Mets and Florida Little League Tweet This Post
Earlier this year I wrote about how the Mets had paintings of players done and using the profits from selling them to support Florida local Little League. Here’s a couple of those pictures that were on display at Digital Domain Park.
Tags: art clubs, digital domain park, florida, florida little league, little league, Mets, mets portraits, New York Mets, painting mets, Spring Training, support little league
Collins and Alderson Releasing Castillo (pics!) Tweet This Post
This picture was taken around 10am on Friday morning. Luis Castillo was still in a Mets uniform and on the practice fields. I wonder what they were talking about..
Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins discussing something
Shortly after this Twitter was all abuzz about Luis Castillo being released.
Tags: Alderson and Collins discuss Castillo, Luis Castillo, luis castillo being released, Mets, mets practice fields, mets release castillo, mets spring training, mets spring training 2011, New York Mets, releasing castillo, sandy alderson, Spring Training, terry collins
Practice post on my phone Tweet This Post
Practice post on my phone. Seeing how easy it is to post from my phone for my Spring Training trip next week. I’ll upload my pictures mostly to Twitter so your should follow me there. Also experimenting with my Tumblr.
Tags: blog, ceetar, Spring Training, twitter
Why No Gameday Audio? Tweet This Post
I’m annoyed that the MLB At Bat app for 2011 doesn’t include mlb.tv. There is no option for it on the Android version of the app, something I presume will be added for Opening Day. I don’t pay for MLB.TV anyway as the games I want most, the Mets, will be blacked out, but I’d love to watch the Spring Training games. The iPhone and iPod versions of this app do allow free access to the video feeds in Spring Training, and it’s a great feature. I do have an iPod touch, but I’m not going to pay another $15 just for that feature and there is no portability between platforms; I’d have to buy it twice.
I’d settle for the audio feed of mlb.tv, but even that’s not an option. Today’s Mets game is on SNY, but not the radio. So my app doesn’t let me see the video, and also provides no audio feed. At the very least couldn’t I have the audio feed from SNY without the picture? It might not be great, but it’s better than nothing.
Still, so far I’m pretty happy with the app. It keeps track of the play by play, provides me video highlights when they’re available, and is pretty versatile. I’m still glad to have purchased it, I just want to see some Mets baseball during my lunch hour!
Follow Ceetar on Twitter.
Tags: 2011 mlb at bat, 2011 mlb at batt, free mlb.tv, Mets, mets spring training, mlb at bat, mlb at bat 2011, mlb at bat spring training preview, mlb.tv, New York Mets, sny, Spring Training, spring training free on mlb at bat app
Will You Second Guess Sandy Alderson? Tweet This Post
The general consensus about the Mets new general manager is that he’s a great hire and going to do great things for the franchise. That he’s capable of advanced analysis and really understands the game. Sure, some fans are skeptical, but for the most part we’re happy that he’s leading this club.
He’s already joked that the honeymoon is over, but how long will we truly give him until we second guess his decisions? Will we ever give him the benefit of the doubt or will we insist we know better if he chooses someone for the roster we disagree with?
Specifically, if Sandy Alderson watches Oliver Perez throughout Spring Training and determines that he can add value to this team by being on the roster, will we be okay with it?
I doubt it. A recent poll on Metsblog suggested that more fans would rather Perez fail than succeed. I find this disturbing. Oliver Perez is on the Mets, and when players on the Mets do good, the Mets do good. The Mets doing good is what matters the most.
So while I certainly have favorite players and guys I would like to see make the club like Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy, ultimately what I want is the best 25 guys that will lead to the Mets having the best possible club to start the season. If that means Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, or even Jose Canseco, I’ll root for them to do well.
Tags: best 25, best 25 guys, daniel murphy, Mets, mets general manager, mets gm, mets roster, mets spring training, metsblog, New York Mets, nick evans, Oliver Perez, roster, roster decisions, sandy alderson, Spring Training
They Played Baseball! Tweet This Post
Men, some of them even with METS written on their chests, played baseball this weekend! I know some don’t get excited for exhibition baseball, but it’s a beautiful day in New York and the familiar sounds of baseballs are in the air and on the screen. Opening Day doesn’t seem far away.
It’s not even about the results. The results this early in the Grapefruit League season are practically worthless. That players are getting reps and throwing pitches and swinging bats and catching and throwing the baseball is enough. Not that that will stop fans and even beat writers from proclaiming who will make the team and who will get cut. I’m not ready for that yet; Those are late spring decisions.
I’ll be headed to Florida for three Mets games in mid-March. I’ll have some fun tweeting pictures and observations and just basking in the excitement of being at a baseball game. Until then, read my posts from week about what to watch, and what not to, in Spring Training.
Tags: Baseball, baseball is back, exhibition baseball, florida, games, Mets, mets camp, mets cuts, mets spring training, New York Mets, Oliver Perez, port st lucie, Spring Training, spring training games
Signs of Spring Tweet This Post
There’s snow on the ground again and it’s freezing out. Not to fret though, because baseball is getting closer! Check out this cartoon by Jim Borgman (of Zits fame) that represents this time of year so perfectly.
Also, as The Happy Recap points out on Twitter, the first Spring Training Mets broadcast is close enough to show up in a TV guide.
Tags: Baseball, cartoons, enough cold, enough snow, jim borgman, Mets, mets broadcast, New York Mets, snow, spring, Spring Training, zits
Hu’s Telling the Jokes Around Here? Tweet This Post
Gary Cohen: “It‘s the bottom of the third inning here at Digital Domain Park. The Marlins just made a pitching change, bringing in their ace Josh Johnson to get his work in. David Wright at the plate with the bases loaded.
Ron Darling: “The Mets are down a run, this is the perfect opportunity for them to tie the game even with an out.”
Keith Hernandez: “They’ve got some speed on the bases. With..who’s on first?”
Gary: “Hu’s on second.”
Keith: “No, on first. Who’s there?”
Gary: “Yes.”
Tags: abbott and costello, chin lung hu, digital domain park, Gary Cohen, hu, Keith hernandez, Mets, mets spring training, New York Mets, ron darling, sny, sny broadcast, Spring Training
What NOT To Watch in Port St. Lucie Tweet This Post
Statistics
The results don’t matter. This goes double for guys with guaranteed spots and pitchers. Pitchers tend to experiment with different things like pitch selection, grip, or even a new pitch. They may stand on a different part of the rubber or pitch from the stretch with no one on just for practice. Being that the games don’t matter, they’re able to tinker without affecting the standings. An example of this is last spring Mike Pelfrey said “I threw all split-finger fastballs one inning.” This is not something that he would do in a game situation.
The numbers for the guys competing for spots may matter a bit more, but the entire experience is an evaluation and a showcase. It’s more than who strikes out the most batters or who hits the most home runs. It could be about any number of things and often managers and general managers may go on feel. They could be looking at how hard a guy hits the ball, even for outs, or looking to see if he’s laying off bad pitches that were causing too many strikeouts in years past. Spring Training is almost always a small sample size subject to a lot of variation. AAA players, pitchers working on things, defenders playing a position for the first time, pitchers experimenting with new grips and new deliveries and pitches all create a game that’s not quite the same as the regular season. Often decisions need to be made on less measurable things like work ethic, bat speed, or getting good reads on fly balls.
Reports On Physical Condition
Inevitably someone in camp is in the best shape of their lives, while others packed on some pounds. This information is beyond useless beyond making fun of the fat guy on a rival team’s roster. It’s still six weeks to Opening Day and everyone is well into a regimented workout program by then that makes what they ate in the offseason while they were essentially on vacation worthless. No one criticizes you when you have a second helping of pulled pork and another cocktail when you’re on vacation, so lay off the players.
Game Scores and Records
For every example of a team that dominated Spring Training that did well in the regular season there is a team that did horrible in Spring Training and still did well in the regular season. None of it matters. Guys are just putting in their work. It’s a rotating cast of characters parading through the game and half of them won’t even make the team. Sometimes they tie. Sometimes they play a 10th inning for fun and sometimes the manager pinch hits an unseasoned AA rookie for his superstar in the bottom of the 9th just because he wants to see if he can hit the lefty on the mound. The same goes for lineups early on. Sometimes stars bat higher up in the order so they can get their two or three at-bats in earlier in the game and get off the field. You may bat a pitcher third because you want him to practice a bunt or move a player to lead off to challenge him to take more pitches.
Spring Training is a lot of fun, but it’s still an exhibition for the real thing. There are a lot of interesting things to watch, but there are plenty of things that aren’t worth worrying about either.
Tags: Baseball, best shape of his life, health, Mets, mets spring training, New York Mets, physical condition, Pitching, sample size, Spring Training, statistics
Could The Madoff Situation Actually Help Alderson? Tweet This Post
This post is it. I’ll comment once with my thoughts about this Sterling Equities news, and then I’m going back to desperately counting the seconds until pitchers and catchers report. (1,173,300 seconds until it’s 2/15, as of this post)
Did the recent Sterling Equities news regarding the Wilpons looking to possibly sell part of the team actually help Sandy Alderson do his job? The news may help Alderson lowball other teams on money-related transactions more so than he might otherwise be able to do. While he’s not going to get players for free that other teams don’t really want to move, if a team is looking to make a deal with the Mets, they might subconsciously be expecting less in return.
Reporters have gone wild with speculation about what this means, that the Wilpons will sell, and that they won’t be able to spend any money. Some predict Reyes traded by the trading deadline as a result, although some predicted this anyway. Buster Olney, who’s actual post is behind a paywall, suggests some rival executives are all but positive Reyes gets traded because they can’t afford to keep him. This suggests two things to me: 1. I’ve never been a fan of Olney anyway, but in the age of blogs and Twitter if what you’re writing is behind a paywall there is a pretty good chance it’s not worth reading. 2. The Mets are best off extending Reyes in Spring Training because even if they wanted to trade him in some crazy scenario, the rumors that they have to hurts their negotiating position.
I don’t expect this news to amount to anything more than another name on the media guide list of owners, but it’s certainly possible this is the start of a slippery slope to a scenario that includes the Wilpons having to sell off the entire team. The initial info seems to suggest that the news is more of a guardrail against that slippery slope than the first tumble, but many of the details are still hidden and most are above my head in terms of financial understanding. What will be, will be. The roster is mostly set. The Mets will play baseball in 2011, and I’ll be able to go there and root for them and cheer for them. That’s pretty much 99.6% of my concern as it relates to who actually owns the Mets.
Still, perception is meaningful. The team may very well be projected to not even afford the letters on their uniform backs at this rate. (One might suggest they stick to only two different uniforms in that case and remove the names altogether) Sandy Alderson may be able to use the perception of constraint when dealing with free agents, and with other teams when the trade involves money or paying contracts, to his advantage. Maybe Alderson finds a suiter for Oliver Perez, and instead of paying 11 million of his contract, he uses the Madoff situation to suggest the Mets only pay 10.5. Maybe Jose Reyes really does want to stay here, and Alderson milks his loyalty by getting him to sign for less under the guise of needing that money to buy competitive players around him.
This is probably still a stretch. The 2011 roster and budget are nearly financially complete, and the Mets won’t likely be looking to spend a lot of money before the All-Star break. At that point, the potential financial windfall of being successful in September and making the playoffs almost always offsets the initial cost of bringing the last two months of an expensive players contract. Sandy Alderson told me that he’d have no constraints at that point, and I hope that remains true. It’ll be interesting to see how Alderson conducts business going further; if crying poor helps him negotiate, or if he dispels rumors by actually spending money on Reyes, or on mid-season acquisitions.
Tags: 2011, bargains, Baseball, bernie madoff, fred wilpon, Jose Reyes, just win, loyalty, madoff mets, madoff situation, Mets, mets sale, negotiating ploy, negotiation, New York Mets, pitchers and catchers, play the games, sandy alderson, selling the mets, selling the team, Spring Training, wilpons, wilpons sell