We got a hint of early spring weather this weekend, and the Queens Baseball Convention brought us a taste baseball. Current Mets Brandon Nimmo and Chris Flexen and former Met star Todd Hundley told stories about their careers and signed autographs for a couple hundred fans who packed the Katch Astoria on Saturday.
I really want to compliment the event organizers for putting together a fun event that allowed us to celebrate being Mets fans for an afternoon. Flexen and especially Nimmo made new fans with their humble and genuine natures, and Hundley told some great stories about his playing days, like the time Gary Carter stole a base against him or how Hundley thought he’d been traded when he got the news he’d gotten his first MLB callup. (In 25+ years, Hundley is the first Mets player I remember saying that Eddie Murray helped him to be a better hitter.)
Other odds & ends
- David Wright was candid when speaking with MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo about his baseball future last week, saying that he “[doesn’t] know how the back is going to hold up” but he’s going to continue with his comeback attempt because he “[doesn’t] want to have any regrets” about whether he could have played longer.
I hope Wright is able to leave the game on his own terms. He says that he’s listening to his doctors and will walk away if they tell him that continuing to try to play will harm his long-term health, and that’s the only reason I’d want him to give up on his comeback attempt.
- Mike Berardino of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports that the Mets have interest in free agent Bartolo Colon, who finished last season with the Minnesota Twins.
I’d be happy to have Colon back on a minor league deal, if he’s willing to go to Las Vegas as an insurance policy if one of the Mets’ starters gets hurt or underperforms. But at age 44, Colon is as much of a lottery ticket as Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler, only with a much lower upside. So if Colon needs a major league guarantee, I’d pass.
Tebow has played better than I would have expected and I’ve heard a number of stories about how good he’s been interacting with fans. But by the same token, he’s a 30-year-old Single-A player who can only be counted as a prospect by the most charitable definition. So what kind of message does this to the organizational veterans in the Mets’ minor league system? Probably not a good one.
The Mets are getting better with the “Free Shirt Friday” designs, although there are still some clunkers. At the QBC we learned that Marvel is designing the TBD shirt… odds are it will be Thor-related, but given the weekend I think a David Wright Captain America design could be fun too.
Seth Lugo joined the group of Mets’ players getting married this winter
PaulHadsall.com 