As The Nats Turn

This gave me a chuckle:

Second baseman Alfonso Soriano left the Washington Nationals' camp on Thursday afternoon and headed to Orlando to join the Dominican Republic team in training for the World Baseball Classic, unsure what awaits him at tournament's end.

Note 'second baseman Alfonso Soriano'.

"They have three weeks to fix it," Soriano said after the Nationals' morning workout. Asked what would happen if the situation is not fixed by the time he returns, Soriano hesitated and said, "I don't know."

Unreal. Way to be a team player. Looking at the situation Vidro is not playing anywhere but second base. Soriano was an outfielder and has the athleticism to play the outfield and the arm to play anywhere in the outfield. Someone really needs to type up the memo and let him know he is no Orlando Hudson manning the hole between 1st and 2nd base. I know I cannot stop linking to these articles but it just blows my mind. Fucking ponderous.

"Hopefully [he will] come to us when he comes back -- or while he's there, maybe have his agent call us and say, 'Okay, Alfonso said this is what he's going to do,' " Robinson said. "That's what we're hoping for."

Not bloody likely. Being that Vidro's contract is pretty crazy for the shape he is in, I assume Bowden will eventually have to dump off Soriano and not get much back with teams knowing what they know. I hope they just sit him out as stated before and play hardball with him. However, one has to wonder what Bowden was thinking with Soriano's past reluctance to move and knowing Vidro was going to be there. It is almost hard to feel sorry for him, but I do anyway.

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I have a little Victor Diaz vs. Xavier Nady discussion over at Metsgeek today. We all know Victor is a favorite of mine and I think the prognosis is negative when it comes to him and fitting with this current team. Nady could still log a good 70 or 80 starts a bunch more at-bats when he doesn't start with Diaz getting the Lion's share of the time in right. Basically, I just think that makes more sense and it should be Diaz's job to lose for the most optimal team this year.

Looks like Soriano's not the only one complaining about moving positions.

Cabrera wasn't smiling earlier in the day at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. As he emerged from the visitors' clubhouse, he was asked by a large media contingent if he had spoken with Mora about the WBC.

It was the first time Cabrera and Mora were on the same field since Mora last week withdrew from the tournament because he refused manager Luis Sojo's request to play the outfield so Cabrera could play third base.

"Listen, whatever I have to say to Melvin, I'll say it in private," Cabrera snapped at a reporter as Mora took swings nearby. "If you want to create a controversy between me and Melvin, you won't be able to do it."

If you will not move for your country, who will you move for?

Pedro is at 60%.

The ace described his effort at only 60%, but Martinez threw with noticeably more zip than he did two days earlier. "Today I felt a little more confident of what to do," Martinez said. "I'll tell you, it's encouraging."

The Mets were scouting Tony Graffanino at last night's Red Sox game. Do I smell a Diaz for Graffanino deal? Because something definitely wreaks.

Oh baby. You make exceptions with players like David Wright.

The Mets signed all of the players on their 40-man roster by yesterday's deadline except for David Wright, who was renewed at $374,000, Newsday has learned.

In some cases, the renewal can be a point of contention. But the Mets, who use a salary formula for players with less than three years' service time, did not lower their offer when Wright, who hit .306 with 27 HRs and 102 RBIs last season, refused to accept it, as some teams do as a punitive measure.

By comparison, Astros outfielder Willy Taveras, who has even less service time than Wright, was bumped up to $400,000 this year after hitting .291 with three HRs and 29 RBIs in 2005.

I couple hundred thousand now can save you millions later. In Wright's case, I think the phrase hometown discount actually means something to him. I hope this does not come back to bit them, but I see the tough situation they are in.

"It happens all the time. It happened before and it will happen after me. I'm not disappointed. I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization and, hopefully, they have some respect for me. It's no big deal at all."

It's a tough case because if the Mets stand hard here, they do not allow a precedent to take place. The next big rookie for the Mets would be quick to point out Wright's special treatment and could demand the same. This is a sticky situation that I am glad I am not involved in. Luckily Wright is already a consummate professional and if anyone is 'going to get it', it will be him.

Please no...

Either that or Randolph sees no reason why playing every day couldn't mean at the big league level for the Dominican hotshot being viewed by Mets' officials as their Robinson Cano.

Who wants a version of that hacker? The Mets lineup will not protect A Hern as much and A Hern will be at the bottom of the order. Hopefully Hernandez is better at the plate and more specifically the approach. Cano saw 3.05 pitchers per at-bat in 2005. Fugly numbers.

It's Lima Time....

After being verbally abused -- albeit good-naturedly -- each morning by Jose Lima (much to the delight of the other Latin players), pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez fought back yesterday. With a little help from some of his teammates, Gonzalez composed several insults to hurl at Lima and read them off a crib sheet. "He wrote them down," Lima said. "That's weak. He's crossed the line now. I'm going to make him cry."

That is weak indeed.

Dayn Perry breaks out his crystal ball and says the Braves will finish first, yet again, in their flawed run with the Mets finishing second and taking the Wild Card.

The Mets don't have the balanced attack that the Braves have, but they will pass Wild Card muster and return to the postseason for the first time since they won the pennant in 2000.

*cough* bullshit *cough*....The Mets attack is more balanced. Better bullpen, better offense, and while I give the Braves the edge on the rotation, it is not by much.

Oh baby. Japan lambasted China 18-2 while the Korea vs Chinese Tapei was better game and Korea won 2-0 with Jae Weong Seo pitching two hit ball with Chan Ho Park rounding out the game for a save.