The Mets farm system hasn’t won any popularity contests over the years. In an age where prospect writing and analysis falls into the same lazy memes and groupthink we see in mainstream sports reporting, the Mets have ranked in the bottom third of most publications. They look even worse as the Yankees aggressive spending the [...]

No one expects much from the Mets, but the reports of them being a 100-loss team are, in my opinion, greatly exaggerated. Vegas has their over/under at 74.5. I have also seen 70.5 as the number. I believe their offense and bullpen gives them a decent shot at about 75-77 wins, and that number doesn’t include Johan Santana in [...]

There have been persistent rumors since the Winter Meetings that Sandy Alderson is looking to deal Jonathon Niese for prospects. With Oakland’s expensive asking price for Gio Gonzalez - reports indicate Billy Beane wants Jesus Montero and a Killer B from the Yankees – Alderson is looking to see if he could jump in on the market and obtain prospects from team’s interested [...]

The Yankees and Red Sox went to battle over Mark Teixeira in the winter of 2008. Could they be headed for another one-on-one rematch for CC Sabathia this offseason? Many believe Sabathia returning to the Bronx is a fait accompli. He loves the city, has a beautiful home that was featured in Architectural Digest, and has the Yankees limitless funds to [...]

During last night’s Mets- Nationals game Ron Darling expressed surprise at how many players take 2-0 fastballs down the middle this year. This was in response to a Washington rally in the seventh that saw Roger Bernadina bail Jonathon Niese out by taking fastballs down the middle ahead of the count with the bases loaded. [...]

All I keep hearing is how “barren” the Mets farm system which even prompted me to ask Sandy Alderson his thoughts on a conference call during Spring Training. For the record he didn’t agree, nor did he care what any of the independent publications had to say. Interesting how during the opening weekend in Florida [...]

There were reports this weekend of much weaker than expected Mets season ticket sales. I don’t think that should be a surprise after how last season ended, the lack of a big free agent catch, and the negativity surrounding the Madoff scandal. However, winning will change things very quickly. Remember, before Mike Piazza‘s arrival in [...]

In Tampa the talk will be about how the Yankees have no depth at starting pitching, but if they really want to see starting pitching question marks they should take the trip to Port St. Lucie. As of today, there is only one healthy starting pitcher that has a resume of recent success. That would [...]

Perhaps it’s an obvious, and lazy, comparison, but Jonathon Niese often reminds some of the recently retired Andy Pettitte. This is largely due to the fact he is left handed and throws a cut fastball. Pettitte was a solid 12-9 with a 4.17 ERA in his 1995 rookie campaign with the Yankees. Niese was 9-10 [...]

I found this article at Beyond the Boxscore that tracks time between pitches using Pitch f/X. They track the fastest and slowest individual pitchers, as well as team totals. No surprise (especially to Joe West) the Yankee and Red Sox are the slowest workers in all of baseball taking 22.8 and 23.3 seconds respectively. The [...]

There was a New York connection to Roy Halladay‘s no hitter tonight. Yes, the obvious is how Halladay became the second pitcher to throw a postseason no hitter since Don Larsen did it for the Yankees in 1956. The other connection was the pursuit of Halladay last summer by both New York teams. Seeing how [...]

The debate about pitcher abuse, innings limits, and how to handle young pitchers will continue to rage on even though Stephen Strasburg has provided another example about how there is no exact science in health. Just a few weeks ago Strasburg was dominating hitters, and being compared to some of the all time greats. Not [...]

Jonathon Niese won his 8th game last night against the Pirates. In a season full of frustration and disappointment, Niese has become one of the bright spots. Anytime you can see through the development of a homegrown left handed starter its something of note. How does Niese season stand up to other prominent homegrown pitchers [...]

As I started my car and merged with the happy traffic leaving Citi Field on SUN, the Mets had just put a bow on a 4-2 home stand. The 6-0 win brought them to a 17-6 record for the month and completes a 13-5 Interleague schedule. As we discussed a month ago, June represented a [...]

We all know the Mets interest in Cliff Lee, but to date all we have heard is what they don’t want to give up in a deal. Yesterday, NYBD talked to a league source that indicated parameters of a deal would include Josh Thole, Angel Pagan, and a prospect for Cliff Lee. At this point [...]