Posted in Baseball, New York Mets, Uncategorized

Ten days til spring training: Trying (not very successfully) to accentuate the positive

Posted on by Paul

We’re ten days from the official start of spring training for the New York Mets, and GM Sandy Alderson told the New York Post yesterday that his roster is “pretty much there.”  Now I could point out the folly of going into the season with substantially the same team – minus Jose Reyes – that finished 4th with a 77-85 record in 2011, but spring training is a time for optimism.

2010 Topps National Chicle Josh Thole autograph card from my collection

So instead, let me point you toward a picture of Johan Santana working out in Port St. Lucie that the Mets posted to their Twitter account yesterday, and a Newsday story about how Josh Thole has been working to improve his defense. See? Positives.

And speaking of Twitter and Sandy Alderson, the Mets’ general manager now has an account: @MetsGM. He’s already shown that he has a sense of humor… let’s hope he’s prepared for interaction with Mets fans.

A pair of Mets minor leaguers – pitcher Scott Moviel and catcher Dock Doyle – were suspended for violating Minor League Baseball’s Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Neither was considered a big prospect at this stage of their careers, but Moviel was the team’s second round pick in 2007.

(The 2007 draft wasn’t a particularly good one — the Mets had five picks in the first 100. Eddie Kunz briefly pitched in the majors in 2008, but has been stuck in Double-A for the last two years. In 2011, he played for the San Antonio Missions in the San Diego farm system. Nathan Vineyard retired from baseball at age 19 after 11 pro games. Moviel has yet to move past the Single-A level and was 5-10 with a 5.10 ERA for the St. Lucie Mets in 2011. Brant Rustich has been plagued by arm issues, has not pitched above the Single-A level and did not pitch at all last season. Eric Niesen has spent the last three years at Double-A Binghamton. He struggled in his first full year as a reliever, posting an 0-5 record with a 7.94 ERA in 27 games.)

I know I have a few occasional readers with ties to the Binghamton, N.Y. area, so I thought I’d mention that ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin is again reporting rumors that the Binghamton Mets franchise could be moving to Ottawa, Canada.

Back to something fun, Corey Mansfield is creating a set of virtual 2012 Long Island Ducks baseball cards for his LI Ducks Blog. The latest creation? New York Mets fan-favorite Buddy Harrelson.

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4 thoughts on “Ten days til spring training: Trying (not very successfully) to accentuate the positive”

  1. “his roster is “pretty much there.”…..Really?

    That is a bunch of “Dumpster Divers”, “Scrap Heap” players that nobody else even wanted. What a bunch of double A players pretending to be a major league team.

    I just hope enough players get cut during Spring Training so that we can make a few more moves. I would hate to go into the season with what we have now.

    This has the makings for a really long year!

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    1. Most of my favorite players have been relegated to the “scrap heap” at one point in their career. I realize that Sandy Alderson is doing the best he can with the budget and the contracts he’s got to work with, but it’s depressing to see your team’s GM admit that he’s not going to do anything more to try to improve the roster for now & then go on Twitter and make jokes.

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  2. Binghamton is a great baseball city. It really is. The problem there is that all the major industries (and, thus, employers) have closed up or pulled out. People don’t have the scratch to go see a bad farm team of a very bad major league team. It would be really a shame to lose your job AND your team, though.

    Those Duck cards are awesome! Two thumbs up!

    I don’t have a problem with “Dumpster Divers” and “Scrap Heap” players in general. I do have a problem with telling fans to support and have hope for, as you point out, the SAME team that was godawful last year MINUS its best player and plus nothing. Yes, Spring Training hasn’t even begun but its time to consider Plan B–boycott the Mets until the current ownership sells to someone who actually gives a crap (and, preferably, someone who was bright enough not to get involved with Bernie Madoff).

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    1. The way I see it, our problem as Mets fans is that Fred Wilpon cares too much about the team. He seems to see it as his legacy and wants to pass it down through his family for generations. We don’t really care who’s holding the reins behind the scenes – we just want to watch a fun team that has a chance to win.

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