I was so pumped to get the game.. I've been waiting for the last 2-3 months to get it.. I hear all the great things about having the minor leagues, all the things they fixed/added..

Now all of a sudden they made pitching RETARTED. I really can't grasp the concept, if anyone wants to explain it please do, because I can't get it..

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So my draft is about to starting in like 12 minutes, and I have the 4th pick in the draft.. Since I'm drafting with Mets fans I figure the first 3 picks to be A-Rod, Hanley/Wright, Reyes

If I'm left to pick between

Holliday, Wright, Pujols, Rollins, utley who do I take?

Normal yahoo rules............................................................................................... .................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ..

Poll

Who is the better fantasy player?

10%

Rollins

15 votes

21%

Utley

32 votes

4%

Holliday

6 votes

31%

Wright

46 votes

33%

Pujols

49 votes

148 votes | Poll has closed

Lets say your in a regular yahoo fantasy baseball

league, 12 people in the league.

How do you think the first 2 rounds (24 picks)

will look?

I think the hardest picks are at #3-5

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Sorry if it's a bit off topic, but I was just wondering if it was true that Johan stopped throwing his slider in the second half..

Is there any reason why?

and what do you expect from him in the upcoming season

LETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METSLETS GO METS

Poll

How Many Games Will Johan Santana Win?

21%

16-17

26 votes

5%

14-15

6 votes

41%

20+

49 votes

31%

18-19

38 votes

119 votes | Poll has closed

Keith Law list Fernando Martinez as the 10th best prospect in baseball, while Kevin Goldstein ranked him the 51st best prospect in baseball.. Ken Rosenthal recently talked about Fernando Martinez being a "teenage hitting machine" So why the big difference in these lists?

I don't know much about Law/Goldstein  but I would have to guess that Goldstein thought process is that just because he played in AA as a 18 year old doesn't mean he's a top prospect. I would think that Goldstein is looking for players who have produced more so in the minors, then just talent/ceiling..

Then on the other hand I could see Keith Law thought process being that this kid held his own in AA at an extremely young age, and has a lot of projection..

Where do I think F-Mart belongs? I would say he belongs around 25th just because he hasn't exactly hit like a beast yet.. I'll be waiting to see where scout.com, and baseball america ranks Fernando Martinez..

Where would you guys rank F-Mart, and what can you tell me about the way Goldstein/Law rank prospects?

Poll

Where Does Fernando Martinez Belong On Prospect Lists?

15%

31-40

23 votes

0%

81-90

1 votes

11%

41-50

17 votes

3%

91-100

6 votes

12%

1-10

19 votes

3%

51-60

5 votes

24%

11-20

37 votes

3%

61-70

6 votes

25%

21-30

38 votes

0%

71-80

0 votes

152 votes | Poll has closed

I've been recently debating with a Red Sox fan who said the Mets package of Santana has no true star potential in it..

I countered with Gomez has a higher ceiling the Ellsbury, but he doesn't seem to believe it..

Gomez has the potential to be a true 5 tool player, the highest Ellsbury will be is a 3 tool player.. It's Gomez's body type, and bat speed that gives him the ceiling of a 30 homerun hitter..

Now obviously if I had to choose one I'd pick Ellsbury, because he's the much safer pick..  But if we're debating ceilings I would have to think that Gomez's ceiling is much higher then that of Ellsbury..

Poll

Who Has The Higher Ceiling?

34%

Ellsbury

104 votes

65%

Gomez

196 votes

300 votes | Poll has closed

What do you think about his future??

here's a scouting report from baseball america..

Strengths: Guerra has two present above-average pitches that could become well above-average. His fastball had below-average velocity for most of his first season, but now it ranges from 89-94 mph and touches 96. He features excellent arm speed on his changeup, his best offering since he signed, and it should become a big league out pitch once he commands it.

Weaknesses: While Guerra's curveball remains a below-average pitch, he has shown an ability to spin the ball and it projects as an average offering. At 18, Guerra still is learning the finer arts of pitching, such as holding runners, fielding his position and pitch sequences.

The Future: Guerra has thrown just 179 pro innings and has plenty of projection in his big-shouldered frame. The Mets have monitored Guerra's workload carefully, and he has plenty of projection in his big-shouldered frame. His next goal will be to stay healthy and pass the 100-inning level.

~I love the kid.. Not to many 18 year olds are 6'6 200 pounds topping out at 96 MPH...  I think pre-season 2009 he'll be a top 10 prospect in baseball, but that's just me.. The kid is an absolute beast..

metsprospectus.blogspot.com

Mike Pelfrey has kind of a weird story... The guy was highly touted out of college, and one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, until the Mets got their hands on him. After a bullpen session with Rick Peterson, Mike Pelfrey ditched his curveball in favor of a slider that he never threw before. If you talk to people who watched Mike in college they'll tell you he had a plus MLB ready curveball in college.. So if that's the case why would Rick tell him to get rid of it? Well if you remember Rick also made John Maine ditch his curveball, so it's more of Peterson's teaching technique. He likes a hard thrower to stay down in the zone, and he thinks the best pitch to complement that is a slider..

Ok Rick, you've been right so many times that I have to trust you here, your the pitching coach you know what's best. But why would the Mets  call the kid up to the major leagues when he hasn't been throwing his slider for more then half a season in the minors? The truth is the Mets set Mike Pelfrey up for failure. They took at 22 year old kid with less then 100 innings in the minors, who had a good fastball, no slider, no changeup, and told him we need you to get big league hitters out.

Really why did we expect anything from Mike Pelfrey? It was the hype, the media, they all led us to believe that Mike Pelfrey could come up here and fill the hole we needed in a #5 starter. But the truth was he wasn't even ready to be pitching in AAA when he made his debut in the big leagues in August 2006.

He may of only had one pitch, but the kid had so much talent that he was able to get by in his 4 major league starts in 2006. He might of just been pumping fastballs, but he still gave the Mets quality starts they weren't getting from the likes of Jose Lima.

The Mets sent Mike Pelfrey to the AFL to further work on his slider, but unfortunately he had some arm pain, and was forced to leave. So come spring training 2007, the #5 spot in the rotation was up for grabs, and Mike Pelfrey was the favorite. Mike looked great early on in spring, he was a ground ball machine and showed good poise. Eventually he won the spot, and the Mets went into the season with Mike Pelfrey as their #5 starter.

It didn't last long for Mike as he lost his job in early June, after starting the season 0-7. He had some flashes of looking good, along with some games that he probably should of won, but overall he was to inconsistent, and at times couldn't even control his fastball.

After spending a short time in the bullpen, the Mets sent the 23 year old to AAA to refine his pitches. In his time in AAA he posted an ERA of 4.58 in 37 IP. Ok I know that's a pretty high ERA, but he was probably working on his slider, and changeup right? Nope reports that I heard about early on was he was still throwing mostly fastballs, especially when he got into tight spots. I wanna know why Mike Pelfrey is worrying about his stats in New Orleans. This was supposed the be the place where he could just keep throwing his slider, and changeup not worrying about the outcome.

The Mets needed a starting pitcher to face the Braves on September 1st, and Pelfrey shocked the world. Pelfrey allowed one hit in six innings while striking out 7 to win his first game of the season after seven losses. His slider was on that game, and we got a glimpse of what he could be like if he could control it. But we also saw after that what happens when he can't control his slider, as he gave up 10 hits in 5.1 innings against the Astros (though he got away with only giving up 2 runs) His last start of the season was against Washington in a big game he gave up 6 ERA in 5.2 innings.

So now going forwards it seems like the Mets will stand pat with the rotation, and again the #5 spot is up for grabs. Guess who the favorite is.. Mike Pelfrey! Mike will be just 24 years old, and will have a year and a half under his belt with his slider. Hopefully Mike is working hard this winter, and hopefully he'll finally be ready to be an MLB pitcher. He has the talent and the potential he just has to put it together now, and I think 2008 is the season he does it.

Really this is getting out of control.. the other threads are getting pushed off the front page, because this one guy wants to do all these polls right after each other.. Give it a day then go to the next one.. stop flooding the diaries.

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Poll

Should He Wait A Day Before Posting A new Prospect Rating?

57%

Yes

57 votes

43%

No

43 votes

100 votes | Poll has closed

So it seems the Mets and Twins were going back and forth to come up with a package for Santana..

Omar put his offer on the table that was GOMEZ, and 3 starting pitchers.. My guess

Gomez,Pelfrey,Humber,Mulvey

Then the Twins countered that offer saying the Mets must add either Fernando Martinez or another pitching prospect.. My guess Deolis Guerra..

I'm kind of happy this trade didn't happen..

www.metsprospectus.blogspot.com

Come check it out at

metsprospectus.blogspot.com

Think a different prospect should be rated #1 or #2? Come debate just leave a comment!!!

or just post your thoughts about the article in the comment sections on the site!!

Also don't forget to vote on the poll about Paul Lo Duca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.metsprospectus.blogspot.com

Me and a friend have been having this heated debate about Carlos Gomez for the last week. I think that the Mets need to package Gomez with some lesser prospects for Joe Blanton, because right now the Mets need pitching and to me Gomez is a luxury..

my friend thinks as early as next year Gomez can put up numbers like .280 15 70 60 SB 35 Doubles if given a chance to play every day..

I'm not saying that I don't think he won't turn out to be anything but I think a player has to do it at least on the minor league level before you can start making all these assumptions about them becoming stars at the major league level..

To me Gomez is way to much of a free swinger at the plate, I remember a quote from last year that he said. "If you don't swing then you can't hit" and that's what I remember most about Gomez.. He just swings at everything, and right now all I see him as is projection.. Yeah he's 6'4 so he has to hit for power.. I don't know I just don't see it..

Im sure in like 2-3 years after seasoning in the minors he could be a
.275 15 70 RBI player and steal like 60 bases if everything goes as planned, but I still think he will always be around 100 k's per season, and I don't like that he has such a huge swing when he is as quick as he is.

What do you think of Carlos Gomez going foward? Should the Mets trade him? Keep him? what kind of player will he be?

Mike Pelfrey had a lot of downs in 2007, starting out 0-7 had an ERA over 5+, but towards the end of that 0-7 run he showed he could hold a team, but was just throwing so many pitches per inning and would be at the 100 pitch mark within 5..

Coming back up Pelfrey looked better but still not what we expected, he had an amazing game against the Braves but then again showed inconsistancy and was horrible (?) his next start..

FA Catcher Paul Lo Duca said that he thinks pelfrey will be huge for the Mets in 2008, saying this as a FA not even knowing if he'll be the one catching Pelfrey.

Another year under Pelfrey's belt and it looks like he'll have the chance to be the #5 starter again to start the year.. I mean one positive of all this could be that Pelfrey not dominating at first kept his innings down..

Another year with the slider, but the slider isn't his biggest problem when I watched Pelfrey pitch his fastball/sinker was somewhere between 92-96 and his Changeup was like 87-88 MPH.

Seeing Fausto dominate with his sinker makes me think not to give up on Pelfrey so quick, though Pelfrey doesn't throw a 96 MPH sinker..

Pelfrey's stock has fallen trade wise, but does that mean he doesn't still have the same potential?

What do you expect from Mike Pelfrey in 2008?

Poll

Mike Pelfrey 2008

13%

Loses job within 2 Months similar to 2007

20 votes

13%

Middle Relief Pitcher

20 votes

8%

Dominate finally shows his potential (ERA in the 3's)

13 votes

64%

Decent Year shows signs of being dominate but also shows not ready (ERA 4.5 ish)

97 votes

150 votes | Poll has closed

A division that looked like the Mets had wrapped up became one of the biggest chokes in sports history, to a miracle.. now tied going to the final game of the season

Today the Mets destroyed the Marlins, and got an amazing performance by John Maine who made the Marlins look silly, besides a 35 foot dribbler Maine was unhittable, and striking out a career high and a mets high this year 14.

Also today the Phillies lost a close one to the Nationals 4-2, a bad defensive play by Ryan Howard cost the Phillies a run (Ironic the next comerical was the subway comericial and Jerred saying your underrated defensively) Chad Cordero had a 1,2,3 9th and the Nationals played spoiler once again.

The Mets will play the Marlins (Won 13-0)

Dontrell Willis vs Tom Glavine

Dontrell Willis was rocked by the Mets for 10 hits and 6 runs in 5 innings in April, then in September the Mets had plenty of base runners but couldn't get that big hit to knock him out of the game.
In 11 innings vs the Mets this year Dontrell has allowed 15 hits and 3 walks and 9 ER.

and the Phillies will play the Nationals(Lost 4-2)

Jason Bergmann vs Jamie Moyer

Bergmann has had 2 above average starts against the Phillies and 1 that he didn't make out of the 3rd inning, his last start on September 20th he went 6 innings giving up just 2 runs and striking out 7.

So My Question does the East get won tomorrow, or will it take a 1 game playoff?

If that one game comes up it will most likely be
Pedro Martinez VS Kyle Lohse

Pedro would be going on 3 days rest, after throwing a season high 103 pitches on Friday, he looked dominant striking out 8 and giving up just 2 ER but failed to get run support. He has only made 5 starts since coming back from Rotator Cuff Injury, and this will be the biggest test on his arm yet coming back on short rest. In his one start vs Philly this year he went 6 innings while striking out 9 and giving up just 1 ER.

Kyle Lohse hasn't had the best success against the Mets this year both as a Red and a Philly. In 3 starts he has an ERA near 7 against the Mets and has just gone 13.1 innings in the 3 starts failing to go 5 in 2 of the 3 starts. Lohse was amazing in his last start against the Braves in a must win game going 7 innings striking out 5 and just 2 ER.

So my question to you!

Poll

How does this turn out?

56%

Phillies Win Division

59 votes

9%

Tie For The Division Mets Beat Phillies 1 game Playoff

10 votes

19%

Tie for the division Phillies beat the Mets 1 game playoff

20 votes

15%

Mets Win Division

16 votes

105 votes | Poll has closed

from www.mets.lohudblogs.com

"First thing Willie Randolph told us this morning is Phil Humber will start Wednesday vs. Nationals."

All I have to say is finally, The Mets have been acting like Humber doesn't exist lately, and for a second I thought they were going to throw the left handed Brian Lawrence, Dave Williams on Wednesday instead but finally they came to their senses and thought, Hmm maybe we should start the guy who has the potential to go deep into this game, instead of the guy who at best will give us 5 IP 10 hits 4 ER

Whats your prediction for Humber's start? we have to remember he hasn't started in like a month, and hasn't appeared in a game in a couple of weeks.

mine 5 IP 2 ER 4 k's 3 walks

anyone know when the next roster update is coming out? been looking foward to it, and I think they do one roster update a month..

I'm not sure where to look to find out when it comes out so I figure I'd look here..

also a list of players who should be coming in the update..

I know

Joba,Maybin,and the Indians 2B name slipped my mind.. Humber is a possibility..

Well it's pretty late for one, but come on KEVIN MULVEY made his AAA debuet!!

6 IP 3 hits 0 ER 0 WALKS 3 K's

IDK I like him for some reason, think he'll be up around mid-season next year, and will be a good back end of the rotation guy with some very good years.

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Seriously looking at there numbers in AAA before they got called up they are almost exactly the same..

Wainwright: 10-10 4.4 ERA 147 k's in 187 IP
Humber: 11-9 4.2 ERA 120 k's in 139 IP

They both have the devistating curveball, and coming out of the pen would allow Humber to sit in the mid 90's...

sadly Humber won't make the postseason roster as a relief pitcher like Wainwright did last season, but I think they will have similar careers..

Well Humber will probably get called up Saturday to start for the Mets then move to the bullpen for the rest of the season, hopefully he impresses so the Mets can get a good look at him..

Just read this quote on Wright and it made me want to ask people how good they think David Wright is and how good he will be in the future.

"I sit there and watch at-bats by our ballclub in key spots, and then I watch the other side," Little said. "I see, with a runner in scoring position, David Wright and how he works the middle of the field every single time and has success doing it. That's the story."

One thing I love about Wright is he makes adjustments he's been doing it his entire career and I'll admit it took him a long time to get over the homerun derby. He said it has no effect but all of a sudden he had a leg kick and an upercut swing..

Well then comes this season he has a Horrible April where he hits no homeruns hit .244 and had just 6 RBI.

and yet still he is on pace for .316 29 homeruns 105 RBI and 35 steals. a possible 30/30..

Ranks 9th in NL in BA (.316)

Ranks 4th in NL in R (89)

Ranks 8th in NL in BB (76)

Ranks 6th in NL in SB (28)

Ranks 6th in NL in OBP (.411)

Ranks 9th in NL in OPS (.940)

He obviously isn't as good a third baseman as Miggy in the same division offensively, but he's no slacker either. Also with Wright I feel he will do what's in the teams best interest and I think he showed that by taking that smaller contract, when on the other side Miggy got 7 million in arb and won't re-sign with the Marlins after he's a FA.

Ever since being moved to the #3 spot in the order and having Reyes/Castillo infront of him the RBI have been coming more and more..

So my question is this David's peak at age 24? Will he keep getting better? or will he have a quick declone..

Poll

David Wright's Future

35%

Will Only Get better

57 votes

47%

A Hall of fame player

76 votes

3%

Will Decline

5 votes

14%

He's at his peak

23 votes

161 votes | Poll has closed

Well I figured there was none up so I made one..

Philip Humber pitching tonight trying to get back on track and so far that's what he's done

no hitter through 4 with 5 k's..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pitched again for the St.Lucie Mets and had much better results this time.

5 innings pitch 2 hits, 0 ER 1 Walk 4 strike outs
4 to 7 groundball to fly ball ratio.

gave up 2 unearned runs, because of 2 errors by the SS.

I'll be back with info after the interviews..
But after this Pedro will either make a start for Brooklyn, or be called up to the Majors.  

The reason for this is because Pedro says he doesn't care about results he just wants to execute his pitches so no matter what level he pitches at he's going to do the same thing.

What should the Mets do?

Poll

Where should Pedro pitch next?

34%

For The Mets

19 votes

23%

Brooklyn (so he's in NY)

13 votes

23%

New Orleans (AAA)

13 votes

18%

Bighamton (AA)

10 votes

55 votes | Poll has closed

Paulino came up in 2006 and had a great run as Pirates catcher.. he batted .310 with 6 homeruns and 55 RBI in 442 at bats.. and many people thought he was going to have a great season and become one of the best catchers in the NL.

Well fast foward to 2007 and he's having a down year average wise but more pop..
.243 9 39 in 334 at bats..

What are your thoughts on Ronnie Paulino what kind of player do you think he really is the .310 hitter or the .243 hitter?

The reason why im asking is because during the trading deadline there was a lot of talk of the Mets getting Paulino during the winter, and I thought it would be a great idea because I'd rather have a 26-27 year old catcher then the 36+ year old catchers that are out there..

If Paulino could be had what do you think it would cost?

Here's the qoute from the Daily News

"and according to a National League official, the Mets are laying the groundwork for a potential winter trade for Pittsburgh's Ronny Paulino."

John Sickles wrote a great story about Niese in the beginning of the year, Niese went downhill after his great April including a 7+ ERA in May and a 5.2 ERA in June.
But since then Niese has had a better July and a GREAT August one thing that stayed consistant even through his rough 2 month period was he was still striking out batters at a pretty high rate for someone who doesn't over power you..

He now stands 11-6 4.17 ERA with 102:27 strike out to walk ratio in 121 IP

he gets a ground ball 49% of the time and 20% of the time he strikes out batters.

But if I'm looking at this right hitters are hitting .275 against him which is very high..

He's still only 21 years old needs more time to perfect his pitches..

what do you think Jon Niese will become?

The Mets bullpen has been going down hill lately, and nobody but Jorge Sosa is having success (Wagner is doing fine a lil off lately)
They really need another MR pitcher to take the load off some of these other guys..

Now Philip Humber is still recovering from TJS and might be in his best interest to limit his innings..

Now he hasn't been good this year and lately he's been awful (food poising) but after he regroups and has 2 good starts I think he belongs in the MLB as a 6th inning pitcher (MR)

Humber over Pelfrey because Humber has the pitches, and it wouldn't hurt him working with Peterson in the pen.

Now a lot of people have lost faith in Humber, im not one of the people I don't think this is a long term thing.. To me it would be just like Lirinao put in the pen, or Wainwright last year.. and Joba this year.. There isn't a spot in the rotation, and the bullpen needs a lift.

Poll

Humber To The Pen A Good Idea?

55%

Yes

24 votes

27%

No

12 votes

16%

Great Idea

7 votes

43 votes | Poll has closed

3 Innings 6 hits 5 ER 5 k's 2 Homeruns

How do you know what to look for in this start? Gary Cohen said it best

are you looking at his velocity?
or the ER?
Or how he feels tomorrow

obviously he's no where near ready yet and probably earned himself another start in St.Lucie..

but how do you look at this start?

I've been keeping track of the St.Lucie starters and deolis guerra has missed 2 turns in the rotation.. The last time he started was in a 3 inning game that was postponed. Any info on his injury?

Also does anyone have any info on Fernando Martinez?

And how can you people say the Braves will win the NL EAST? comon there like 4 games back I don't care if they got tex they still have caryle, and jo jo reyes in their rotation.. the Mets rotation is 10x better and the offense isn't that much of a difference now that Wright is hitting.