Daily Archives: February 16, 2008
As noted earlier, Carlos Beltran reported to camp today, earlier than expected. He took some swings, then talked with reporters.
According to SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, when asked about the division, Beltran gave a bland response. However, before walking away from reporters, he smiled, laughed and said:
“With (Santana), I have no doubt we’re going to win our division. I have no doubt about that…So, this year, tell Jimmy Rollins we are the team to beat.”
…ding, ding, ding…let the games begin, folks…
For more on Beltran, who may miss the first few spring training games, thanks to off-season surgery on his knees, read blog posts at the New York Post, Newsday and the Star-Ledger.
Baseball Prospectus have unveiled their PECOTA projected standings for the 2008 season.
They predict the Mets to finish first in the NL East with a 96-66 record, while the Braves (86-76) and Phillies (84-78) are projected to finish second and third, respectively.
The team depth charts also project runs scored, runs allowed, team batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
In BP’s Unfiltered, Nate Silver writes, “The Mets really might be the best team in baseball, regardless of what league they happen to play in.”
…yikes…no pressure, right…
…just a point of reference to the potential value of Johan Santana‘s addition…the pitcher with the highest VORP (value over replacement player) of any Met last season was John Maine, with 33.7….Santana’s VORP, in what many called on “off-year,” was 57.7…wow…needless to say, BP predicts pitching to be the difference between the Mets and the rest of the division…
…by the way, if VORP sounds like a foreign language to you, check out this column Rob Neyer wrote for ESPN.com, which does an excellent job of explaining it for the layman…i know i’m making it a goal of mine to better understand how it works…my first step is picking up the new Baseball Prospectus book for the 2008 season, which is supposed to ship next week…
Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the front-end of your 2008 starting rotation: Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana…
…thanks to SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt for the photo…
Tagged Pedro Martinez |
SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt sent in the following image from his cell phone, of Willie Randolph setting up a bunting drill for Group 1, which includes Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, and others.
For a larger version of the photo, click here.
…that’s it, i’m getting my glove, and going to throw a baseball against the wall…i can’t take it any longer…
…that said, i love knowing that these work on these sorts of drills, despite being professionals…that’s always great to see…literally…thanks, kevin…
Tagged Pedro Martinez, SNY, Willie Randolph |
Paul Lo Duca released a statement on the 
Washington Nationals’ website apologizing for his involvement in the Mitchell Report.
Here is an excerpt…
“In regards to Senator [George] Mitchell’s Report, I apologize to my family, all my fans and to the entire baseball community for [the] mistakes in judgment I made in the past and for the distractions that resulted. I am fully committed to being the best player and person I can be, on and off the field, for the Washington Nationals and the entire baseball community.”
…i’m surprised it took so long for paulie to acknowledge his “ring-leader” type appearance in the report, but it is good that he finally has…
Tagged Paul Lo Duca, Regis Courtemanche |According to a text message from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that he is no longer trying to negotiate a long-term contract 
extension with Oliver Perez.
Instead, the Mets and Perez’s agent, Scott Boras, are simply trying to settle on a one-year contract for this season, after which Perez is eligible to be a free-agent.
Multiple reports from the last week have suggested that Boras has every intention of getting Perez to free agency, regardless of any previous attempts by the Mets to sign him long-term.
Perez is seeking $6.5 million for this coming season, his final year before becoming a free agent. However, the Mets have countered with a $4.7 million offer. Therefore, the two sides are scheduled for an arbitration hearing on Feb. 21.
In addition to airing a one-on-one interview with Johan Santana, Burkhardt will show clips from Minaya’s talk with reporters during tonight’s edition of SportsNite on 
.
As noted earlier, Johan Santana talked with reporters earlier today from Tradition Field, while wearing his spring training Mets jersey for the first time.
For a few quotes, check out Jeremy Cothran’s blog for the Star-Ledger.
Santana will workout today in Group 1, and throw a bullpen session with Pedro Martinez later in the day.
Mets GM Omar Minaya talked with reporters as well, and said he looks at acquiring Santana, at this point in his career, similar to when the Red Sox acquired Martinez in 1998.
Additionally, Minaya is excited to see Martinez essentially ‘pass the torch’ to Santana.
…it’s pretty clear from every one down in St. Lucie that the Mets are intentionally keeping pedro and johan together as much as possible…i look forward to pictures of the two of them throwing side-by-side in the bullpen…
Tagged Omar Minaya |According to a text message from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, Jose Valentin, who showed up a few moments ago, and who is a minor-league invitee, has a reserved parking spot alongside 
Carlos Beltran’s and Jose Reyes’s. In fact, it’s the fourth spot in the row.
…first off, hats off to burkhardt, who is doing an amazing job of flipping info to MetsBlog…i mean, he’s now sending photos from his phone…and second, this should be of no surprise…i mean, jose is The Stache…come on…if he can’t get a reserved parking spot, who can, regardless of whether he is just a minor-league invitee…
…yes, that was sarcasm…
…from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, who will be sending me random text messages over the next few days, keeping us updated on what’s happening at Tradition Field:
…Johan Santana talked with reporters for roughly 15 minutes this morning…he is very comfortable, and at ease with the media…it does not appear he will have any problem talking with reporters…he said he has learned a lot from Pedro Martinez over the years, most importantly, “You don’t have to be 6’5” to be intimidating.”…
…also, Carlos Beltran unexpectedly arrived at camp a few moments ago, despite the Mets announcing that no other players would be arriving today…
By the way, Burkhardt will have one-on-one interview with Johan Santana, with clips from his bullpen session, during tonight’s edition of SportsNite on .
Jose Reyes arrived to Tradition Field yesterday, sat down at his 
locker and talked with reporters about last season, saying…
“I’d never struggled like that in my career…I thought about it a lot (in the off-season). I take a lot [of responsibility]…A lot of people say when I get on base a lot of good things happen for this team, we’re in position to win the game, but I didn’t get on base…
“The last month of the season is tough, and I just went wrong at the wrong time. I lost focus. I tried to do my best, but that’s baseball. It happened at a bad time, and hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
Reyes also told reporters that he added a long-distance running program to his off-season workouts to help with increase his endurance.
During his talk with reporters yesterday, Willie Randolph said he learned a lot about Reyes last season, and while he is confident the player will bounce back, because he may not give him the green light so much on base paths this coming season.
…that is probably wise…i mean, steal a base if it’s strategic, but not every base needs to be stolen…if that makes sense…plus, with Slappy McSingleton batting behind him, jose will probably end up going first to third quite often…
In the Journal News, John Delcos does a great job of covering Jose’s arrival, and his struggles from last season.
For more, read the New York Post and the Daily News.
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