New York Mets

Team Puerto Rico absolutely destroyed the star-packed Team USA with a score of 11-1 Saturday evening in Miami.

The game actually ended as a result of the Mercy Rule, which I personally found a bit amusing. The Mercy Rule occurs when a game ends early when one team has a very large and presumably insurmountable lead over the other team. In the case of the WBC, the rule is 10 runs. 

Now that I've had a few days to unwind from my spring training travels, I thought I would share one of my better stories from my trip.

Last Monday, at the Orioles vs. Mets spring training game, my brother, Evan, left Tradition Field with a pair of Carlos Delgado's game-worn pants.

Jose Reyes is at it again. Already back from an early exit in the World Baseball Classic, he has resumed his support for the Mets to re-sign Pedro Martinez. Martinez, 37, is coming off a season to forget with the Mets. The right-handed Dominican player pitch just 109 innings last season and posted a dismal 5.61 E.R.A. "Unbelievable, unbelievable," said Reyes of Pedro. "He's fantastic. He's loose, comfortable on the mound. He threw a lot of strikes, bro. He throws hard, too. He looked great."

Last December, the Mets shipped out Endy Chavez, Joe Smith, and Aaron Heilman in exchange for J.J. Putz, Sean Green, and Jeremy Reed.

With spring training halfway done, we are that much closer to baseball season again. The New York Mets, a team that collapsed down the stretch in each of the past two seasons, have made a few great additions.

Two key additions for the 2009 season are Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez and JJ Putz. They fill the biggest need for the Mets—their bullpen.

The definition of collapse is "to break down". That is exactly what the Mets did, especially at the end of games. 27 BLOWN SAVES...that is wayyy too many.

The following is an elaborate spin-off of an essentially live blog entry I wrote in August as the New York Mets bullpen blew a lead for Johan Santana for the sixth time in the 2008 season.

Pitching for the Dominican team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Pedro Martinez is basically auditioning for a job this season with a major league team. In his two appearances, Pedro has tossed six shutout innings, allowing one hit while striking out six.

Even my 11-year-old son can limit the Netherlands team to one hit in six innings, although he needs to work on getting his slider over the plate more.

I have not made it a secret that I am no fan of the World Baseball Classic. I don't like the general idea that players who have major league contracts and commitments are missing Spring Training in order to play around the world in March.

That being said, the WBC is good for one thing. It is good for minor leaguers and free agents hoping to spark interest from other major league teams looking to fill out their major and minor league rosters this month.

In fact, the WBC has been really good to one man in particular: Pedro Martinez.

The Dominican Republic was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic last night after the team from the Netherlands, who clearly took everyone by surprise, pulled off an upset victory in the 11th inning.

The Netherlands won both of the contests against the Dominican Republic, who admitted after the first game that they took the team from the Netherlands too lightly.  The second and final victory was considered by many to be more of a managerial and executional failure than game approach.

Angel Pagan was sent to New York for an MRI on his sore elbow. It was then discovered that he has a bone spur.

If he elects to have it removed now, he will miss six to eight weeks of baseball. If he does not have the spur removed, chances are that he will not be able to play.  So, he will most likely  have the surgery and try to rejoin the team once he is recovered.