METS SIGN SHEFFIELD

I guess it's time to get away from the previews and become reactionary.

And I'll say up front - I don't love the move the Mets made, signing Gary Sheffield.

I do think Sheffield has something left in the tank. It's funny this happened - yesterday I was all set to write about the team that acquires Sheffield...but did another preview. Here's what I would have written:

A couple of weeks ago the Boston Globe did a small profile on Sheffield, and how he was fired up this year and ready to put last year's disappointing season behind him. I bought in so much that I made him a last-round pick in my fantasy draft. I figured once he hit homer #500 and put that behind him he'd have a good season.

Then, after what I didn't realize was a pretty poor spring, the Tigers released him, and I heard a couple of rumors about where he would end up - mostly Cincinnati or Philadelphia. And that didn't make sense to me - as much as Sheffield was willing to suck it up in Detroit, he said he wanted to be an outfielder, but I think it's pretty clear everywhere that he would be better off as a DH at age 40. So a National League club didn't seem like a good fit, not to mention the damage a Gary Sheffield could do to your clubhouse. So I was partly rooting for him to infect Philly...and I held back from writing what a good missing piece he could be for the Reds (the veteran bat the very young team needed in their lineup) because I thought the negative influence he'd have on the players would offset the positive.

Now he's the Mets' problem. I find it disruptive - they have Daniel Murphy in left, Ryan Church in right, with Fernando Tatis spelling either/or. Sheffield, defensively, would be a step back from any of the three. Sure, I still think there's pop in the bat...but I worry because Sheffield has worn out more than one welcome. And I don't think Jose Reyes needs another person like Sheffield as a teammate - he doesn't seem to handle those guys too well.

I'm willing to give Sheffield a shot and the benefit of the doubt. But I wish I didn't have to.

METS OPEN CITI FIELD: Notwithstanding the fact that I didn't realize the Mets-Red Sox exhibition game tonight started at 6 instead of 7, and NESN has had technical difficulties most of the night which have prevented me from seeing everything....I love Citi Field. It looks really good. I can't wait to go there in a little more than a week! It does look weird to see the Mets in their home whites and not in Shea.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: I thank "Total AL East Homer" for reading and making their comment - but my point isn't that the three teams atop the AL East will be competing for the division and the wild card with their 95 wins - it's that the other two teams in the division will be 20 games back. In the AL Central, I think top to bottom it has a chance to have everyone in contention until the final days of the season. Unlikely, but I think that's the most competitive division in terms of ALL of the teams battling it out.

I LOVE L.A. (EXHIBITION BASEBALL)

Perhaps it's the whole idea of baseball getting underway in March, but I can't quite convince my body that baseball will count in just a couple of days. I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that there have already been 2 games that have counted, actually. But I think this weekend I'm most excited about a game that doesn't count.

The Red Sox are back in the United States, and they continue their long road trip with a west coast swing before heading back east. They're playing a few games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers before going to Oakland to finish up with the A's, then they go to Toronto before coming back to Boston. The game Saturday night against the Dodgers, though, will be special - as part of the Dodgers commemorating 50 years in Los Angeles, they will host the Red Sox in an exhibition game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
I think what intrigues me most is the quirkiness of the park. (You see the old games at the left, and the stadium being set up for Saturday below.) The Coliseum is a football stadium. But it hosted baseball for four years before the Dodgers moved into Dodger Stadium in 1962. As a football stadium primarily, it has weird dimensions - a very short left-field fence, to be specific. The fence for Saturday night's game will be about 192 feet away in left, shorter than what they had in 1958.

What bums me out is that they're installing a tall net (about 40 feet, I think) above the wall, to prevent balls from flying out of the park. Who cares? It's exhibition. Get players to do something other than fly to left - and if they get one up in the air in left field, it will be exciting. I'm going to try to watch, net or not. There are also going to be more than 100,000 people in attendance. That should be quite a spectacle. If it's a spectacle, and it's in a Coliseum - I'll be watching. I'm glad NESN is airing the game.

MEET THE METS - PEDRO MARTINEZ*

A preview of the 2008 Mets, presented in the expected batting order, followed by pitching rotation, followed by impact bullpen/bench players. Today we focus on starting pitcher Pedro Martinez*.

2007: 3-1, 2.57 ERA, 32 K's, 7 walks, 28 IP

I think now is a very good time to take a look at the Pedro Martinez* signing, and how it has played out for the Mets.

2005: 31 starts, 15-8, 2.82 ERA, 217 IP, 208 K, 47 BB

2006: 23 starts, 9-8, 4.48 ERA, 132.2 IP, 137 K, 39 BB

2007: 5 starts, 3-1, 2.57 ERA, 28 IP, 32 K, 7 BB

First and foremost, I stand by what I've said all along - while I wasn't thrilled initially when the Mets signed Pedro Martinez*, it is because of Pedro Martinez* that so many others followed suit, and it is because of Pedro Martinez* the Mets came within an eyelash of the 2006 World Series (even though he didn't pitch that post-season), and it's because of Pedro Martinez* that the Mets were in the position they were in this off-season to acquire Johan Santana. Everything has a cause/effect relationship, and Pedro Martinez* signing with the Mets got the ball rolling on a number of things. So even if (God forbid) the Mets do not win this year's World Series, in the final year of Pedro*'s contract, it's because of Pedro* that they will be in the position to do so in the coming years.

That said, this is a big year for Pedro* in the eyes of fans a little more short-sighted than that. And I can't really blame them. He wanted four years, and that fourth year was a big question mark because of injuries. The Mets took the risk of getting four years out of Pedro*, giving him the four-year deal. At this point, Pedro* can only give them three, because last year was just five starts long for him. Things would have been different had the Mets made the playoffs, which was the plan, but it didn't work out that way.

I also need to clarify the 2006 numbers. Pedro* was better than 9-8 that year - he started the year 5-0, and could have been 9 or 10-0, but the team (offense and bullpen) didn't support him, leaving him with a string of no-decisions. (In 2005, too, don't forget he had to suffer through Braden Looper closing his games, and could have been better than 15-8).

So overall, Pedro* has pitched very well as a Met. This year will be different, though, because there's no pretending he is the Pedro* of old, who can get an upper-90's fastball past you. Pedro* will try to win this year on experience, guts, and guile.

And I think Pedro* will do OK on his experience, guts, and guile. He is a very smart pitcher, and knows what he is doing on the mound. I think the end of last year was a preview of what we can expect from Pedro* all this year - and I don't think a low-3.00 ERA and 15 or so wins is out of the question. I have also written about this before, but I think it helps tremendously that Pedro* is the number two pitcher on the staff.

Was the Pedro* signing a good one? I say yes. Especially if that fourth year turns out to be a championship year for the Mets, and Pedro* is on the mound pitching well for the Mets in that fourth year in the World Series.

SPRING TRAINING TELEVISED: I love what the Red Sox station, NESN, is doing - I saw that this morning they were airing a couple of hours of spring training workouts. I tuned in for a little bit and saw some batting practice and some pitchers throwing. It might be a little much if they do it more often than this, but I'll tell you this - if SNY were airing some of the Mets spring training workouts, I'd be tuning in to every second of it. Hopefully this sets a successful precedent that other teams and their networks start following.

Mets 9, Marlins 3

(NYM: 3-1, FLA: 1-3)

A night of milestones Friday night as the Mets beat the Marlins, 9-3. It was the 7,000th game in Mets history. And Steve Trachsel hit a double which was the 10,000th in team history. Just wanted to let you all know that. Also, a homer for David Wright. That would be number 43 on the career.

I couldn't watch the game - I had to go out with the wife. Here was the most disappointing thing - the Red Sox were on, but NESN never showed out-of-town scores after the 7th or 8th inning, (whenever we were watching) - and those innings were definitely more than a half-hour long - you would think they would show them every half-hour or something. Then, to make things worse, in their post-game show, they don't have any scores crawling on the screen. Get with it guys. So I didn't find out until on the way home how the Mets did. Pretty torturous.

BEAT THE STREAK: Planning ahead, and knowing I would be stuck having to watch a Red Sox game, I made CoCo Crisp my beat the streak player, and was rewarded. I have a 4-gamer going right now. It's Jason Bay on Saturday, at the Great American Ballpark. He'd better hit five homers. Or just one. All I need is one.

APRIL 8: I've been telling people today is Hall of Famer Gary Carter's 50th birthday. Oops. It's actually his 52nd. I do know for a fact that it is Dave in Brighton's 28th. Happy Birthday to you both.

And with that birthday note, the return of:
THE KID'S KIDS: Hall of Famer Carter's managerial career continues with the St. Lucie Mets this year, after guiding the Gulf Coast Mets to a 37-16 record last year, losing in the championship. St. Lucie is Class-A advanced, and the Mets are off to a 2-0 start under Carter's guidance. They won their opener, 1-0, then Friday night blew an 8-0 lead in the 8th, but won in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch. I'm sure their manager put them in a position to win! Alay Soler, the Cuban defector, pitched five scoreless innings for the Mets.

BOOF!: Boof Bonser made his first start for the Rochester Red Wings, the Twins' AAA affiliate, and pitched six scoreless innings, giving up just two hits, and striking out 8! The Twins could probably use him at the Major League level, if things keep going the way they've been going for their starters. Bonser is 1-0. We'll keep a close watch on him, simply because of his name.