New York Mets News from Port St. Lucie

Here is some of what Jerry Manuel the Mets manager had to say today down in Port St. Lucie. He said that reliever Pedro Feliciano is working on a cutter and feels it can be a good weapon for him. He hopes that Sean Greens prounounced submarine delievery doesn't make him a specialist. He said he doesn't know Rod Barajas well but does not about his ability to handle pitching staffs. He will wait and see how the catching competion pans out before he decides how many games Baraja will start. The Mets are looking at Hisanori Takahashi as a Darren Oliver type pitcher. That means a guy who can come in for multiple innings or they also may use him as a situational lefty. He said lastly that Fernando Nieve will be in competion for the long man out of the bullpen but he feels he is versatile enough to be a 8th inning guy or starter. There are a bunch of photos and some video diaries on http://metsblog.com Matthew Cerrone does a great job and you should check it out. Rod Baraja arrived in camp this morning and is in pretty good shape even though he just signed and pitchers and catchers have been there for a week already. He will wear number 21. Arturo Lopez was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Barajas. Both of the new Japanese pitchers threw live batting practice today. Mets catchers today were involved in extensive drills. The drills included blocking balls in the dirt, throwing to first and second base and working on popups. The Mets full squad will officially report tomorrow although a lot of them have been down there and popping in and out.

New York Mets News

I waited until the official announcement for the coaches for the 2010 season. Howard Johnson will remain the hitting coach, Dan Warthen the pitching coach and Randy Niemann as bullpen coach. Razor Shines also remains but he was moved from 3rd base to 1st base coach. He had a eventful year at third so I am sure Mets fans are thrilled he is away from there. The new coaches are Dave Jauss as bench coach and Chip Hale as third base coach. The Mets also hired former Houston Astros manager Terry Collins as minor-league field coordinator. I know most people are going to say who for the new coaches and I don't know myself so it is a good question. I am sure that they brought guys in with not much background due to the fact that Jerry Manuel is on the hot seat and if a new manager comes in he may want his own coaches. The most interesting move the Mets have made is hiring Wally Backman as manager of the short season Brookly Cyclones. The reason this is interesting is first of all after his 4 day stay as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks a few years ago he has been blackballed from baseball and had to serve in the independant leagues. The second reason is because it is believed that he is in line to succeed Jerry Manuel as manager of the big club. I am sure Mets fans would love to see this as he is a fiery ex Met from the Glory Days of the 1980's. It will be interesting to see if he can keep his nose clean and the Mets stumble how quick of a hook GM Omar Minaya and the Wilpons will have.

Yankees Play Pool

The Yankees found out around 9:30 this morning that thye wouldn't be practicing but instead manager Joe Girardi who apparently is a changed man decided to take the team to a local pool hall where they would participate in a 2 on 2 8 ball tournament. Here are the pics courtesy of the New York Yankees.

Mets info

This is for all my Mets friends out there. I forgot to post this the other day, Jerry Manuel had some interesting things to say. He spoke about batting Jose Reyes third in the lineup and putting Luis Castillo at leadoff and Beltran as his number 2 hitter. When asked what Jose Reyes would think he pretty much said it doesn't matter, im the manager and if I feel thats best for the team then thats what is going to happen. I do like his attitude with that, too many of these players get what they want and it shouldn't be that way. I am sure it will be fun when Jose Reyes gets to camp and talks to the manager about this. I just want to let all of you Mets fans know that I will be trying to do more updates about the Mets in Spring Training and I have some plans for when the season begins so look out for that. This is old news but the Mets also signed Livan Hernandez to a minor deal to try and compete for the fifth spot in the rotation against Freddy Garcia,Jonathan Niese,Tim Redding.