johan santana pc today at 1pm!

welcome to NY, johan!

GO METS!!!!

Who else already has tickets for the last regular-season game at Shea?

DEFINTELY looking forward to this season! I'll miss Lo Duca, and I'm not sure I love the Milledge trade yet, but with Santana, I am convinced that we can erase, or at least ease, the memory of last season.

Lets Go Mets!

Maybe I missed this over the winter, but did the Mets rehire Rickey Henderson? I hope not. I suspect the guy is poison in the lockerroom and a horrible influence on some of the younger players. I heard a portion of an interview with David Wright on WFAN in NY the other day. He has truly established himself as the leader of this team. He's bright, articulate - and yes, hot - and honest in his assessment of last season's collapse. Instead of giving the standard line, "that was last year, of course we're over it," he was truthful in saying that of course it on the minds of the players and that they need to go out this year and prove to everyone how good they are. I'm really looking forward to this season. But to all the other long suffering Mets fans out there...how many of us are just hoping Santana doesn't get hurt?

jerseyguy, don't jinx Santana!

Anyway, my prediction for Santana: 18-9 2. 79 ERA and a Cy Young to boot

I know. I know. I want nothing more than to see him go 20-4 with a 2.55 ERA. It just that we long suffering Mets fans have seen these big acquisitions blow up so many times before.

I don't know if Henderson is around. I honestly hope not. His attitude is definitely not what the Mets need. Jose Reyes especially needs to be more aggressive and focused on his game. Henderson, from what I understand, is not the best person to bring that out of him.

No need to fret Rickey's Gone

where exactly is this Rickey demonization coming from?

I really hope Reyes being "aggressive" doesn't require him going back to getting 30 walks all year, ie, being a BAD leadoff hitter.

Very optimistic for the upcoming season now that we've got Johan on board. I'm actually hoping for opening day/final game tix through that lottery they're running. At least I'll be at the last Friday game thanks to the Jose x3 seven pack, lol. I'll be going to at least 12 games as of now.

mets unveil citi field logo

Dominos logo part deux. Go to Metsblog for the post.

Is anybody really going to miss Shea? I have lots of fond memories that I'll never forget from there, but I won't miss ever having to step in the place again afer this year. It represented the idealism and wisdom of the times- just goes to show we often aren't as smart as we think we are. I wish the name Shea could be kept, as his efforts were selfless and done mostly out of loving baseball and wanting to regain what NY had lost.

There are definitely lots of fond memories of Shea, but its time has passed. The place is a dump and that fact hits you the second you walk thru the turnstile. I believe it's the 4th oldest park in the majors and unlike Fenway or Wrigley, Shea has absolutely no charm. Personally, I can't wait for the new park to open.

I'm definitely going to miss Shea. It was where my Dad took me for my first baseball game. Remembering those awful 90's teams, The Piazza days, 2006 snapping the Braves streak... etc.

Yes, Shea has seen its better days, but its character like the the giant scoreboard in RF, Diamondvision (lol), the Picnic Area, the Apple, being able to "watch" the game from the subway platform.

I'm going to miss Shea, I hate the fact that the new stadium is called CitiField. I disagree with corporations slapping their names on everything and seriously, the Mets play in NYC, the biggest city in the U.S and the one of the world's biggest markets and we have to sell off the stadium name? It's sickening to a degree, but it also just paid for Johan Santana. It's a double edged sword.

The "citi" part of the logo looks just like the company's logo. How revolutionary!

I guess that's cuz that's what they paid for? Also, who the hell needs a stadium logo? Does Shea have a logo? No.

New York City and State are "contributing" a total of $1.3 BILLION to the Mets' and Yankees' new parks. Hooray for corporate welfare...

What do you think about the 2008 Mets' pitchers. There's an article in today's "NY Times" about Pelfry's prospects for the season. Who'll be the best for the team?

I feel confident Santana will be his splendid self, Maine good, Perez shaky but worth his rotation spot ... and Pedro and Duque, good and OK if healthy. I'm sure Pelfrey will get 10-15 starts somehow. The best news for the pen is if Duaner Sanchez has fully recovered.

I'm still not sure about Perez. Pedro....yeah, you're right...if healthy!

Any thoughts on Jon Niese? I don't know anything about him at all.

Ya gotta figure with Ollie/Maine in the 3/4 instead of 2/3 spots, they'll be much more relaxed. Santana will be dominant and yes the only question marks are Pedro/El Duque.

maine and ollie can be inconsistent at times, but they're pretty damn good number 3 and 4.

duque is not a question mark. we already know he'll be in the annual DL. hope it's not in september or october like the past 2 years.

i think pedro can be healthy for a full season. he's been shut down for almost 2 years. he's pretty fresh.

duaner sanchez is the key to the bullpen. if he can pitch anywhere near his '06 form, it'll be huge.

Sanchez will be up to his '06 form, I'll second that.

Pedro will benefit from Santana. It's going to be an exciting season!

it should be an exciting season.

mets are built to win NOW. not next year. not in '10. now.

anything short of a WS would be a massive failure.

Agree with all of that.

Santana should be phenomenal. Pedro, I believe, will be very effective this year, and Maine and Perez are far better than most club's 3-4 starters.

Pelfrey will get starts with Hernandez on the DL at least part of the season, as always.

Anyone know when he's pitching in spring training? The paper today said nothing was scheduled for him for even batting practice yet...

he's still having problems with the toe surgery.

and then there's the bunion, the hamstring, the calf, etc, etc.

Enjoy Shea for this final season. A lot of people are talking about how the ticket prices are going to skyrocket with the opening of CitiField!

I really don't think Maine and Perez's inconsistency last year had beans to do with not being able to "relax." It was Maine's youth, and Ollie is just that way.

Just about every team that gets a new park/arena raises the prices at least a little. With the capacity of the new place being lower there are fewer tickets available to sell, which is a problem if the team is a big draw. So that's almost to be expected.

mets have already raised ticket prices this year by 20%. next year will definitely be more expensive.

ticket prices notwithdstanding, mets have sold more than 2 million tickets so far.

Do you guys pay attention to the pre-season? The Mets are playing pretty badly right now! I told a friend that the pre-season was like the last dress rehearsal...if it goes poorly then, that should bode well for a good performance when it matters. Still, I wonder...

i pay attention only because they're the mets. i wanna see them. other than that, spring training games don't mean shit.

I struggle too wondering if the poor outings by Maine and Santana and the 3 losses are anything to worry about...
but...yeah it is only spring training and lots of times players are working on trying new things for the upcoming season.....

didn't one year like butch huskey hit like 11 homers in spring training....and then i don't think he hit more than 5 the whole regular season...

so yeah....spring training doesn't mean shit!

josh

like...yeah!

Well, did you see that collision of Church into Anderson yesterday? Ouch! Every time something like that happens, you feel so much pain for the guys.

Will Delgado be on the DL?

On a lighter note, every Sunday in the "NY Post" there is a Q&A with a MLB or NFL player. This week Duaner Sanchez is the player. Most of the questions are fluff and no-brainers. My favorite is "Q: Three Dinner Guests?" Some yobs answer Jesus, George W. Bush, and the like. Well Sanchez at least has some sense of humor. His answer was "Two ugly guys and Halle Berry." She's usually the answer, along with Angelina Jolie, to the "Favorite Actress" question.

Most pro athletes are fluff and no-brainers.

This is still my favorite athlete Q&A:

Bwahahaha, that is awesome.

Anyone seen this report? I wonder if there's any kind of talent to be gotten from these two jokers. Hey, if someone was willing to take Mota...

Well anyway, according to Jon Heyman the Mets are talking with the Tigers about a possible trade. Sosa for Marcus Thames. Thames could spell Delgado at first, but he's primarily an outfielder. Why are the Mets so flush with outfielders all the time? And Angel Pagan (best name) has been smoking the ball lately.

hmmm, injuries are mounting.

alou is out for six weeks. he'll undergo hernia repair.

church and anderson collided in the outfield. church has concussion.

entire outfield is gone.

delgado has hip flexor strain.

beltran is still rehabbing from knee surgery.

el duque still can't pitch. toe nail, bunion, etc.

gotay has ankle problem.

michel abreu with hip flexor strain.

who's next?

we'd probably see fernando martinez sooner than expected.

Um, I'm all for signing Kyle Lohse and trading a bullpen arm for Marcus Thames or bringing back the the XMan.

This is the perfect opportunity to unload Show or Sosa. And I'd love to see Nady back too.

Pretty soon this entire team is just going to be Johan pitching to Pedro as Wright happily fields all positions.

And ya know D.W would do it as well, haha.

Davey boy would play with his uniform on inside-out and backwards if it meant it was for the good of the team

um, I'd watch that. Happily

This has been a pretty hard-luck spring so far. I like the idea of it being like a dress rehearsal, so a bad spring means a good season. Let's go with that one.

Also, enough teams are in such need of relievers that there could very well be a market for Schoenweis and Sosa. I don't know if they shoudl part with both, though. I'd say keep Sosa as a long reliever and spot starter.

Yeah, not sure they should give up both either.

Currently listening to a game vs. the Astros on WFAN. I know it's only spring training, but God how I've missed baseball.

I laughed to myself when I heard that Useless David Newhan is now on the Astros.

I actually laughed out loud at that one.

Agreed 100%. I didn't realize how much I missed watching the games until they started up again.

While listening to the game yesterday I got so inspired that I plunked down a good chunk of change for tickets to games this season.

OH ALSO:



I just love how they're always hugging. PALZ 4 EVA.

Add me to the list of those who would love to see Nady back on the Mets. I really thought he was a great addition, and could help out a lot. He is exactly what they need - a right-handed bat that can play outfield.

I'm getting really excited - opening day is three weeks away! I haven't bought my tickets yet, but I definitely will be there more than once this summer!