If the glove don't fit...

From Yahoo!:

The New York Mets have scouted Detroit Tigers first baseman/outfielder Marcus Thames so much this spring that they could be accused of stalking according to the Boston Glove.

Hmm...I've never heard of that newspaper before.

Either way, say the Mets trade away a guy like Scott Schoeneweis for Thames, which I don't see happening, who takes the hit and loses his spot on the bench?

Ramon Castro or Raul Casanova (if Castro starts on the DL) - Safe. You always need a backup.
Damion Easley - Safe. Can play all the infield positions.
Marlon Anderson - Safe. Way too valuable as a pinch hitter.
Endy Chavez - Safe. He'll see a lot of time filling in for Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church.
Ruben Gotay - Goner. He'd be the odd man out here, so if this deal does come to fruition, maybe the Mets can toss Gotay in and get something back in return, you never know.

Still, I don't see the Thames deal going down, at least not with the Mets, but it's just something to keep your eye on.

Weather may be an issue

El Duque and Mike Pelfrey are set to square off against the St. Louis Cardinals today, as they battle for the 5th spot in the rotation. It is raining in Port St. Lucie right now, and looks like it's going to rain the rest of the day.

There was a comment from Matt Tracy on the last post that stated:

People still don't know what went on behind closed doors before duque's last start, so to already start assuming he is going to throw slow today is not a real good assumption.

Who knows, maybe he was told to slow it down the other day because of something to do with his routine, pitching schedule, whatever. Maybe they said since you are throwing a real game next, throw slow now and fast then? You never know.

Maybe if the Mets were just getting him back before a postseason start, I could see this. You know, trying to mask his ability and speed. But before a spring training start just doesn't make sense to me.

The coaching staff would want to evaluate El Duque as much as possible before giving him the green light to make his first spring training start, don't you think?

I think that El Duque and his career are running on fumes, trying anything to speak into the rotation. Today will be the tell all. Hopefully El Duque can prove me wrong and solidify the 5th spot, but I just don't see that happening.

Happy Easter to all those celebrate, and enjoy the game if you're able to catch it. I'll be back later with a game recap.

Tomorrow is D-Day

"Everything will be revealed tomorrow," said Willie Randolph.

Tomorrow, the Mets will have Orlando Hernandez take the mound for his first start in spring training. When El Duque's day is done, Mike Pelfrey will take over on the mound.

A lot of stock will be put into tomorrow's game and the 5th starter could be decided by tomorrows performances. Of course, for probably the most meaningful game of spring training, I'll be at Easter dinner.

I really don't think El Duque is going to have it in him. Velocity may not mean a lot to the staff and to Hernandez, but when hitters start tagging him for hits and runs, it will be a different story.

For absolutely no reason, Randolph also seems dead set on taking five pitchers to begin the season, even though the 5th spot isn't needed until halfway through April.

Pelfrey is still my top choice, even if he hasn't performed up to par so far this spring. I'll take health over a veteran presence any day.

Tomorrow, the 5th starter will probably be decided, and this blogger is pulling for Pelfrey.

Who do you prefer?

Mets Lounge

Hey everyone!

I just launched MetsLounge.com, the official forum of The 'Ropolitans!

It's really new, so there will be some minor updates and such coming in the near future, but it is up and fully functional.

We're all very friendly over there, so don't be afraid to join and get your voice heard!

Mets Lounge, the official forum of The 'Ropolitans!

Thanks and enjoy!

Game Recap: Indians 5 -- Mets 2

In a rain shortened game, Oliver Perez gave up 4 home runs in 5 innings, and the Indians beat the Mets 5-2 in 7 innings.

Perez pitched 5 innings, allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. Perez struck out 6. All the runs came on home runs. Victor Martinez, Asdrubal Cabrera and Ben Francisco each had solo shots, while Casey Blake added a 2-run home run. Three of the home runs came in the 4th inning.

Not good, not good at all. Yes, it's only spring training, but Perez has only one, maybe two games until the season starts, so you have to start paying attention to the numbers being put up now.

Joe Smith and Nelson Figueroa each pitched one inning in relief. Smith allowed two hits, and nothing more. Figueroa pitched a hitless inning, but he walked one, hit a batter, and balked.

As long as they don't give up runs, I'm OK with it. I think we'll see both of these guys at Shea sometime this year.

The Mets offense picked up 7 hits, 3 for extra base hits.

Carlos Beltran hit a solo home run in the top of the 6th inning off of Scott Elarton. He also struck out once, going 1-3 on the day. Fernando Tatis went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI double in the 7th inning.

Apparently Beltran crushed that ball, which is great to see. His knees will always bother him, but he still puts up numbers and wins gold gloves. Tatis has looked pretty good over the last few days.

Ryan Church ended his hitless streak, knocking a double while going 1-3 on the day. Damion Easley picked up 2 singles, going 2-3.

It's about time, Church! Get in a groove now and keep it up.

Game Ball: Beltran, I guess.

Perez's final line

Oliver Perez: 5 IP, 7 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts.
All the runs came on 4 home runs Perez surrendered.

John Delcos:

Perez has this superstition of hopping over the foul line on the way back to the dugout. After giving up three bombs in the inning, he still hopped over the line. What for? To hold the Indians to only two dingers next inning?

Lineup vs. the Indians

The Mets took a 2 hour bus trip to play the Cleveland Indians in Winter Haven, Fla. for a 1:05 p.m. game.

Lineup:

Luis Castillo 2B
Brady Clark LF
Carlos Beltran CF
Carlos Delgado 1B
Damion Easley SS
Ryan Church RF
Fernando Tatis 3B
Brian Schneider C
Michel Abreu DH

Oliver Perez SP

Well, look who is behind the plate!! Schneider is starting only his 4th spring training game. That's pretty much the only thing to note here. Some of they guys are taking the day off, so guys like Clark, Tatis, and Abreu are getting some reps.

Poll results: Heilman as the setup man

Due to a late barrage of votes, Aaron Heilman took the victory over Duaner Sanchez for "Who will be the main setup man for Billy Wagner?"

Results:
Aaron Heilman - 54% (26 votes)
Duaner Sanchez - 39% (19 votes)
Matt Wise - 4% (2 votes)
Pedro Feliciano - 2% (1 vote)

It is still unknown if Sanchez will break north with the team as he had been unable to pitch back to back innings so far this spring. Heilman figures to be the main 8th inning guy, just like last year.

Most of you seem to think that Wise and Feliciano are best suited in the middle innings, and I absolutely agree.

Why are the Mets in the Civil Rights Game?

The Mets have the honor of playing the Chicago White Sox in the 2008 Civil Rights Game on March 29th.

My question is simple. Why the Mets?

"The intent of the game is to embrace baseball's history of African-American players, as well as to generate interest for future black players," says its Wikipedia page. On MLB.com, the game is said to represent "a symbolic eternal torch commemorating the struggle for racial harmony near where the most painful obstacle had been thrown in its path."

So, in a nutshell, it's supposed to showcase and embrace the African-American community in baseball and attempt to raise awareness supporting baseball in those communities.

So who was the genius who chose the Mets?

On the 40-man roster, the Mets only have two African-American players. On the coaching staff, they also have two men from African-American descent. Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson on the field, Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel on the coaching staff.

In the 2006 Racial and Gender Report Card for Major League Baseball (PDF), it is noted that "A total of 40.5 percent of the players were Latino." For the Mets, it's a little more than that. On the 40-man roster, 19 players are from Latino descent.

The report also states that the drop in African-Americans in the sport since 1996 from 17 percent to 8 percent, as the percentage of Hispanic players increased during that period, from 20 percent to 29 percent.

African-American players make up 5 percent of the Mets roster. Latino players make up 47.5 percent.

If the Civil Rights Game is supposed to raise awareness for the African-American community, choosing the Mets probably wasn't the best move, as almost half of the team is Latino.

The only possible reason the Mets are in this game, that I can figure shows up later in the MLB article. It goes on to quote Omay Minaya as saying "Since the days of Jackie Robinson, baseball has been at the forefront of social change in this country, and this game is just another example that our sport understands the significance of paying the proper respect to such an important part of American history." Again, the Mets are tied to Jackie Robinson, not that it's a bad thing, but it just makes little sense to me.

So for a team that is comprised of nearly 50 percent of players from Latino descent while they are only 5 percent African-American, they were chosen to participate in a game promoting African-Americans in baseball.

That just doesn't make sense to me.

2K8 commercial

Have you seen it?
It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Here's what happens: There is a man polishing a bat with a towel, counting "89...90...91..." Jose Reyes walks into the clubhouse with a radio playing some sort of reggae music or something. (Someone tells me this is the "Jose! Jose! Jose!" chant. Shows how much I pay attention.) Reyes turns toward his locker as the man stops polishing his bat (insert own joke here) and bashes the radio to smithereens. Reyes turns around in shock, and starts hysterically laughing. Then he has a little spasm, and the commercial cuts to video game footage.

What. Just. Happened?

I really just have no idea why that part of the commercial exists. I guess it's funny when Reyes just starts laughing and has an apparent muscle spasm.

Other than that though, I'm lost. If anyone can explain it to me, I'd be happy to post it up to the site.

Update: Joe at Mets Today and I must have the same train of thought. This just popped up in my Google Reader after I published this.