It’s not just Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya that have to worry about fast starts to the season or their jobs being in jeopardy.  The same case could be made for Jeff Francoeur, Daniel Murphy, and Rod Barajas.  The way Ike Davis, Fernando Martinez, and Josh Thole have been playing in a way this spring that makes you suspect they’ll be knocking at the door to Citi Field sooner rather than later.

With Reyes possibly being out some, or all, of April the pressure on the starting pitching has just doubled.  The most recent report on April suggests that he may be back closer to mid April, but that’s still a rough estimate.

We’ve known for a while that the season was going to hinge on the starting pitching.  The offense was projected to be one of the top in the league, and surely would’ve won some games on it’s own even when the pitching struggled.  With Reyes and Beltran out, they may not have that cushion for a while, but this doesn’t mean the Mets are doomed to a 9-13 type record to start the season.

The fast start is more important than ever, and if Maine, Perez, and Pelfrey can have a good month of April the Mets will still win games.  We all know they’re each capable of pitching good games.  It was expected before the season that they could definitely pitch competitively and keep us in games, but now they may be pressured to actually win the games.  Instead of quality start performances and limiting the opponents to three runs over six innings, stepping up and going seven innings and occasionally limiting the other teams to merely one or two runs becomes important to the Mets early success.

This isn’t to say the Mets lineup is useless, and that they won’t occasionally put up a crooked number, but Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are two of the most irreplaceable players in the game today.  The season is never won and lost in April, but if the pitching can step up and win more games than they lose, not only will it minimize the damage caused by losing Reyes and Beltran, it will set them up nicely once they return.

This post brought to you by the self-proclaimed Optimistic Mets Fan.

Now that the dust is beginning to settle and it looks like Jose Reyes may soon be cleared to resume baseball activities. Reports start coming in of how the Mets latest handling of player injuries was perceived by their star player.

In an article by Mike Puma of the NY Post Peter Greenberg, Jose Reyes agent says “Jose was a little upset.” Greenberg says he and his client felt “blindsided” when the Mets issued that press release.

The article goes on to show that the Mets may not have learned from the mistakes of the past. Something that is a definite cause for concern as we head into this critical 2010 season.

You knew you had to be concerned when Minaya said he couldn’t explain the comment from Reyes.

“You’ll have to ask him that,” Minaya said. “But I can tell you I had a conversation with our doctors, I had a conversation with their representative and we’re all in agreement that he has elevated thyroid levels. … Like I said, I can’t answer for Jose. I do know that we had a conversation because I understand there was something said. But when we both left the conversation with the doctor and his representative, we were in agreement.”

You’ll have to ask him (Reyes) that? Are you serious? Shouldn’t Minaya as GM be communicating with his star player to find where the misunderstanding occurred before he continues to release statements that let’s face it, make Minaya look like he is more concerned about defending the accuracy of his press release than the relief that Jose Reyes Thyroid issue may not be serious?

You want to give Minaya the benefit of the doubt. You want to believe the Mets are turning things around but how many more incidents with your star players no less before you say enough?

So at his daily press briefing Mets skipper Jerry Manuel broke the bad - yet not surprisingly bad news that possible set up man, Kelvim Escobar will more than likely start the season on the disabled list. Okay now before you blame the Mets medical staff, Omar Minaya or the new team trainers motto of prevention & recovery we have to put things into perspective here. First off this was a low risk / high reward signing. Escobar has not pitched more than five innings in the last three years, the Mets took a gamble here - not monetarily but they avoided some good relievers this off season because from what they scouts saw in winter ball this past season, he looked strong. Secondly he can still possibly be healthy and useful by mid-season which could give the bull pen a rest if they have been overused. Third he only signed for slightly more than a million dollars so that salary is not a drain on the budget.
But the one question that remains is if not Kelvim then who? Ryota Irigashi? Bobby Parnell? Jenry Mejia? Oreither Joe Beimel orRon Mahay ? Personally I have stated that I would love to see Parnell earn the job because he has such a dominating fastball . But if he is not ready, I think it is about time that the Mets give Kiko Calero’s agent a phone call and try to sign him to be Francisco Rodriguez’s setup man.

Here are Calero’s stats , first from last season and then his career splits.

I think his stats speak for themselves. He doesn’t give up the long ball all that often, he strikes out hitters more than he walks them, and his E.R.A. was  a highly respectable 1.95  for a Marlins team that overachieved. I think Omar would do himself an injustice if he didn’t at least inquire about him. And OH YEAH HE’S A TYPE B FREE AGENT THAT WAS NOT OFFERED ARBITRATION !!!

                                                             ” Will Kiko be out eighth inning man?”

And with that said … HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!
Happy Birthday wishes go out to Mets coach from the ‘91 team Tom Spencer. He is 59 today. (1951)
Pitcher from the’06 team,  Brian Bannister is 29.(1981)  I remember Brian as being a long shot to make the rotation in ‘06 but he pitched so well in spring training that the Mets had to include him on the roster. He was at times wild but when he was on he was close to unhittable.  He went down in the middle of the season with a hamstring injury and wasn’t able to rehab in time for the post season. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals for the waste of life Abiorix Burgos , where he has proven to be a decent number five starter.

Sadly on this date last year , pitcher Tom Sturdivant of the ‘64 team passed away.
New York Mets purchased Dave Kingman from the San Francisco Giants on February 28, 1975. Remarkably enough  on the same date in 1981 the Mets reacquired Kingman in a trade with the Chicago Cubs for one time rising star outfielder, Steve Henderson . Unfortunately Kingman’s limited range at first base had become even more limited and his batting average ( which had never been great)  declined, making him a feast or famine home run hitter.

New York Mets signed free agent reliever Pedro Feliciano on February 28, 2006. Pedro set a Mets single season appearance record last season .

And while you watch the Men’s U.S.A Hockey team play  Team Canada , just remember 36 days until the Mets open the 2010 season against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field.

Well it looks like the Mets are about to address a need that they sorely needed last season. No sadly they still aren’t going to let us common folks in the the Ebbits Club ( or whatever it’s now called). MLBTR.com writer , Luke Adams reported that the Mets have been in negotiations with Left handed reliever Joe Beimel . Beimel has confirmed that he is pondering a offer from the Mets, The speculation is that the Mets offer is on par with what they recently paid catcher Rod Barajas ($1MM or less), and if he signs with the Mets he would be used to compliment pitcher Pedro Feliciano ( another left handed reliever) out of the bull pen.

“We’ve been talking to them for a good part of the off season. I am still just being patient, waiting for the right deal,” said Beimel.

Bemiel pitched for the Washington Nationals last season . He appeared  in 71 games for both the Nationals and the Colorado Rockies in 2009, finishing the season with a overall 3.58 ERA in 55.1 IP.
I think if he signs this could be the missing piece that will solidify this bull pen. Beimel may not be a sexy name but he has proven in the past that he can get outs when the game is on the line in the middle innings of the game. I just hope Omar can pull this off.

                                ” Will the tattooed mad man show off his ink as a Met this season?”

And now … ON WITH THE INFAMY !!!!

Happy Birthday to one of the original members of the ‘62 Mets. Catcher Sammy Taylor. ( 1933) He was one of the only cathers on the Mets to make it to their second season ( I believe there were seven catchers that played for the Mets in total that season). He would be traded during the ‘63 season to the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Jesse Gonder.
Also  celebrating a birthday is one of the worst pitchers from the ‘94 team - Pete Smith (1966) Smith that season would go 4-10 with a E.R.A of 5.55 He would sign with the Reds the next season .

And don’t forget , there are just 37 more Casey Stengels until the Mets open the 2010 season against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field.

If your getting home and wondering if you missed any Mets News today here is some of today’s Mets highlights.

Baseball America released their Top 100 List and 4 Mets made the Top 100.

• 56 Jennry Mejia, rhp, Mets
• 62 Ike Davis, 1b, Mets
• 77 Fernando Martinez, of, Mets
• 88 Wilmer Flores, ss, Mets

Staying with Baseball America they also help a online chat session with Ike Davis. One of the questions asked was “Who were your favorite players coming up as a young kid? And who’s game do you try to pattern yourself after?” he replied, “Growing up I liked to watch Mark Grace, John Olerud, Bonds, Steve Finley, and Chipper Jones. I loved watching power hitters that were at the top of their game.”

Noah K. Murray of the The Star-Ledger gave us this interesting photo of Fred Wilpon and Omar Minaya. Looks like Wilpon doesn’t want to buy what Minaya is selling.

Adam Rubin of The NY Daily News reports that “A Mets official said the team would sign a remaining free agent LHP to complement Pedro Feliciano if Joe Beimel would accept a Rod Barajas-type contract (one year, $1 million).”

Jason Bay arrived today at Mets camp and sat down and did a 15 minute interview with reporters that Brian Costa of The Star-Ledger made available here. One of the questions he answered was,

Do you get a bad rap as a defensive player?
“Ah, people have their opinions. There’s some numbers that put me in a good light and obviously some that don’t. I’ve said it 100 times, I know I’m not Torii Hunter out there, but I feel like I’m an above-average outfielder, I feel like I can get to the balls that I’m supposed to get to, I know my limitations, I know my strengths, and I play to them.”

Frenchy asks the best question toward the end of the interview. “How bout that USA hockey team!”

Finally if you want to see Mejia throw off a mound SNY has a field reporter that provided video footage.

I know what you are thinking and so here lies the honest answer -No my headline today is not meant to be a snarky, sarcastic commentary of how spring training in Port St Lucie has been going so far. From the accounts that I have been reading , this team thus far is showing signs of chemistry, along with a myriad of feel good stories. First off  Carlos Beltran reported to camp yesterday , went into a closed door meeting with Omar Minaya and when he emerged he was quoted as saying that he ” cares about his legacy as a Met “. This quote - and the fact that he is in spring training right now when he isn’t required to speaks volumes in my opinion. From what I have been reading, Japanese import Ryota Igarshi has been wowing the coaching staff with his  curveball and he might be on the fast track for the eighth inning set up man’s spot. David Wright is looking more like Tony Atlas than Gomer Pyle  with his new weight lifting routine, Rod Barajas has passed his physical and is expected to arrive at camp today and even Gary Matthews Jr. seems happy to be here - maybe I am wrong about him and he can be the cagey old veteran that helped tutor the rookies last year just like Gary Sheffield did before he threw his temper tantrum because the Mets wouldn’t give him a contract extension.  Hell even Mike Francesa couldn’t make my optimism waver !!!I can’t believe I am drinking the Kool Aid  - OMAR !?!? ARE YOU JIM JONES IN DISGUISE !!!!!

                                                                                    Mr. Met sez:

                                                                 ” Be optimistic - or no t-shirt for you !!!”

And with that said … HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!

Happy Birthday wishes go out to the following.

The Mets first Rookie Of The Year Candidate , and their all time hit by pitch leader, Ron Hunt is 69 (1941) .

Pitcher  from the ‘67 - ‘68 teams, Don Shaw is 66 (1944) .

One of the Mets all time great second basemen - Ken Boswell is  64 (1946) . Unfortunately due to a dispute with the current Mets organization, Don didn’t attend last years 40th celebration of the ‘69 Mets World Series team.

One of the most hated Mets players ever ( and rightfully so !) -Bobby Bonillia is 47  (1963) . Bobby made it very hard to root for. Yes he put up great power numbers in his first stint with the Mets, but his lack of hustle and his run ins with the media soured his relationship among the Mets fans. This year starts the defered payment plan that the Mets set up  when they bought him out of his contact in ‘99. He will be by the Mets paid for the next 35 years.

Utility outfielder from the ‘08 team - Chris Aguillia is 30 today. (1979)