213 Miles From Shea

When ESPN first starting making websites specifically for cities, my first reaction was “Why aren't they starting with New York?” By the time they got down to Dallas, I was baffled. Well they finally made an ESPN New York site and at least for Mets fans, it should feel fairly familiar. Adam Rubin will be covering the Mets for the website, so we can expect the same great coverage that he provides.

As for the feeling of New York? Well its hard to tell right now. Like the other websites, its basically ESPN, with all of the other cities taken out (so if you are like me and have teams in different areas, Baltimore Ravens, then this may not be ideal). For example, right now they are doing a Sports Census to see where people's alliances align.

The website also features direct links to ESPN 1050 to make it feel even more “New York”. Actually, not only is there writing from ESPN 1050, you can stream it live right from the website. In addition to 1050, there are twitter feeds, an ABC 7 New York feed, and schedule feeds only for New York/Northern NJ teams. Overall, I'm impressed by the site and I look forward to reading it this season.

Interesting tweet this morning from Troy Renck, Denver Post, Rockies:

First off, I don't know if I have said this yet this offseason, but when did the phrase “kicking the tires” become so popular. I have known about it for a very long time, but I feel that 1 out of every 3 or 4 rumors I here now starts off with “kicking the tires”. If I had to guess why the phrase has become more popular, I think its directly related to Twitter. Think about it. Twitter provides short, 140 character, blogging. Meaning it is the perfect venue for a quick thought, specially one that does not have a substantial amount of source or breadth. It's hard to make an entire blog article or any article about a GM saying “yeah, we might be interested in that guy”, but thats perfect for a tweet.

Back on track though.

Redding signed a minor league deal with the Rockies this offseason. It would probably not take a lot for the Phillies to acquire Redding, but honestly, if I were in charge of the Phillies, I would leave Redding alone. Its not worth to go get him to replace Blanton. The Phillies have enough internal options and honestly, you are not going to get anything special out of Redding. (Of course, since it is the Phillies, if they get Redding, he end up having a Cy Young type year).

The preview journey through all of the division ends today with the NL East. Although I am biased, I think the NL East is an incredibly deep division. Unlike other divisions that do not have clear winners because mediocrity, the NL East has several teams, that under the right conditions, that can make serious runs.  Here's the breakdown of the division:

1. Phillies: At this point they are the team to beat. With back to back pennants, a powerful lineup, and a (overated) rotation, the Phillies are the team with the best chance to take the division again. Their weakness will be again the rotation and the bullpen (no problems with their lineup). I still feel that overall they have been lucky with their rotation working, so if the rotation stutters, its on to the bullpen, which is also mess. However, the lineup is really good. Good enough that makes average pitching into great pitching because of the confidence in the team's ability to score.

2. Mets: The Mets and the Braves will be in a tight race all year. The Mets are above the Braves because (I'm Biased) of the lineup. The Braves have a fantastic rotation, but the Mets could also have a good rotation. The problem is the Mets could also have a terrible rotation. There is so much that can be said about this team that you will have to wait till the Mets Preview article to here my full explanation of why the Mets will be in second and in the Wild Card hunt.

3. Braves: Fantastic Rotation. Not so fantastic lineup. Heyward will a great impact for this team, but that is a lot of pressure for a rookie. I still think the Braves will need to make another move in order to get into second in this division, to help bolster their offense.

4. Marlins: Flordia always surprises me, so I won't be surprised if they finish higher than 4th. Their lineup is still together and strong, the question is on the pitching staff. For them its beyond the rotation but also in the pen.

5. Nationals: They have made a lot of rebuilding moves over the winter and they are finally going to be seen as their pitching will be better and their offense will be better than it has in the past. They could finish higher than 5th depending on how their rookies perform.

(From the NY Daily News)

(From the NY Post)

The beginning of April is generally the most optimistic time of the year. Anything is possible because everyone is on the same page and everyone is starting at the same point. While the injury to Murphy is a bummer, I really think the media now is over playing this. Look at the covers above. They are so overwhelmingly negative.

Case and Point: 3-4 weeks ago, Reyes wasn't even supposed to start the season! In fact he could have missed the majority of May. Its good news that we know he will back soon. Yes its sad that he won't be ready for Opening Day, but it does not warrant the cover the Post is presenting today. Murphy was struggling all Spring (and I feel like I can criticize here because if you know me, you know that I am one of the biggest Murphy fans that exist). Of course I am “sad” that he can't start the season but he isn't a key to this offense!

If the media wants something to make negative, how about this:

All in all. This is a positive time of the year, not a negative one. Its hard because we live in a domain dominated by the media and the 4th branch (which I guess technically I am a part of). We all need to make are own opinions about the recent injury moves, and see the larger picture here.

We have finally reached my two favorite divisions to preview, the AL East and the NL East (and really these are my favorite because I know the most about east coast teams as opposed to west coast teams). Last year the Yankees dominated this division on their way to the World Series. I won't lie, at the beginning of the season last year the Yankees really surprised me. I didn't think that CC and Burnett would work out as well as they did and overall the team would be plagued with aging issues. That wasn't a problem at all last year, which is why I feel that the Yankees will avoid it this year as well. Here's a rundown of the division:

1. Yankees: The Yanks will probably repeat a division title. Their rotation remains intact and the lineup is basically the same, except now they have Granderson (a general upgrade for this team). As long as they avoid aging issues, this team will probably win again because of stellar pitching from the start of the game to the end of the game and a lineup that is pretty much fantastic from start to end. However, the Yankees now do not resemble Murderers Row, and can be taken down by a strong effort by the Red Sox.

2. Red Sox: Lackey was a good signing for this team, who now has a more dominant rotation than they did last season. The key for the Red Sox is a good rotation once again and also a bounce back year for Ortiz. Their lineup is also pretty fantastic. They will miss Bay to a degree, but Cameron is a nice addition to this lineup (a player who knows how to play in a big market). The combination of Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youkillis is also pretty threatning. Obvious statement: The Red Sox have the best chance to upseat the Yankees.

3. Tampa: I struggled decided whether the Rays would finish in front of the Orioles or after the Orioles this year. It came down to pitching, where the Rays have better pitching than the Orioles. The lineup is also pretty good in Tampa but something really special has to happen for them to finish above the Yankees or the Red Sox.

4. Baltimore: This is a big year for the Orioles. Their offense is going to really start to bloom this year with an outfield of Jones, Markakis and Reimold. This could also be a big year for Weiters as well. Most people do not realize how well the Orioles do and will hit the ball. The problem is they really don't have pitching, meaning a lot will be riding on prospects Matusz and Tillman.

5. Toronto: Caught in the crossroads in a hard division to play in.

An interesting player in the Yankee's farm system pitched in a Spring Training game yesterday. He's a righty. He's a lefty. Thats right folks, he's a “switch” pitcher. Sportscenter rolled a clip where this pitcher, Pat Venditte, as a Staten Island Yankee pitching against a Brooklyn Cyclone's switch hitter. This caused umpires to actually create rules about how many times a batter and pitcher can switch throwing hands or side of the bat (because the two in the clip went back and forth).

Update: Here's the Video:

In order to switch pitch really effecitively, Pat uses a special 6 finger glove. This glove allows him to switch the hand that the glove will go on while on the mound (in other eliminating the need for two gloves). I couldn't find a picture of his exact six finger glove, but I was able to find another example:

(From http://jaspry.blogspot.com/)

The obvious question is, how did Pat do? Here's his line from yesterday:

So he wasn't lights out, and he had some control issues however he didn't implode and he had a better day than Oliver Perez (zing). His pitching display was interesting to watch, and surprisingly did not feel like a gimick because this is Pat's skill and talent. Honestly, I hope he makes the majors one day, and other ambidextrous pitchers as well. Being an ambidextrous pitcher has to be hard, especially when looking at all of the training and mechanics have to be mastered twice. If an ambidextrous pitcher can master pitching with both arms, that player would become a tremendous assesst in the bullpen.

Today was (not surprisingly) a busy day for the Mets as they had Santana and Perez pitching today (Santana in a minor league game) and also the return of Reyes in a minor league game. Here's the good for today:

Sadly however, the “bad” for today really outweighed the good. Here's a rundown:

So yes, today wasn't exactly world's greatest day for the Mets. Initially I was concerned with the injuries. I'm not really concerened with Santana, because he is Santana however Perez is now starting to concern me quite a bit. I really hope he can turn that around. Anyway, here's hoping that tomorrow is a better day.

In what may be a growing theme for this season, or a clear sign that my baseball knowledge on the West Coast is waning, the NL West looks to be an open division this year as well. I guess I should preface this with going into this season, the AL Central, AL West, and NL West are all divisions without clear winners, which is due to mediocrity and generally even teams. When I say not clear winners, these divisions have 3 to 4 teams each who could seriously win the divison, but (unlike the NL East for example) not in a convincing fashion. Anyway, this division had two teams last year in the playoffs as the Dodgers almost lost their division title, which they had comfortably in the beggining of the season, to the surging Rockies, who settled for a Wild Card Spot. Anyway here is the division breakdown:

1. Rockies: At the end of the season last year, the Rockies showed that they could be a strong team basically due to a few items. Their rotation, is strong, and generally, getting stronger with age. Their lineup is strong, and with the exception of a few players, is also getting stronger. This combination on a team that didn't lose any key pieces is dangerous in this division where the Dodgers have a lot of questions among other teams.

2. Dodgers: Generally the Dodgers are a lock to win this division, but this year, the Hollywood boys will need to work for it. The offense is still ready to go, so thats not the problem. The question is the rotation. They have a lot of talent, but losing Wolf could but a lot of burden on a rotation which can be lights out or lit up.

3. Giants: This team is basically the opposite of the Giants. The rotation is not the issue with the Giants, their issue is their offense again. They have a few players that look like they will be able to score for the Giants, but on the whole, they will need some bigger bats and some players to have a big season to make a run (but also remember, this division is potentially wide open).

4. Dbacks: Another team that has a chance making a run. Their offense is there and could be a threat in this division. For the Dbacks the entire season is based on Webb. He is going to miss all of April, depending on how he comes back in May will depend on where this team goes. With strong pitching, they will be closer to the top of this division, without, 4th place is looking pretty good.

5. Padres: No brainer. Rebuilding time.

The AL West will most likely be a wide open division this season. In years past the Angels pretty much just run away with the division but they lost a lot key pieces this year, and few other teams gained pieces to make the entire division a lot closer. Because of that I am going to take a stab at predicting them, but really it will just be a preview of what to expect from these four teams. Here are my projections:

The Mariners are the most improved team in this division by far. Adding Lee makes this probably the most dangerous rotation in the league with Felix, which is why I have them ranked the highest. Also adding Figgins really increases the style of play the Mariners hope to achieve on the bases. In other words, the Mariners had an idea of the type of team they wanted to design, and went ahead and did it.

The Angels would have been first, but they didn't do much to replace what they loss during the last two seasons, while other teams were working hard on improving. Still, with good management, this team will make the division and interesting race all the way to the end of the season.

The Rangers have a fantastic offense, but questionable pitching. Short and simple.

Oakland made a lot of interesting moves this offseason, like Ben Sheets. Because of this, they can be surprising and do really well in this division, like the rest of these teams. Seriously, this division feels pretty wide open.

The Mets are on the verge of making a huge mistake with the bullpen. Yesterday the Mets told Parnell and Green that both of them will not be making the major league roster for the start of the season. They both struggled this Spring so that is alright. This also means that Figueroa and Takahashi will be traveling North with the team, which is also alright.

The problem is with the final bullpen spot. These two going down to the Minor League side mean that Meij can still make the major league roster.  That is a major mistake. The Amazin's should not promoting Mejia right now because up in Queens he will have to learn to be a set-up guy, and honestly he has the skills to be such, but he also has a the ability to be a starter, and the Mets need to be looking at their future.

This team is notorious for making bad roster decisions (which is why I will be pleasently surprised if Figueroa makes the team). This is a decision they cannot afford to make. Please Mets, do not promote Meija just yet. He needs more time and as an organziation, we need him to be a starter.

IMPORTANT CORRECTION FROM COMMENTS:
I got a few things mixed up in my morning notes, mainly being the source of the information for this article. It was Rubin who reported Green and Parnell will be demoted, not the team itself. So it is very possible that this entire article can be made obsolete.