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Young Guns

For all the heat Omar Minaya got over the off-season, it is about time we give him some credit. While it was definitely warranted to question him in the past, Minaya has looked over a farm system that has provided some quality players for the big league team this season. I am talking about first baseman Ike Davis, and starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey and Jonathon Niese.

Ike Davis has solidified first base for the Mets, a position that has not seen a full season of production since 2006. Carlos Delgado never picked up his play in 2007 and while he went on a tear the latter half of 2008, his bat was pretty much non-existent the first half of the season. With the injury to Daniel Murphy the 2010 season was looking like much of the same with journeymen Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis splitting time at the position. Luckily for the Mets Davis had hit well enough in Spring Training and the start of the season for the AAA Buffalo Bisons that there was little resistance to calling him up. While he is barely hitting .260 on the year, he has still provided power with 7 home-runs, great defense, and more importantly…hope for the future.

Pelfrey has flat out dominated from the start of the season. I do not think it is a stretch to say that I feel more confident when he takes the mound than when Johan Santana does. All Pelfrey has done is go 9-1 on the season with a 2.39 ERA. He has given the team the 1-2 punch they have needed, and gives the team loads of confidence every time he takes the mound.

Finally there is Niese. He came up last season and pitched pretty well, but suffered a nasty hamstring injury during his third start since the call-up. The fear was he would not be able to recover enough to warrant a spot in the rotation to start the season. That fear was put aside early as he pitched so effectively during Spring Training that Jerry Manuel put him in the second spot following Santana. During the season Niese has managed to keep the optimism going with a stat-line that reads: 3-2 3.61 ERA 45 K/ 19 BB. To follow that up, Niese had only one blemish in his last start, a double in the third inning. Despite that hit Niese was perfect in a complete game effort where he shut-out the Padres.

Since David Wright and Jose Reyes were called up quite a while ago, the Mets have failed to add impact players to their big league team. This is Pelfrey’s third season, but following last year his career did not look as promising. While it has only been a few months, at this point it looks like Minaya has done a better job with the farm system than anyone has given him credit for. Not to mention the great acquisitions of Angel Pagan, Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, Hisanori Takahashi, and RA Dickey.

by Evan Slavit at the Sports Fan Blog Network

June 14, 2010 Posted by slavite | Bloggers, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Evan Slavit, Jon Niese, Jose Reyes, MLB, Mike Pelfrey, NY Mets Stuff, New York Mets, Original Content | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

My Best All-Time New York Mets By Position

Here are my all-time best New York Mets By Position…

When I picked my team, I only considered their contributions while a member of the Mets. If they played longer for the Mets, I gave them a slight bump in rankings since their impact on the Mets should be greater than someone playing only a couple seasons. As a general note, I started watching the Mets around 1985-86 so my choices will be biased towards Mets who have played in the 80s or later.

My squad contains one player at each position, five starters and a relief pitcher/closer. I listed other people I considered in the running for each position. I also added a link to some of our sports memorabilia by each of my choices..

OK.. Here is my all-time Mets squad.

Catcher – Mike Piazza
Also in the running: Gary Carter, Todd Hundley

1B – Keith Hernandez
Also in the running: Carlos Delgado, John Olerud

2B – Edgardo Alfonso
Also in the running: Jeff Kent, Wally Backman

SS – Jose Reyes (No Mets shortstop was even close)

3B – David Wright (He has only scratched the surface of his potential)
Also in the running: Howard Johnson, Robin Ventura

LF – Kevin McReynolds (This was a tough one.. There was not a clear favorite in my mind)
Also in the running: Cleon Jones, Cliff Floyd

CF – Carlos Beltran
Also in the running: Lenny Dykstra, Tommie Agee, Mookie Wilson, Lee Mazzilli

RF – Darryl Strawberry
Also in the running: Rusty Staub

Starting Pitchers –
1. Tom Seaver (Top 2 were obvious but I am somewhat biased towards players who played after 1986 and probably would have chosen a few older pitchers had I actually seen them pitch a little more)
2. Doc Gooden
3. Johan Santana
4. David Cone
5. Al Leiter
Also in the running: Jerry Koosman, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Jon Matlack

RELIEF PITCHER – John Franco (Captain and long time Met.. got the benefit of the doubt even though I remember a few rough spots for him in his last year or two. The other ones I listed are dominating pitchers but had less actual time with the Mets than John Franco. I like KROD so far, and can see him moving up here if he does well for the Mets for the next couple seasons)
2. Francisco Rodriguez
3. Billy Wagner
Also in the running: Armando Benitez, Jesse Orosco, Roger McDowell, Jeff Reardon, Randy Myers, Tug McGraw

– Now that I went out on a limb.. anyone else want to try..?

Written by Evan Kanter of the Sports Fan Blog Network

November 3, 2009 Posted by sportsfan1 | Al Leiter, Billy Wagner, Bloggers, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Cleon Jones, Darryl Strawberry, David Cone, David Wright, Edgardo Alfonso, Evan Kanter, Johan Santana, John Franco, Jose Reyes, Keith Hernandez, Kevin McReynolds, MLB, NY Mets History, NY Mets Stuff, New York Mets, Original Content, Tom Seaver | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Carloses inching toward returns

The Carlos Brothers moved forward in their respective rehabilitations Monday.

Carlos Delgado took batting practice outdoors for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right hip. Carlos Beltran shagged fly balls for the first time since he was assigned to the disabled list June 22. The return of neither is expected in the immediate future. Delgado acknowledged he has good days and bad days and just tells those who inquire that he feels fine. He has yet to run and says the schedule, once he does, is to include running, then sprinting, then sliding, then playing in Minor League rehab games.

Click here to read the full article – By Marty Noble of MLB.com

[digg=http://digg.com/baseball/Carloses_inching_toward_returns_New_York_Mets_Fan_Blog]

August 4, 2009 Posted by GameSetMatch | Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, MLB, NY Mets News, New York Mets | , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

   

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