Some observations from the Grapefruit League:
I had real trouble watching Shawn Green and Moises Alou do those “wind-sprints” on the warning track the other night. Throw in LoDuca and Delgado and you’ve got one mean relay-race.
Now that Sierra has been given his walking papers, Mondesi claims to have “talked” with the Mets, and Fernando Tatis has been signed to minor league deal – proving that Minaya will leave no washed-up Dominican unturned.
While I marvel at Julio Franco, I find myself wondering if I’d rather be using that roster spot on someone who might get that Lenny Harris-type pinch hit in a big game – or was that Matt Franco? If his greatest contribution was urging Beltran to take that curtain call, I think he could have done just as well as a bench coach.
Delgado has left the team to witness the birth of his child. He had been saying all along that he would leave the team, even if the season had started, to do so. Minaya and Randolph are mum on whether they orchestrated an induced labor ahead of schedule.
Last season the Mets won 97 games with the following pitchers starting games –
