With 8 Days Until Pitchers And Catchers Report, we honor “The Kid”, Gary Carter.

Before the PEDs era of Todd Hundley and Mike Piazza arrived, Carter was the best offensive catcher ever to wear a Mets uniform — and some might argue he remains the best all-around catcher in the team’s history. He hit for a decent average, he got on base, he hit for power, he hit in the clutch, he ran the bases intelligently, he called a great game, he threw out runners, he played strong defense, and he took charge on defense. In short, he did everything a catcher was asked to do, and then some; that’s why he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But all of these skills are not necessarily the reason I chose Gary Carter to honor this day. In fact, his all-around performance are only the third reason his image is forever burned in my memory.

Coming in a close second was seeing

NOTE: this post was written by Matt Himelfarb

Sandy Alderson caused quite the media frenzy last week, following his statement that “stolen bases are a footnote,” when it comes to winning games. In the wake of the Wilpons’ financial debacle, most people construed this quote to mean that Jose Reyes’ days in Flushing  are numbered.

I’m torn on basically every single question surrounding Jose Reyes: Whether or not to retain him, how much do you pay him, when to trade him, etc. For one, there are a lot of questions to consider- how good a player is he, is he healthy, the demand for him should he hit the open market, is dishing out a Carl Crawford-esque contract a good decision, etc.- and either signing him to an extension or trading him right now requires making a whole lot of assumptions regarding those kind of questions. Plus, as a Mets fan, it pains to me to imagine Reyes donning anything other than the orange and blue.

Let’s discuss Reyes’ value first.