Back at the Ted

Here at Crosstown Rivals, the virtue we value most is that of foresight. Accordingly, put your hands together in welcoming the second season of Crosstown Rivals' Series Previews Enjoy.

Well, the Mets are a pretty good club. That suspect starting pitching did a pretty good job against the defending World Series Champions, tossing twenty innings of two-run ball while the Mets' bats did the rest. Pardon the gloating, given that the bat of Game 2 was being swung by Orlando Hernandez.

Nevertheless, the Mets are hardly fortunate enough to play all their games against St. Louis. Enter the 3-0 Atlanta Braves, who no longer have a streak of division titles on the line. However, the CrosstownOracle has the Braves finishing second to the Mets in the NL East, given that scary bullpen of theirs.

No longer is tubby Bob Wickman left to fend for himself in the pen, as Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano have joined him back there. And they still have Chad Paronto. CHAD friggin' PARONTO. Shield your children.

Still, the Braves had one hell of a lineup last year, wiith Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche (now in Pittsburgh) bashing homers and John Smoltz bashing heretics who didn't listen to his post-game speech on "Faith Day" about how Jesus saved his life.

Don't forget about Brian McCann and Edgar Renteria, who are hitting .500 and .467 respectively this year, small sample sizes be damned. Moreover, they have Chris Woodward, whose inspiring heroics last year on the Mets made him a surefire candidate for a new contract. Ugh. Tim Hudson is ripe for a comeback this year, and if he can rebound a little bit, he'll be ten times the player Tyler Hansbrough was against Georgetown.

Maybe some of their moves haven't been such successes. Kelly Johnson, their new second baseman, is setting the world on fire with his .081/.188/.286 line to this point in the season. Andruw Jones didn't hit much in the opening series, and questions abound about their Canuck lefty, Scott Thorman, at first base.

The Games

Game 1: Oliver Perez, LHP (0-0, NO ERA) at Mark Redman, LHP (0-0, NO ERA)
7:35 p.m., National TV: TBS

You have to give the edge here to Ollie. I like what he did during the spring and Mark Redman is, uh, I don't know, Mark Redman.

Game 2: Tom Glavine, LHP (1-0, 1.50) at John Smoltz, RHP (0-0, 4.50)
3:55 p.m., National TV: FOX

This'll be a good one, but I have to say that Smoltz usually has the Mets' number. The Braves win and New York's bid for 162-0 stops here.

Game 3: Orlando Hernandez, RHP (1-0, 1.29) at Kyle Davies, RHP (0-0, NO ERA)
1:05 p.m., National TV: TBS

I like Duque against a young team like Atlanta. His funky curveballs and zany sliders will guide the Mets to a series victory against the iffy Davies.

Players to Watch
NYM: Carlos Delgado. He hasn't done much to date, so I'm waiting for a breakout. He'll have a monster series, despite the lefty starter on Friday night. Mind you, he's a .375/.583/.625 hitter against Redman in an admittedly small sample size. He's also got a .346/.414/.808 line against Smoltz.

ATL: Andruw Jones. He has a monster .371/.476/.771 line against Glavine in his career and is primed to start mashing. Remember, he has always hit better in the first half of the season than in the second, and it's his free agent year. So be afraid.

Series prediction: Mets 2, Braves 1.

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THE GREAT LIVEBLOG

LIVEBLOG:

Top 9th:
That's it for my blog, guys. I hope you enjoyed it, and we'll be looking forward to a great season for the Mets and a great season here at Crosstown Rivals.
Let's Go Mets!

Bottom 8th:
VALENTIN. TO REYES. TO DELGADO. boom. double play.
Uh-oh. Joe Smith just walked Pujols... was this the right time for Willie to give him his MLB debut?
Here comes AARON HEILMAN and his GAME FACE. Let's pray.

Bottom 7th:
Glavine's out, Feliciano's in. Let's see if the Mets bullpen can hold the lead.

Top 6th:
-Reyes looks like he's really hustling. NOT.

Bottom 5th:
-Glavine's looking great... so are 'Tin and Reyes in the field. Only four more innings.

Top 5th:
Hmm... I'm hoping for a more exciting inning than that. Moises looked pretty bad on that curve.

End Bottom 4th:
-Glavine just dropped that filthy change on Preston Wilson. Am I allowed to love a ton of things about this game? I do.
-Our ace looks better than Chris Carpenter... I'm tired of hearing about how great Dave Duncan is. Talk about the Jacket.
-Odds on whether or not they will ask La Russa about his DWI rap? What about no chance in hell?

End Top 4th:
-More love for the team. They're getting the pen cranking. On an aside, wouldn't you love to go up to Josh Hancock and ask him for his John Hancock? I think that would bother him.
-Carlos Delgado looked like vintage rookie Jose Reyes on that curve in the dirt. Ooph.

Middle Top 4th:
-Good job by Green and 'Tin there. Maybe they'll become a rhyming one-two punch.
-It's funny to listen to these guys speculate about Willie calling a squeeze; any Mets fan/broadcaster would know that Willie never calls squeeze plays. He will, however, bring Shingo Takatsu in during a tie game.
-Boy, it sure didn't look like Chris Carpenter was pitching around Reyes there. At all.
-Hmm... watching this Lo Duca at-bat, maybe CC is losing it. I have faith in the Duck. You must, as well. BOOM. DUCK.
-And here comes Beltran.

End Bottom 3rd:
-So-Tag didn't look so hot.
-I thought Kennedy had some Jack there, but uh, thankfully that wall's pretty close.
-That was an embarrassing squeeze play. I hate Tony La Russa and his squeeze plays, and I hate that horrible bunt. Duck and D-Wright handled it well.
-Glavine showed a lot of resilience in getting out of that jam there. 1/3 of the way there, he's at a very managable 38 pitches.

End Top 3rd:
-Wow... did anyone think that Tom Glavine would outhit Jose Reyes on the season? I just adore small sample sizes.
-Hmm, Reyes didn't look so good there. One could even say he was punk('d).
-I hate Scott Rolen and the defensive acclaim that invariably follows him around everywhere. It really took a lot of Gold Glove-style brilliance to know that an aged pitcher was running from first base. Oh, Scott Rolen, could you please teach me in your art of judging how slow people are?
-Beltran's blast looked fair, initially. If he can do a little more of that, but keep 'em fair, can we top 41 jacks this year? Probably. Maybe Carpenter got a little angry on that one, with the pitch nowhere near the strike zone.
-Part of me has to feel sorry for So Taguchi on that one, but it was one hell of a shot. I thought it was gone, but a two-run double isn't all that bad.
-Boo, Pujols. Nice hand.

End Bottom 2nd:
-Does Jose Reyes have the year's first Web Gem? I love it.
-Do we still have to face Yadier, after last year? I'm not sure I can get through an at-bat without cursing.
-And Tom Glavine notches a strikeout on the change. I love that, too. Here's a serious question: Is it possible that Edmonds has been rushed back from a severe injury a little too soon? He didn't play much at all this spring, and he's already got the natural fade of age on him.

End Top 2nd:
-Already my beloved Metsies are tearing at my heartstrings... here's a question. Who put the money on Moises Alou and Shawn Green having the Mets' first two hits (and Moises being the first to take an extra base)?
-Also... this is two straight regular season at-bats for Valentin without being clutch. Is it too late to bring Kaz Matsui back?

End Bottom 1st:
-Look at David Eckstein grit out that hit. All grit, hustle, etc.
-I thought Wright wouldn't have that ball on the short hop, but... whew.
-Okay, well, at least Pujols has been kept in check. I would say that's the key to winning, but that's obvious.

End Top 1st:
-Tragic. Reyes' batting average has now dropped 300 points from last year.
-Duck's has fallen 318. Two weak groundouts on the game.
-I thought Beltran was safe...

*Only 24 more outs for Carpenter to get the Opening Day perfect game!

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It's 4:33 P.M. on the East Coast.

I'm liveblogging the game tonight. I hope you will join me.

See you at 8.

Happy Opening Day!

EDIT: I'll be returning with series previews throughout the season, but it's too late to cover this one. Oops.

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Sounding the Alarm

Maybe it's a little late. Maybe it's a little early. I'm not quite sure about anything, except the fact that the Mets haven't been very good at all in Spring Training.

The team, as evidenced in Marty Noble's article on MLB.com, where he indicated the veteran Mets just aren't feeli"ng the magic of last year returning to the team this year.

As a fan, I tend to agree. The cautious optimism I had last year, forecasting the Mets to win it all, is lost. I struggle to make preseason predictions, for the most part because I fear the effect of a Mets bias.

What is this team capable of. On some level, we really won't be able to know until they play some games. In fact, they have to play a lot of games. However, there are immediate problems.

Last year, it was okay to worry about Darren Oliver going into the season. He happened to be arguably the Mets' best pitcher the first half of the season, and Duaner Sanchez had a great first half setting up closer Billy Wagner, and the Mets vaulted out to an early lead.

Wright and Delgado were on 50-homer clips, and everything seemed so perfect, despite the borderline horrendous starting pitching. The issue surrounding this Mets team is high expectations coupled with abysmal spring results. 10-20-1 is a sorry excuse for a record, even when the guys blowing the games are Hall of Fame caliber pitchers like Jon Adkins and Clint Nageotte.

Adkins blew another game yesterday, further cementing his status as very undesirable trade bait. Unfortunately, the relief pitching has been bad and the offense from our aging corner outfielders, catcher, and backup first baseman has been considerably worse.

The popular refrain is to hit David Wright second now, based at least in part on Paul lo Duca's likely regression and his spring struggles. Maybe Wright will be a good second hitter, even if it does sap his power.

But then take a look at the bottom of the order. Jose Valentin and his .184/.238/.395 line of September is likely to return to the field. Shawn Green and Moises Alou have looked totally slow and unready this spring. Can we worry?

The Mets' lineup of yesteryear thrived as a murderer's row. They would come back against weak bullpens in tight games, while their own strong relief corps held down the fort.

This year, the Braves' bullpen will clearly challenge the Mets' for supremacy in the NL East. Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez are strong additions, and the Braves also have Blaine Boyer coming back from surgery. Factor in that this might be the year that Joey Devine puts it alltogether, and that Lance Cormier has a 3-0 record and a 1.15 ERA this spring and even former Met farmhand Steve Colyer is doing well, we should worry about our ability to come back in games.

There's no more Chris Reitsma in ATL. I'm not quite as scared of the Phillies, to be honest, because their bullpen is awful and their starting rotation only marginally better. Ryan Howard is likely to regress, and as I have pointed out before, they will have Rod Barajas, Wes Helms, and Shane Victorino in their everyday lineup.

Opening Day will come soon, and with it will come a clean slate. The Mets will take to the new-ish Busch stadium, toasting near-felon Tony La Russa while the Cardinals fans take home obnoxious relics of a World Series due only to Yadier Molina's lucky homer.

Tom Glavine will start for the Mets on that night, as per usual during his tenure here, save for 2005. Then we can see what this team is truly capable of.

For now, wake me up when March ends.

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Thomas Pock's Great Revenge

I doubt Thomas Pöck is really the vengeful sort. But maybe he remembers those years he logged at UMass, posting impressive numbers while being for the most part ignored by the hometown Bruins.

The Rangers signed Pöck as an undrafted free agent in 2004, and he skated with the big club rather quickly due to the fire sale of defensemen Greg de Vries, Vladimir Malakhov, and Brian Leetch. The past couple years the offensively gifted defenseman has been the odd man out, shuttling along that lonely stretch of highway from Hartford to Manhattan.

On some level, his failure to succeed in the NHL is due to his crippling inability to realize that he is, in fact, a defenseman, not a winger, and that he needs to hit more people and get caught up ice less. He's a bit like current Ranger D Paul Mara, who has a propensity to jump into every play, even plays where he's not at all wanted.

Speaking of Mara, did any of you notice that the player he was traded for, Aaron Ward, skating for the Bruins today, had three hits today, all of which were against Jaromir Jagr? I'm surprised that #68 denies that he had anything to do with the disappointing Ward being run out of town at the deadline. The two quarreled, I would imagine, because Jaromir Jagr is going to the Hall of Fame and Aaron Ward sucks. Just a thought.

Today, he showed the Bruins what they missed right under their noses. The Rangers seemed throughout the game to lack the offensive cohesiveness that has been omnipotent during their recent hot streak. Henrik Lundqvist, consistently under heavy fire in net, made the mistake of allowing a long rebound to reach the stick of Marc Savard in the second period, good for the Bruins' only goal.

I was scared, maybe unjustifiably so, that the Rangers wouldn't score again. Ryan Hollweg had taken a rather stupid five-minute major penalty for boarding, which prompted the Boston Bruin announcers to defend Chris Simon's vicious hit. I knew the announcer, Dale Arnold, was going to take a cheap shot at Hollweg when he began a sentence with "Not to defend Chris Simon's actions, but. . . ." I hope you won't blame me for ceasing to pay attention there.

Maybe in all of the commotion and the Rangers' failure to score it was easy to forget that we were playing the Bruins. With a minute and change remaining in the third period, Pock roofed one over the enemy's backup goalie, Joey MacIntyre MacDonald and the Rangers were more or less home free. MacDonald actually played a very good game, surprising considering his Mike DeJean-esque relief effort during the 7-0 St. Patrick's Day Massacre last week.

Okay, they took a penalty in overtime, which usually spells impending doom for the Rangers (I would implore you to recall the most recent game in Atlanta), but when it got to the shootout, the Rangers did win, thanks to usual heroes Michael Nylander and Henrik Lundqvist, and the reluctant shootouter Jagr, who scored the deciding goal.

The Rangers go into tomorrow's clash against the rival Islanders poised to seize the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. This is fortunate, as a seventh seed would require the Rangers to play the second-seeded New Jersey Satanists (read: Martin Brodeur and 19 guys who should be pumping gas in Ontario), whereas the sixth seed allows the Rangers to play the very beatable Atlanta Thrashers in the first round.

Expect the normal team to be in uniform tomorrow (thankfully Chris Simon won't be for the Islanders), and perhaps the tensions will boil over. Get 'em, Colton Orr.

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Not a good day for the Mets. Either squad. Thankfully, Major League Baseball doesn't believe in the wisdom of playing regular season split-squad games.

Not a good day for Chan Ho Pork (not a typo; it's an incredibly clever play on words), as he pitched three shutout innings only to find that the fifth starter job was no longer open to him.

Not a good day for John Maine, who has locked up the third starter spot, but apparently feels guilty enough about doing so that he gave up 12 hits and four runs in five and two-thirds against most of the actual Marlins. Aaron Boone, going into today's game hitting an epic .138, mashed Maine for three hits.

Not a good day for Jose Reyes, who fouled a ball hard off his foot (left) en route to a hitless game.

Not a good day for the projected starting outfield of Moises Alou, Carlos Beltran, and Shawn Green, who went 0-for-6 with a walk.

Call me a pessimist, but there's a week to make this team look good. It's uglier than Steve Buscemi right now.

I'll be back tomorrow with my projected roster for this season. And you can trust me as a prognosticator. I have online proof that I picked Duke and Notre Dame to be upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

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Sandis La Russa

Most people with a reasonable knowledge would find very little in common between St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa and former Rangers bum/wino Sandis Ozolinsh. Or Rams DE Leonard Little.

But Little's tale of DWI, where he killed a woman, repented, and then was arrested again on similar charges seems to be appropriate here for a fellow St. Louis sportsman.

Maybe Tony La Russa didn't kill anyone. But he could have. If his foot was heavy against the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal as the veteran manager passed out, the carnage would have been greater.

I can understand that people make mistakes, and that La Russa's BAC level was barely over the legal limit, but part of me feels a little schadenfreude in this. La Russa is revered within the game of baseball, despite having a somewhat creepy demeanor, and he has received great acclaim for his work with animal rights groups.

I'm just not sure I see it. Tony, you have one of the largest contracts for a manager in all of baseball. You've won four Manager of the Year awards. You also just won the World Series for the second time in your career. You can't afford a driver?

Your team drove away 2B Ronnie Belliard for suspected legal troubles. The Cardinals are supposed to be a family organization, dating back to before 1983, when Keith Hernandez was unceremoniously dealt to Flushing in part because of an ongoing drug problem.

Maybe La Russa isn't a drug addict, and maybe he isn't expected to be a role model for millions of kids. However, I tire of the sanctimonious praise that follows him from city to city during the season. Tony does everything right. He's a great manager. He's great within the community. He's an outstanding influence on the community. Doesn't that all look like bullshit now?

Remember in 2004, when the Diamondbacks axed their manager, Wally Backman, after four days on the job in part because of a DUI collar? Imagine if this was Willie Randolph, or Joe Torre. These men are professed as well to be some of the good influences within pro baseball, as well. Wouldn't we, with good reason, be up in arms about the disgraceful conduct of our team's leaders?

What's worse, baseball pundits opine about the extent to which steroids have permeated the game when drunken driving is far more detrimental to society. Steroid use is at least a victimless crime with consequences that solely affect the drug user. La Russa, terribly irresponsible in his conduct, could have killed anyone on the road.

Pardon me if I hope there was animal blood in that wine. Let's debunk this hero. Erase him from the ledger. No more puffball interviews between innings, where Jon Miller and Joe Morgan say nice things. Ask him if he's sorry. Ask him why he did it.

He won't say much. I don't care. Baseball will be one giant ego lighter.

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My Return

Well, the past few weeks have been somewhat hectic. Apologies to all, the whole thing.

At present, both Garden residents are in the throes of contentious playoff races, and my Mets are embarrassing the city of Port St. Lucie in a 6-14-1 Grapefruit League season that has seen very little sound playing of the game of baseball.

We have heard Willie Randolph discuss the potential tightening of camp, and with good reason. The notion that spring training games are meaningless has become a popular refrain in my household, and I have too often used the excuse that non-roster players are coughing up late-inning leads.

To a certain extent, these preseason games are meaningless, as in the three other major sports. There are always constants within this game: Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez will hit 30 HR and drive in 100 runs, Tom Glavine will log 185 innings, and one or more of the former Marlins young guns (Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny) will spend time on the DL.

Nevertheless, maybe some of the sloppiness and poor offensive/pitching showing by expected contributors to the squad can actually be seen as a legitimate precursor to a regression for the Mets this year. They will lack the rotation force that is Pedro Martinez, and the bullpen can be expected to decline with the departures of Darren Oliver and Chad Bradford and the news that Guillermo Mota (steroid suspension), Duaner Sanchez (3 A.M. munchies), and Juan Padilla (real injury) will probably not be ready for opening day.

The starting rotation provides further cause for concern at first glance. Yet when one recalls that the Mets' opening day rotation of 2006, the dynasty-spawning season, included Victor Zambrano, Brian Bannister, and Steve Trachsel, it is hard to argue that this group is much worse. Moreover, Zambrano, Bannister, and Pedro were all injured by mid-May. Given that their replacements were such luminaries as Jose Lima, Jeremi (eventually Geremi) Gonzalez, Alay Soler, and then-unknown John Maine, can we really be all that disappointed with this year's crop?

As far as I can tell, this season's rotation will be unfortunately troubled by an inevitable regression from John Maine: his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) was a godly .225 last year, and Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA forecasts him for a more reasonable .276 BABIP this year. Maine's high home run rate does not bode well for him either, and one must inquire about whether his strategy of pitching with fastballs high in the strike zone will continue to hold up for him this year.

I worry further about Oliver Perez, for the most part because he has shown tantalizing potential upon which he has failed to deliver. Perez is more or less the Mets' version of Rangers C Matt Cullen. He has a ton of ability, but he often tends to display it against inferior competition. Last summer, I took a fiery and enraged approach to dismantling Perez, but I have a sliver of hope that he can develop into a semi-dependable starter.

The major issue for Perez is not his stuff, but rather the issue is his pitch selection. He oddly nibbles early in the count, despite having a filthy slider that baffles hitters from both sides of the plate and good heat. But when Perez gets behind, he grooves a sweet batting practice fastball that even Neifi Perez could drive over the centerfield fence. Unfortunately, when he doesn't groove that fastball, he just walks the hitters and grooves another fastball to the next guy.

Offensively, the Mets are stuck with a new set of problem child outfielders: Shawn Green and Moises Alou. The hardly dynamic AARP members have propelled themselves to absolutely woeful batting lines of .174/.208/.348 and .182/.229/.242, respectively. Don't forget that those statistics include a recent hot streak by Green.

In their places are younger upstarts Ben Johnson and Lastings Milledge, previously thought to be shopping for long-term mortgages on New Orleans real estate. Now Milledge's .375/.468/.550 line is the best in camp, and Johnson's .268/.333/.439 is not too shabby either. Add in the strong spring showings of Endy Chavez and David Newhan, and one must be pressed to ask if we really have to suffer through a whole season of "veteran outfielders" or "real team guys."

I would be inclined to say that the real spring training begins tomorrow, but that date is entirely arbitrary. The season begins April 1. Let's panic now, before the games actually count.

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Rangers vs. A TEAM WITH UPSIDE at the Garden tonight. It's on OLN or VS or whatever the channel will be named next year. Seriously, isn't it weird thinking that earlier this year the Devils and Penguins were in the Rangers' dust? Oh, well, remember when Brendan Shanahan had by far the most goals in the league?

Still depressing. I have the Sidney Crosbys winning 5-3.

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Parting Shots and Opening Salvos

It's not really a new thing to hear Cliff Floyd not toe the party line about Flushing or the Mets franchise. But earlier this week, when he seemingly challenged Willie Randolph's decision making with regard to that fateful October night where Floyd and Beltran went down on knee-buckling curveballs, it was a scary sign that Floyd was no longer one of ours.

The veteran outfielder, now with the Chicago Cubs, will most likely be mired in a muck thicker than that of the 2002/2003 Mets when he arrived. I always liked Cliffy and his swing was certainly good for scaring the crap out of someone in the late innings, but his 2006 with the Mets was rather pathetic.

While we here at the Rivals tend to wish all former Mets good luck (with the partial exception of John Thomson), I pray that Floyd doesn't believe he's going to start a war of words between the regular-season NL pennant winners and, well, a team that was actually worse than the Pirates and Nationals last year.

However, our good ol' wife-beating friend Brett Myers over there in the City of Brotherly Love has tried to precipitate a war of words between the Phillies and Mets.

Myers said, "I hate the Mets." I find it awfully difficult, on some level, to even respond to this. Why do we give a damn that Brett Myers hates the Mets? He beat up his wife, ladies and gentlemen, and was allowed to start only a few days later by that fine organization they have there.

I have no doubt that the Phillies will be improved this year, given that their staff no longer has to suffer through the work of Scott Mathieson and Gavin Floyd. But are we really supposed to fear the Phillies, carrying Wes Helms, Rod Barajas, and Shane Victorino in their starting lineup?

And is the rotation really much better? What has Adam Eaton done, ever? Nothing. And why is Freddy Garcia expected to salvage this team? His PRAA (Pitching Runs Above Average) of 3 in 2006 looks really impressive. El Duque's PRAA was two, and that's just in his time spent with the Mets (never you mind that it was -5 with the Diamondbacks.)

Jimmy Rollins is still running his mouth off as well, seemingly unaware that dem Phillies ain't going nowhere no time soon.

Why don't we all just settle this on the ballfield? April 9th. Mets home opener. Bring a couple extra batting helmets, Rollins, just in case Tom Glavine's changeup goes so slowly that it cracks your helmet.

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You have already heard, I'm sure, that El Duque has arthritis in his neck. Sometimes I wonder how the baseball gods can be so cruel to me and so kind at the same time.

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Rangers-Blue Jackets. Tonight, 7 p.m.

I hope the Rangers lose badly, just so I can see Larry Brooks' (right) smiling face in the Post twice tomorrow.

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I'm Back!

Signing into my blog today, I noticed a rather jarring statistic:
"LAST POST: FEBRUARY 3, 2007."

It made me feel all sorts of emotions, and my throat got lumpy from the absence, which does not make the heart grow fonder.

Nevertheless, it is now Spring Training. That's right- we get to see legends like Chip Ambres, Mike Nickeas and Marcos Caravajal on the same field... playing for the same team. I wish the Mets would make more ads like that, alerting us to this limited release perfomance before the players head off to the Minors or Korea.

Spring training always inspires a sort of weird feeling in me, and I would imagine it does the same to others. You sit around, watching the game on SNY, and just have an epiphany. It's hardly romantic, hardly exciting. You just decide you want to watch something else... that you're bored by the passion you've been waiting months to enjoy.

I figure that's okay, though our good friends at SNY/CW-11 have afforded us sixteen televised spring training games just in case. Shocking, right?

I don't think I can wait the upcoming month or so until baseball season, offering divided attention to my sputtering Rangers, and, uh, the Mets' taxi squad.

Let's take a look at spring training this week, where there will be intriguing battles for the final two rotation spots (count me in as the only Perez non-believer) between a group of eight mediocre journeymen and hotshot prospects.

Might I add that Pedro has been working with the Dominican version of Greg Anderson (Angel "Nao" Presinal)?

The positional battles aren't going to be too interesting (To Easley, or not to Easley, that really is the question), and soon enough we'll be watching David Wright for an inning of work, and then suffering through eight of Chase Lambin.

Although, I would be remiss not to mention Firstings' outstanding work last spring training. You might remember it... it's here if you don't. That was back when Aaron Heilman had a shot at the rotation (not that long ago).

Maybe all of this doesn't sound too impressive. Some of the games end in ties. Stars don't get too many at-bats. But I have to tell you. I'm mildly excited. Aren't you?

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The AnonyMets

We're heading toward spring training at top speed (sans caravan), yet there are a few Mets we haven't heard much of.

We've heard from the recently extended Willie and Jacket. Delgado has been in the press for likely missing the start of the season (I heard that he's giving birth... maybe my sources are off) and the Duck has been mentioned in John Thomson's firy rhetoric.

MiniMets Castro and Endy have resigned, and Jose and David are in the press as usual. We hear about Glavine and Pedro, and Duque reupped earlier.

My question– where are the outfielders?

Despite his new surroundings, and his new will to win, we've heard nothing of Moises Alou. Shawn Green is suspiciously incommunicado, and has anyone heard anything from Carlos Beltran since his MVP-caliber season ended?

Finally, where is Firstings? I miss him and his youthful indiscretion.

The lack of hype going into the season is hardly putting me at ease. Spring Training is soon.

See you later.



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A Haiku

Willie Randolph you
are now a very rich man
thanks to big contract

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Another haiku:

Don't be too happy
Willie because a man named
Schoeneweis makes more

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I'll be back eventually with some season previews.


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