Campanelli's Corner of Sports

Friday 4 Bagger

2009-01-23T20:49:00.008-05:00

As the off season is slowly coming to an end the Mets keep signing more and more players. Today on January 23rd 2009 the Mets signed SP Freddy Garcia, OF Cory Sullivan, OF Rob Mackowiak, 2B Alex Cora. Three out of the four players were signed to minor league contracts giving the Mets more room to sign more players to the majors. They have been trying to get as much help from the free agents as possible. All of these players being veterans they give the Mets more experience. Freddy Garcia who has played for many teams such as the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and many others has done great on all of them. He is a starting pitch that will get great support from the bullpen after letting up major runs while pitching. Garcia who is 118-77 for his career and has a 4.07 ERA can show the Mets that he deserves the 5th starting spot unless the Mets sign Oliver Perez. Both OF's Sullivan and Mackowiak have had great careers. Mackowiak who played for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, and other many teams. For his career he has a .257 batting average with a total of 603 hits. He has been in and out from injuries and has hit some rough spots but he is ready to prove to the Mets that he is one of the players that should play in the outfield for them. Sullivan on the other hand is ready to play. Since he has been drafted in 2001 he has been playing for the Colorado Rockies but was in the minors for four years. With a career batting average of .279 and 259 hits he has had the potential of doing very well but the Rockies haven''t given him the chance to prove that he can do very well. So now the Mets have given him the chance in the upcoming spring training to prove himself to the team to show that he deserves a spot on that field with the Mets. Cora who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 1996 and played for them until the end of the 2004 season then was shipped to Boston for half the season. After being in Boston for the half season he was off to Cleveland, but after the 2005 season the Red Sox offered to take him back. So he accepted and went back to them for 2006 season till now when the Mets signed him for $2 million but only for a year. He has shown the teams that he has been on that he can do good it just takes him time like anyone else. The Mets have been looking for players like him and all of the others that they signed this off season for a long time. Many people have been saying it is the Mets' year this year. That they won't collapse at the end and will keep going. Well with signing all of these guys in the off season and there is still more to come they will have a very good chance to prove that they are the team to beat other than the Phillies. They will contend and beat anyone that stands in there way.

Mets & Yankees fight for SP Garcia

2009-01-22T14:52:00.002-05:00

Both the Mets and the Yankees have started to pursue the right handed Freddy Garcia. He was signed to a minor league contract with Detroit and came up and pitched only 3 games with a 1-1 record. He ERA was quite high at 4.20. The year before he was landed in Philli with a trade. Only pitching 11 games and going 1-5 with a 5.90 ERA. Freddy Garcia has had tough times the past two seasons. He hasn't been able to show to everyone that he can pitch. No one gave him the time he needed. If signed to either team I believe that they will give him the time and he will be able to prove that he is worth it to be kept on the team. In his previous season in 2006 he pitched 33 games and went 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA. He proved in that season that he can deliver and capitalize when needed. Both teams are in search for a starting pitcher that can fill and complete their rotation. The Mets have looked all over and got a rejection from Derek Lowe. The Yankees got rejected from their own pitcher Andy Pettitte. It has been tough on both teams trying to find a starter. If the Mets sign Garcia they will still pursue Sheets and others because of injury reasons with the pitchers they have already. The Yankees just haven't been able to find the right pitcher to pitch for them. They are trying to get someone that will be able to deliver and I feel that Garcia will go to the Yankees other than the Mets.

Nady and Cabrera are in

2009-01-21T22:38:00.004-05:00

~~Nady and Cabrera both signed for 1 year deals this week for the New York Yankees. Nady has signed for 6.55 million while Cabrera got only 1.million. Both outfielders are predicted to go strong this season even though the pressure is on to break in the new stadium. Nady hit 268 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 59 games, after he seperated from the Pirates, while Cabrera hit .249 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 129 games. Lets hope that those triple a games back in august got him into better shape to play some ball this year. Nady is expected to start in right field this year where Cabrera will battle it out with rookie Brett Gardner in the spring.

Church and Pagan get their wishes

2009-01-21T20:27:00.005-05:00

After Ryan Church and Angel Pagan filed for salary arbitration the Mets accepted their offers. Ryan Church got another $800,000, and Pagan got $173,500. So now both of these players are back on the team where they belong. There are two more players to be accepted, and they are John Maine and Pedro Feliciano. If these players didn't accept then the Mets would have had some more problems with not having the outfielders to fill in the spots, but since they accepted they don't have a problem. Now if the last two players don't accept then the Mets will have to find a new starting pitch and new bullpen players. The Mets also got Sanchez and Reed to accept their arbitrations. So this helped the Mets keep their roster to what it is suppose to be. Now the Mets still have to pursue the players that they feel should be the next Mets.

10 new player to Minors for Mets

2009-01-21T17:41:00.003-05:00

The Mets are trying to get everyone they possibly can. So they decided to sign ten more players all to minor league contracts. These players consist of Veteran left handed pitcher, catchers, outfielders, first base mans, right handed pitchers, and shortstops. They have invited all of these players to spring training to see how well they can deliver and maybe putting them in the AAA or on the Mets. They need a lot of help in the bullpen so if the pitchers can deliver from the bullpen it is quite possible that they can be in the bullpen for the New York Mets. The Mets have been fighting for a long time to find the right help and with the rest of the off season still ahead of them they are doing very well to find that help and they hope to find more in the remaining days.

More Mets join the Classic games

2009-01-21T17:21:00.003-05:00

The Mets keep trying to impress and be the best. They have sent nine players into the Classic games to play. They hope that all of the players that they approved of going into these games can deliver and ready up for the season ahead. These nine participants are Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Pedro Feliciano, J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Francisco Rodriguez, Johan Santana, Brian Schneider, and David Wright. All of these men are looking to start off the year the right way and to do the right thing in the classic games and bring their team to the top. Only time will tell when we see who wins.

Sheets possible fill in?

2009-01-18T20:33:00.003-05:00

The Mets are looking for a pitcher to fill the 5th spot in the rotation. Talk is starting to stir between the Mets and Scott Boras about Ben Sheets. Ben Sheets last year had an outstanding record of 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA striking out 158 and walking only 47 batters. He only had 22 decisions out 31. This is a 71 percentage of games that he pitched that went his way. Despite all of his injuries in his past years of pitching he can still prove that he can pitch very well at the age of 30. The Mets have been looking for a starting pitcher to fill this hole for a while. They don't think that Oliver Perez would be the right pitcher to fill the hole. The Mets are looking for a pitcher that can capitalize when they are in tight spot. Ben Sheets is known for his effective pitches and the way he gets out of these tight positions. The Mets hope to land him in the upcoming couple of months.

Goodbye Shea Hello Citi!

2009-01-16T17:34:00.004-05:00

The Mets have had a great dynasty in Shea stadium. They have now built a new stadium called Citi Field. They broke the ground for Shea on October 28, 1961. Since then they have put on great shows and other sports games. The Jets and Giants both played there. The Yankees themselves played two seasons there while their stadium was being renovated. They also hosted the Beetles concert which was a record setting attendence record at 55,600. The Mets won two world series and they entered into four of them, but they were in the playoffs many more times. They have been playin there for well over 40 years. The Mets now have built a new home and it is opening in the season of 2009. To make more memories in the new stadium they have put a Jackie Robinson Rotunda. At the front of the stadium there is a huge spot were they honor the African American player. When the people step into this rotunda they will think about his remarkable journey. In the floors there are engravings that emphasize his nine values that his daughter thought of. Courage, Excellence, Persistence, Justice, Team Work, Commitment, Citizenship, Determination, and Integrity. These are the nine values that his daughter and Sharon Robinson thought of. They will also have Jackie's number because of him breaking the color barrier 61+ years ago. The Mets have made this stadium amazing and hope to set many records and hope to bring home some world series titles. The new stadium will hold over 45,000 people and cost over $850 million to build. The Mets are ready to start off a great season in the new stadium and hope with the new additions to the team they will be able to succeed past they playoffs and into the World Series. They are starting off fresh and are ready to play ball in Citi Field!

Holes to be filled!

2009-01-16T15:43:00.003-05:00

The Mets are taking shots at many free agents that are still out there to fill in the spots of their pitching rotation and the holes in the field. Recently they have signed infielder Alex Cora. Many people don't think he is that good, but the Mets need everything that they can get at the moment especially at second base and in the infield. Their next move will hopefully be a starting pitcher even though that they have many contenders pitching for the open spots. One pitcher that has to pitch his way into the spot is rookie Jonathon Niese. Last year when he came up from the minors and pitched a couple games because John Maine got hurt he threw the ball very well. He pitched 3 games with a 7.07 ERA allowing 20 hits and 11 strikeouts. The Mets also recently have signed Tim Redding who is a veteran pitcher from the Washington Nationals. Last year Tim Redding wasn't on a good enough team to show how good he can pitch. With pitching 33 games and only getting 21 decisions he went 10-11 with a 4.95 ERA. Everyone thinks that he sucks but he has great potential as a veteran and can succeed anywhere that he goes. The Mets have been making very smart decisions and moves left and right during the offseason. Let's hope that they keep going and sign more free agents that will help them increase their chances in going into the playoffs this season.

Itching for a Pitching

2009-01-16T14:46:00.002-05:00

Johan Santana has been wanting to pitch since his last pitch on September 27, 2008. At the end he went through surgery on the torn meniscus in his knee. He has been waiting for the start of the season to come. He takes everything day by day and wants to pitch for his country in the World Baseball Classic series. All he can do is just wait for what the doctors have to say about his condition, but come spring training with the New York Mets he has to be in shape and ready to pitch. He is just waiting for the moment to come where he will be able to throw his first pitch since September of 2008. He hopes that his surgery heals quickly and that he won't sustain another minor injury in the same area from pitching too much.

"I'd love to represent my country," he said. "But I'm not going to do anything crazy. We'll see how everything is with my knee. I'm hoping the doctors will give me the OK.

"The team will have to approve of [the course of action]. It's a medical decision. The reality is I haven't pitched or played in a game since September. They're going to keep an eye on me. I'm going to go one step at a time." "Everything feels good now," Santana said.

Santana has been ready for this day to come for a long time.

New additions to the roster!

2009-01-15T22:21:00.004-05:00

After the Mets aquiring K-Rod formally known as Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, and Tim Redding they attempt to take it back to the top this year other than failing once again. After losing Billy Wagner half way through the season having a Tommy John surgery the Mets were in the hunt of a closer. Like the talk did last year when they said that they Mets were not going to get Johan Santana the Mets did the impossible and signed him. Then this year the talk said the same thing that the Mets were not going to get K-Rod but yet again the impossible happened and the Mets signed him for 3 years and $36 million. After signing him the were in the hunt for more bullpen and starting pitchers. They first found the bullpen members. J.J. Putz was found first in a three way trade. While the Mets aquired him they also took in another bullpen member and an outfielder. Those being Sean Green (RHP) and Jeremy Reed. After being quiet for a while and getting their offer rejected by Derek Lowe they made a stab at the veteran starter from the Washington Nationals Tim Redding. He signed with them for a year and $2.25 million. Now they are just searching to see if they can find any bats or more bullpen. They have always been strong but just by adding these three players they have gotten a lot stronger than what they were. We will have to wait and see what is next to come.