NL East

The Yankees have kept fans largely in the dark this winter about when single game tickets will be available available to the general public, but apparently Staten Island Yankee fans are in the loop because for the second year-in-a-row they’re the first to know.

Anyways, NYY Stadium Insider has the lowdown on the ticket situation:

It's hard to feel good right now as a Mets fan.

Outfielder Carlos Beltran had the knee surgery that he should have had last fall in January and is out for the first two months of the season.

New signing pitcher Kelvim Escobar, recovering from two years of shoulder issues and surgery, has had yet another setback in his rehab and will almost certainly start the season on the DL. 

The Mets already know that they will be without Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes for Opening Day 2010, and that means that once again, David Wright will be last man standing as far as core position players.

Yes, Jason Bay hitting behind him should give him some protection, but is that enough reason for pitchers to not go after hitting Wright or at least backing him off the plate?

Last August, when Wright was already flu-ridden and battling leg injuries, Wright was nailed by a 94 MPH fastball by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants. 

Two weeks ago, Hall of Fame great Sandy Koufax worked with a few of the Mets' pitchers.

Koufax, a longtime friend of Mets owner Fred Wilpon, often makes this annual trip to Port St. Lucie to pass on his wisdom.

This year, it felt as if this visit by Koufax was the only hope Oliver Perez had left.

Perez, coming off a disastrous, injury-plagued year, is healthy and confident. Mets ownership is counting on Perez to win 15 games, but few in the game or the stands believe it.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes could be sidelined until May or June, according to new reports coming out of spring training today.

He has not played since March 4, when he was sent back to New York for medical tests, and while it was initially thought his overactive thyroid wouldn't prove too much of a distraction, it has now emerged that he may not even resume playing baseball for eight weeks.

With Carlos Beltran out for the start of the year, it's a big loss to be without the speedy infielder for an extended period of time.

According to Yahoo! Sports, All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez returned to New York Mets camp on Monday after being hampered by conjunctivitis for more than two weeks.

Rodriguez had been told to stay away from the team until the pink eye cleared, but the contagious infection took longer than expected to improve.

He was sick when he reported to New York’s spring facility, but his eye went undiagnosed until just before full-squad workouts began on Feb. 25.

A few weeks back, respected columnist Joe Posnanski took his shot at projecting the 2010 Major League Baseball season. 

He called his projection system perfect, because it was flawed, pointless, and will quickly be forgotten about. 

Hey, that could all be true. 

For now, at least, we'll remember. And we'll talk about one pertinent subject in Posnanski's article. 

No disagreements with Posnanski on his projection that the Phillies will win 96 games; that may even be a little generous. 

Javier Vazquez struck out 239 batters in 2010, second in the National League. Vazquez actually struck out more batters than the number of grounders he forced, 237.

Javier was the definition of a big-time strikeout pitcher last year, and this takes a lot of pressure off a defense.

The man replacing him in the rotation this year, Tim Hudson, is a notorious ground ball pitcher. Hudson has had four seasons in which he forced 400 or more ground balls, and his season high for strikeouts with the Braves is 141.

The NL East has been dominated by the Phillies the past couple years. This year isn't going to be any different, as the Phillies will be just as good, if not better, than last year. Although, 2nd place is up for grabs between the Marlins, Braves, and Mets. I could easily see the Braves taking that spot, and the Mets getting 3rd. Here are my predictions:

1. Philadelphia Phillies (97-65)