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February 26, 2007
The Week in Geek: Two Long Days
Pitchers and catchers have been in camp for eleven days now and extraordinarily little worth noting has actually happened. The biggest news story of camp was Orlando Hernandez coming down with a stiff neck and being shipped back to New York for tests. After poking and prodding El Duque with cold instruments we learned that the stiffness was just a symptom of his arthritis. Overlooked perhaps was the fact that Hernandez is an old man and, not surprisingly, the bones of old people have increased arthritic tendencies. The Mets will play untelevised intrasquad games for the next two days before playing their spring opener against the Tigers, their would-have-been opponents in last year’s World Series. You can be sure that I’ll be tuning in to SNY’s Sports Nite later this evening, hoping to see five seconds of grainy, long-distance footage of Jorge Sosa throwing dead quail fastballs to Joe Heitpas at Tradition Field. I am so desperately starved for Mets baseball that I refresh my RSS feeds of the numerous local baseball columnists’ daily spring training blogs (yes, there are really that many of them!). I commend them en masse for keeping us all updated on the big news in and around Port St. Lucie. Important things, like Willie’s gangsta lean, David Newhan’s glove, and facial hair. Once the exhibition games get underway the Mets will have a lot of decisions to make. They have an awful lot of players in camp, some with zero hope of actually making the team, but a number of interesting names and a handful of roster spots to fill. There are three starting rotation slots up for grabs, though it would take a ginormous meltdown from John Maine or Oliver Perez for either to miss the cut. That truly leaves one starting role available, and the smart money right now has to be on Chan Ho Park. Considering his recent history, though, there are no assurances that he will even make the team. There is plenty of time for him to pitch horribly in live game action and an equivalent amount of time for some other pitcher to distinguish himself from the herd. While I think that Park will ultimately break camp with the job, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see a Jason Vargas, Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber pitch lights out and earn their way onto the team. Too, there are probably a couple of bullpen jobs up for grabs. If we assume that the Mets will carry twelve pitchers northward, with Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoeneweis locks and Duaner Sanchez a lock as soon as he is healthy enough to pitch, there are two permanent holes to fill there. One of those will likely be a long man, though the early season scheduling allows for a number of days off and might facilitate the use of the fifth starter as the mop-up specialist. Ambiorix Burgos has impressed in batting practice, and is probably an early favorite to make the club. Juan Padilla was great with the Mets two years ago, but after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery he is hardly a sure thing. Assuming the aforementioned twelve hurlers, the 25-man roster will accommodate five bench players, three of which are guaranteed to Julio Franco, Endy Chavez and Ramon Castro. Damion Easley is a likely candidate for one of the open spots, leaving one spot on Willie’s bench for the rest of the position players in camp. Considering that Chavez is the only lock truly capable of outfield play, expect the last golden ticket to go to one of Ben Johnson, David Newhan or, in a long shot, Lastings Milledge. Milledge is likely earmarked for Triple-A New Orleans, but a callup is a safe bet once Moises Alou lands on the disabled list or Shawn Green is These things will work themselves out naturally over the coming days and weeks, during which we will surely be regaled with fascinating stories of this guy’s peculiar culinary choices, so-and-so’s musical preference, and what’s-his-name’s eccentric pre-game rituals. Until then, savor the next two days, because when they’re gone we’ll have nothing but Mets’ baseball for the next eight months. 26 Responses to “The Week in Geek: Two Long Days”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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Thats not funny aboutbeing shot in the face…poor taste my man….its over the top and unnecessary…Its your blog so you’re your own editor, but some things are funny and some excessive
I actually got a good laugh out of that line. Learn to take a joke, man.
lol. shot in the face.
seriously tho, if green’s hat isnt falling all over the outfield grass at shea this year, it’s going to ruin a killer drinking game for me and my friends.
Ah cmon its a joke. Im sure your virgin ears have read worse on here or any other blog for that matter. Keep keepin it real Eric!!!! Good stuff, my Man!
It’s never funny to joke about someone being shot.
It’s never funny to joke about someone being shot unless
…. unless its shawn green who’s being shot in the face for being a terrible player, nix that, ineffectiveness
The joke had to do with the euphemisms being employed (shot in the face is to being cut as being a terrible player is to ineffectiveness).
In no way was the writer suggesting that Shawn Green was like Dick Cheney’s hunting partner.
i dont see the humor in joking about someone getting shot in the face.
Karma would say duck often for the author.
Probably not the best choice of words. Green will be fine if he is the RF. And if Milledge blows everybody away, it will make for an interesting situation.
Whatever the case, we need games.
Lighten up, everybody. It struck me as funny at 2am this morning. Apologies if “shot in the face” jokes aren’t your cup of tea.
When i read shot in the face i immediatly thought of porn… It may not bad a bad move him in in a few weeks instead of sitting on the bench
Dude, Shawn Green bukkake is where its at. Eric is on to something here.
This isn’t going anywhere pleasant.
I hope green has a great season…so we can get something for him by the trade deadline. At least a draft pick.
:)
I think the Mets have done a brilliant job at taking all the pressure off Milledge. With all the hype about Gomez and Martinez…I wonder if he thinks his
oh yeah. can’t trade draft picks right?
Hahaha I had the same reaction.
Not unless you’re shot in the face….
Given the number of arms in camp, the early season schedule, and the lack of innings pitched by both Humber and Pelf over the past two seasons, I can’t imagine a scenario under which I’d want to see either of them come north in April.
Also, given all of the ink spilled already on both Gomez and F-Mart, my best guess on Milledge is that the org would love to see him tear up AAA early, get a call-up, show something in the Show, and trade him either at the deadline - or, perhaps better, in the offseason - in a package for a top-end starter.
All I’m saying is that one more season of progression by the other two kinda makes him the odd man out, no?
Not necessarily, It’s too soon to say that Milledge is the odd man out. What if he comes up in June and hits .290 with 20 HR and 90 RBI? Will you still think they should trade him to make room for an unproven Gomez?
I’m figuring Milledge and Gomez both start the season in AAA. Gomez will probably patrol CF with Milledge getting more experience at one (or both) of the corners. Fernando! is probably at least 2 years removed from taking over a position in the majors.
If Milledge shows something he will probably be in line to take over Green’s position at some point. If Gomez continues to progress he will probably take over for Alou at some point after this year(although they would probably move LM to LF and CG to RF).
That would leave F-mart for the following year when a better decision could be made as to who would be the odd man out. All of this would change depending on possible injuries.
I thought the “shot in the face” line was funny, mainly because it reminded me of what Chris Rock said about 50 Cent at the 2003 VMAs.
yeah, I think the Gomez and Martinez hype, helps Milledge. Far less media pressure. (But maybe more pressure thinking about his days being numbered)
shot in the face…i personally really really liked that well done.
With all of us Geeks, did you really think it would ;-)
Does anyone actually trust Juan Padilla? Just from his 2005 with the Mets, he got some groundballs. But his 4.94 career strikeout rate and lack of control just doesn’t give me much confidence. He only pitched 36 innings for the Mets in ‘05, and his shiny 1.49 ERA that year is certainly more a product of some nice defensive luck than Padilla’s actual ability. Not that I don’t like him, I just think he should be approached cautiously.
I hope Lastings Milledge gets his excessive bling caught on a tree and hangs himself.
Blastings picks his teeth with trees.
Mets/ Dodgers 2006 oct 4th maine vs lowe on SNY now