On this date five years ago, the Mets signed Pedro Feliciano, who had spent the previous season playing for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the NPB. He posted a 3.09 ERA from 2006-10, appearing in more than half of the Mets' games during that time. Feliciano and his durable left arm still play for a New York team, but he will now show up for work at Yankee Stadium. Here's the latest on the NL East…
- Carlos Beltran says he'll move to right field to keep Angel Pagan in center. Beltran explained that Carlos Delgado and agent Scott Boras helped him make the decision, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Beltran, a free agent after the season, says he feels capable of playing center field, but wants to do what's best for the Mets.
- ESPN.com's Jayson Stark details the transition from Bobby Cox to Fredi Gonzalez, explaining that the Braves were not looking for something "dramatically different from the previous administration." Gonzalez says the Braves model is "really not broke," so he isn't looking to make radical changes.
- New acquisition Javier Vazquez was only throwing 88 mph yesterday, but the Marlins aren't concerned about his velocity, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post. Vazquez, who has consistently thrown 91-92 mph throughout his career, averaged 88.7 mph on his fastball last year.
“really not broke,”
So you’re telling us the Braves’ model isn’t out of money?
No, not broke as in “We like the strategy of not stealing, not putting on many hit and runs, picking your nose, and getting ejected… can you do that Fredi?”
I kid out of love… Bobby is a first-ballot HOF’er and I love the guy. But I’m still gonna roast him…
No, that would be “broken.” If someone or something is broke, it has no money. If something is not working or in a state of disrepair, it is broken.
Yep, I got it.
I think this is a good move on Beltrán’s part. This way there is less pressure on him to be in CF condition, and if some day down the line he returns to his former self defensively he can go back to Center Field. No big deal.
Now the media can finally shut up about this issue…which can’t hurt either.
I don’t know why Beltran is vilified by the fans/media in the NY market. Dude’s been money in his years with the Mets. Only thing bringing his value down are the injuries, and I attribute a lot of it to the Mets’ loony medical staff for handling that injury poorly.
I don’t know why Beltran is vilified by the fans/media in the NY market.
Can’t say for sure, but I do notice that some fans conveniently ignore certain mediocre players or those who are underachieving, and pile their hate on another whose performance is actually better all around. I got an earful of that idiocy last season – some folks sitting around me going on and on about how great Francouer was compared to Beltrán and Pagan…all season long. All I can do is look at the numbers and wonder what they’re really looking at.
They’re looking at Francoeur’s stupid grin and admiring all that grit! I used to cringe last year when Francoeur would get louder cheers during the line up announcements than Beltran or Pagan. Can’t wait to see him hit a robust .220 in KC with a .298 OBP. Good riddance.
It pisses me off. All I hear is “Beltran doesn’t care” or “Beltran is soft”. Everyone conveniently forgets how he’s come back and played through injuries.
Adam Rubin (ESPN New York) said in a chat that guys that give good interviews build up “equity” with the media, which is why Francoeur was a media darling even though he sucked and Beltran is ridiculed. It’s stupid and I hate most of the NY media.
Adam Rubin leeched onto espn ny? I did not know that…
But yeah, I Agree with everything you said.
I think Beltran knows that he won’t be a Met anymore come the July deadline.
Side note, I really hope Delgado can find a deal this season.
I wouldn’t mind seeing him play, I think the fact that he’s played like 31 games (5 of which in the minors for the Red Sox) says a lot about how bad his hip really is. If he’s healthy – he could be a decent DH – he only needs 27 HR to make 500.
this is a total class act by beltran. giving up playing center field in new york must have been an extremely tough decision. i have followed his career rather closely, and beltran has played this game the way it was meant to be played – with dignity and respect. his teammates could learn from him.
Sooooo…Vasquez got absolutely rocked last year, almost certainly a direct result of his diminished velocity. From there, he’s lost almost another MPH off of his fastball and the Marlins don’t think that’s cause for concern?
See, personally, if all logical indications were that I had just flushed close to a fifth of my annual operating costs down the toilet, I’d be at least a bit worried.
Just what I was thinking. It’s just spin though, damage control.
No team or player is ever concerned about anything in Spring Training. It’s just the standard line that the team feeds the media when something goes wrong.
Craig Kimbrel was topping out at 87mph in his first appearance and the Braves don’t see to be concerned whatsoever.
But I do need Vazquez to repeat his performance from last year.
I don’t know where you got the 87 from Kimbrel, but I was at the game and he sat at 92-93. Not his typical 97-98, but not 87. Now Jurrjens was mainly 87-88, down from his 91-95.
Most pitchers aren’t at full velocity for their first spring training game. so the Marlins are figuring if he is at 88 this early it will only go up.
You’re clearly just a big Marlins homer.
Nah, kidding. I just can’t see your name without thinking about the time the guy called you a “Big Twins homer”. Makes me laugh every time.
he pitched great yesterday, and there were no radar guns, according to the broadcast. i am not buying the story. also, the first game in and we are measuring speed?
The thought of Beltran moving to RF makes me nervous. Right Field in Citi Field is gonna be more of a challenge & if my memory serves me correctly, the last time a (natural) center fielder switched to Right Field, it didn’t end up well (2005 Beltran/Cameron collision). Was it the right thing to do? Yes….but still.
This time around, the move by Beltran should be OK. The last time, Beltran and Cameron were still in competition for the CF in their minds. Both still thought that they should be the Center Fielder and played as such. This time around Beltran will be more relaxed and will defer to Pagan when the situation arises. I’m sure he still remembers what happened and won’t come close to repeating any kind of collision.
well pagan’s a natural center fielder too, so either way they’re going to have two in the outfield. personally, i think that is a good thing. and beltran’s got the arm for right.
‘Craig Kimbrel was topping out at 87mph in his first appearance and the Braves don’t see to be concerned whatsoever.’
I highly doubt that radar gun on the tv was accurate..the guy throws 98, unless he was just warming up vs. live hitters.
Speaking of Javier Vazquez’ outing Sunday, what a thrill it must have been for the kids on the Miami Hurricanes’ squad to beat the Marlins- not to mention coming back from a 7-1 deficit. Sure, the Marlins backed up Vazquez with minor league arms, but a few of those arms belong to pretty highly-regarded prospects.
‘Craig Kimbrel was topping out at 87mph in his first appearance and the Braves don’t see to be concerned whatsoever.’
They aren’t concerned cause that radar gun I’m sure was inaccurate, or he was throwing bp to those guys. The dude throws 98
I was at the game, the guy who said Kimbrel was topping out at 87 is very misinformed. He topped out at 93, which is yes well under his regular season 97-98, but not 87. Now Jurrjens was primarily only 87-88 which is under his usual 91-95.
I had heard one of the guns was running particular slow speeds all across the board – it had Kimbrel in the 87 range and JJ was topping out in the low 80’s (according to this gun). Obviously there are multiple guns to do multiple readings, and guns can malfunction very easily. I don’t think he was “very misinformed”, rather the gun readings that were being REPORTED (read: to those NOT at the game) were just incorrect due to a malfunctioning gun.
Also, a lack of velocity this early on is very rarely a concern.
baseballplayground.com/2011/03/01/new-york-mets-20…
mets season preview
I wouldn’t put too much stock into the gun that day for Kimbrel. Mejia throws mid-90s and wasn’t near that either.