New York Mets

On Sunday I read some comments from David Howard, VP of business operations with the Mets, which got me wondering.

Now that it's official that Daniel Murphy will start Opening Day, it gives the Mets three "homegrown" players on the field (homegrown defined as a player who played their first MLB game in a Mets uniform). This got me thinking about other Opening Day lineups

The resent, okay lets not kid ourselves, and past misfortunes the New York Mets have had really have left Mets fans scratching their heads. “Why our team?” they ask.  How can the Mets keep fielding a solid team yet find ways to miss the playoffs, even if seems like they have locked the division up?

Sorry, Jason!

This is exactly why you give a guy a three-year/$42 million dollar extension at age 36.

Chipper Jones, via ESPN:

Note: The lineups and rotation order are done by my discretion. The projected lineups are done the way I would have them if I was the team's manager.

ATLANTA BRAVES

LINEUP

1. Kelly Johnson 2B .287 12 HR 69 RBI

2. Yunel Escobar SS .288 10 HR 60 RBI

3. Chipper Jones 3B .364 22 HR 75 RBI

4. Brian McCann C .301 23 HR 87 RBI

5. Casey Kotchman 1B .272 14 HR 74 RBI

6. Garret Anderson LF .293 15 HR 84 RBI

7. Jeff Francoeur RF .239 11 HR 71 RBI

8. Gregor Blanco CF .251 1 HR 38 RBI

9. PITCHER

Let’s take a look at the NL East, where anyone, well, almost anyone can emerge as the winner. I’ll take a look at the teams in alphabetical order, saving the Nats for last, where they belong. The Marlins, Mets, Phillies, and Braves will all be contending this year, with question marks on every team. Who will emerge as the NL East champion?

Atlanta Braves

I watched last night's game against the Orioles and came away impressed by several things I saw.

Although Oliver Perez still wasn't throwing his best fastball, he certainly looked much better than he did his first couple of outings back from the WBC.

The first thing that I noticed was that Perez was throwing a lot of strikes and getting quite a few ground balls. I watched Perez in the WBC a couple of times and it seemed that keeping the ball down was a priority for him this spring—not that it worked that well for him in that tournament.

Former Mets pitcher and current SNY broacaster, Ron Darling, sat down with the Good Day NY crew to talk about his new book called The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching and Life on the Mound.

I personally love Ron Darling and the insight he brings to the Mets telecast. I think he's arguably one of the most articulate color guys in baseball and has the ability to explain pitchers' mechanics and mentality like few others on TV.

I usually don't like predictions because I am really bad at them. These are just numbers, not backed up by statistics from last year because, frankly, I don't give last year much thought. Especially because I'm a Mets' fan.

So I made these extraordinary picks. Not too many surprises, that's why I still have three out my four final four picks still in there.

I'm all for nostalgia, so I have my two favorite teams to relive some brilliant baseball history, and after another drug-filled offseason, I think everyone would agree that we need some excitement this season.

Under Omar Minaya the Mets have done an outstanding job of finding and signing talent in Latin and South America.  Wilmer Flores and Jefry Marte might be the two latest big finds for the Mets organization. 

Wilmer Flores - SS (for now)

Wilmer created quite a buzz as the youngest player in rookie ball at Kingsport.  Then a 16-year-old, he let loose something people are not used to seeing from a kid in professional baseball—power.