trading Card company took two of his bats, cut one of them and put them in a series of baseball cards. X-Ray evidence revealed that those two bats had cork in them, which is illegal in baseball and has come with suspension for those caught in the past. Jeff Morris, the former VP of Marketing for Pacific, said in a radio interview on Friday that there was no doubt these bats were game used, implying that Ramirez was cheating.
“[W]e got a call from saying, ‘You’re not going to believe this. There’s cork in the bat that we cut up and some of it got onto a card.’ We were very adamant… make sure that does not get onto a card. It was just like a nightmare. And sure enough, there were a couple of them that got out.”
One of those cards are now on eBay for $5,000. Another piece of a Ramirez corked bat was up for auction last April. The second bat? “He’d gone down to the airport and put it through the x-ray machine,” said Morris, “and sure enough, it was corked too.” Hat tip to Cork Gaines at Business Insider for being on the story first.
