On November 13th, 2006 the Mets broke ground on Citi Field.  At the time, they were coming off of a 97-65 campaign, and even though it ended painfully, the future looked bright.  It was an exciting time to be a Mets fan.  A good young team with a brand new stadium on the way. 

As construction began on the new stadium, the Mets picked up right where they left off in 2006.  They played lights out in 2007, and looked to be playoff bound again.  Up 7 games with 17 games to play, we watched the Mets collapse in historic fashion.  The team never recovered.  They were competitive in 2008, but something was clearly missing.  Willie Randolph was fired midseason (in typical Mets fashion), and Jerry Manuel lead a playoff push that fell just short.

On April 13th, 2009 Citi Field opened its doors.  Then things really got interesting.  20 Mets players landed on the disabled list throughout the year, totaling 1,480 days worth of injury time.  And we're not talking reserve players.  David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Carlos Delgado, Oliver Perez, John Maine, and JJ Putz all missed significant time.  The team limped to a 70-92 record, and although the core remains intact, the future appears bleak.  During the offseason, Carlos Beltran had knee surgery and is expected to miss at least a month.  Knowing this team, I wouldn't be shocked if he was out through the all-star break.  And it doesn't end there.  Who knows how long Reyes will be out with this extremely bizarre thyroid condition.  It's to the point where you can't even make this stuff up.

So is there really a curse on Citi Field?  At this point in time, the evidence is overwhelming.  The Wilpons get screwed over by Bernie Maddoff.  After signing a 20 year, $500 million agreement, Citibank nearly collapses and gets bailed out by the government.  The team can't buy a break and is decimated by injuries.  It's almost laughable.  I've only believed in one curse in my lifetime, and that was the curse of the Bambino.  But at some point, you have to stop calling it bad luck and see it for what it really is.  A curse.  I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Shea Stadium. 

Somebody had to do this post, so it might as well be me.  After three blood tests, it was confirmed that Jose Reyes has an over active thyroid. Firstly, I'd like to thank Phillie & Met fans alike on this site for not jumping to conclusions or engaging in some of the classlessness I've seen around the internet.  Everything from he was on PED's to actually taking joy in Jose's heath woes before it was determined that his issue is not career threatening (or life threatening for that matter).  So Kudos WTTTB.

So the diagnosis is that Jose can not do any physical exertion for 2-8 weeks until his hormone level normalizes.  Apparently this is the best diagnosis he could have received.  If this truly is an imbalence caused by all the seafood Reyes has been scarfing down lately, then he should be just fine and possibly be ready by opening day.  However, this is the Mets we are talking about so why do I get the sneaking suspicion that after 8 weeks of rest, his hormone levels will remain elevated and be forced to go on some medication (which could have been given to him from the get-go) and delay his return even further?  Anyway, I digress.

Two things bothered me throughout this whole process.  First was the media trying to fan the flames of the Beltran Vs. Mets medical staff mess by trying to portray that Reyes was yet another met to contradict the front office.  ESPN, Daily News & NY Post all printed stories as did countless bloggers using this quote as there basis.

The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I'm fine and that there's nothing wrong with my thyroid.

However, this was his entire quote:

The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I'm fine and that there's nothing wrong with my thyroid. The test [taken to follow one conducted during his physical] showed that I'm fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed.

While Reyes thought he would be on the field in a couple days rather that a couple of weeks, his quote is in line with what the Mets have been saying.  He does not need any medication for his thyroid, and he attributed his raised hormone levels to an "inflammation in his throat".  But when do facts ever get in the way of some good ol' Mets bashing?

Secondly--and more importantly--is now the Mets have the prospect of having the WORST middle infield defense EVER with Cora & Castillo.  This does not bode well for a pitcher like Mike Pelfry that relys on infield defense with that sinker of his.  Omar Minaya--who I am hating more and more every day--actually had the balls to say in the press conference that "this is why he went out and resigned Alex Cora".  Really Omar!?  You predicted Jose would have a thyroid problem?  Listen, it doesn't take Nostradamus to predict that Jose may have a baseball related issue with his legs after last season.  For those of you that don't remember, Cora was the first player that Omar resigned and over-paid for.  I was always under the impression he was signed for his leadership and less for his abilities on the field for, you know, a below replacement level hitter and defender.  But there was Omar, patting himself on the back for this signing when there were three better options that could have been had for cheaper.

What's more, is that it has come to light that Cora has a clause in his contract that automatically triggers a player option for 2011 based on playing time.  So if Reyes has any setbacks, and they use Cora as the primary backup, he could be diving for missed balls up the middle at SS/2B next year too.  So Omar, if you take credit for this signing now, you certainly have to take responsibilities for his certain failure if he is exposed as an every day player.  If Jerry and Omar are smart, and Jose starts the season on the DL, do the right thing and give 20 year old Reuben Tejada the bulk of the starts at SS.  He is a far superior defender, and any offensive shortcomings (if there are any compared to Cora) will be made up two fold in the field.  Hear me now!  CORA IS A BACKUP & A CLUBHOUSE LEADER. Nothing more.  If Jose is out for an extended period of time, and he's used as the primary SS, he will get injured.  He simply can no longer handle the rigors of an everyday player.

On the bright side, this could be nothing.  But if it is something, this could hasten the long over due departure of Omar (which I guess would be a net gain).  Even without Beltran & Reyes in the lineup recently, the Mets have been raking--which is interesting considering that pitchers should be ahead of the hitters at this stage of spring training.  I am excited about Davis, Mejia, Thole et al.  However, if Bay or Wright gets injured while Beltran & Reyes are out, we are in the same situation we were last year.  And instead of seeing the rookies, we could see the likes of Cora, Jacobs & GMJ!  I watch the Mets to see our stars and home grown players play (and to win of course).  If they can't play, I'd rather see our young future than old stop gaps. It just makes for more interesting baseball.

So, well see how this all shakes out.  If you are a Mets fan, this is just another hurdle that we need to overcome.  It's nothing new to us.  But it would be nice to have an organization that assembles a lineup by putting performance and talent over "intangibles".  Hey, a man can dream, can't he?  Right?  Right?!

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of seeing Roy Halladay throw against the Braves in Spring Training at their Wide World of Sports complex (I think that's what it is called at least) along with the rest of my college baseball team (yes, I'm on a spring training trip of my own, which explains my lack of posting this week).  Doc threw well and sans a few hits it would have been a flawless outing for the new ace.  He threw against Kenshin Kawakami and it was blatantly obvious that he's on a different level (not that you needed me to tell you that).  I guess the point I'm trying to convey is that watching Doc Halladay pitch was exciting because you could see his command and control and dominance with each pitch.  Needless to say I'm very excited to see him throw in mid-season form.  3 innings, 3 hits, 5 strikeouts for the big righty.

Other thinking points from the game:

-- Jason Heyward ... is a monster.  I am thoroughly afraid of him being in the NL East in the next decade.  This may be unbelievable but he's larger than Ryan Howard.  Easily.  Not only that he flies around the bases and has an absolute cannon from the outfield.  Not to mention that he's only 20 years old and already walks with a presence wherever he is in the stadium.  Should be a phenomenal pro and is rightfully so the best prospect in baseball.

-- Sadly, I didn't get to see Domonic Brown hit.  We had to leave early as a group and it remains my biggest regret of the night.

-- Chase Utley was MIA on the field and despite the fact that I knew he wasn't playing I found myself searching for him all game.

-- Jayson Werth has ascended to superstar level as a Phillie.  He got an ovation similar to that of Rollins and Howard.  It's good to see the Wolfman getting his due for the tremendous season he put together in 2009.

Hilarious moment, someone smashed a double into the left field gap and Jay Werth literally didn't move an inch.  From the pitch to contact to the end of the play his legs didn't so much as twitch.  It shouldn't be noteworthy at all but it's something you wouldn't see during a telecast.

-- The Phils have a catcher on the Spring Training roster named Tuffy Gosewisch.  Amazing.  I hope he makes the squad.

-- Danys Baez is just awkward enough [delivery wise] that I think he'll be a successful piece of the Phillies bullpen.  Relievers are more effective the weirder they are, I'm sure of it.

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!