Spring training is underway, Bob Geren has claimed Jose Reyes number 7, but as of yet the Mets don't have a starting shortstop to replace Reyes. Ruben Tejada is yet to arrive due to visa issues, but the team insists that they'll have a starting shortstop in the fold by Saturday. Apparently Terry Collins is less than impressed by this.
There's some fantastic news on the injury front today as Ike Davis has been cleared to play. That should go a long way towards improving the Mets already decent offense, somewhat negating the losses of Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes.
All signs continue to point towards the Binghamton Mets moving to Ottawa for next season. I imagine we'll be a while before we know exactly what the plan for replacing them is, but at this point it looks to be all but certain that replacing them will definitely be necessary.
The Wilpons are still seeking to have their big court case thrown out before it even starts, but there seems to be little chance of that actually happening. They did, however, have some good news on the legal front yesterday as they have won their case restricting kosher hot dogs from being sold on Fridays and Saturdays.
Jason Isringhausen will be taking his "proven closer" tag to the left coast as he's signed a minor league deal with the Angels. I was kind of hoping he'd just retire so that he'd go out a Met, but I suppose it's still fairly possible that he doesn't pitch in the majors again. Best of luck Jason, enjoy your reunion with Albert Pujols.
Metsblog had some video up of our new centerfielder, Andres Torres. Torres was immensely popular in San Francisco, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him in a Mets uniform this spring. At worst he seems like he'll be a roughly equivalent player to Angel Pagan but without the "low baseball IQ" tag.
Terry Collins proclaimed that Justin Turner would be the backup first baseman. With Daniel Murphy in the fold that seems odd, but Howard Megdal speculates that this means the Mets are going to give him an actual chance to be the everyday 2nd baseman. If he can play adequate defense there we are going to be in excellent shape going forward.
Last week we brought you the first part of FanGraphs park factors and ERA estimators piece. Today we'll link you to part two.
Ruben Tejada isn't the only player out there with visa issues. The pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona is having trouble obtaining one after faking his identity for the last ten years. While it's very understandable why these players do this, I'd really be okay with seeing Carmona (or Roberto Hernandez) refused entrance to the country to work as I feel it would help to end this practice going forward.
Jason Heyward had a rough season last year. It seems like he's been doing all the right things to get back on track, but unfortunately that would be bad news for the Mets.
FanGraphs took a look at fatties that steal bases.
Finally for today, John Sickels took a look back at the late Gary Carter when he was a prospect.
It's just over a week until we have some spring training games to watch. Hope you're all getting excited.