Daily Archives: February 21, 2010
…there were a lot of positives from day 1 yesterday…i’ve attended spring training workouts for a long time, and i’ve never seen the players do suicide runs, and they did just that yesterday…i think players are taking spring workouts more seriously this year than in prior years, and players such as Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey appear to be in much better shape than they were coming into camp last year, which are good signs…i thought there was a clear emphasis on conditioning and fundamentals, and there was A LOT less fooling around on the field than i’ve ever seen…
…the major leaguers all threw bullpen sessions, but access was cutoff to the fans, so it was difficult to watch…
…i caught a few glimpses of pitching prospect Jennry Mejia…he has an electric arm…
…for what it’s worth, Daniel Murphy made a nice grab going to his right, fielding a ground ball during infield practice…
…i thought Jon Niese looked real good…he didn’t appear to be hesitating off the mound in the pitchers fielding practice drill, which says to me his hamstring is in good shape…but the most encouraging thing i saw yesterday was the unrestricted movements from Jose Reyes in the cage and in fielding ground balls…
Yesterday, during a press conference at Tradition Field, Mets owner Fred Wilpon answered questions about the team, the off-season, and various off-the-field issues.
When asked about how the off-season was for him, Wilpon answered:
“Torture. Very, very difficult…we have to stay healthy. I’m very optimistic that they will. And I think that when you have very good and, in some cases, great players, it doesn’t necessarily translate into a great team. So I think that if they stay healthy, they have some great players and now our people have to translate that into a great team, and that’s what my optimism is about and what my hope is about.”
In regards to the early arrivals and whether he is pleased over 70 percent of the players have arrived in camp already, Wilpon said:
“When you have all those injuries and a bad season and the fans were disappointed, but not any more disappointed than I was, and I’m probably the biggest fan. But now, that’s last year. Now it’s 2010, and it’s 70 degrees in Florida and the sun is shining, so I have a great feeling of optimism…The players, by the way – to a man that I’ve spoken to, and I’ve spoken to 20, 25 of them – I sense a difference in their goals and their attitude. Listen, those are the only guys that can do it.”
When asked if he understands why the fans are angry and disappointed, Wilpon said:
“I understand from the fan’s point of view, because I am one myself, and I’m very, very sensitive to what their feelings are, and I understand some of it. I think that we have to be guided by our baseball people, and our baseball people evaluated, for example, some of our pitchers as good or better than what was on the market. Our baseball people evaluated other positions and we went by what they did. Jeff [Wilpon] followed them. Jeff and I don’t pick the baseball players. So that’s what they wanted to do.”
“They think that the guys we have will prove to be better guys than some of the guys we would have gotten. Obviously we’re thrilled to have Jason Bay, because he was one of two premier [free-agent] people, and we needed that bat — at least they thought we needed that bat in left field — and so we got that bat. And to see some of the other places, we succeeded or didn’t succeed in getting it, but it wasn’t a matter of money in the sense that’s what their recommendations were.”
“I can tell you they said to us, ‘We do not want to go two years on this one,’ or, ‘We don’t want to go five years on this one,’ whatever it might have been, and we said, ‘That’s your call. You got to call that.’ We followed it.”
When asked about his opinion of the team’s medical staff, Wilpon said: “The medical staff, in my opinion, is the best medical staff that there is in all of sports…”
When asked if the Mets had limited financial resources, and whether they have the ability to improve mid-season, Wilpon said:
“The answer is yes. And the answer to that is, I think we have the third-highest payroll in baseball? Second or third. That answers that.”
Finally, when asked if jobs were on the line to start the season, Wilpon answered: “I don’t want to … we’re going to get off to a good start.”
For the complete list of questions and answers, check out Marty Noble’s report for MLB.com here.
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