The Mets Might be OK IF…

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Paul Festa

Murphy's injury was the final nail in 2011.

For all the strikes the Mets have against them this year, their biggest single issue continues to be team health.

Yes, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Francisco Rodriguez all wear different uniforms now.  Yes, they are buried in a mountain of debt following the Bernie Madoff debacle, and overall mismanagement by Saul Katz and the Wilpons.  But if you look at this team, position-by-position, they can be competitive…

IF

…they can stay healthy.  They have some good players (David Wright, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda) and pitchers (Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Ramon Ramirez), but they have to be on the field to be effective.  As much as the Mets will miss Reyes and Beltran, even they couldn’t stay on the field for the last 3 years.

Compare the following players to the ones that occupied each position for most of last season.  Most positions will get an upgrade or stay the same:

C: Josh Thole (same)

1B: Ike Davis (upgrade – he only played in a handful of games before getting hurt)

2B: Daniel Murphy (offensive upgrade)

SS: Ruben Tejada (downgrade)

3B: David Wright (same)

LF: Jason Bay (same)

CF: Andres Torres (same/slight defensive upgrade)

RF: Lucas Duda (defensive downgrade/same offense, potentially)

Starting rotation: replacing Capuano with Santana (upgrade)

Bullpen: 3 veteran additions (upgrade)

On paper, this looks like a pretty nice roster…

IF

…they can stay healthy.

Just like 2009, 2010, and 2011.  And since they are so lacking in depth, health is paramount in 2012.  So far in Spring Training, however, it’s been more of the same.  More injuries, more initial misdiagnoses, more frustration.  Even manager Terry Collins couldn’t hide his aggravation when he found out yet another Met, Tejada, couldn’t play.

Does anyone know what the cause is for these injury woes?  Is it the medical staff, the ownership, the managment?  Does anyone know what the solution is?  Find a new medical staff?  Practice over-caution with every nagging injury?  Or is it just bad luck or law of averages?  Maybe they just happen to have a roster full of injury-prone players.  Does anyone know for sure?

One thing is for sure – it’s hard to win ballgames when half your starting lineup is in the trainer’s room.

Posted in 11-12 Offseason | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mets Walking Wounded – Normal?

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Joe Janish

Here we are, 14 days into March, and the following Mets have suffered some type of injury:

David Wright, Tim Byrdak, Lucas Duda, Ronny Cedeno, Reese Havens, Ruben Tejada, D.J. Carrasco, Zach Lutz, Andres Torres, Scott Hairston, Pedro Beato, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Robert Carson, and Daniel Herrera.

(Thanks to MetsBlog for the list.)

And I didn’t even include Ike Davis, who caught that crazy Valley Fever.

Terry Collins is at his wit’s end with all these injuries, and I can’t blame him.

What’s your thought? Bad luck? Par for the course?

Posted in 11-12 Offseason | 5 Comments

Brad Lidge Shocks the World

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Joe Janish

According to reliever Brad Lidge, who is now with the Nationals, on his new team:

Probably the most talented team I’ve ever been on, and I’ve been on some great teams.

Continue reading →

Posted in 11-12 Offseason | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Why Are Mets Hot On Chris Young?

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Joe Janish

For the last few weeks, a recurring rumor keeps coming up that relates to the Mets’ interest in signing pitcher Chris Young. Is anyone else besides me wondering why? Continue reading →

Posted in 11-12 Offseason | Tagged | 27 Comments

Blog Roundup: Johansanity

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Paul Festa

The big story this Spring has been the comeback of Johan Santana.  Johan missed over a year following shoulder surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule.  His recovery will be a difficult one, if history is any indication.  But so far, he’s looked sharp, and seems closer to his old self (well, his Mets old self anyway – which isn’t bad) than anyone predicted.  Meanwhile, nagging injuries begin to mount, further raising the paranoia alert level to code orange among Mets fans.

Here’s the Blogs’ take:

In other news, Mets Today underwent an MRI, but the results were negative.  So stay tuned…

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Marlins Keep Secret Weapon Under Wraps

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Joe Janish

The Mets and Marlins faced off for the third time this spring and once again the Fish kept their secret weapon hidden from view. Continue reading →

Posted in 11-12 Offseason | Tagged | 3 Comments

Mets Sign Mulvey, Mull Nitkowski

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Joe Janish

The Mets have signed free-agent pitcher and former Flushing farmhand Kevin Mulvey and assigned him to minor league camp.

You may remember that the NJ native was part of the trade that brought Johan Santana to New York. Interesting, Mulvey was also traded for current Met Jon Rauch — from the Twins to the Diamondbacks.

Though his future looked bright when he left the Mets organization, Mulvey hasn’t exactly set the world afire. He’s appeared in 10 MLB games, including 4 starts, and owns a 7.90 ERA and 1.76 WHIP with 19 strikeouts and 14 walks in 27 innings. He was so-so pitching in the International League in 2008 and 2009 but was roughed up in his last two years in the hitter-happy PCL, posting ERAs over six and a half.

Mulvey turns 27 in late May so he likely “is what he is” at this point. But, I like the signing as the Mets need some starting depth at AAA. And it’s always nice to see a former prospect come back and try again.

In other news, another local, C.J. Nitkowski of Suffern, could be signed by the Mets as well. Nitkowski worked out for J.P. Ricciardi and Dan Warthen, sporting a new sidearm delivery that reportedly was modeled after Pedro Feliciano‘s. The 39-year-old Nitkowski spent 5 years pitching in Asia and hasn’t been in the big leagues since 2005, when he was ineffective in 7 games with the Nationals. Considering that Tim Byrdak is on his way to NYC to get his knee checked out, it can’t hurt to give the new-look LOOGY a shot.

By the way, also heading to NYC for examination is David Wright, who has not made any progress with his injured rib cage muscle. Hopefully this rib cage thing won’t turn into an extended issue.

Posted in 11-12 Offseason | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Spring Training Notes

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Joe Janish

After the first week of spring training games, a few random notes …
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Posted in 11-12 Offseason | 17 Comments