Following the 2011 season, the Mets had to make a decision whether to retain the services of two starting pitchers going forward – Chris Capuano and Mike Pelfrey. There were a bunch of factors that went into the decision, not the least of which was that Capuano was a free agent and Pelfrey was arbitration-eligible. [...]
Depending on how things shake out this year, the Mets might need to turn to Justin Turner a lot more this year than they anticipate. Turner turned in a solid 2011 campaign batting .260 with four home runs and 51 RBI’s in 435 at-bats while chipping in at second base, third base and in a [...]
Last week ESPN's David Schoenfield released his breakdown of the NL East for the 2012 season position by position. He ranked each teams position players, starting rotation, closers, bullpen, and the intangibles. In the end he tallied it all up and the Mets finished in last with 29 points. They were 19 points behind the [...]
2001 TOPPS EMPLOYEES BENNY AGBAYANI Back in the summer of 2006, I attended my first and only Chiba Lotte Marines home game. The team was still flush with the success of having won the 2005 NPB championship, and the anonymous concrete ballpark was festooned with pictures of the Marines' beloved manager, Bobby Valentine. The souvenir [...]
Who is the best position player in Mets history? The immediate answer is Darryl Strawberry although a quick look at the record book shows that Jose Reyes and David Wright also deserve consideration for that honor. Let’s look at their overall lines and then break the players down by categories. Rk Player R Age G [...]
Every team needs starting pitching depth. Last year the Mets had their projected starting five of Capuano, Dickey, Niese, Pelfrey and Young and they hoped to get Santana back sometime during the season. For additional depth they had Gee and Misch. This year they have Dickey, Gee, Niese, Pelfrey and (hopefully) Santana and for depth, [...]
In no small part due to injuries, Terry Collins was a lineup tinkerer last year. With the exception of Jose Reyes, every player moved around in the batting order, including Daniel Murphy who batted in every spot in the lineup except leadoff. Even Carlos Beltran did not have a stable spot, as he had 101 [...]
We like to try different things here at Mets360. Now some of these work out great, like Card of the Week, Mets Minors and Mets Notes did for us last year. Some don’t work out so well and we stop doing them and move on to other things. So, starting this week we’re going to [...]
Earlier today I did a podcast with MetsBlog Founder Matt Cerrone. You can listen to an archived version here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mets360/2012/01/13/mets360-with-matt-cerrone We talked about both the Mets and MetsBlog. Some of the topics include: CRG Partners Fernando Martinez Johan Santana Daniel Murphy The comments section at MetsBlog How he keeps up with all of the Mets-related [...]
Recently, I discussed the projected offense for the 2012 Mets. Today, let’s talk about the pitching. Most fans’ top concern regarding the 2012 season is how the starting pitching is going to stack up. Implied in that worry is the knowledge that the Mets were fortunate with injuries to their starters last year, as the [...]
This year Barry Larkin was the lone inductee to the baseball Hall of Fame receiving 86.4% of the votes, in this his third year on the ballot. He played all 19 years of his MLB career for the Cincinnati Reds, where he was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove winner. Larkin played the [...]
When the Mets tendered Mike Pelfrey a contract in December, the club went ahead and gave the soon-to-be 28 year old one last chance at glory. This is make-or-break time for Pelfrey. 2012 will be his last year to prove what kind of pitcher he actually is and salvage his reputation as a productive and [...]