Mar 03
Spring Training Games are well under way and there are some really good stories going on all over baseball. It is no secret that the Mets are going to struggle this season, however, even though I am not just a Met fan, I like to follow other teams around the league
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33 comments
Stick
3/3/2013-8:52am at 8:52 am (UTC -4)
Is there a question in here someplace counselor?
Stick
3/3/2013-8:55am at 8:55 am (UTC -4)
I don’t actually follow other teams much. If something big happens that makes the national news I’ll take a look, but generally I just pay attention to the Mets.
The only exception is the Phillies. That is just because I live right outside the city, and get the local paper/TV, so I see info without having to go look for it! Plus I despise them, so I try to keep up in case anything bad is happening.
SaltyGary
3/3/2013-9:41am at 9:41 am (UTC -4)
I am betting that the question is “Do you follow other teams”. I generally add a random second club when the MEts suck to satisy my need to watch good baseball. In past years it was the Stros with the killer Bee’s or the Giants 09 WS run. IT is usually a NL team but for this year I am going to follow Toronto seeing they got many ex-MEts on there.
Teams I refuse to follow at the Cards, NL East, Yanks, RSox and probably the Dodgers.
Stick
3/3/2013-9:46am at 9:46 am (UTC -4)
well, if that is the question, for me it is usually the Red Sox. I just like Boston, have a friend that was able to get me great seats a few times, and has the anti-Yankee aspect.
I don’t follow the Phillies in the sense of rooting for them. More like keeping an eye on the enemy, and hoping for bad things to happen!
Boomer
3/3/2013-10:29am at 10:29 am (UTC -4)
I’m not ready to concede that the Mets will struggle this year. Challenge for the division, probably not, but that doesn’t mean they are going to struggle either.
It really all depends on how the pitching performs, both starting and bullpen. The Mets have some real talent on the mound and if they can stay healthy and perform to expectations they can be a competitive team.
And I follow the BoSox because living in NE its pretty much impossible not to. As bad as the Mets were last year the meltdown the Sox have been going through since the fall of 2011 has been epic.
Stick
3/3/2013-10:40am at 10:40 am (UTC -4)
I agree. The team does have a decent amount of talent, and a lot of guys that are on the left side of the career arc (meaning upside potential baby!).
I have them pegged as roughly .500 team, meaning that yes, with a few breaks and modest good fortune they can certainly compete.
hell, as bad as they were the last couple of years, they still were above .500 and in the hunt to some degree in July each year.
gategem
3/4/2013-12:48am at 12:48 am (UTC -4)
There was a 20 year period when the NFL NY Giants were a perennial loser. During this time the draft picks would cause some Giants fans to leap off the GW Bridge. However, before each season the local media would ask fans for predictions on the upcoming season. There was always one fan that would predict a SB victory. Was that you?
Boomer
3/4/2013-8:37am at 8:37 am (UTC -4)
Nope. Jets fan. I only know the Giants as the team that shares uses our stadium when we aren’t.
I also wasn’t the guy who picked the Marlins to come in last after spending a small fortune to buy wins. Was that you? Bet you made a bunch of coin.
gategem
3/4/2013-11:14pm at 11:14 pm (UTC -4)
I was just kidding and as the resident septuagenarian I welcome you to the blog.
Boomer
3/4/2013-11:45pm at 11:45 pm (UTC -4)
Me too. Thanks for the welcome.
TX
3/3/2013-10:40am at 10:40 am (UTC -4)
I did follow Houston and will prob follow Seattle, but its more because I’ll go to their stadiums. Otherwise, it’s all Mets all the time.
srt
3/3/2013-10:43am at 10:43 am (UTC -4)
I follow the Phillies and Yankees….not because the’re my second teams. I follow them because I get immense pleasure when the lose.
OT: What’s this story about circulating around that Johan didn’t show up in ST in pitching shape and that’s the real reason he might miss his first start?
gategem
3/4/2013-1:04am at 1:04 am (UTC -4)
Newsday devoted quite a bit of space too it.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-a-bit-miffed-that-johan-santana-was-not-more-prepared-to-start-spring-training-1.4741207
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/david-lennon/wondering-if-johan-santana-will-be-ready-opening-day-is-mets-rite-of-spring-1.4741089
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/johan-santana-with-a-chip-on-his-shoulder-throws-surprise-bullpen-session-1.4744896
Mr North Jersey
3/4/2013-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
Gategem I believe the magic number is 3 regarding how many urls in a comment it takes for a comment not to post but remain pending.
I approved it but wanted to give you a heads up as to why it went into pending approval.
Boomer
3/3/2013-11:02am at 11:02 am (UTC -4)
Sounds to me yet another non-story that is only getting the traction it is because 1) it’s about the Mets 2) it’s about Santana 3) many Mets fans live to whine and be miserable.
Santana is either healthy or he’s not. If he’s healthy he will pitch this year and likely be gone by June. Whether or not he is ready opening day or a few days later is a giant nothing burger to me.
srt
3/3/2013-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
I kind of thought it was a non stofy too.
If Santana did indeed show up to ST wigh that arm less than strong, wouldn’t that be on the Mets?
He finished on the DL. Shouldn’t it be up to them to outline an off season program for him?
Boomer
3/3/2013-11:44am at 11:44 am (UTC -4)
Yea, I agree to a certain extent. I really don’t know how much control MLB teams have over their player’s offseason workout schedules but you would think with the investment they have in Johan they would have been monitoring him more closely.
In any case it sounds as if his arm strength isn’t up to snuff yet and he is not hurt or suffering from structural damage. If this is just a case of Johan wanting to rest as much as possible before the start of ST after what he has gone through over the last few years I can’t get too worked up about it. A lot of the veteran pitchers seem to be using ST more as an opportunity to get in shape rather than fine tune which is what it used to be not that long ago.
If Niese starts opening day and Johan starts a few days later I don’t think the world is going to come to an end.
srt
3/3/2013-1:18pm at 1:18 pm (UTC -4)
Agree.
But now they’re reporting he’s going to have a session off the mound today instead of 10 days from now b/c he’s angry about this report.
darknova306
3/3/2013-1:48pm at 1:48 pm (UTC -4)
It’s his responsibility to come into camp ready to go. The Mets have spent years paying him tons of money to do essentially nothing. If he wants to be a petulant child after getting called out for not being prepared, then I really can’t wait for the Johan Santana era to end.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-2:11pm at 2:11 pm (UTC -4)
I agree 100% Dark.
His behavior has increasingly sickened me. If he and his agent’s comments are accurately being reported, then anyone calling him a “warrior” or a “leader” is really sad.
$76M is what he’ll receive for 2011–2013, and he is too “burned out” to work all offseason?
Revolting.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-1:59pm at 1:59 pm (UTC -4)
I disagree–assuming this story is in fact accurate and quotes from Johan and his agent strongly suggest that it is. I love the Mets and being miserable is something I cannot even relate to, although I agree Met Nation has its share of people like you describe.
This issue however is much more than a case of whining miserable fans.
Someone who pressed so very hard for the obscene contract Johan received and who has been paid $45M the last two seasons for 21 starts and 6 wins–with another $31 M coming this year–owes the team and the fans 100% effort 52 weeks a year even if he is “burned out.”
I bet cops and soldiers and construction workers and waitresses get burned out too. Johan will have the rest of his life to relax when he retires with tens of million of dollars at an age when other folks have a couple more decades of work ahead.
Sorry but with that sort of compensation you have much more of a responsibility to your employers—especially with what he has been paid and what he has given the team for the last two seasons.
Boomer
3/3/2013-2:19pm at 2:19 pm (UTC -4)
Well I would agree with you if I thought he purposely came into camp in bad shape. I could be wrong but I think he was as surprised as anyone when his arm strength wasn’t up to where he thought it would be.
I can’t really relate to how an elite athlete understands his body but I think he really believed resting and coming into camp was his best course of action. By all accounts Santana is very competitive and I would be very surprised to find out he just punted and is here to collect his check. It just doesn’t sound like the guy I have been following for years.
Remember, it was only a couple weeks ago that he was talking about pitching in the WBC and unless that was a big head fake and he was just posturing I think he was as surprised as anyone when the arm he has built his career on wasn’t responding the way it had in the past when he was healthy.
Hopefully for all concerned this is just a blip and he will get back up to speed quickly.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-2:24pm at 2:24 pm (UTC -4)
Well, supposedly he said “spring training is for training” and his agent said something about his being “burned out”—sorry but in this economy right now someone who has received $45M over the last 2 years with another $31 coming this calendar year saying he was too “burned out” to work his hardest all offseason is terrible PR at best and revoltingly out-of-touch selfishness at worst.
And 52 weeks of the year are for training when you’ve been paid $45M for 21 starts and 6 wins in two years.
Boomer
3/3/2013-2:28pm at 2:28 pm (UTC -4)
Eh, we’ll see. If he takes the mound on opening day this will just be another ST kerfuffle that amounts to nothing.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-2:37pm at 2:37 pm (UTC -4)
And if he takes the mound and gets shelled?
I think there’s about zero chance he starts opening day.
darknova306
3/3/2013-2:35pm at 2:35 pm (UTC -4)
The idea that working out in the offseason would have burned him out after he was shut down mid-season, is laughable to begin with. He had several months before the offseason even started to rest and relax. He should know what he needs to do at this point. And if he actually did everything he ‘knew’ he needed to get ready, and his body still betrayed him, maybe he’s just in the last stages of his career and he’s about to fade away like Pedro.
Johan could also very well be fully in the Minaya Retirement Home mentality, looking to coast through 3/4 of the season and parlay a strong September into a new contract he can relax through. That may be a bit too cynical, though.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-2:42pm at 2:42 pm (UTC -4)
“Johan could also very well be fully in the Minaya Retirement Home mentality, looking to coast through 3/4 of the season and parlay a strong September into a new contract he can relax through.”
I have already been on record before this even started as predicting Johan taking his annual vacation earlier than usual, pacing himself, and doing all he can to finish strong and earn another crazy contract.
Yes, he was awesome in 2008 and very good for another couple of years after that, but Johan is–like almost all MLB players–about the dollars first, second, and last.
Boomer
3/3/2013-2:49pm at 2:49 pm (UTC -4)
Ran out of reply buttons on the last comment so I’ll leave it here.
Sure, he might get rocked, but he also might dominate. What then?
As i said, I think he was surprised that he didn’t respond as he has in the past. It’s not like there is a huge body of work telling a player how to respond to this type of surgery simply because not many have come back at a high level. There’s no question he wasn’t ready for ST but I’m a lot more interested in him being ready for the season.
He was back on the mound today so maybe this is already a non-story.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-3:07pm at 3:07 pm (UTC -4)
Fair enough, and again, I appreciate your being another excellent new voice on here.
Stick
3/3/2013-3:59pm at 3:59 pm (UTC -4)
well, I was on record yesterday speculating the same thing, that his plan was to R&R most of the year to be ready at the end of the year to go after than next contract.
darknova306
3/3/2013-12:21pm at 12:21 pm (UTC -4)
For a while I followed the Rays as my adopted AL team. They were always that loveable loser team with a logo I really liked. Then they became the blue collar underdog that hit the AL East like a sledgehammer.
Now I don’t really have the energy to focus on more than one team. It’s hard enough to keeping focused on the Mets past June given how dreadful and embarrassing their second half performances always are (prove me wrong, chumps). And they’re going to need a TON of things to go right this year to get close to .500.
kingman 26
3/3/2013-2:06pm at 2:06 pm (UTC -4)
When I was a kid and the Mets were awful I followed the Reds a bit when they had those amazing teams, and then I followed the Orioles for a while as they were pretty entertaining…but the Mets always came first without question.
When I lived in Seattle and the Mets were awful in the 1990s, the mid-to-late ’90s Mariners were a thrilling team—Griffey, ARod, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, and many other good players—definitely the team that accomplished the least with the most talent thanks to horrible bullpens and even worse trades. Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, Tino Martinez, and Jeff Nelson for Heathcliff Slocumb, Russ Davis, and Sterling Hitchcock–two unreal trades.
Nowadays I still loosely follow the Mariners, but do not really root for any other teams…I follow ex-Met players individually and always have and generally root for them to succeed with very few exceptions.
Boomer
3/3/2013-3:14pm at 3:14 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for having me. Great to talk Mets with fellow fans.