-From winter ball, some good news. Anderson Hernandez discovered his stroke. After hitting .246 in the minors last season, and .152 with the Mets, the second base prospect hit at a .287 clip during the winter ball season. He also hit .310 in 6 games of what I think is the equivalent of the winter ball post-season. We'll watch to see if he carries that type of hitting into spring training. I think that would be important because I'd much rather see Anderson Hernandez and his glove at second than Jose Valentin, who I don't feel so good about as the Mets' regular second baseman this year.
-The Mets did not tender a contract to Victor Zambrano back in December, making him a free agent. There were rumors the Mets would re-sign Zambrano at a later date, but he ended up signing with Toronto. That officially makes the Scott Kazmir trade a disaster (as though there were any doubt), and if Zambrano comes back strong from Tommy John surgery with the Blue Jays, look for lots more criticism headed Rick Peterson's way. I feel Peterson could be doing a better job for the Mets...at least, the Zambrano thing was a huge failure on his part.
-On the subject of Peterson, he was one of seven coaches the Mets locked up under contract this off-season. Peterson got a three-year deal, third base coach Sandy Alomar, bullpen coach Guy Conti, hitting coach Rick Down, and bench coach Jerry Manuel all got two-year extensions, and newcomers Howard Johnson (first base coach) and Tom Nieto (catching instructor) got one-and-two-year deals, respectively.
HoJo beat out Gary Carter (among others) for the first base coaching job. Remember, Manny Acta has left the staff to be the Nationals' manager.
-Finally, another Blue Jays connection: John Thomson also signed with the Blue Jays, after receiving overtures from the Mets as another possible arm for the pitching staff. And after he turned down the Mets because he didn't want to pitch to Paul LoDuca or for a team with Cliff Floyd in the outfield. Wow. Talk about taking shots. I don't remember LoDuca having a response to that, a little surprising, since he can be a hothead.
Floyd, though, shot back, saying from Cubs camp last week, "From what I've seen, he's not one of the greatest pitchers in the game. It didn't really affect me in terms of my pride....People who talk a lot seem to always be on the short end of the stick. I wish him the best of luck. Hopefully, his luck can change in Toronto because it didn't change in the National League." Nice job, Cliff. Well said.
Thomson did make 9 starts for the Mets, incidentally, in 2002, going 2-6 with a 4.31 ERA.
FLASHBACK: I've mentioned many times how my mom is cleaning out lots of my old stuff as my parents renovate their house. Recently, I got a bunch of stuff, and I just went through some of it today. Among the books were a few years' worth of the old Topps Sticker Yearbooks. I remember my brother and I competing over stickers to fill every page. Fun stuff. Surprisingly, the price was just 35 cents. And I was going through the 1987 edition, and came across the 1986 World Series page. Thought it was a good excuse to use the new scanner at the House sponsored by DirecTV. So here it is:
1 comment:
I know it's early in spring training, but I feel it's safe to say that JohnnyMets has done some TOP-NOTCH offseason conditioning.
Whether it's using the scanner, putting together a side-by-side comparison of Wright and Rollins, or finally admitting that the Kazmir deal was an unmitigated disaster... JohnnyMets is really bringing it this season.
It's great to see a veteran come to camp in such great shape.
Just makes me wonder, is it a contract year?
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