213 Miles From Shea

With Spring Training finally here we can finally start to see new patches teams will be wearing this year (an updated patch usually doesn't make much news, so we have to wait for them to be finally put on). Generally teams change patches for one of three reasons. They may have a complete uniform change, like the Washington Nationals (not shown, maybe next time), they may have an anniversary/event or they have to recognize a memorial of a former player.

We have a few contenders in the anniversary department. The Angels will be celebrating 50 years. The Tigers will be celebrating 75 years in their current Spring Training home. I think that is a Spring Training only patch, which is something I have never heard of before. If you have, please share in the comments section.

Generally the team hosting the All-Star Game updates their patch, which is exactly what the Diamondbacks are doing.

Finally, on a more somber note, two teams will be honoring Sparky this season with very classy patches. Good job to the Reds and the Tigers.

Well, thats all for now. There will probably be another one of these articles later on with more changes.

One of the more interesting story lines from last Spring came from Nelson Figueroa, who was a Met going into training, pitched really hard, and then didn't make the Major League roster. It was crushing, in some way, or as crushing as it could be (I'm trying to not be too melodramatic here), as he was released at the end of Spring from a team that he grew up rooting for and a city that liked him. He was then picked up by the Phillies, and he had a major chip on his shoulder when it came to the Mets. He was ready to go against us, however it didn't translate too well on the field. In 14 innings against the Mets last season, he allowed 7 R, 5 earned. So in earned runs he had an ERA above 3, which is good, but wasn't as dominating as he was hoping. He struggled overall with the Phillies and then eventually ended up on the Astros.

Well it looks like another Mets pitcher may fall in the same pattern. According to Adam Rubin, it looks like John Maine to the Phillies make sense. Maine is still a free agent, and I guess teams looking for starters are starting to dwindle.

So if Maine goes to the Phillies, it probably won't sting at all like Figueroa, however, it will be interesting to see if he makes the Major League team (which I doubt unless he is in the pen), it will be interesting to see the media hype.

Yesterday we took a look at the Mets Madoff scandal through the eyes of the Daily News. Generally the Daily News has a perspective on issues….and then there is the Post. Consistent with other news organizations that are connected in the same media empire as the post, they tend to be a little harsher, and a little more loose on the details when compared to the Daily News.

Anyway, they broke the story by taking a shot at the Mets and the FX TV show, Rescue Me also back on January 29th, when we weren't sure what the entire sure was yet. Then the Post diverged from the Daily News. The News, when focusing on Sandy, had the headline “No Regrets”, however the Post decided to hop on the idea of Sandy is covering up for the Wilpons.

The Post then also had this gem when Bud Selig came to town. It was followed by a headline asking the Wilpons to go, or in other words, an opinion article. The Mets were also featured on the front page that day, with that fantastic debt number.

They also ended with a hope shot at Spring and they featured a great quote by Wright that puts us all in the mood for baseball.

THE FINAL SPRING TRAINING PROFILE!

(I don't know now if I am more excited about Spring Training being here, or that I don't have to write any more of these for another year. Seriously a good amount of research and looking at numbers goes into each one of these)

We end with the next big thing in the Mets hype machine. Don't know who Armando is yet? You probably will soon, and it has nothing to do with his talent. Just like how Flores became a household name as being labeled the next Fmart, Rodriguez is getting the same sort recognition now. People are starting to refer to Armando as the next Meija.

Anyway, the 23 year old Armando has put together some impressive numbers over the years:

2010 – 8-9, 3.08 ERA, 27 G, 146.0 IP, 152 K, 46 BB, 3.30 K/BB, 9.4 K/9

2009 – 5-2, 2.74 ERA, 12 G, 62.1 IP, 60 K, 29 BB, 2.07 K/BB, 8.7 K/9

Those numbers are scary good. Look at the amount of strikeouts he had last season. If he has a strong Spring, I'm hoping the Mets are smart and do not push him up through the system to the majors. If he can pitch well in a full season in AA or AAA, then starting in 2012, he could a valuable asset to the rotation (or at least 2013). He looks good on paper, and just needs more time to develop, but it is hard not getting excited about him.

This has been a very, for lack of a better word, bipolar month for the New York Mets. On one hand, there is much optimism with the Mets simply because it is Spring, and hope Springs eternal. However, it also has been a confusing, angering, desperate month for the Mets as there have been increasing signs of involvement between the Wilpons and Madoff, and team debt. There have been a lot of different ways to look at this ugly situation, but one way that really shows it unfolding is to take a tour back through the NY Daily News back pages and watch as the story slowly became public.

We first travel back in time to January 29th, when we first learned about the debt problems that were facing the Mets. This was when the story was first starting to break that the Mets were looking to sell a minority claim in the team, but the details were first murky.

We then started to learn a little more about what was going on, and that we were now in a money scandal with the Madoff case….again. Of course depression started to kick in, and the NY Daily News couldn't help but also reuse a quasi famous image from the Mets end of the season collapse.

Questions then started to fly. How long did management know this was going to happen? Did Sandy know when he signed with the team?

Then of course rumors started to fly, like can Piazza help us out? Can our own hero make this all go away?

This was followed by the Wilpons snapping back at the entire case.

And we leave the most recent image, the Mets finally heading down to Florida in order to put this financial fiasco in the past and to actually play the game of baseball.

Josh Stinson has been with the Mets organization since 2006, and he will be only 23 years old next season. Josh was drafted out of high school by the Mets and has been with them ever since bouncing around the minor leagues and developing his role. He was first a starter, one that received high accolades in the Rookie league and then became a reliever and as of last season played both roles. Statistically his best ERA was his first 40 innings in 2006 when his ERA was 1.76. His last couple of seasons have had some high points and low points:

2009 – 50 G, 1 GS, 78.2 IP, 2.86 ERA, 84 K, 29 BB, 2.90 K/BB, 9.6 K/9

2010 AA – 32 G, 14 GS, 110.1 IP, 4.24 ERA, 68 K, 50 BB, 1.36 K/BB, 5.5 K/9

2010 AAA – 4 G, 4 GS, 28.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 21 K, 8 BB, 2.63 K/BB, 6.8 K/9

Those 2009 relief numbers are fantastic. Those 2010 AA numbers are not so great, but good. Those 2010 AAA numbers as a starter are great.

So what does this mean?

Stinson is probably an outside chance to make the top 25 roster out of spring training this year, unless of course he has an amazing Spring. That being said, I am really curious to see how they use him in Spring and if they bring him to the minors this season as a starter or a reliever. He is going to be a story to watch this upcoming season.

Sigh…was this how my parents felt during Pokemon and Tamagotchi's?

If you don't have kids, work with kids, engage in popular culture, then you probably have never heard of Silly Bandz. Consider yourself sane then. Silly Bandz is a recent fad that I believe spiked last year, but is still carrying on, for some reason. I don't understand it. And I probably shouldn't try to understand it, but I waste my time anyway.

Well I have been pretty vague. Silly Bandz are essentially bracelets that when they aren't on a person's wrist, they form some sort of shape logo, etc. Kids are supposed to collect and trade them, and of course buy lots of them. They make them in theme sets like sports, music, dinosaurs, cars, etc. And they come in lots of colors. They aren't marketed only for children either. When I was at my Fraternities National convention this past winter, they gave us each a pack of APO themed Silly bandz that formed our letters, our shield and a few of our logos.

When there is money to be made, the MLB is usually on it. Cue Mets Silly Bandz! I mean…logo bandz, whatever. Yep, you can get the interlocking NY, the Mets, Mr. Met, homeplate, and of course, the MLB logo, because it has to be spread somehow.

This isn't the first time the Mets have been involved with this. Last year as a promotion, the Brooklyn Cyclones gave out Bandz to their fans at a game.

Can you believe this series is almost done? Including this article there are only three more to go!

Anyway today we take a look at Jordany Valdespin, who, unless there is some crazy situation that happens at camp, will not be making the team out of camp this year. Valdespin remains one of the candidates however for a later takeover of second base, as a player who could be there in the future for the long term. Of course he seems to have at least two major obstacles in his way. The first would be Dan Murphy. However the real block for the future seems to be Ruben Tejada, who if he finally gets a bat seems like the logical choice. Anyway, here are some stats:

2010 – 382 AB, .272 BA, 48 R, 104 H, 24 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 41 RBI, 17 SB, 12 CS

2009 – 258 AB, .298 BA, 40 R, 77 H, 12 2B, 6 3B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 13 SB, 6 CS

He puts up some interesting numbers, he just hasn't succeeded yet at the higher levels (like AA or AAA). Now Valdespin is not completely banished. Tejada is also a very capable shortstop and that might be a more natural position for him. In the scenario between Reyes and Flores, if that ever occurs, that would be Valdespin's opportunity to jump into the picture.

He has some attitude issues and he has some talent. It should be an interesting season watching him develop.

Today we look at a player who was added to our 40 man at the end of the 2010 season for protection in the rule V draft. Zach Lutz, the 25 year old third basemen, has had some interesting numbers in his time in the minors, and while he is obviously blocked at the major league level by Wright (and from a back up role by Murphy among others), he seems to be an interesting piece that may play a role later for the Mets, or as a trade piece. Anyway, Lutz was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 draft and since then has played in the Mets minors system. Last season he actually played in 4 different levels in the Mets system due to rehab for a stress fracture. Here are some stats:

2010 Minors Total – 268 AB, .287 BA, .380 OBP, .571 SLG, 47 R, 77 H, 19 2B, 19 HR, 55 RBI, 36 BB

2010 Binghamton – 225 AB, 66 G, .289 BA, .389 OBP, .578 SLG, 42 R, 65 H, 14 2B, 17 HR, 42 RBI, 33 BB

So as you can see from the above, there are some very interesting power numbers developing with Lutz. Last season he hit as many doubles as he did homers, and he had a good amount of walks, highlighted by his better than average OBP. He is an intriguing player, there just doesn't seem to be a place for him, and he's a little too old to be considered Wright's replacement in the future.

Chin-lung Hu is one of the players in camp trying for one of those final bench spots. Hu, who will be 27 this season, would be a historic player for the Mets organization if he gets any Major League playing time. He will be the first Taiwanese player to put on the Mets uniform and he will be the player with the shortest surname to put on the Mets uniform (when he put on the Dodgers uniform, he became the shortest surname in Major League history). Anyway, Hu is an infielder and looks to fill a role similar to Chris Woodward a few years back.

Hu first landed in America in 2003 in the Rookie level team for the Dodgers. In 2006 he got more international baseball experience as he played for the Chinese Taipei in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. He has had brief major league experience each year from 2007 to 2010, but hasn't had much success (or really that many AB's):

Career – 173 AB, .191 BA, .241 OBP, .283 SLG, 33 H, 4 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 17 RBI

The Mets acquired Chin-lung in December when they traded Mike Antonio to the Dodgers. While Hu's numbers are absolutely nothing to write home about, his minor league numbers are something to consider:

2010 – 208 AB, .317 BA, .339 OBP, .438 SLG, 66 H, 11 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 25 RBI

Those numbers aren't bad at all. Like all of the middle infielders that have been or will be featured in this profile series, it is really hard to make any sort of concrete prediction about Spring because of the amount of players trying for either starting second basemen or backup infielder. It should make for a fun Spring though.