Nats blogger sick of Church

Over at Washington Nationals blog, Capitol Punishment (great name, by the way), is calling out Ryan Church for opening his mouth about the Nats use of him.

Chris Needham, who penned the column, gives Church a lot of credit for dealing with everything that he did, like being called out for being too laid-back. He then explains that Church opening his mouth is getting on his nerves.

From CP:

But at the same time, good riddance. The team is better with [Lastings] Milledge than it is with him. And Church's biggest asset to the team always was how cheap his contract was relative to the league-average performance he gave. Now that he's making north of $2 million, that value starts to erode.

I hope he enjoys NY. I hope he enjoys putting his foot in his mouth at some point this year. And I hope he enjoys the choruses of boos he's going to get when he flails weakly at a breaking ball in the dirt.

I can easily see Church getting grilled by the media and fans in NY for being too laid back. Look at how we treat Willie Randolph and Carlos Beltran. Both these guys are very laid back in the public eye, choosing (at least before a few weeks ago, Beltran) to stay quiet and reserved, and dealing with things behind closed doors.

If Church fails to preform in NY, or goes through a slump, fans are going to jump all over him and his laid-back California attitude. Hopefully, Church will have a thick enough shell to deflect all the trash talk and be able to shine in the New York spotlight.

Oh, and to Capitol Punishment, good luck with Milledge and Elijah Dukes, they should be a handful.

Jon Niese profile

Jon Niese, the newly appointed best pitching prospect in the Mets system, will get the start on Saturday against the Dodgers.

Niese, who went 11-7, with a 4.29 ERA in High A ball with the St. Lucie Mets last season. Of the 27 games he started, he tallied two complete games in 134 innings. Niese struck out 110, while walking only 31.

Niese will be taking Pedro Martinez's position in the rotation this go-around, until Pedro is ready to pitch in early March.

Adam Rubin profiled Niese in his latest post on his blog Surfing the Mets.
From Rubin:

Niese, the top southpaw in the Mets’ minor-league system, features a 12-to-6 curveball (picture the hands on a clock) that you don’t see much from lefthanders anymore, with Barry Zito one notable exception.

As our new "top prospect" he'll see a lot of attention over the next few years. It's so hard to pick a guy out from A ball and crown him a top prospect, especially after only one year.

The term prospect is thrown around so wildly recently, it has lost it's true meaning. Pretty much every player is a "prospect" now if the show the tiniest bit of ability. That's why they were picked up by a team in the first place, because they have talent. The baseball gods need to limit the use of "prospect" to those that show true major league level potential.

Don't expect Tatis or Armas Jr. anytime soon

Tony Armas Jr. and Fernando Tatis, two non-roster invitees are both struggling with their visa's, and will have a tough time making the squad.

Marty Noble quotes GM Omar Minaya as saying that the visa issues "will make it tough" for him to win a job. "It's up to the State Department."

Noble points out Tatis never really had a shot of making the team, regardless of visa issues.

Armas Jr. had a shot at making the club eventually, due to an injury, I feel. But if he's not in camp, that's not going to happen. I didn't like the deal when they signed him, so I guess I should be a bit happy about him never appearing in camp.

Photo of the Day: Maine

John Maine gave up 3 runs in only 1 and 2/3 of an inning in his first spring training start.
Talk about not starting off on the right foot. (See, it's his left foot. Get it?)

Game Recap: Cardinals 7 -- Mets 0

The Mets got rocked today by the St. Louis Cardinals to the tune of 7-0 in Jupiter, FL.

John Maine did not last a full two innings, was roughed up for 4 hits and 3 runs in 1 2/3 of an inning. Maine set down the side 1-2-3 in the first inning, but struggled in the second allowing a run to score on a wild pitch and two run scoring singles with two outs.

Maine did this a lot last year, and it's something to keep your eye on. He breezes through the first two outs of the inning and then struggles to close out the inning and pick up that elusive third out.

Scott Schoeneweis came in to relieve Maine, and did not allow a hit in his 1 1/3 inning of work.
Juan Padilla also added a scoreless inning of work in the 4th.

Nice to see Padilla put in a good inning, let's see how he pitches throughout spring training as he's on the comeback trail.

Ruddy Lugo came on for the 5th inning, allowing two run scoring singles while striking out one.
Joe Smith struggled though the 6th inning, letting 2 runs cross the plate on 2 hits and a wild pitch. Both Lugo and Smith stranded two runners on base when they closed out the inning.

These two are battling for the bullpen spot, but I don't think they're going to make the team out of ST. AAA or even AA will be in their near future, I believe.

Steven Register and Nate Field closed out the game, with both pitchers allowing a hit a piece, but not allowing any other damage.

I'm really pulling for Register to make the team right out of spring training, otherwise he heads back to Colorado and the Mets owe $50 grand.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Mets struggled mightily.

Jose Reyes picked up one of only 4 hits, leading off the game with a single.
Ryan Church added another single in the second on a swinging bunt to third base.
Fernando Martinez led off the 4th inning with a single before being forced out at second to end the inning.
Marlon Anderson picked up the only other hit for the Mets, a single of course, which came in the 6th inning.

Yes, it's early, but picking up only 4 hits against a myriad of pitchers who may or may not ever see the Major League level is pretty sad. Nice to see F-Mart pick up a hit, I guess.

Rubin is live blogging

If you don't have MLB Gameday Audio, tune in to Adam Rubin's Surfing the Mets blog for a rundown of today's game.

Update: Mets are down 3-0 in the 2nd. John Maine is done for the day.
It's 7-0 in the seventh. Oh boy.
3:32 - Game over: 7-0. 4 hits for the Mets. Recap to follow.

Mets already in hot water

The Mets only brought one opening day started to Lakeland to take on the Tigers, and may be fined and/or reprimanded for not complying with league rules.

According to Jayson Stark on ESPN.com, Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations, recently sent a memo to all teams requiring them they must bring a minimum of four players who were members of the team the previous year or had a "reasonable chance" of making the team this year.

The Mets brought Ryan Church, Ramon Castro, Marlon Anderson, and Ruben Gotay. I'm going out on a limb here and assuming pitchers weren't counted in this rule, because they also brought along Mike Pelfrey, Pedro Feliciano and Jorge Sosa, who all played significant time for the team last year.

Stark says, "Indications are that the commissioner's office is already looking into this one. The Mets could be fined, reprimanded or both."

This is all assuming pitchers are not counted in this rule and it was an oversight by Solomon and maybe even Stark. We'll have to wait and see, but this is a pretty silly rule, especially for the first spring training game that just happens to be 2 1/2 hours away.

UPDATE: The Mets were cleared of all charges by the commissioner's office.

Shawn Green announces his retirement

Shawn Green, who played for the Mets during the past two season, announced his retirement from baseball on Wednesday.

Green was partially open to a deal for a West coast team, but nothing popped up and he decided it was the right time.

From the Post:

Green, who is building his dream house in Irvine with his family (wife Lindsay and daughters Presley and Chandler), added, "I wanted to stay here with my family. Not travel around the country anymore. I enjoyed playing a lot. I enjoyed New York. But for me, it was time to be home."

Shalom aleichem.

Line-up vs. the Cardinals

The Mets will make a much shorter trip today, 40 minutes or so down I-95 to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter Florida. The game is at 1:05 and will not be televised.

Mets
Jose Reyes SS
Fernando Martinez CF
David Wright 3B
Carlos Delgado 1B
Moises Alou LF
Ryan Church RF
Ruben Gotay 2B
Brian Schneider C
Marlon Anderson DH

John Maine will get the start, and also scheduled to pitch: Duaner Sanchez, Scott Schoeneweis, Joe Smith, Ruddy Lugo.

UPDATE: Sanchez has been scratched after needed an extra day to recover. He will pitch tomorrow.

I can't wait to see what a 1-2 punch of Reyes and Martinez can do. Martinez is getting the start in center as Carlos Beltran is still recovering. Once Beltran is back, Willie Randolph said he will use Martinez in the corner outfield positions.

Gotay's going to get a lot of work at second, as Damion Easley will be more of a roving utility man more than a back-up second baseman this season.

I'm really interested to see what ALL of these pitchers will be able to do today. Sanchez, Smith, and Register are all very intriguing. To me, Schoe is the only lock to make the team besides Maine, and the other pitchers are all battling for one or maybe two spots to make the team right out of spring training.

Photo of the Day: Pelf

Mike Pelfrey looked good in 2 innings of work against a very powerful Tigers line-up.
Let's see how he pans out over the next few weeks, and how much El Duque hurts his own cause.

(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)