What happens when you combine the most overhyped player in the NFL with the largest market in football? And what would happen if that traid was on, then off, then on again over the course of 12 hours? The NY sports media has (more or less) forgotten Linsanity, but now something newer and shinier has come to town. The result? The Mets (and that other NY baseball team) get bumped down the coverage ladder a bit for the time being and we'll probably see less coverage for a few days.
That said, there's still some news to report from Florida today. Most notably for Mets fans would be the fact that Johan Santana pitched yesterday. Not only did he pitch, he pitched very well. For those of you interested, the box score can be found here.
In not so fortunate Mets news, top prospect Zack Wheeler has found himself on the growing injured list. The good news is certainly that the injury is just a twisted ankle, nothing to do with his elbows or shoulders. The Mets do have a history of botching treatments though, so it's worth being aware of.
Also on the injured list is center fielder Andres Torres. Torres is pretty much the only natural center fielder we have who's currently ready for the majors, so hopefully his injury woes aren't serious and he's able to return very shortly. As of right now, we just don't know when to expect him back.
Finally in Mets news for today, the Times has an article up about the Madoff lawsuit being settled. This one won't tell you anything you didn't already know, but it does actually list all of the know buyers for the minority stakes in the club.
Around MLB
There was a little more in the way of news coming out of the non Tebow-infested areas of the country. Some big news came out of Cardinals camp yesterday when Chris Carpenter was ruled out of his opening day start due to a bulging disc in his neck.
Joakim Soria is out with arm troubles as he's deciding what to do with his damaged UCL. I only see this ending with Tommy John surgery, but what do I know. I suppose my view of injuries is probably slightly altered by following the Mets so closely.
Neftali Feliz is looking a little better after his shoulder scare from Tuesday. While the Mets fan in me is still skeptical, at least he's feeling better. I really like this Rangers team, and the prospect of Feliz and Darvish at the top of that rotation is just mouth watering.
The injury bug has bitten the Phillies again. Utility infielder Michael Martinez went down with a broken foot after being struck with a foul ball. That club isn't exactly overflowing with ML ready prospects, so injuries could be a real issue for them this year. Good thing they aren't overloaded with massive contracts to aging players and relievers.
One of the things I love about Jason Heyward is the fact that he's so ridiculously patient at the plate. One of the things I hated about Jeff Francouer was that he was so ridiculously aggressive at the plate. The Braves apparently want Heyward to be less like the former and more like the latter. Maybe it's just me, but that seems awful dumb. Who knows, maybe after this goes horribly wrong we can swap Jason Bay for him.
Finally for today, FanGraphs takes a look at some converted players who've reached the bigs. With Adam Loewen factoring into the opening day discussion, this seems particularly relevant to the Metsies.