Cerebral Blockage

A-Rod wants to be a Met... Old news. I mean, who doesn't want to be a Met? However, when A-Rod says things like this, it makes me want to throw a live badger at this head and watch the hilarity that ensues.

Great, {sniff, sniff} A-Rod's all grown up and mature. He chased the money and did not want to make the same mistake again by leaving the Yankees....except he signed the type of contract that usually accompanied by 'US Government' and 'Lockheed Martin' in the same sentence.

Of course, A-Rod is still the best player on the field and there may be a shred of sour grapes in what I am saying. It would be impossible for me to not think about the 'what ifs' and what would it have been like with him on the team. He probably would still be at shortstop and would have probably never moved. Reyes would probably have been dished off for Alfonso Soriano or something years ago.

In the end, only little baby jesus knows what would have happened and I am quite satisfied at the way things turned out without A-Rod. The Mets would probably be older and less athletic as either Wright or Reyes would have probably been gone and with the ridiculously cheap contracts the Mets have Reyes and Wright signed to, they add much more value to the team compared to what A-Rod would have cost.

* * *

The Mets might look to Sosa as a rotation option which is not the worst thing in the universe. However, within the same piece, it is noted that the Mets might have Pelfrey scrap his slider? Didn't they make him scrap his curveball? I think we can file this one under 'mismanaged' and let him wallow around in the organization for years and years.

Of course, the spot maybe be Pelfrey's by default with Jon Niese right behind him.

Although decisionmakers favor using Pelfrey initially, if he starts poorly, his spot could become tenuous. Young lefthander Jon Niese, who has been impressive this spring, could then become a candidate to relace Pelfrey.

We kind of figured that though. He is the best prospect they have that is close to the bigs and a jump from AA is not crazy. Put that together with his good performance in spring and you have someone who might get a shot by default.

Moises is eyeing an April return and that would not be so bad.

Ken Rosenthal says Randolph is on the hot seat. Omar is just looking for a reason. Willie...give it him...go ahead, I dare you.

John Maine is the best 4th pitcher in the bigs and could rack up 20 wins because of this. Yes, it does not matter all that much who starts where once the season starts, but the back end guys will face a lot more bad pitchers. Feast baby...

Phil Rogers like the Mets in the NL East and thinks Johan will be the ace of the NL East. However, he also thinks Willie is smart.

Rob Neyer goes over his top 50 players over the next fives years.

1. David Wright (25)
Great hitter, good fielder, fine baserunner … and last year, at 24, he was the best player in the National League.

Sweet.

7. Jose Reyes (24)
As thrilling as Reyes is, it's worth noting that he's almost 25 and his career OPS falls short of the league average (and that's the National League average).

Reyes' game is not solely based around offense, but he brings up a good point.

5. Johan Santana (29)

It's possible that we've seen his best work. On the other hand, his best was the best … and now that he's in the National League, even less than his best may be good enough for two or three Cy Young Awards.

Music to my ears.

26. Carlos Beltran (30)

Yes, he's old for this list. No, he may not be a Hall of Famer. But Beltran's broad range of skills may well allow him to remain among the game's elite for at least five more seasons.

Is it wrong that I still think the best he has to offer is still to come?