Sorry for not posting anything in a while, folks. It's been a rough couple of days. Here's what went on in Florida while I was in bed with a 101-degree fever (pause for sympathy):

Good news and bad news:

We'll start with the good news. On back to back days, I believe those days were Saturday and Sunday, Tom Glavine and Kris Benson pitched very well. Glavine pitched four perfect innings before he left his game, and Benson went three perfect before giving up a couple of hits and a run or two in his game. I'm starting to get a good feeling about Kris Benson this year.

The bad news is that Pedro Martinez's* start was rained out on Monday. Again. It's his second straight start that's been rained out...and I think it might be three out of four. The Mets have been keeping him on a schedule so that he would be pitching every five days up to and including Opening Day, so it remains to be seen whether or not they keep doing that to keep him on schedule, or to get him to face some real game action.

The really bad news is that Steve Trachsel has a bad back, and likely will start the season on the disabled list. Trachsel has had this problem nagging at him, apparently, all spring, and finally had it checked out the past couple of days. No official word yet, but it doesn't look good that he'll be ready in April. The Mets won't need a fifth starter until midway through April, and right now it looks like Matt Ginter is the front-runner for that spot. Ginter played pretty well for the Mets in his spot starts last season - if I remember correctly, he was often the victim of a lack of run support (story of the 2004 Mets), but I remember him pitching well...I think he was the starter in one of the games during the Mets' sweep of the Yankees. But I also remember him throwing a couple of clunkers, so let's hope the good Ginter heads north.

Let's check the mail:

"Two quick Q's...

1 - The Mets developing a new network....would it be called MESS?? Mets Entertainment Sports Station?? METS ON MESS!!!

2 - The Mets signed Brian Daubach. Why? Don't they know he's horrible??

kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Bureau"

Kevin-long time since we heard from you. Not funny about the MESS. I'd say they call it the Mets Entertainment Television Station. METS.

And the Mets do have Daubach in their system right now, as well as former Red Sox backup to the backup's backup catcher Andy Dominique (who was horribly mis-named in an article in the Daily News, I think, when Pedro Martinez* first pitched...I wish I could remember what he was called - it was hilarious....but I guess you had to be there). Anyway, quick thing about Daubach (aka SCAB). (Speaking of scabs - it is such a shame that these ballplayers are so cold to the replacement players - do you know that Kevin Millar is still not in MLB 2005?!?! It just doesn't seem fair. The MLB Players' Union is a bunch of selfish pigs. If I had the chance to make some money as a major league ballplayer, albeit a replacement player, I would have taken that chance too. That's the only thing I sympathize with Daubach about. Now I will continue to rail on him.) Daubach is the only player in baseball who still acts like he's in Little League when he gets a 3-0 count. On the fourth pitch, no matter where it is - even if it's right down the pipe - he will start walking down to first. This has to piss umpires off. Because he never, ever, ever as long as I watched him play, ever got a close 3-1 pitch called in his favor. I think the umpires told him to cool it off a couple of years ago, because his last year with the Red Sox he didn't do it as much. But, man, that always annoyed me.