I am sitting here watching the Panama vs Puerto Rico WBC game and wondering why we have not signed Pudge yet.  He has already stolen a base and hit a HR, and looks to have thinned down a little bit from last year.  Even if he is the backup behind Schneider he can help improve all of our pitchers including Johan and K-rod.  He can DH when we play the AL and he can even give Delgado a rest against a tough lefty at 1b.  There is no downside at all to adding him to the roster, so Omar go get him!!!

Update: Pudge ended with a walk, single, double and 2 HR….

jewcer2k5 Free Agent Signing, Mets, Pitching, Pudge Rodriguez Free Agent, Johan, K-rod, Pudge

By: Josh Cohen

Shea Stadium was built to house the Mets when the franchise started, and now the Mets are looking to have a fresh start in Citi Field.  Some people may have hated Shea, but it was one of my favorite places to watch a game.  There were no bad seats in the entire place and it had the feel of a baseball stadium.  The smell of popcorn, beer, sweat, tears, and all of the other great aspects of baseball.  There was a certain charisma about Shea that few stadiums in the majors share.  Now the Mets join the ranks of the Phillies, Cardinals, Padres and many other teams that have recently replaced the stadiums that they called home for so many years.  If you are a Mets fan you have seen all the comparisons already, all the measurements, the extra ammenities (money makers), the size of the seats, distance from the field and of course the lovely new price you get to pay to see “America’s Pasttime”. 

Shea Stadium was named after a man that fought with all of his might to bring a National League team back to the people of NY.  He wanted to get the stadium for the people that lost their teams growing up.  For the diehard anti-yankee fans and I personally would like to thank him for that.  Now we have Citi Field, brought to you by big business.  It is estimated that 13,000 people working for CitiGroup will lose their job because of the naming rights.  Now tell me how ridiculous that really is.  Just so a big business can write their name in huge letters on the side of a building 13,000 families will be without that income.  The trickle down effect will make it even worse and this is going to help lead to the long term demise of our economy.  Why not just go back, and give it to William Shea again?  Why let the man who helped make sure we had this team in Queens go forgotten?  No rotunda, not the grass itself, no high class seating named after him, and we all know the reason.  He isn’t paying any money so who cares!!!  If this is America’s past time, let’s let it be that.  Let’s fight to get the name back to what we all know and love.  Give me Shea all the time, forget this debacle corporate naming process that changes over and over.  Remember who brought us here and helped this growth into the team we love.

jewcer2k5 Mets, Shea Stadium, Uncategorized Citi Field, Mets, Shea, Shea Stadium

By: Josh Cohen

This is the start of what will become a Thursday ritual.  I will spotlight one Mets MLB player every Thursday starting today.  How can I not start this ritual without the biggest offseason acquisition the Mets made this season?  I am very close to saying the most vital acquisition we have made this decade and will explain as we go on.  

K-rod comes to us from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (still the most absurd name in all of sports).  Last year as we all know he set a major league record with 62 saves, and our management went out and did the right thing by getting him.  On the minus side, he pitched in 76 games and only threw 68 1/3 innings.  He is NOT the stop gag closer that will come in in the 8th inning, stop a rally and come back in the 9th and end it.  In that tiny inning count, he still K’s a ton of people, more than 1 per IP which is what you want from a closer, but as I’ve been reminded by some friends, he walks a lot of people (more than Billy Wagner).  Us Mets fans are gonna be tough on him, give him a chance.  He is what we need and let’s hope he doesn’t turn into another big FA bust!

What makes this possibly the biggest offseason acquisition of the decade?  You might say Pedro, Beltran, or Johan but why not a closer?  The Mets biggest problem over the past 3 seasons is they haven’t been able to finish anything off.  We are so close every year, but just miss that final piece.  We can get to the end but we can’t close the deal.  We had the best record if games ended after 6 innings (yes I am going to beat that into your heads).  This is the man we need, Wagner was obviously not the answer.  If he does what he was brought into do, and closes out 45-50 games and is lights out then he is it.  If he does his job like Johan did last year, then he is it.  He needs to prove it, but when it’s all said and done, if we make the playoffs this year, he is going to be one of if not the main reason we did it this year instead of the past 2.  

jewcer2k5 Francisco Rodriguez, Free Agent Signing, Uncategorized Bullpen, Francisco Rodriguez, K-rod, Spotlight

By: Josh Cohen

After a 46 pitch bullpen session today, Johan told reporters that he is eyeing Opening Day.  He felt no pain and it’s his goal to pitch that first game.

As a Mets fan I don’t know if I should be excited or nervous.  We all look back and see Mo Vaughn, Robbie Alomar, and all the other big ticket superstars that have been brought in and immediately broke down.  Is it really worth the risk to have him throw game 1 of the season???  Yes, as a Mets fan I want to see Johan on the rubber when the season starts, but I’d rather see him not miss any other starts.  Let’s get him 100% healthy, make sure he is fine, get some ST work in before we get our hopes up…

jewcer2k5 Johan Santana, Mets, Uncategorized bullpen session, Johan Santana, Opening day

By: Josh Cohen

According the Daily News, Pedro Martinez will not sign a contract based on mostly incentives.  Why should any team take a big, guaranteed risk on Pedro.  I mean, yes, he was great at bringing baseball excitement back to the Mets after his great days in Boston, but baseball contracts are what have you done for me lately.  He had an over 5 ERA last year and he is just getting older.  Pedro, we understand that you have made a lot of money, if you don’t want to play just retire.  Manny, realize no one is going to give you a long term contract, and that is 100% your fault.  Act like a man and you get treated like you.  Go out before people forget those great days that you guys had together!!!!

jewcer2k5 Free Agent Signing, Mets, Mets Contracts, Other MLB News, Pedro Martinez, Uncategorized Contract, Free Agents, Manny Ramirez, Mets, Pedro Martinez

By: Josh Cohen

Last year the Mets may not have even made the playoffs, but they probably had the best fantasy core in the league.  Adding the #1 closer from last year and losing no one else things aren’t going to change in Mets fantasy world this year.  David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan all project to be top 15 picks.  Beltran should go in the top 30 and K-rod will most likely be the first closer taken.  Here is what I see happening from the premier Mets in fantasy baseball this year.  All the draft pick projected rounds are based on standard 5×5 12 team roto style league.

David Wright (3b) $40 – David looks to secure his spot as the top 3b selected in most drafts this year.  At 26 years old he is looking to still improve from previous years and will probably increase his power this year and keep around the 20 SB number.  Yes he has the eye, speed, skill, power and stroke to go after 40-40 at some point in his career.  This year he will still be the main driving force behind this top offense in all of the majors.  Expect 35/120/110 out of him this year and for him to hit .310 with 25 bases swiped.  Premier of the premier.  If it is a keeper league you can consider him for #1 overall.

Jose Reyes (SS) $42 – Joseeeeee, Jose, Jose…..Let the man leadoff and do everything you want.  He can single handedly put you in the top 1/3rd of your league in SB, and add some power behind it.  We already saw that he added some pop with that nice 2 HR day in the Spring.  Still a nice young $25 years old, lets see him fill out some more and get back over the 20 HR mark.  Expect 18/75/120 as long as Manuel doesn’t move him to the 3 spot in the order.  Let’s hope he keeps getting more and more disciplined at the plate and finally break the .300 BA mark (hit exactly .300 in 2006).  With all of that expect him to steal over 60 bases again, and if Castillo hits behind him and is nice and patient like expected we can see him go back to 70-80.  Another top 5 pick and player you can feel comfortable building a keeper league around.

Carlos Beltran (OF) $30 – Beltran should have ample opportunities to be an offensive jugernaut on this team again.  He should easily reach 20-20 but that isn’t enough to get him into the first round as we saw a few years back.  Wright, Reyes, Johan and now K-rod should be able to keep the attention off of Beltran which will help him succeed.  He will be a top 5 OFer again this year and if you get him any later than the 3rd round you are getting a steal.  In keeper leagues his value might go down because of his age but I wouldn’t worry.  He is someone that can help you win and win now, 25/100/100 is easily within reach, and he should hit around .280 and swipe 20-25 bases again.  If you want to reach on him take him early in the third, if he is around after that grab him up and thank everyone in the league.

Carlos Delgado (1b) $16 - DO NOT expect the same first half from last year and DO NOT expect the same second half from last year.  Carlos will be in the middle of the pack when it comes to 1b this year but still should be a solid pick.  He is getting older and older and his skills will continue to diminish, and if you are in a keeper league I would say to drop him a few more notches because of that.  Safely look for 25/90/80 from him, and secretly hope for 30/110/90 while hitting around .265.

Johan Santana (SP) $37 – Let’s all get those early season worried about arm trouble behind us.  Since they pulled him back from the trip back to NY and are not worried about fantasy players shouldn’t either.  If your draft is soon then wait around and see if you can steal him.  Forget all of the people and naysayers saying he did not do what the Mets brought him in for.  He did it and the bullpen blew it.  With CC out of the NL, he is now far and away the front runner for the NL Cy Young.  He also proved last year, under the scrutiny of NY’ers, that he can go longer than 7 innings and wants the ball.  Let’s hope he starts the season off the same way and with the security behind him wins 20+ games.  Let’s go conservative on the predictions though…18 wins, 1.03 WHIP, 2.75 ERA, 210 K’s.  If he is there near the end of round one and you want to go pitcher he is a great pick.  If he sticks around to the end of the second round jump on him and don’t look back.

Francisco Rodriguez (CL) $27 – The gem of gems that the Mets could’ve hoped to get this offseason.  I know I’ve said this before and I will say it a lot, the Mets had the best record in baseball if the games ended after 6 innings.  K-rod is going to come in and clean up all of those games.  No I don’t think he will get to 62 saves again, I would be happy with 45-50.  Saves are the hardest category to predict because they have a lot to do with teams playing in close games, and with JJ Putz as the setup man we are hopefully not going to give up leads the way we have been in the past few years.  The ratios and K’s are much more predictable so he will give you 2.50 ERA, 1.2 ERA, and 75+ K’s.  Yes, he is a closer on one of the best teams in the NL so he will be drafted high.  If you are the type of person that likes to take closers, anywhere in the 6th-8th round is a solid spot to get him.  I would say if you draft him, make sure you grab JJ Putz at the end of the draft if you can just in case something happens to him, and to grab some vulture wins.

John Maine (SP) $8 – According to MLB.COM John Maine is working on bringing back his curveball.  And from what I have been reading on rotoworld.com he is really working it into a lot of his game work and side sessions.  What does this mean to you???  This means he will have that knockout pitch he has been missing.  The misery of seeing him dominate 5-6 IP and then look and he is nearing or already at 100 pitches will hopefully be over.  If he can get an out pitch instead of having the ball fouled off as much he will be a steal.  Look for him to have a career year this year but only take him if you can get him at a great value.  He is the type of late pitcher that can take you from the middle of the pack to the top if his curveball is what is expected.  Look for around 3.75 ERA, 1.25-1.30 WHIP, 180 K’s and 15-20 wins with this awesome bullpen.  Look for him to fall down to the 17th round or so.  If you want him, I do not think the 14th round is a big reach but if he makes it to 17 or later consider it a steal.

Oliver Perez (SP) $6 - We missed out on the CC auction, decided Lowe wasn’t worth it, and took back Ollie.  If you are a Mets fan you know how up and down he can be.  If he can keep his head in the game he is a stud but if he loses focus he is a dud.  This makes him another pitcher that can help lead you to victory in your league.  I would take him in the 17th or 18th round and he is a steal past the 2oth round.  In a roto style league you need consistency, the last thing you want to do is look deep into numbers and try to predict his bust games.  Over the long haul look for low 4 ERA, WHIP around 1.35, 175 K’s and about 13-15 wins.

jewcer2k5 Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Free Agent Signing, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Other MLB News 2009, 5x5, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Fantasy, Francisco Rodriguez, Johan Santana, John Maine, Jose Reyes, Keeper, Krod, Mets, Oliver Perez, roto

By: Josh Cohen

Who should be the Mets leadoff hitter this year…Luis Castillo or Jose Reyes???

Luis Castillo- Luis is looking to revive his career, not to mention ward off the boo birds that he was getting all of last season.  When he played for the Marlins he was one of the best leadoff men in the game and still has the ability to do it again.  He can slap the ball the other way, foul off a lot of pitches, and take pitches to build the pitch count and let all the hitters behind him see what that particular starter has to offer that particular day.

The biggest news for Luis is that he lost 15 pounds this offseason.  This will lighten the load on his knees which means he will be able to run more.  If he can slap the ball around, take pitches, get on base and can run he should be the leadoff man.  He has some value in the 8 hole because he will be able to clear the pitcher, but I’d much rather see him get on base and get driven in by the solid bats behind him.

Jose Reyes- Reyes has gotten so much better as a leadoff man under the tutelage of Ricky Henderson.  If he walks or hits a single it can easily become a triple in 2 pitches, but is he more valuable there or in the 3 hole driving in runs.  He has great gap to gap power and the potential to be a 20-25 HR threat down the road.  With his OBP moving up over .350 consistently over the past 3 seasons, he does have the ability to take the pitch, get on base, and obviously steal when it’s needed. 

The two options seem to be either Castillo leading off with Reyes in the 3 spot or Reyes leading off with Castillo hitting second.  If you told me Reyes would be hitting second I would be ok with that.   The 3 spot is for your BEST overall hitter traditionally and Reyes doesn’t come close to that.  If Reyes hits 3 he will not be able to take full advantage of his legs either, because someone in front of him (Beltran) picks his running spots a lot more.  Ideally this would lead to Wright and Delgado getting more fastballs to swing at if Reyes is on alone or has a free base ahead of him.

Reyes leading off with Castillo hitting second makes the most sense to me.  Call me traditional but you want your most explosive runner on base and getting the chance to make something happen.  Castillo hitting behind him is very willing to take a pitch for Reyes to run on and will be able to bunt Reyes over if necessary.  This will lead to a ton of RBI opportunities for Beltran, Wright, and Delgado.  If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.  Last year, the Mets had the best record in baseball if games ended after 6 innings.  They could obviously score some runs and get some leads last year.  With the additions in our bullpen we should just leave the lineup the same and get into that bullpen and win some games. 

jewcer2k5 Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Uncategorized Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Jose Reyes, leadoff, Luis Castillo, Mets