Sunday, March 05, 2006

Catching Up - Part 3

~Great to see a healthy Darryl Strawberry tutoring Mets players in spring training. Forget the jokes, and just let the man get on with his life. People forget that in spite of the way his career turned out, he still gave us sooooo many great moments, and if being with the Mets can offer him a chance to stay sober, and again make something of his life in middle age, let's all support and encourage him. I can't wait to see him in Spring Training later this month, and all I want to do is thank him for all the great memories he's given Mets fans and encourage him to stay clean for the rest of his life. This is not about "good copy" for a story- it's about praying for a man to lead a healthy, long life.
~Forget about trading for Tony Graffanino- why give up any young player for him- if they really want to get rid of him, we should get him for nothing. Otherwise, let's live and die with Hernandez and Keppinger.
~Player To Watch: Heath Bell- when healthy, he can really bring it, and he might be the guy to take over for Heilman as the 8th inning stud if neither Sanchez or Julio can do it.
~Looks like a thinner, happy Mike Piazza is doing well in Padres camp. Also, a reconstructed Mike Cameron seems to be doing likewise. Cameron was my favorite Met outside Piazza and Wright, and all we ever read about was the great effect he had on a clubhouse. You can't help but root for these guys to get their careers back on path (in Piazza's case, have one last good hoorah), and the best thing would be for the Mets to play the Padres in the NL Championship!
~I have ALWAYS loved Willie Randolph as a person, and he was the ONLY Yankee I ever loved. Having said that, I have been extremely hard on Willie as a manager, and taking into consideration the sheer amount of bone-headed moves he made last year, I believe rightly so. It's a new year, and Willie gets a new slate with me this year. However, with the plethora of great talent and personalities on this team, the heat is going to be turned up on Willie way hotter than it was last year. Either he makes it, or Ken Oberkfell or Manny Acta is managing this club in July.
~Milledge is the real deal! Jonathan saw him play this week in St. Lucie, and in today's game he made a few great throws, a few excellent catches, and was responsible for the Mets first run vs. Puerto Rico today. He's only 20- there's NO reason to trade him, for ANYONE, including Zito, because he really looks like the hype around him isn't over-rated for once!
~Koo-Koo is bye-bye! Dae-Sung Koo has been sold to a team in the Korean League. He had no chance to make this team, and Mr. Koo was a major source of frustration last year. At least we aren't compounding our mistakes by keeping them around too long...

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