Another Pointless Post

Well, first reports I read were that Soler throws in the mid 90's. Then Jose Valentin said that he does not throw hard and is around 90. Now Soler's agent says 96.

Soler has three types of sliders, a sinker, changeup and of course the "reta," or fastball. A visitor offers to catch one of the fastballs with a regular glove and Rosario laughs. "You kidding? Ninety-six, bro. That thing will break your hand."

I'm hoping mid 90's, but I'm guessing Valentin is right. Of course it won't matter as long as he is effective, but I like the Mets building up a stable of power arms. Power arms have not exactly been a signature of this organization for a while as they have had relatively soft tossing guys outside of Armando Benitez, Braden Looper, and Roberto Hernandez.

Alay Soler's story is a pretty interesting article, give it a read.

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Questions abound. Adam Rubin has five of them and Don Burke has ten of them.

Rubin brings up something that is so utterly ridiculous in his article it made me poke myself in the eye with plastic fork.

For all the chatter about Carlos Beltran being more suited for the No. 2 spot in the lineup, Randolph steadfastly maintained last season that Beltran will be a three-hole hitter during his Mets career.

Huh? How can you make that sort of silly statement? Randolph still manages to baffle me and makes a lunatic lineup projection for six years from now. He could have certainly said simply 'next year' but decided to assume there is no choice but to bat Beltran third while he is a Met 'just because'. He acts like he has no choice in the matter. Somehow signing Beltran to a mega deal means he has to bat third no matter who is better suited for the most coveted spot in the lineup.

And to top it, once again Rubin had conveyed the point that LoDuca will most likely be clogging up the paths and hitting tons of singles in front of Beltran and going 1st to 2nd on singles hit by Beltran taking away a lot of stolen bases from one of the most best base stealers of our generation. You cannot make this stuff up. Talk about getting the most out of your team.

Q&A with "Stand" Pat Gillick:


Q: One of your stated goals when you were hired Nov. 2 was to win five more games than last year's 88-win team. Is the group you're taking to Clearwater good enough to win 92 games?

A: Probably not.....blah, blah, we suck, blah blah, our pitching sucks.

You have to like the the man's honesty.

Q: The landscape of the NL East has changed, with the Mets making aggressive moves and the Florida Marlins trading most of their top players. Where do the Phillies fit in?

A: Talent-wise, the Mets have maybe the best club, but everybody thought Florida was going to be the one last year. The wild card is Atlanta. They've won 14 (straight) titles and they've got a lot of young people, and young people usually improve. I think we'll be in the mix with the Mets and Atlanta.

That's right bitch. M-E-T-S, Mets, Mets, Mets.

Mets first place in meaningless power rankings? Check.

Jeff Wilpon may not have the Midas touch when it comes to constructing a ball club, but he knows a good stadium when he sees it and is going to partially model the new Mets' stadium after a park that many people think is the nicest in the league in PNC Park.