Pedro, Carlos, Omar ... and Adam

[Guest Adam Rubin]

Have you suspected any Met of taking steroids or amphetamines?

Again, you don't have to name names, I'm just wondering if there was a 'buzz' that player x was on roids or uppers.

Yes, on both counts, though no one currently on the team. With the latter drug, one player, in Montreal actually, had heart palpitations a few years ago. He blamed it on coffee, but teammates suggested otherwise.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Alll the sh** goes down in Montreal. I knew it.

[Frayed Knot]

And as a bit of a follow-up to some of Rotblatt's questions about minor leaguers:
I noticed during the few times I've heard you on the radio and also in some of your columns from last year that you have a pretty good grasp on Met minor leaguers - something it's always seemed to me that the big city media has ignored for the most part over the years. I've also seen some of the other papers (Newsday most notably) start to pay more attention in the last year or so as well.
Is this something you and/or your paper have made a conscious effort to follow more closely as compared to previous years?

[Guest Adam Rubin]

Why did Seo spend so much time dominating AAA hitters while Ishii was serving up batting practice last year?
In your opinion, was it institutional or a personality conflict or what?

Someone asked earlier about whether contracts dictate playing time. Yes, to a certain extent, as do trades. That's the same reason why Nady would start over Diaz in right field unless something extraordinary happens.

In Seo's case, he might not have been as successful if he got called up quickly. He learned two new pitches while he was at Norfolk -- the cutter and splitter, I believe, off the top of my head -- which contributed to the success when he returned.


On that note, Brian Daubach was having a monster season in AAA, and when he finally got called up, Willie hardly used him at all. Any idea of the rationale behind that?

There are some people who are known as 4A players -- great Triple-A stats, but can't get it done at the major-league level. Daubach probably qualifies at this point.

[Guest Adam Rubin]

Care to make a prediction on the NL East standings?

Braves
Mets
Phillies
Nationals
Marlins

But Mets make the postseason as the wild card.

There's probably no logical explanation to pick the Braves, other than if a coin comes up heads 14 straight times, you might as well pick it again.

So much will be dictated by Pedro's health.

[Guest Adam Rubin]

Now that's interesting to me. Most of the experts over at BA & whatnot seem to think Hernandez is a future back-up, at best. Are the Mets pretty convinced that he's got a future as a regular?

On that note, are there any other minor leaguers who the Mets have their eyes on?

Before this past year, Hernandez hasn't hit, so back-up might have been his ceiling. But he did a nice job in winter ball to follow up on a solid minor-league season, during which he was much more patient at the plate than in the past.

In the short term, the second baseman for the Mets will be asked to bat eighth and the priority ought to be defense, which would be Hernandez's forte.

I'm sure if there were some major second baseman available via free agency or trade after the season, the Mets would at least explore it. After al, Matsui's contract is up.

The minor leaguers you'll probably see at some point this season:

Anderson Hernandez
Mike Pelfrey
Brian Bannister (in a Seo-like scenario, if one comes about)
Henry Owens
I'm not sure you can label Heath Bell and Juan Padilla minor leaguers, but they have options, so they very well could start the season in the minors and join the team in a month or two.

There are other guys who might have a Jose Santiago-like role, such as Jeremi Gonzalez.

Lastings Milledge could be up in September, but the Mets being in a playoff race will limit call-ups.

I'm rooting for Matt Lindstrom, who is going to throw off a mound for the first time Tuesday since the stress fracture in his arm. He thinks his walks were way up last season because he was pitching in pain most of the year. Hopefully the free passes will drop back down to a normal level now.

[Guest Adam Rubin]

And as a bit of a follow-up to some of Rotblatt's questions about minor leaguers:
I noticed during the few times I've heard you on the radio and also in some of your columns from last year that you have a pretty good grasp on Met minor leaguers - something it's always seemed to me that the big city media has ignored for the most part over the years. I've also seen some of the other papers (Newsday most notably) start to pay more attention in the last year or so as well.
Is this something you and/or your paper have made a conscious effort to follow more closely as compared to previous years?

I used to cover minor-league baseball when I worked in Birmingham, Ala. In fact, I covered White Sox prospects Joe Crede, Mark Buehrle, Aaron Rowand and Jon Garland there, as well as ex-Met Matt Ginter. So I'm very fond of the minors, particularly Double-A.

I can't say I have a great handle on the low-A guys, but I attend enough Binghamton games a year to have a pretty good handle on the upper levels. Plus, I purposely spend a lot of time in the clubhouse during spring training with the minor leaguers in big-league camp. I also attend the minicamp.

I've spent a lot of time this spring with Philip Humber, Henry Owens, Matt Lindstrom, Brian Bannister and Joe Hietpas. I'm just getting to know Mike Pelfrey and Lastings Milledge. And I'm also around Drew Butera, Jason Scobie and several others.

[Guest Adam Rubin]

Well, I seem to have exhausted the questions. And I've got an early wake-up call. I read seven papers' Mets coverage in the morning, then am in the clubhouse by 8 a.m. So if I could give one last plug for the book, which should be in stores in a day or two, if it's not already, it's called Pedro, Carlos and Omar.

It's always available online. Here are a couple of links ...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592288758/qid=1133584879/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/104-7288835-4754339?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Bf2N7DeCY5&isbn=1592288758&itm=1

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Adam - thank you for your time and your participation in this chat. Best of luck with the book!

[Frayed Knot]

Thanks Adam,
Between your earlier visits plus tonight I think you've gone above and beyond.
And I think it's safe to say that many here are looking forward to the book.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Many thanks.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Are there any online-only colums/weblogs/etc. that you find particularly entertaining or informative?

Last question: Willie got a lot of crap from us here for a variety of reasons, but I think the biggest perceived flaw was that he was inflexibile. He decided Cairo was his guy, and he stuck with him until he got injured. Heilman & Seo were spot starters, so they got sent back to where they came from when they weren't needed, even though they were pretty dominant (Seo had an ERA of 2.00 through 3 starts between 4/23 & 5/4).

Willie's been a little more flexible in camp this year--shorter practices, etc.--do you think that's a sign of things to come or do you think he'll remain as stubborn as he was last year?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well played.

[metirish]

Adam thanks a bunch, this was cool of you, also I saw a TJ Quinn article in the News today( I had asked where he was).

ON Edit...I'm Nolan Ryan....bringing the heat....

[Benjamin Grimm]

That was terrific. Great job by Frayed Knot setting that up. (And Patchy too, who I assume was also involved.)

I hope he decides to visit us again some day.

[Frayed Knot]

Yes, Patchy Fogg deserves a significant assist for Adam's visit.
It certainly helps when you're inviting a guest to have someone already in contact lie to ... umm, I mean vouch for the fact that this site isn't filled with a bunch a stereotyped screaming internet weenies with an MTV-like attention span and the social skills of Boo Radley.
Well, not most of us anyway.




P.S. I think we can un-stick this one now.

[patchyfogg]

I can tell you that Adam looks forward to doing this again with the folks at the CPF, so all praise the Knot of Frayed-dom.