It's only been one week, but the Mets "big three" prospects are creating quite a buzz.     

Ike Davis has been the team's best hitter so far, batting .571 with 3 doubles and a monster grand slam.  If Davis continues to tear it up, he could give Daniel Murphy a run for his money.  Of course, there are some concerns about his defense, and at times he has appeared visibly nervous.  Davis will eventually come back to Earth, and I think its best for everybody if he starts the year in AAA.   

How about Fernando Martinez?  A lot of people are down on the kid, and that's because he's been overhyped and overmatched for almost four years.  But people forget that he is just 21 years old and still a tremendous prospect.  Martinez flashed that potential on Saturday, going 4-4 with 2 solo homeruns.  At this point the job is Angel Pagan's to lose.  But if he struggles, I don't think the Mets would hesitate to give F-Mart the job until Beltran is healthy.  Like Davis, he is probably better off in AAA, but if he is truly ready there is no reason to hold him back.

But by far the most impressive been Jenrry Mejia.  Before games even started, Mejia was the talk of the camp, drawing comparisons to Mariano Rivera.  Even as a Mets fan, I think that's sacrilegious.  But there's no doubt that this kid has a special arm.  When he finally took the mound on Friday he lived up to hype.  Mejia was electric in 2 1/3 perfect innings, striking out 4 and touching 97 mph on the gun.  Even though he is just 20 years old, he is garnering strong consideration to make the opening day roster.  I still think if you have a guy with ace potential you don't move him to the bullpen.  But who knows, with K-Rod's health in question, Mejia could make a push to close some games for the Mets in 2010.  He's that good. 

It's been a hell of a week if you like Mets prospects.  And let me stress this, the statistics mean nothing.  It's just spring training.  But its good to see these guys flashing their potential and competing for opening day jobs at such a young age.  I think that when all is said and done, all three will start the year in the minors.  But by the end of the year I expect each one of them to contribute.

Coming straight for the "thank the lord, I needed to hear that" department, Jayson Stark reports in a interview with The Fan that Cole Hamels is looking fantastic down in Florida.  Phew.  There's a big difference between quality Florida pitching and regular season success, however it's a leap in the right direction.  Here's the transcript from iSportacus:

“Cole Hamels showed up last spring throwing 77 mph…This winter, he has been a man on a mission…I’m telling you, he is throwing harder in the bullpen sessions than he threw in the games last spring.”

That's the kind of stuff Hamels needs to have written about him to be our ace again.  "Man on a mission" -- kind of like his 2008 playoff performance.  Kind of the way we've been praying he would pitch since he first showed his brilliance as a rookie.  I only wish I had resigned him in my fantasy league before this tid bit broke.  And the praise doesn't stop there, more from iSportacus:

In an article in the Delco Times, Raul Ibanez had this to say about Hamels: “Honestly, he looks great,” workout maven Raul Ibanez said, one of four hitters to face Hamels Friday. “From watching him, he’s looks stronger. He looks thicker than he did before. He looks like he’s in really good shape and excited to get going. He’s in a really good frame of mind.”

The post also talks about Hamels adding a curveball and cutter to his repertoire for the upcoming season, both of which will be on display this Friday.  Well, at least Hamels is admitting that he previously had zero curveball to speak of.  That lack of a third pitch speaks volumes about just how good of a pitcher he is if he can get by on two pitches alone (get by is a relative term in this context).

Well, I don't know about the rest of the Philly Phaithful, but I needed this news at some point in the Spring and I'm ecstatic now that's it's finally here.

Apparently locker room bare-chest and bare-knuckle boxing wasn't the only damage Tony Bernazard caused the Mets last season.  Namely, it was his organizationally implemented "extreme opposite field approach" that sapped the power numbers and led to Citi Field seeing less homers than centerfield at the Polo Grounds.  The former executive was displeased with the teams ability to execute situational hitting, especially with runners aboard, and mandated this new approach to look to hit the ball the other way.

Now that he's gone, understandably the blame for this has been rest solely on Bernazard and that's fine.  It's irrelevant who's idea it was, all that matters is the philosophy is seemingly to blame and it has been changed.  That being said, I have trouble blaming the opposite field approach for the Mets struggles offensively.  Will it sap some power? Surely.  However, will it lead to better overall hitting?  Most likely.  Most pitchers work away because the majority of hitters naturally pull the ball better and look to do so if the count and pitches allow it.  It's harder to hit outside and there's less chance of beaning the guy and putting him on -- it's a safer area to pitch out away from the hitter.  Employing an opposite field approach allows the hitter to take that pitch and smack it for a hit instead of waiting for a better inside pitch that he may never get and possibly backing himself into a disadvantage count.

Can overemphasis of this approach lead to bad results?  Absolutely and that seems to be the consensus of what happened in New York, namely with David Wright (of course... reason no. 278 why his power numbers were down!).  But were his downsized power numbers the travesty the media made them out to be?  I say no.  In May and June, before Wright's reduced power became the talk of the town, Wright hit .378 and .365 respectively in those months.  My thought process as to why comes back to that notion of opposite field hitting.  Early in the season, Wright was lacing balls 2, 3, 4 inches off the plate into right field for singles as if it were child's play.  There didn't seem to be a way to get him out.  Who cares if he's not hitting jacks if he's hitting .370, his OPS was still near 1.000 which is phenomenal.

But you're screaming, and you're right, he struggled so mightily down the stretch, the approach had to have caught up.  His batting average on balls in play was astronomical in May/June, no wonder he hit for so high an average.  Then in July/August/Sept. that BABIP came crashing down to Earth, duh.  However, wasn't that July swoon right about the time that the media started stamping their feet and complaining that their big, bad three-hole hitter wasn't hitting home runs like he used to?  It didn't matter that he was hitting in the high .300's at the time, why the hell wasn't he hitting home runs.

And that's about the time that Wright started pressing for home runs.  The swing changed, the approach changed, and there's nothing worse for your swing that overswinging and trying to hard to hit home runs.  The stats reflect it.  Isn't your batting average on balls in play is going to be high if you're disciplined and hit the balls hard to all fields and going to dive-bomb when you dip and jack for the fence every time up?  So, he couldn't hit anything down the stretch, then he got beaned in the head and the rest goes down with '09 season in infamy.  Whatever happened in '09, I don't want to hear about the opposite field approach as being the problem, at least not for David Wright, unless they were docking guys pay for pulling balls or something illogical like that.  Then again, it's the Mets were talking here, anything is possible.

Added By Benny B.

The Hardball times did an analysis on the Mets Pull Vs. Oppo hitting and found that in the course of one season they went from the top 5 pull hitting teams (2008) to the top 5 oppo hitting teams (2009).  So it does appear that regardless of who implemented the philosophy, the Mets implemented oppo hitting hardcore in 2009.

This definitely could have contributed to the reduction power numbers.  And Wright--who got off to a blazing start--could have been over-swinging, over-thinking or whatever "over" moniker you wish to add.  However, the most obvious explanation for the decrease in power and Wright's July-September swoon was the utter lack of power and protection in the lineup. Beltran, Delgado & Reyes were all out for extended periods of time in 2009.  That's 3 core players; two of which protected Wright.

So there is no need to over-think this one.  When a lineup has no power, it's not going to hit for power.  When your only power hitter has no protection the pitcher has an advantage and of course Wright is going to natuaraly press and try make things happen; falling right into the pitcher's trap.  The oppo drill, spacious Citifield  & the "Over" fill-in-the blanks are all secondary reasons or a result of not having any power or protection in a lineup long term.

Men, today is not a day to surf MLBTradeRumors, read Buster Olney, and research for your fantasy team.  At least not from three to six this afternoon, at that time, you will watch Olympic hockey.  It is your patriotic duty to cheer on the Americans over the Canadians in the gold medal game.  The match-up presents everything we love to root for.  The best players and the biggest stage in the sport, an underdog, and Americans.  So sack up, drink domestic, and root for the U.S. this afternoon.

(and check out the Bloguin Olympic Hockey Blog, while you're at it)

2010 looms as an important year for Mr. Flushing, David Wright. Last season was a disaster from a team and individual standpoint.  DW hit 10 homers in the inaugural season at Citi Field and the Mets critics were all over him (some deserved, some not).  Luckily for Wright, the team was so bad that it really didn't matter if he hit 50 home runs, they still would've been terrible.  However, if all goes according plan for the Metropolitans in 2010, there's a resurgence and the team contends for the division, that indifference won't be the case again.  The pressure is on for the young cornerstone to produce, produce.. produce this season.  And then some if he's going to get the NY media monkey off his back.

So David Wright did the right thing.  He took the offseason seriously, put on some muscle and looks like Hercules.  He's the classic spring training "best shape of his life" guy and ready to roll in '10.  Hooray, Yipee, Wahoo, blah, blah, blah.  All that's great except for the fact that it's 2010 and he looks like Hercules.  Add in the fact that he only hit 10 home runs last year after four straight years of 25 plus jacks.  Put that together and what do you get?  The answer shouldn't be too surprising:

The "steroids" whispers/allegations running rampant in mid-August when Wright has 30 home runs stream rolling into September. David Wright will be "outraged, disappointed, blindsided" you name it and whomever started the "controversy" will get lambasted by every major media outlet around.  Then barring a positive test (hardly out of the question, I mean, it is 2010) everything will blow over and away.  Unless of course he only hits 10 homers again in 2011, but that's a story for another day.

Is it justified?  Is it fair?  Does Wright deserve it?  It doesn't matter.  Baseball is so far past all the moral issues of who's toes are getting stepped on and who feels mistreated.  If you want to get swoll in the offseason and add shredded muscle, you've got to develop some thick skin because somewhere along the line someone is going to come out and pose the inevitable question:  Is player X on steroids?  It's a sad, but true story of the game of baseball today.

Not only was the question posed, it was borderline screamed by Will Carroll on twitter the other day, here's the tweet in it's entirety:

So Gagne regrets ... something and Wright shows up at camp *noticeably* more muscular. In other words, nothings changed in baseball.

Wow.  We could pretend that Carroll's words are a commentary on the media's handling and creation of the steroid witch hunt, but that's not the case.  In reality, Carroll is expressing the fact that we can't trust the players anymore, no matter who they are.  Baseball players have run out of second chances.  "I didn't do it."  "I'd never disgrace the game." "I'm offended you'd ask that."  From now on, let's ignore all the verbal politicking through the media.  If a seemingly good guy like David Wright has to swallow some criticism and controversy, so be it.  Raul Ibanez had to take a few shots last year and plenty more guys will in the future.  I can't imagine that we'll stop hearing about it until the guys stop cheating or it becomes legal... so yeah, never.

Via the Big League Stew/Hardball Talk whatever they're calling it these days...

More pictures after the jump!

At the end of this season, Ruben Amaro is going to be under the gun.  Jayson Werth established himself as one of the Phillies best players last season and he becomes a free agent.  If Jay puts together a season similar to his outstanding work in 2009, this pay day will be a big one.  Werth is a four tool player who does all four of those things exceptionally: hit for power, play defense, steal bases, and throw from the outfield.  That fifth tool (batting average) isn't a strong suit of his, but it's not so mediocre as to be detrimental to the ball club.

Werth started his career as a promising young outfielder drafted by the Orioles, immediately traded to the Blue Jays and moved again after a few stints in the bigs to the Dodgers.  A 6'5" lanky outfielder who projected with plus-power and good speed, Jay was derailed by wrist injuries throughout his time in LA.  The Phillies signed him in 2007 to platoon in the outfield and by 2008 he'd taken the position from Geoff Jenkins on a full-time basis.  In '09, well you know all about the career year that the Wolfman put together.  In 2010, now 31, Werth will earn himself a huge contract on the market if he continues his improved play.  Another 36 homer, 20 stolen base season will all but cement a contract well above the 3 year, $30 million that Raul signed last offseason.  Matt Holliday money is a little aggressive for the big right fielder because this will only be his second full season as a starter, but the money will be big and presumably, long as well.

Jayson Werth took questions about his future recently and here is some insight on the comment and situation:

MLBTR: Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer was part of the group questioning Werth about the future today.  Asked if he sees himself as comparable to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, Werth said he feels he's "a season away from something like that."  Keep in mind that 2009 was the only time Werth reached 500 plate appearances in his seven-year career.

Werth says he's only had very preliminary talks with the Phillies about an extension.  He wants to stay, and deferred to his agent when asked if he'd negotiate in-season.  GM Ruben Amaro Jr. raised the topic a month ago, saying "there will be some difficult decisions down the road."

It seems feasible that Werth will exceed the three-year, $30MM range occupied by Raul Ibanez and Milton Bradley the previous offseason.  Werth has advantages over both players, and given a strong 2010 he should be able to command four or five years at at least $12MM per.

Hardball Talk: Cliff Lee had "preliminary" talks with the Phillies too. He was shipped out of town, like, a week later.  I don't think that Werth will get the same treatment -- he's quite popular in Philly and it's not like the Phillies can just go out and grab the a rightfield equivalent of Roy Halladay to take his place -- but it's going to be a little complicated.

My guess: Philly will look to lock him up with some sort of backloaded deal in which the real money kicks in after Raul Ibanez's, Brad Lidge's and maybe even Ryan Howard's money comes off the books in 2012.

My guess?  The Wolfman ends up leaving town after a deal can't be done in house.  I'll be sad when he goes, but if Domonic Brown plays well and Raul doesn't need an AARP card by the end of 2010, Jayson Werth might end up being the odd man out.

UPDATE:  Johan says they had a catch together and the "can't grip a ball" rumors are not true.  Well, damn -- forget everything I just said.

News out of Mets camp today, Kelvim Escobar has a sore shoulder to start out Spring Training.  This is the guy who missed the last two season's with shoulder problems (torn labrum) and was a major injury risk coming in.  $1.25 million dollars later, Escobar and his balky shoulder are having trouble again.  On the surface this doesn't appear to be all that noteworthy -- first days of spring, old pitchers are going to have shoulder soreness.

However, if Hardball Talk has it correctly, Escobar can't even grip a baseball right now and that signifies a much, much bigger problem.  I've had every type of shoulder soreness there is while playing ball.  Tendonitis, subluxation, impingement, rotator cuff weakness, labrum soreness, you name it.  Never once have I not been able to grip a baseball.  If I'm a Mets fan, I wouldn't count on seeing Escobar in that set-up man role for too much of this season.