Thursday, February 28, 2008

A Positive Spring

The Mets opened Grapefruit League play Wednesday against the Tigers with Mike Pelfrey getting the start. Pelfrey and all the other pitchers are expected to throw just an inning in their first spring appearances and then add an inning each time they go out.

Since acquiring and signing Johan Santana everything with the Mets has changed and it seems like the collapse of last September is officially old news. While Mets fans were probably alarmed when Santana appeared on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” last week (there is a so-called jinx associated with this) the article itself was very revealing. Even ownership was having a tough time getting over what happened late last season but with Santana in the mix it’s officially “out with the old and in with the new.”

I don’t get really excited over spring training games and even performances because often what takes place in Florida in March is meaningless in Flushing come April. However there will be a lot of attention focused on Jose Reyes, who was an MVP early last season and a disaster down the stretch. Reyes is the igniter of the offense and when he’s on base good things happen but for the final six weeks of 2007 he was popping-up far too often. A return to form by Jose and Carlos Delgado are the keys for the Mets this season.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

The Answer To Pitching Questions

The Super Bowl has come and passed, the NCAA Basketball Championships are still weeks away, the Nets aren’t good, the Knicks are awful and everybody makes the hockey playoffs. So with that said what’s the only thing that will get me excited this month? The Mets open spring training on February 15 in Port St. Lucie and Johan Santana will be in OUR uniform. Hard to believe but a pitching staff that was full of question marks now has the answer for the Phillies….Johan!

Look this guy may not be Tom Seaver (nobody ever will come close) but he is the top pitcher in all of baseball and should handle the National League very well. With that said Met fans if he turns out to be a disappointment please don’t say “I knew he wasn’t that good” because there is not one of you out there who doesn’t think we made a great deal. Actually it’s not “we” but Omar Minaya who played the waiting game to perfection…even if we did second guess him to death.

So let’s get ready for the sound of “play ball” because the Mets are once again the team to beat in the National League.