New York Mets begin spring training with some optimism

The New York Mets pitchers and catchers reported on Thursday.  The Mets for the first time in a long time have some real optimism and are looking at competing for a playoff spot.  That is mainly because of the good  young pitching they have and especially getting their ace back Matt Harvey.  Harvey is good but he also brings something extra to the team.  He is a confident guy who won't settle for losing and that has rubbed off on the Mets. 

Mets manager Terry Collins addressed the media on Saturday which was their first official workout.  Here are some of the highlights of what he had to say.  Harvey will pitch in one of the first five games of the season.  He isn't sure if Harvey will pitch the home opener though.  They open on the road against the Nationals and the Braves.  Harvey will be used the same way that the Cardinals used Adam Wainwright back in 2012 when he was coming back from Tommy John surgery.  He pitched 198 2/3 innings that season. 

Harvey will not be skipping any starts but he will have five inning starts from time to time.  Collins wants Bobby Parnell to close when he returns but if Jenrry Mejia or another reliever is dominant as a closer he will remain there.  Dillon Gee will prepare for a starting role but if all six starters are still with the team come the end of the spring he will move to the bullpen.  The leadoff spot is up in the air between Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson.  He said the Mets are absolutely a playoff team and added "We have been sitting around for four years saying to be patient.  It's time for guys to step up and play the way they are expected to play". 

Here is what Harvey had to say to the medial also on Saturday.  There is no easing into it for him.  He anticipates that he won't reach the low 200s in innings pitched.  He said somewhere around 180 or so which is just throwing a number out there.  He said there was a mention of skipping starts in a brief meeting with GM Sandy Alderson.  He said it was a tough question to say if he would rather skip starts or be limited to five inning starts.  He said it is the managers call in the end but all five guys wouldn't want to do that and coming out of a game early is a tough decision. 

He said there really was no tension between him and the team during rehab last year and he thinks a lot of it was made up.  He said internally they were fine.  He said he will discuss scaling back his workload between starts. 

New York Yankees first official workout

New York Yankees pitchers and catchers and Carlos Beltran because of his injury took the field for the first time as a team on Friday morning.  It was a welcome sight for many in the northeast as the winter has everyone looking forward to spring.  There wasn't too much going on as is standard early in the spring.  There were some easy bullpens, some PFP which is pitchers fielding practice if you didn't know and some jogging and stretching.  The catchers also took some batting practice. 

A big topic on the first day was CC Sabathia and gaining his weight back.  He lost a lot of weight over the last two seasons and everyone was asking for him to get heavy again because they felt it affected him.  It turns out they may have been right as Sabathia talked about not having the right balance, we will see though as the games start if he is just done or if he has anything left.  I will say that the extra weight can't be good for his degenerative knee. 

Joe Girardi acknowledged on Saturday that the Yankees will "do things more in this spring training" to teach hitters to beat the defensive shift.  It doesn't look like the Yankees are trying to force anything on the hitters but they are talking about it and preaching it which I think is a good thing.  The game has changed and offense is down, in my opinion the hitters need to adjust and take what is given to them.  If they hit enough balls the other way and beat the shift, the shift will stop eventually. 

McCann was one of the guys affected by the shift the most.  He has been working on beating it all winter but said that wasn't the biggest reason for his numbers being down.  He said that his bat path last year was out of whack.  He said he had to go back during the off-season and study what he was doing wrong.  He said he was able to pinpoint what the problem was and he feels good coming into camp.  McCann caught only one bullpen on the first day but it was from a new guy.  The new guy is not new to McCann though as he and David Carpenter worked together in Atlanta.  He is high on him saying he setup for Kimbrel in Atlanta and the Yankees are expecting big things this year from him. 

McCann said he was sent about 10-15 video clips of every new pitcher this year and they must of been pretty long clips.  He said he feels like he saw pretty much every outing from last year of all of those pitchers. 

Carlos Beltran went through outfield drills with Rob Thomson and took batting practice with McCann and also John Ryan Murphy and Austin Romine.  There were three pitchers who attracted the most attention from the media on day one.  They were Sabathia because of being injured last year, Jacob Lindgren who was last year's top pick and is quickly rising through the ranks.  They feel he could be on the big league club this season.  The last guy is Luis Severino who is considered the Yankees top prospect.  Joe Girardi said "It's a live arm", It's a player who is bigger in stature than I thought when I heard some of the comparisons.  He's bigger than I thought.  A lot of times you worry about the rigors of players that are extremely thin, but he's a strong young kid, I believe, with a lot of talent." 

The Yankees hired former Angels outfielder Reggie Willits to be their minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator.  He'll be one of several minor league coaches working with the players in big league camp this year. 

The former Yankees who are listed as special guest instructors this spring are: Eric Chavez, Billy Connors, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Reggie Jackson, Hideki Matsui, Lee Mazzilli, Stump Merrill and Andy Pettitte. 

Joe Girardi said this after day one,  “There’s a collection of good young arms here. Obviously there’s guys that you’ve seen, but you look at the younger players that we had a chance to look at today. Those are some pretty good arms. And it’s not just from one side. It’s not just right-handed or left-handed, it’s both. And that’s exciting to us.”

Yankees pitchers and catchers report and first workout is on tap

The Yankees pitchers and catchers reported on Friday, their first official workout is Saturday.  Joe Girardi held his annual state of the team and opening of camp press conference this morning.  Here are some of what he talked about and then some notes courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog. 

The two biggest topics for Joe during the press conference were Alex Rodriguez and Masahiro Tanaka.  He was asked about the batting order and said that is something they need to figure out but he expects that Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner will pretty much be in the same spot all year unlike last year where they were moved around.  He says the last two weeks of camp are important and that will determine a lot about the batting order. 

He spoke about the health of the rotation and admitting that he has concerns.  He says right now CC and Tanaka are healthy but until you get CC out there every fifth day and making three or four starts in a row you don't know how his knee is going to feel and respond.  He says with Tanaka you just don't know, there are some guys who have had what he has and gotten through it for a long period of time and then there are others who haven't been able to make it and end up getting Tommy John.  He says they are the biggest concerns right now but as of right now they feel good and look good. 

The six man rotation is something the Yankees will talk about but they won't do it for a whole year.  He said it is something they may do when they are in a long stretch for instance of 17 or 18 games in a row which they will have in April and May.  Do they have enough time to get Arod ready??  He said he thinks they will and because he is mostly going to be a DH he will get a lot of at bats, he said more then he would normally and there may be some days they send him to the minors to get some extra at bats as well.  He said communication is the most important and that he is on the roster but he will have to earn playing time, they haven't seen him for two years basically and they want to see where he is at, he has to prove that he can get playing time. 

There was a twitter question about run prevention being important and Girardi said yes it is and he does feel that it leads to more wins.  He said sometimes it is just as important as run production.  I would say he is right about this and the Yankees drastically improved their defense from last year to this year.  They in my opinion have one guy who is average and that is Carlos Beltran in right field.  I would say everyone else is a plus defender. 

Tanaka met with the media and said he is confident he can make it through the year healthy.  He said that he actually feels better now than he did last year. He said he is confident the elbow is healed and he can get through the season because he is able to throw the ball absolutely fine.  He said he hasn't made any changes in his off season program and won't make any now, Girardi said the same thing. 

Girardi talked a lot about roster competition this year.  He didn't mean for guys making the roster though as much as guys getting playing time and where they all fit in.  They have to figure out if Didi Gregorious can play SS full-time or does he need a platoon partner.  Will Drew play second base every day, will one of the young guys be the starter and him a backup.  How often will Alex Rodriguez be in the lineup and will he play the field and if he does how much??  Who will be the closer or will it be a closer by committee?  There are definitely more questions than usual in this camp. 

Rodriguez is expected to report with the rest of the position players on Wednesday.  Girardi knows it will be crazy for about a week with him and then hopes he can just get back to playing.  He said it is more of a big deal outside of the clubhouse, that with the Yankees it is part of the territory and he will make sure it doesn't stop them from getting their work in and that the team could come together with something like this.  Girardi said that he is very encouraged by Nova's progress from Tommy John surgery and Nova said that he feels good and sounded optimistic.  The Yankees are optimistic about Sabathia as well but Girardi said he needs to see him in a game to really get a sense of what to expect. 

Jose Ramirez said that last year's lat issue has cleared up, he is healthy and already throwing bullpens.  Chase Whitley wife is about to give birth to their first child.  When that happens he will be excused I am sure.  The early arrivals of position players were Carlos Beltran, Chase Headley, Stephen Drew and Garrett Jones.  They were basically just setting up lockers. 

The Yankees will have their team meeting on Saturday morning and then hit the field probably around 11-1130 for the first time as a group this season.  They will of course do that all over when the full squad reports which is next Wednesday but the first full squad workout is on Thursday. 

Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl is upon  us and after all the deflating talk it is finally time for the last football game of the year.  There are those of us in the baseball world that are very happy because that means it is time for baseball to go back to the forefront and we can see spring ahead of us and pitchers and catchers will be reporting very soon. 

The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks are the two teams competing this year.  The Seahawks are looking for their second straight championship and are led by quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch and of course have a very good defense if not great defense.  The Patriots are led by their head coach Bill Belichek and their quarterback Tom Brady.  They have heard all the talk for two weeks now about them cheating with deflating footballs and how they have cheated in the past.  I think though this will be a good game and afterwards especially if the Patriots win you will hear more talk about cheating but for the time being it has basically gone away and everyone is focused on the game.  It should be a very good game. 

These are two good defenses and the Patriots have a very good offense.  The Seahawks offense isn't so good but if they run the ball that is pretty much their offense and Wilson has a knack for making big plays at big times.  If the Patriots stop Lynch though, they should be able to win the game.  I am predicting a fairly low scoring game.  I would say 24-17 somewhere in that range and I am going to go with the Patriots.  I know they haven't won the Super Bowl in ten years and they have lost the last two they have been in.  The last two though have been against the New York Giants who have their number and I think they are going to be extra enthusiastic with everything going on and right now they probably are the best team.  I think the Seahawks are very good but haven't been playing their best, they were lucky to make it out of the NFC Championship game and I think they are ready to be knocked off of their throne.  I am picking the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl and then it is on to the business of baseball. 

New York Yankees news and notes as we head to spring training

New York Yankees news and notes as we head to spring training


The New York Yankees will open up their spring training camp on Friday. Pitchers and catchers report with position players reporting about a week later. Masahiro Tanaka will be the most talked about pitcher and have the most focus on him. CC Sabathia apparently has lost a lot of weight and that will be a big topic as well. I assume David Robertson will also get a lot of attention, as right now he is the closer replacing the legend Mariano Rivera.

Tanaka will have a 1:00PM press conference tomorrow before heading down to Japan. He already made a grand entrance by renting a huge 847 plane to get to New York from Japan. It is a 200-passenger plane that carried him and his entourage. He has already made a grand entrance and he seems like a good fit for the big stage of New York. The first chance to see him will be tomorrow on the YES network.

Derek Jeter continues to participate in pre camp workouts at the minor league camp in Tampa. The reports are encouraging and he appears to be healthy. We won’t really know until he starts getting in games but next week he will report to camp and get it going.

The Yankees do seem like they are done with their winter makeover. They could use another bullpen arm but for now will go with what they have. Robertson as the closer, Thornton as the lefty, Kelley and Claiborne as setup men. Betances is in the mix as well with Phelps or Warren as the long man. I don’t think it is as bad as some others think and bullpens kind of develop as you go along. They just signed a former prospect from the Nationals Cole Kimball to a minor league deal. Manny Banuelos may also be in the mix as a second lefty out of the pen.

Alex Rodriguez dropped all of his lawsuits on Friday and will not be anywhere near spring training camp. He is suspended for all of the 2014 season and the postseason. The Yankees finally have a resolution on this and can move forward. He won’t be a distraction to them this season and they don’t have to worry about anything with him for another year. The question is who plays third base and I think the answer is Kelly Johnson and Eduardo Nunez in a platoon. I think Brian Roberts is the guy for second base and that is more of the question. I think the platoon at third will be a pretty good solution for this season. I am not sure about second base especially with the injury concerns. It will have to play out and the Yankees hope that Roberts is healthy and can at least play a sold defensive second and provide some offense. There really isn’t much going on now until Friday when it all begins and then we will have pretty much daily coverage. It is an exciting time as baseball is almost back.

The Day in Tampa

There really wasn't a whole lot of news coming out of Yankees camp today. Brian Cashman did indicate that Marcus Thames have a opt out of his contract if he doesn't make the team so basically him and Jaime Hoffman are in the same position. If Hoffman doesn't make the team he has to be offered back to the Dodgers due to him being a Rule 5 pick. If thames doesn't make it he can become a free agent. Joe Girardi stated that he would have a team bonding exercise on Tuesday but wouldn't say what it was yet. He also said he knows who will start Wednesdays Grapefruit league opener and will announce that tomorrow. Joe Girardi said that he will put both Gardner and Granderson in left and center during the exhibition games. He said he knows they can both handle center but wants to see if they can handle left. Mariano Rivera and Damaso Marte will each throw a bullpen on Monday which will be their first one. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain both threw batting practice today. Hughes threw 29 pitches getting 6 swings. Joba threw 30 pitches and got 7 swings. Chad Jennings of the Journal News said he probably would say Chamberlain had the better commnad. You really can't find out much from these sessions, during the games is when you find out a lot. Joba and Phil are both taking this competition as fun, they are friends and were joking about it today. If you want to hear some audio of them visit the http://yankees.lhblogs.com/ which is the Lohud Yankees Blog by Chad Jennings and Sam Borden. A.J. Burnett, Javier Vazquez and Wilken De La Rosa all threw bullpens today. The other pitchers who threw live batting practice other then Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes were Boone Logan, Dustin Mosely, Edwar Ramirez and Mark Melancon. The other group consisted of Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Kevin Whelan, Hector Noesi, Jeremy Bleich and D.J. Mitchell. There was still no sign of Chan Ho Park, maybe he will arrive tomorrow.

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 First Day Of Camp

Jerry Manuel met with reporters this afternoon for the first time this season. He mentioned that he would like to bat Jose Reyes third. I don't know about anyone else but I don't think this is a good idea. He is a good leadoff hitter that sparks the lineup. I think if you hit him third he may change his approach and it wouldn't be for the better, he would try to hit more homeruns in my opinion plus you take away his stealing game. I think you have to keep him as the leadoff hitter. To Reyes credit he said it doesn't matter to him, he just wants to be playing and helping his team win games. He said that Jerry Manuel just mentioned it yesterday and even if he does it, it will only be until Carlos Beltran returns. He said he is the boss so whatever he decides he will go along with it. Jerry said that Jon Niese can be the fifth starter if he pitches the way he did last summer. He said Daniel Murphy is the starting first baseman, I assumed that but now it is confirmed. He wants a power bat off the bench like the Phillies had with Matt Stairs even if the player isn't able to play multiple positions like Mike Jacobs. Henry Blanco is the backup catcher and Alex Cora is the backup shortstop. You can see a video of Jerry Manuels press conference at http://metsblog.com/category/video Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News spoke with Kelvim Escobar who expressed little concern about being ready for opening day and the rigors of pitching everyday out of the bullpen.

Fridays News and Notes from Tampa

Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes spoke to the media toay and you can hear about 3 minutes from each on the Lohud Yankees Blog. Here is the link http://yankees.lhblogs.com Andy Pettitte followed the lead of the other starting pitchers and stayed off the mound, he will wait a few days before he revs it up. Here is what he had to say "My bodys feeling good, everything feels good coming into the spring. I feel real good about that." Andy also said the workload of the playoffs shouldn't bother him because the Yankees did a good job at the end of the year of resting their pitchers for the playoffs. He also said he is happy they added another reliable arm and that they never had met before but have already played golf together. Joe Girardi said you would love to have 2 lefties in a perfect world but they feel their righties get lefties out well. He specifically mentioned Dave Robertson but did say that 2 lefties gives you so many more options. Yogi Berra was in the clubhouse this morning according to Chad Jennings of the Journal News. Greg Golson and David Winfree both stopped in the clubhouse today, they are both going to be fighting for a job. It will be interesting to see what happens with guys like this, do they serve as trade bait, the last spot on the bench or go to the minors and add depth. Joe Girardi said the thing that has jumped out at him this early in camp was a lot of quality arms. He said some of the pitchers are big and intimidating, that he needs a step stool to talk to them. Here are the pitchers who threw today Joba Chamberlain, Christian Garcia, Phil Hughes and Edwar Ramirez. The second group was Kei Igawa, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan and Mosely. The third group was Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. The last group was Jeremy Bleich, Hector Noesi, Wilken De La Rosa and Mitchell. There isn't too much going on but I am going to try and post some pictures over the weekend and the starters are going to start throwing bullpens and then on Wednesday the full squad reports so it will get more interesting.

Wrap Up of the day down in Tampa

The Yankees world is pretty quiet these days. Last year it was all about A-rod and his admission of steroids, this year they are world champions and there is just nothing crazy going on right now. This is New York and this is the Yankees so things can change quickly but for right now it is camp quiet and everything is good in the world. Here are some final notes from Yankees camp today. Some of the outfielders filtered in to the clubhouse today to drop their bags off in preperation for next week when they will all report to camp. Randy Winn was there along with Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson. Joe Girardi said that Winn has a lot of experience and is used to being an everyday player. He will be competing for playing time in the corners Girardi said. The Yankees haven't decided if they will keep both Hughes and Chamberlain on the same schedule to line them up for the 5th starter or break them up, we will see how that all shakes out. There are no major injuries and no visa problems right now which is a good thing. Joe Girardi said anywhere between 100-120 games played for Jorge Posada would be good. He is talking about him catching that amount of games. 1,528 fans were in attendance to watch the Yankees first workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. This was announced by the Yankees.

New York Mets report to Camp

The New York Mets seem to be quiet a chatty bunch early on. Johan Santana met with the media today and when asked who the best pitcher in the NL East is he said Johan Santana. You have to remember that Roy Halladay is in the NL East now also. He also said that he expects the Mets to win the World Series just like David Wright had said yesterday. The Mets are coming off a terrible year which was preceded by 2 epic collapses to miss the playoffs. I wonder if this is a new attitude because of all the losing, they decided to be cocky and arrogant and maybe it will rub off on everyone. They have to remember the best way to get people to forget about the dissappointments is to win. They just have to get on the field and win ballgames and then no one will care about anything else. Johan Santana said that he spoke to Oliver Perez who is mentally prepared this year, he said he didn't have that last year. That is a big problem, to me this is your livlihood shouldn't you always be mentally prepared?? The Daily News has a video of Oliver Perez throwing a bullpen. Jose Reyes did a interview with Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. He said that he doesn't want to go anywhere and isn't thinking about his contract. He will earn 9 million this season and the Mets have a 11 million dollar option for next season. He said right now he just wants to go out on the field and do his job to help the team win. He said he wants to finish his career as a Met. Reyes is a huge key for the Mets this season, when he goes the team goes, he has to stay healthy and tone it down a little bit and produce. It looks like he will take on more of a leadership role this season which the team really needs.

New York Yankees first official workout

The New York Yankees completed their first official workout for pitchers and catchers today. It was a quiet day down in Tampa. The only news was that Joe Girardi has decided to lighten the workload of his starting pitchers. This is mainly because they won the World Series and ended it in November which made for a shorter offseason then usual. Joe Girardi said they figured they could ease guys back into it, make sure that they are physically ready for the same type of workload. They have two weeks before they start to play games. Alfredo Aceves, Chad Guadin and Sergio Mitre threw the first bullpen sessions of the spring, they are all competing for the 5th starter spot and bullpen roles. CC Sabathia won't throw his first bullpen until Saturday and he will be in line to start the spring opener on March 3rd followed in order by A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez. Joe Girardi said they will take Posada along slowly although he is feeling good and ready to go. Girardi said ideally he wants him to catch 110-120 games and DH some of the rest. Jorge Posada said whatever days off they want to give him he is fine with it. Bryan Hoch the Yankees beat writer for http://mlb.com said that Joe Girardi talked briefly to the players today. The media wasn't allowed in, he basically said to take it easy, they have 2 weeks before games and stressed communication. He said if you feel anything physically tell the coaches. He stressed I would rather have you miss a couple of days now then a few weeks or months later. There really isn't any other news coming out of Tampa from today, if there is anything later I will be sure to post it but it was a quiet first official day in camp.

Some final Yankees Pitchers and Catchers Notes

Jon albaladejo who has made the opening day roster the last 2 seasons has shed 30 pounds. Phil Hughes will be working on his changeup much like last season when he was working on his cutter. He said he will work on it all spring long. He stated he wants to throw another bullpen before he starts mixing in his curveball and cutter. Mark Melancon got married over the winter and Jason Hirsh celebrated the birth of his baby. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and http://lohudyankeesblogs.com stated he considers Hirsh to be a sleeper, we will see. He is a guy who was highly touted a few years ago but hasn't lived up to his hype, he actually pitched pretty well in the minors when the Yankees aquired him last season. Jorge Posada admitted to watching the World Series DVD over the winter. He said " I watched it and you can't believe it, it was a lot of fun." This is all the blogging I will do for today but check back tomorrow for full coverage of the first workouts and also the New York Mets reporting down in Port St. Lucie. It is going to be a wild and crazy ride all season long so keep coming back and please participate by commenting and lets have some good discussions.

Spring Training has arrived

Today is the day that pitchers and catchers report, it is more of a formality then anything else. It brings a sense of joy and spring, as it continues to be cold and snowy in the northeast at least you can look to the fields in Florida and Arizona and think of the upcoming season and know that spring is near. Tomorrow will be the first official workouts and today is a pretty quiet day but there were some quotes and for the Yankees Joe Girardi did meet with the media at noon. Here are some quotes and some of what the manager had to say courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal News and wondeful Lohud Yankees Blog. Phil Hughes had this to say regarding any change in the clubhouse because the Yankees are the champs for the first time in 9 years. " I don't think it will, last year was nice but we need to do it again. At the end of 2010, I don't think anyone will be thinking about who won it in 2009." This is the Yankees way and it is so ingrained in them that I wouldn't worry at all about complacency, plus they have enough new faces that didn't win it last year. I think once the Yankees are on top they want to stay there and the whole organization gets more and more hungry. Here is what Joe Girardi had to say. " The expectation here is the same every year. In a sense you are supposed to repeat every year. I don't really consiser complacency to be an issue because I know the people in the room." I agree with that, you are supposed to win every year as a Yankee and that is a hard thing to do but once they do it and know how to win I think they want it more and more. Here is some more highlights of his press conference: He said the # 1 concern in his mind is ironing out the lineup. He said it isn't that I am worried about it because I know guys can do the job but it is where do they all fit in the lineup. He said there is competition on the pitching staff but he will make it clear that it doesn't start right away. He said his message will be look we are just getting ready now. I think what he is trying to say here is not to go all out and hurt yourself trying to impress the coaches. There is enough time for the competition but lets start out slow and get ready. Girardi said that he feels comfortable with either Granderson or Gardner in center field and they will both play there and left field in the spring. He said it isn't necessarily who is better as an individual but what combo works the best that will decide left and center. He said he envisions the loser of the 5th starter battle going to the bullpen. He would like to have that spot determined by March 25th but that isn't set in stone. He also stressed it isn't all about spring statistics. He said that they are going to do another group outing the day before the first game. He said he has heard suggestions of paintball and bowling. Those ideas made him a little uneasy as he doesn't want to do anything that he feels guys can get hurt at. He said they will continue to talk about it and will decide eventually on doing something. He said he doesn't want anything that involves running through woods or swinging heavy objects.

New York Mets Notes from Florida

The New York Mets had some news coming out of florida today. According to the Star Ledger of NJ Brian Costa who talked to GM Omar Minaya today he said that Henry Blanco would be the backup and the starters job would come down to either Josh Thole or Omir Santos. The 23 year old Thole hit 321 with 3 extra base hits in 17 games for the Mets last season. It looks like they were impressed with how he handled the pitchers. I think the best thing for him would be to go down to AAA and get some more seasoning in before coming up to the majors later on in the year but with this being the Mets who knows what they will do. Jose Reyes had a informal workout today and there is some video of him on Matt Cerrone http://metsblog.com/. He was at tradition field where he did agility drills, jogging, batting practice and fielded ground balls. He said this " I have been doing so much of my rehab without the team, but now to be back with my team is really exciting. I feel like a little kid bro." He said that he has nothing to be afraid of that " I am able to do everything that I want to do." Mike Jacobs and Daniel Murphy worked together fielding ground balls at first base. Mike Jacobs also took batting practice in front of hitting coach Howard Johnson.

AL East Spring Training Previews

I am not going to go through all of the teams in baseball, I will do that before the season starts but I do want to look at the AL East teams briefly and where they stand opening up camps this week. New York Yankees: World Champions led by manager Joe Girardi who is in his third and final season under contract. Training Facility: Legends Field, Tampa, FL 2009 Record: 103-59 Key Additions: Javier Vazquez, Nick Johnson, Curtis Granderson,Randy Winn Key Losses: Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Chien-Ming Wang,Melky Cabrera First Workouts: pitchers and catchers on Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 24th Boston Red Sox: lost in first round of playoffs last season after winning the Wild Card finishing second in the division. Led by manager Terry Francona who is in his 7th season with the team. Training Facility: City Of Palms Park, Fort Myers, FL 2009 Record: 95-67 Key Additions: Mike Cameron, John Lackey, Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre Key Losses: Jason Bay, Rocco Baldelli,Alex Gonzales First Workouts: pitchers and catchers on Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Tampa Bay Rays: Missed the playoffs in 2009, finishing in third place. Led by manager Joe Maddon in his 5th season with the team. Training Facility: Mosaic Field at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, FL 2009 Record: 84-78 Key Additions: Rafael Soriano, Kelly Shoppach, Dan Johnson Key Losses: Akinori Iwamura, Gabe Gross, Chad Bradford First Workouts: Pitchers and Catchers on Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Toronto Blue Jays: Missed the playoffs in 2009, finished 4th in the division. They are led by Cito Gaston who is in his third season but remember he took them to back to back titles in the 1990's. Training Facility:Dunedin Stadium, Dunedin,FL 2009 Record: 75-87 Key Additions: John Buck, Alex Gonzalez,Kevin Gregg, Brandon Morrow Key Losses: Roy Halladay, Rod Barajas, Kevin Millar, Brandon League First Workouts: Pitchers and Catchers on Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 26th Baltimore Orioles: missed the playoffs in 2009 finishing last in the division. They are led by manager Dave Trembley in his 4th season. Training Facility: Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota, FL 2009 Record: 64-98 Key Additions: Miguel Tejada, Garrett Atkins, Kevin Millwood Key Losses: Melvin Mora, Danys Baez,Chris Ray First Workouts: Pitchers and Catchers on Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd.

Spring Training Report Dates

Pitchers and Catchers is one of the best pair of words that could be uttered. It is a sign of spring and it means that the great game of baseball is back. I know it means a lot of different things to different people and you can find some of that here on the offical MLB website. I know I am certainly ready for spring training, the end of winter and the excitement of a new season. The New York Yankees are World Champions and that always brings out all the cries of the rich getting richer and the need for a salary cap. The great thing about baseball though is everyone starts fresh in spring training and has big dreams no matter what the situation is. Here are the report dates for pitchers and catchers. American League Baltimore- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Boston- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Chicago White Sox- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Cleveland Indians- Feb 23rd, full squad on Feb 26th Detroit Tigers- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 23rd K.C. Royals- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Los Angeles Angels- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Minnesota Twins- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 27th New York Yankees- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 24th Oakland Athletics- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Seattle Mariners- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Tampa Bay Rays- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Texas Rangers- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Toronto Blue Jays- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 26th National League Arizona Diamondbacks- Feb 20th, full squad Feb 24th Atlanta Braves- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 23rd Chicago Cubs- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Cincinatti Reds- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Colorado Rockies- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 26th Florida Marlins- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Houston Astros- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Los Angeles Dodgers- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Milwaukee Brewers- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 27th New York Mets- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 25th Philadelphia Phillies- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Pittsburgh Pirates- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd St. Louis Cardinals- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd San Diego Padres- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 25th San Francisco Giants- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Washington Nationals- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th