F-Mart, Omar and Jerry, 5th Starter

Let's start backwards today, Jerry Manuel has said yesterday that the 5th starter's job is still an open competition. It's still early in spring training for anything to be decided about the 5th starter as well as the bullpen. Rod Barajas thinks that Jon Niese is ready for the big leagues and compared his stuff to the likes of Cliff Lee and Jon Lester.

One thing I think needs to happen is Nelson Figueroa has to been on the Opening Day Roster. The Mets have screwed him around for too long and he's an extremely valuable asset, as he can start, pitch in long relief and in short relief as well as spot start. He showed us last summer that he has the stuff to succeed.

Omar Minaya said that Fernando Martinez will start the season in the minor leagues, but Jerry Manual said that F-Mart has a chance to be the opening day center-fielder. This is the first time in a very very long time that I've agreed with Omar over Jerry. Fernando Martinez is only 20 years old, he had a cup of coffee in the majors last year, batting below the Mendoza line at .176, with 16 hits, 11 runs, 1 HR, 6 Doubles, 5 walks and 14 strikeouts.. All this before the freak accident that caused him to injure his knee in Milwaukee. He simply is not ready. He has not played a full season in the minors and has been in the Mets organization since he was 16 years old. Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. will be a suitable option in Center Field until Beltran comes back. Martinez is supposed to be the future of this organization, there is no reason to rush him to the majors and screw up his development. He's young and still needs to prove himself in the minors.

That is not the issue. My biggest problem with the Mets is the lack of communication between Manager and General Manager, and even ownership. This is not the first time that Omar's statement has contradicted Jerry's initial statement. Something needs to change, and it needs to start from the top. I am of the belief that the Manager should be the one dealing with all the on-field issues while Omar deals with the behind-the-scenes activities that are of utmost importance to the Mets. These two are obviously not on the same page and there needs to be a sit down so that they can work in unison and make sure these media disasters are averted.

Trading Jose Reyes, more front office incompetence

After reading endless articles, message boards and listening to sports radio for the better part of the last year and half, there's been a major consensus that the mets should trade Jose Reyes. I completely disagree, why would you trade arguably the most important player on this team, as well as a fan favorite.

Now for people who may not be aware, Jose has one more year left on his contract(2010 season) as well as a 11 million dollar team option for 2011. For a player of his caliber, this is an absolute steal. There is no reason for the Mets to trade Reyes and frankly, they would not get anything back, atleast not equal to Reyes' ability.

After an injury plagued 2009 and starting the first 2 to 8 weeks of the 2010 season on the Disabled List, he has no value. The Mets don't know what type of production Reyes is going to supply, why would anyone think that the other 29 teams in the major leagues know what the are going to get? These leg injuries are a recurring thing and that brings up question marks, as does his Hyperthyroidism(that's a whole other post) As Mets fans, everyone needs to see how valuable Jose is to the Metropolitans. The most important stat to prove this is simple, when Jose Reyes scores a run, the Mets win 60+% of the time.


In other news, Kelvim Escobar, an Ex-Los Angeles Angel who was signed early on in the winter for 1 year at $1.25mm is contemplating retirement and will have a decision by April 1st. Escobar is coming off of shoulder surgery and missed 2008 and made only 1 start in 2009. Entering spring training he was unable to pick up a baseball. Leave it to the New York Mets to sign a player who can't pick up a baseball is now thinking about retirement.

My biggest problem with this was the he was one of the first free agent signings of the off-season and had months to make sure he was healthy and capable of pitching either as a starter or a reliever. The front office, mainly Omar Minaya, definetly screwed this one up. Why would you sign a player who's pitched 1 game in the last 2 seasons. ONE GAME! Did anyone in the Mets organization take the time to look over these things, or were they trying to make a splash early on and strike lightning in a bottle without thinking of the repercussions? I'm assuming they gave Escobar the J.J. Putz treatment and did not give him a physical. We can only hope he's going to retire.