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Meet the Mets
With five solid innings pitched in a 3-1 win over the Nationals on Sunday, Jenrry Mejia is making a good case to be in the starting rotation at the start of the regular season. We should find out the right-handed pitcher's fate on Tuesday, when the Mets are set to make a decision about Daisuke Matsuzaka's roster spot.
Mejia struck out six batters while allowing just two hits and a walk, and Curtis Granderson hit his third home run of the spring to lift the Amazins to victory. It also didn't hurt that Daniel Murphy made an incredible barehanded, between-the-legs play to get Bryce Harper out at first base.
The Mets actually played two games on Sunday. In addition to defeating Washington, they lost to the Braves in Kissimmee. Carlos Torres allowed two runs in four innings, but the bats were completely shut down by Freddy Garcia and the Atlanta bullpen.
Although he's no longer a candidate for a starting rotation spot, John Lannan is making a strong case to be part of the Mets' bullpen in 2014.
Meanwhile, Kyle Farnsworth will not be a part of the Opening Day bullpen, as the veteran was released over the weekend.
Around the Majors
David Oritz has reportedly reached an agreement with the Red Sox on a contract that will play the man known as "Big Papi" $16 million in 2015. There is also reportedly a vesting option for 2016 and a club option for 2017. Boston is his city now.
Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar has a torn muscle in his shoulder and will reportedly be out for 10 to 12 weeks. Profar is a former highly-rated prospect and was tabbed by many to break out this season.
Baseball insider Jon Heyman is reporting that Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond turned down a hefty extension this winter that was worth about $90 million. That sounds like a tough decision to make, but if Desmond performs in the next two seasons like he did in the last two, he'll make a lot more than $90 million on the open market.
After the horrific incident involving Aroldis Chapman last week, Sunday saw another pitcher take a comebacker to the face. Fortunately, Tampa Bay's Matt Moore escaped with nothing worse than a laceration, and he should be healthy enough to avoid a DL stint.
Yesterday at AA
On this date in 2002, the Mets acquired Jason Bay (the awesome, 22-year-old version) by trading away Lou Collier.
Here's a great GIF of Wilmer Flores looking like a more-than-serviceable shortstop.
Here's a GIF of Josh Satin apparently auditioning for a role in Major League 4.
