Today’s Grapefruit Action
Arbitration
Phillies 1B Ryan Howard won his arbitration hearing today, winning $10 million for this season. Mets pitcher Oliver Perez will have a hearing today to determine whether he will win the money he wants.
Mets starting pitcher Oliver Perez, who is represented by Scott Boras, is scheduled to whine about his reason why he needs more money than the Mets want to give him later on today.
Wagner Fans ‘em All
Mets closer Billy Wagner is in great pitching shape. Jeremy Cothran of NJ.com’s Ledger on the Mets blog, explains Wagner’s workout this morning in Port St Lucie.
“John Maine looks crisp, having just shattered Carlos Beltran’s bat on a filthy fastball. Billy Wagner looked great as well, pitching from the windup. He smoked all five hitters (Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Endy Chavez and Luis Castillo) he faced minutes ago.”
I heard Wagner was toying with the idea of throwing from the windup, which is cool, but it just doesn’t fit. I’m used to seeing the Billy throwing all out gas from only the stretch, but this idea seems like a nice one because it will help him last longer.
Speaking of lasting longer, Willie Randolph sounds like he’s going to go easy on everyone this year. He said last week that SS Jose Reyes would get some more time off, he mentioned Delgado will get more time off, Alou, and here we are with Wagner. This is a different idea than last year, yet last year the Mets tried to salvage as much of Wagner as they possibly could, and that reason being that they wanted him fresh and ready for the playoffs… so much for that.
Coughlin’s Hard Work Pays Off
According to several sources, the Giants and head coach Tom Coughlin are close to signing a
contract extension, somewhere along the lines of 4 years, with $5 million per.
Coughlin did a great job this season, especially with all the craziness that was brewing since the collapse in 2006. He turned the team around both mentally and physically, ignored the media, and planned out the best methods of beating teams that they had already lost to in the season. This contract that he will receive has been well-earned.
Boring Sunday in PSL
Well, there’s not much happening in Port St Lucie, FL right no
w – or I should say all day. According to NJ.com’s Ledger on the Mets blog, Jeremy Cothran said that pitcher’s did some fielding practice earlier this morning, but there isn’t really anything else on the menu for today in PSL.
Cothran reports that not many players should be checking in today. Ruben Gotay came in this morning, but a bit sick with a bug that’s going around.
It’s Hard to Say What’s Wrong With the Mets
It really is hard to say what is wrong with the Mets. Some people say the bullpen is the worst
thing and that it is going to be horrible. That is really stupid. The bullpen isn’t horrible, yet it still may be the worst thing on the team because the team has gotten that talented.
The bullpen is similar to last year, except better. Some free agent acquisitions including Matt Wise changes things up a bit, but the greatest improvement to the bullpen is quite obvious, and that is the return of Duaner Sanchez. Yes, you have to wonder if he’ll be able to pitch in the same form that he pitched lights out with in the first half of 2006, you just have to wonder. But, I believe he should be fine, and if so, the 2008 Mets will be off to a huge running start in April.
The bench is probably baseball’s best, the starting rotation is just about as good as it can get, and the starting positions players 1-9 are not bad either. Some players still need to prove themselves in New York, including Brian Schneider and Ryan Church.
Sure there are some holes and problems in this team, but not like other teams. Other teams have glaring problems that will probably cost them the season, but not this team.
Everyone In Awe of Lefty As Mets Players Arrive
Lisa Kennedy, of NJ.com’s Mets Blog, details the reaction of nearly every single person in Port St. Lucie today when they could hear pitches thrown in the bullpen. Who was it? Their big-time pitcher.
“Fascinating scene at Tradition Field this morning. Johan Santana, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, was throwing a casual bullpen session at the complex, with pitching coach Rick Peterson close at hand. The media all wandered out to watch from the path next to the bullpens area. Then all the catchers stopped their work on an adjoining field to come and watch. Then all the coaches. Then some of the players who had been working out, like David Wright, stopped on their way back to the clubhouse to watch. Barely anyone spoke, and then only in a murmur. Basically the entire camp halted to watch the Mets’ prize offseason acquisition throw 30 pitches.”
That’s huge. The reason why you can see everyone making such a big deal out of this is a simple one: The Mets only had 1 more piece to the puzzle that they’ve wanted to complete since 2005, and that puzzle, in my mind, is complete. The Mets have multiple 15-game winners in their starting rotation, they have a closer, they have big hitters, they have a solid bench, and they have quality position players that will stick around for a long time. What don’t they have? A BIG TIME pitcher that is in his prime. The Mets now have a BIG TIME pitcher in his prime in Johan. Pedro is a pretty big-time pitcher, he just isn’t 28 years old anymore.