Mets fans know that it’s all about the players regardless of the ongoing circus at the top. In six days, Spring Training and the players will take the spotlight…
Mets players are due to report for Spring training in six days. Ironically, the date falls on Valentine Day, February 14.
Exhausted by now by the tumultuous events of the offseason, the sight of seeing the players on the field running wind sprints in the outfield, coaches warming up their fungo bats, old faces, new faces, and buckets of baseballs, escape is in the air.
When Brodie Van Wagenen first arrived on the scene, you’ll recall his drummed beat proclaiming, “I’m here for the players. I work for them, they don’t work for me”.
His calling card resonated with fans, media, and the players for a while, but over time the dysfunction of the Mets organization overwhelmed everyone, reaching a climax this week.
Whether Van Wagenen still has the energy to live by his statement, Mets fans remain devoted and committed to the boys in orange and blue.
Mets Like What The See In Brandon Nimmo
The first bit of good news comes from Brandon Nimmo, who reports he is one-hundred percent healthy, and the two bulging discs in his neck are fully healed.
The Mets are counting on Nimmo to be their everyday center fielder after missing most of the 2019 season.
Nimmo’s contact with newly appointed Mets manager Luis Rojas, over the years, is filled with upbeat praise and gratitude. Already in camp, Nimmo told the New York Post:
Edwin And Pedro A Winning Combination
In other Mets news, Edwin Diaz decided to return to his roots in Puerto Rico for the winter. His goal was simple – to re-discover himself and the pitcher he was before last season’s disaster.
Always ready to help, baseball’s best non-coach coach, Pedro Martinez, took Diaz under his wing, most working on the mental side of the art of pitching.
A quick learner, Diaz responded eagerly to the help offered by the Hall of Famer:
Mets Marvel At New-Look Familia
Staying with the Mets bullpen, some rather astonishing news to report is that Jeurys Familia will report to camp having lost thirty pounds during the offseason.
This has to be seen as a considerable development if only because it shows Familia wanting to better himself, as opposed to the nonchalant body language he displayed last year during numerous failing appearances.
It’s no secret that if the Mets can put Diaz and Familia back together again, the entire nature of the team changes for the better.
Samo-Samo Though For Yoenis Cespedes
Now, is it possible Yoenis Cespedes has finally come to realize what the entire planet already knows – that he is a jerk of the highest order?
Cespedes, fresh off the “wild boar” explanation of how he injured himself on his ranch, showed up at Mets camp last Wednesday, full of vigor and saying beautiful things.
Not to be fooled, though, because we also learned the “let’s renew my image” track is in full swing and is being led by his agency Roc Nation Sports.
In a two-minute video posted Thursday on Twitter, Cespedes is shown doing a variety of exercises that are interspersed with comments from his critics along with talking points responses by Cespedes.
The emperor has no clothes, though, because we know that Yoenis Cespedes is now doing piece work and is being forced to sing for his supper this year.
Yes, the Mets will pay Cespedes only when he plays. Thanks anyway, Roc Nation. Nice try.
I didn’t mean to end on a sour note like that, but you gotta call ’em like you see ’em.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
