The New York Mets (Redux) - Page 10

VKMHVM2 · 02-15-2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noob920

What about the Dodgers? Cardinals? Reds? There HAVE been NL dynasties as well...just not as dominant as the Yankees

False. Not even close.

VKMHVM2 · 02-15-2008, 06:31 PM

America's Mascot:

All hail the great Mr. Met!

Kanadesaga · 02-17-2008, 03:43 PM

Notes: Mets trio recovering from injuries
Valentin looking to just make squad; Sanchez gets fresh start
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Some Mets felt more pain last year than others.
Take Carlos Beltran, for example, who played most of last season with two ailing knees. Then there was Luis Castillo, who limped around with a bad knee of his own, and Damion Easley, who suffered a grotesque leg injury running the bases. All three have arrived at Mets camp early, and all three are relishing their uncommon health.
"Right now, I don't feel the sensation I was feeling," Beltran said. "It's a great sign."
Beltran had tendinitis in both of his knees last season, and underwent arthroscopic surgery over the winter to clear away the debris. Having surgery on both knees at once has limited his recovery, because he was forced to wait longer than normal before beginning his rehab. Even now, he can't run at full speed, and doesn't expect to participate in Grapefruit League games until well into March.
"I came to Spring Training ready to swing the bat," Beltran said. "I can swing the bat in games and things like that, but the thing is, who's going to run?"
Castillo will run -- though not for Beltran, of course -- and that's a novel concept. He, too, pushed himself through pain last year, and he, too, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Yet Castillo's rehab has progressed further, and Grapefruit League games shouldn't be a problem.
"I feel much better," Castillo said. "Last year, my knee was sore. My knee was in pain."
Easley's severely sprained left ankle might also need a bit more time to heal. Six months worth of rehabilitation and deep tissue massages have gotten him back on the field, but Easley still can't run the bases or make sharp cuts in either direction.
"I've still got some work to do," Easley said. "But it's mostly real good."

Last stand: Non-roster invitee Jose Valentin showed up at camp on Saturday resigned to the fact that if he doesn't stick with the Mets now, his baseball career might be over. That, more than anything, worries him.
"I wasn't really looking for money," Valentin said. "I just wanted one more shot."
Valentin's last chance ended when he fractured his right leg, then had offseason surgery to repair a partially torn ligament in his right knee. Meanwhile, the Mets compromised his future by trading for and eventually signing Castillo to a long-term contract, squelching any chance that Valentin could again be their starting second baseman.
So now, he's gunning simply to make the team. Valentin doesn't believe he'll be ready for Opening Day, but he said he hopes to play in a few Grapefruit League games before the end of Spring Training.

Fresh start: Saturday's most encouraging development just may have been Duaner Sanchez's bullpen session. Manager Willie Randolph certainly thought so.
"I was impressed, man," Randolph said. "I mean, wow."
It's all the culmination of nearly two years' worth of rehab for Sanchez, whose 2007 season ended at around this time last year. Now, he's healed -- though he still claims he's not 100 percent.
"I feel even better than that," he joked.

Dollars and sense: General manager Omar Minaya said he has no immediate plans to sign starter Oliver Perez to a long-term contract. Pending an imminent agreement, Perez is set to become the first Met in 16 years to settle a contract through arbitration.
Perez, who finished last season with a 15-10 record and 3.56 ERA, asked for $6.5 million through arbitration. The Mets countered with an offer of $4.7 million, and they have some incentive to lock him up for the future. After this season, Perez will be a free agent -- and possibly one of the best starting pitchers on the market.
"Right now, we're not thinking in those terms," Minaya said. "But if the opportunity comes up, we'll have to talk about it."

Mets bits: Orlando Hernandez did not throw at full strength and cut his bullpen session short after just 35 pitches. He said he felt fully healthy, and pitching coach Rick Peterson noted that in the future, El Duque would throw earlier in the morning, when he feels more comfortable. ... Pedro Martinez, also scheduled to throw a bullpen session, instead only threw off of flat ground. ... New signee Tony Armas is the only Mets pitcher yet to join the team. Visa problems have delayed his entrance into the country.

Kanadesaga · 02-18-2008, 10:11 AM

Beltran to Rollins: 'We're team to beat'
Mets outfielder gets jump on Phillies shortstop in making claim
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Carlos Beltran walked into Mets camp on Saturday, took a seat on the dugout bench and said exactly what was on his mind.
"To Jimmy Rollins: We are the team to beat."

It was unprompted, unscripted and completely unexpected. But with those nine words, Beltran instantly renewed his team's rivalry with the Phillies and assumed a new level of leadership with the Mets. The usually quiet and reserved center fielder, perhaps emboldened by his team's offseason acquisition of Johan Santana, stepped out of character -- and there's no reversing that now.

"Let me tell you this," Beltran said. "Without Santana, we felt, as a team, that we had a chance to win in our division. With him now, I have no doubt that we're going to win in our division. I have no doubt in that. We've got what it takes."

The statement was as much a product of his own confidence as it was a response to Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who last winter proclaimed that his team was the one to beat -- and then backed it up on the field.

Perhaps the greatest surprise was that Beltran, and not some other Met, made the statement. Normally quiet and unassuming off the field, Beltran has managed to mostly avoid the spotlight during his first three years in New York.

Now, that won't be so easy.

"It takes a special person to be able to do that," closer Billy Wagner said. "Now you have to lead. You have to stand there and take the punches in the bad games, and you have to be there to answer the questions and deal with it."

Beltran knows it, too. Minutes after making his comments -- in response to a question regarding his thoughts on Santana -- he acknowledged that he's now bound to become a popular enemy in Philadelphia.

"I don't care," Beltran said. "They boo me in Houston. One more city won't make a difference."

Rollins became a target in New York last season even before the Phillies and Mets first met -- and even before he made a critical fielding error during the home opener at Shea, which sent Mets fans into something of a frenzy. Then he spent the rest of the summer silencing those same fans, winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award while leading his Phillies to the NL East title.

Yet Rollins, unlike Beltran, was already a vocal leader of his team. The Mets went largely without a similar voice last season -- perhaps until now. And while Beltran's teammates may agree with his prediction, they're not about to state it so boldly.

"There's no use in us showing up if we don't believe that we are that type of team," Wagner said. "For me, I don't think I would ever go out and say it just because I believe in going out there on the field and doing it, but hey, you know what? He's my teammate. I got his back."
"We have inner confidence," third baseman David Wright said. "You're not going to find anyone in here who doesn't think we're going to win the National League East. But different guys have different motivations or ways to pump up their team."

Still, Wright disagreed in principle, saying that because they won last year, the Phillies remain the team to beat. Maybe the Mets have improved on paper, but they haven't yet proved it on the field. Not until September can they truly prove their point.

"I've said all along, I have the utmost confidence in this team to win," Wright said. "But just personally, I don't feel the need to declare anything. Talk is cheap when you're talking about February."

Manager Willie Randolph simply laughed at the comments, attributing them to Beltran's first child, four-month-old Ivana.

"I guess when you have a little baby girl," Randolph said, "it gives you confidence."

Now Beltran must be confident, whether he wants to or not. He directed his boldness at a player who's already plenty bold himself, and in doing so stamped a sizeable target on his back.

There's a chance he'll again fade into the background, just as there's a chance this new outspoken Beltran is here to stay. Either way, on Saturday, he ramped one of the NL's most impassioned rivalries to a new level of contention.

W.M.DEEEZ · 02-18-2008, 10:27 AM

Yep...it's February.

Let's hope for a relatively injury free season...things change in a heartbeat in all sports.

I like our depth this year.

Last year, Wright couldn't catch up to the fastball in the spring. Then look what happened.

On paper...right, on paper what we needed to avoid last year's debacle, was pitching.

The Mets should be starving, not just hungry to get on the field. This had to be the longest winter in history for them.

A toast...to HEALTH

Kanadesaga · 02-18-2008, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W.M.DEEEZ

Yep...it's February.

Let's hope for a relatively injury free season...things change in a heartbeat in all sports.

I like our depth this year.

Last year, Wright couldn't catch up to the fastball in the spring. Then look what happened.

On paper...right, on paper what we needed to avoid last year's debacle, was pitching.

The Mets should be starving, not just hungry to get on the field. This had to be the longest winter in history for them.

A toast...to HEALTH

Slante!