Tom Seaver Fan Club

The Tigers took it to starter Oliver Perez today.  He gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in two innings of work.  I had high hopes for a return to the old 2004 version of Oliver Perez but my faith is wavering about now.

The Mets did mount a comeback and made it a one run game after going down by five runs.  Ben Johnson had two hits and two runs and Julio Franco and David Newhan each drove in two runs.  The Mets will square off against St. Louis tomorrow.  Maybe we can get a little revenge for last year’s NLCS defeat.

Tim Brown at Yahoo recently took a look at outfield phenom Lastings Milledge.  Apparantly he ruffled some feathers last year but this year he plans on doing his job and fitting in. 

It looks like the prognosis on Orlando Hernandez isn’t that bad.  He was diagnosed with arthritis in his neck and after a cortisone shot, he should be ready to go after taking about three to four days off. 

This news is pretty huge because the Mets can’t afford to lose any of their starters, especially the ones at the front end of their rotation.  The offense is going to carry this team but we still need “some” pitching to get the job done.

Things are looking pretty ugly in the Mets rotation.  The team lost one of it’s two vets in Orlando Hernandez when the right hander left camp to have his neck examined.  That leaves Tom Glavine and several question marks to help shore up the rotation until Pedro Martinez comes back about mid year.  I think Oliver Perez is going to step up, but he’s still hardly an ace and the team is going to have at least one or two rookies at the back end of their rotation.

The Mets signed catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr. to a minor league deal yesterday.  Alomar is a long shot to make the team, but if he does, he’ll make $750,000.  Not a bad guy to have in your back pocket though.  If he’s willing to wait it out at Triple A in case of an injury, he could have a role with the team.  He’s a former All Star and Rookie of the Year, but he’s pretty much been a back up the past ten years. 

Paul Lo Duca’s contract expires at the end of 2007.  He had his best season since probably since his breakout season in 2001 with the Mets last year when he posted a .318/.355/.428 mark.  He also scored 80 runs while playing in only 124 games.  I like having Lo Duca in the line up because he provides a solid table setter (he hit second most of the season) for the big bats like Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado and David Wright. 

You always have to be concerned about catchers though.  Lo Duca is coming off of a thumb injury and he was given a red light in Will Carroll’s recent healt report.  He’s also 35 years old.  PECOTA has him at a .289/.332/.396 clip with a 15.1 VORP which would mean we’re talking about one win in the standings compared to last year.  Also of concern are his high collapse (40%) and attrition (29%) rates.  And in his five year projection, he doesn’t have much value once you go past 2008 so even signing him to a two year extension might be a little risky.

John Sickels recently wrote up a very interesting prospect retro for Mets shortstop Jose Reyes.  With a great season in 2006, it’s always interesting to look back and see where these guys came from.  Good stuff.

It wasn’t that long ago that Chan Ho Park was a dominating pitcher.  Then he left the Dodger, went to Texas and his career went to shit.  He was actually servicable last year in 21 starts for the Padres and now the Mets have signed him to join the growing list of applicants who will compete for spots in the Mets rotation in 2007.

His base salary will only be $600k so the Mets aren’t on the hook for a bunch of money if this doesn’t work out.  If he does what the Mets want him to do, he could make up to $3 million.

Right now, the only definites to start the season in the rotation are Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez and both are in the twilights of their career.  Who knows when Pedro is coming back either?  I’d just as soon have them go with a youth movement instead of giving these washed up guys a shot.  I’d like to see John Maine, Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey round out the rotation.

John Shea at ESPN.com thinks the Mets lineup will be even better with the addition of Moises Alou.  In a great column, he discusses how the Mets got to be on top of the National League heap with their signings the past couple of years.  A lot of people think the Mets didn’t do much this offseason to improve the team but Shea really liked the Alou signing.  Good stuff here.

I remember when a 1987 Topps Ruben Sierra rookie card was worth something so I was somewhat surprised to see that the Mets invited the outfielder/DH to spring training after they signed him to a minor league deal.  Sierra’s strength is that he’s a switch hitter but he’s mostly stuck to being a DH/PH the last few years.  With the Mets log jam of outfielders, I think Sierra would really have to show he can hit the ball if he wants a chance to make the big league team.