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1. The Beer Island  -  Me likes this one the best !

2.  The Worlds Fare Market - Where else can you get a black and white cookie for $3.95 ?

3. The Old Home Run Apple - Hey we can take a group picture there !

So if you are interested in meeting up either email me at rustyjr@nleastchatter.com  or post below

btw if you have another idea for a meeting place  please feel free to  make your suggestions.

                                           Rustyjr sez ” Looking foward to meeting all of you on Opening Day !”

This is really too bad.  I wanted Rollins to put his team on the spot once again-only to see if the Mets could shut him up.  Maybe Rollins learned from making a total fool out of himself last year with his World Series Predictions on Jay Leno that forced him to reconsider his fortune telling skills.

It’s just unfortunate that it had to be the Yankees instead of the Mets who shut him up and made him eat his words.

I was hoping that maybe this year he would open his mouth only to have it shut by the New York Metropolitans.

Perhaps he knows something that we don’t.

“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong

What does this statement have to do with anything Mets?

Well you can argue that if the Mets press release yesterday did not omit one word it would of changed the controversy that the Mets are still having communication issues. Here is what the Mets should of said.

“Test results today on Jose Reyes have confirmed that Jose has an [mild] overactive thyroid.”

Had they thrown in the word mild then Reyes statements and his agents would corroborate one another.

Here is what Reyes agent Peter E. Greenberg said in an article by David Waldstein of The NY Times.
“We’re waiting for the final results tomorrow,” Greenberg said from Arizona, “but all indications are that it’s the most minimal case of hyperthyroidism possible. The doctor was very pleased and so is Jose.”

Even Reyes agent is not saying there was no Thyroid problem but rather the most minimal case of hyperthyroidism possible.

The article goes on to say that “Unless the condition changes significantly, he could be cleared to play within days.”

Now Greenberg saying what he did doesn’t mean he too has a communication issue with his client Jose Reyes. When Reyes said  in the ESPN Deportes interview “The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I’m fine and that there’s nothing wrong with my thyroid“.

Reyes may in fact be fine now since  the time of his initial blood work. Waldstein’s article says  “Initial tests did not determine the cause of the condition, Greenberg said, but it could be the result of a virus, or perhaps a change in Reyes’s diet. Greenberg said Reyes had recently been eating a lot of seafood, especially shellfish, and the extra iodine might have contributed to the imbalance in his thyroid levels.”

What is most important is that it looks like Reyes will be just fine and unless a 3rd scenario drops to totally drive a monkey wrench into all of this. Reyes should  hopefully be back in camp soon getting ready for Opening day.

New York Mets

• CF - Pridie
• 2B - Tejada
• 1B - Murphy
• 3B - Hessman
• LF - Carter
• SS - Adams
• C - Santos
• RF - Cabrera
• SP - Niese

Atlanta Braves

• CF - McLouth
• 2B - Prado
• 3B - Jones
• 1B - Hinske
• RF - Cabrera
• LF - Diaz
• SS - Infante
• C - Ross
• SP - Lowe

Floating

Recently Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated noted that commissioner Bud Selig’s special committee for on-field matters, an assemblage of 14 baseball luminaries, has actually been brainstorming (or at least brainclouding).  One concept they have been discussing is “a radical form of ‘floating’ realignment in which teams would not be fixed to a division, but free to change divisions from year-to-year based on geography, payroll and their plans to contend or not.”

Realignment in and of itself is not a bad idea in my opinion.  Geographic realignment.  One of my favorite things about the CBS Sports website is their league map.  It really brings the distribution of teams and their league/division affiliations up for some healthy debate (and points out what fun it must be to travel from Miami to Seattle for a key interleague series).  It doesn’t take a group of 14 baseball luminaries to look at that map and see room for some adjustments.

I want to be very clear.  I am not anti-realignment.  I am anti-”free to change divisions from year-to-year.” Rivalries are an important aspect of sport and annually changing divisions seems likely to destroy current rivalries and does not facilitate the forming of new ones given division change looms at the end of each season.

But where this committee of luminaries loses me completely is when they suggest realignment could be based on “payroll and their plans to contend or not.” Huh?  Is MLB seriously considering the concept of the NL Poor, NL Middle Class and NL Rich? And that a team could float from one of those divisions to another based on it’s own whim?  We think we’re going to contend this year so what division will be easiest to win - let’s try the NL Poor!

If this committee is seeking to radically alter the MLB landscape some less destructive ideas might be to establish and enforce a salary ceiling (and basement), or to adopt an English Premier League-style promotion and relegation system.

As Verducci concludes, “what is important is that the committee is making good on its mission to look at absolutely any on-field idea that could make the game better.” This I agree with.  I applaud the committee’s existence and the fact that they are actually thinking out loud.  My goal is not to discourage this committee from coming up with more ideas on how to make the game better.  It’s simply to let them know that I think this particular idea is a very bad one.

Carlos Beltran’s scoped knee surgery was the first aftershock of the 2009 disaster. While final damage totals are not yet in for this one, it’s expected he’ll miss up to a month of real time. The last report I heard suggested that he’d be cleared to resume baseball activities right around the time the Mets head north for Opening Day.

The Jose Reyes Thyroid aftershock hit last week, when blood work revealed that Reyes has an overactive thyroid. The results and treatment for this are still being determined, but many opinions suggest that it shouldn’t be a big deal and he can get back to playing soon. This smaller aftershock was still upsetting, but it seems like it won’t be one that did much damage.

Other smaller aftershocks have occurred throughout Spring Training for the Mets. Francisco Rodriguez came down with pink eye, but didn’t become a zombie. Fernando Tatis is batting some knee issues, and Nick Evans strained his forearm. Neither is considered serious and Frankie is back and pitching again.

The big thing to remember here is it’s not 2009 anymore. You can check the calendar if you don’t believe me. Every tweak or setback or injury is not indicative of disaster, and the bad luck that plagued the Mets in 2009 was just that; bad luck. The way Reyes did not adequately recover from his hamstring injuries has nothing to do with what his thyroid may or may not be doing right now, and the bone bruise that Beltran had does not relate to his recovery from having his knee scoped in the off season. Right now we’re still in limbo waiting on how Reyes will be treated by doctors and when he’ll get back down to Florida to continue Spring Training, but once he does everything will be alright. Soon it will be time for baseball to count, and we can start obsessing over wins and losses and pitching performances and home run totals instead of thyroid levels and pink eye symptoms.

Visit Optimistic Mets Fan for more of Ceetar’s posts.

Francisco Rodriguez who has been sidelined due to a bout with Pink Eye expects to make his Spring Debut next week.

Rodriguez speaking with Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes said the following, “Tendré otro bullpen de 15 lanzamientos el miércoles y posiblemente un juego simulado en el fin de semana para estar listo para debutar en la próxima semana”.

Translated in English: I’ll have another bullpen session of 15 pitches on Wednesday and possibly a simulated game this weekend to be ready to debut next week.

All I know is that after the chain of events that happened in Mets camp yesterday , I wish I was a fan of curling at this moment. I kid I kid !  But anyone who thought Johan Santana in his first appearance since mid August was going to be dominant and show no signs of rust needs to have their heads examined. Okay so the Mets lost to the Houston Astros by the score of 8-4  , but lets look at the bright side. David Wright had another home run yesterday , which was encouraging, and first baseman of the future, Ike Davis is still making his case by going 1-3 with a solo homer ( he still needs to start the year in Buffalo). But of course there always has to be some controversy surrounding  regarding a interview that was published last night by ESPN Deportes in which Jose Reyes contradicts earlier reports that stated that he is suffering from a over active thyroid. He claims that the doctors told him not to worry and to lay off seafood that contains high amounts of iodine. Whatever the case may be it seems that whatever Jose is suffering from can be treated with medication, and I expect ( or is that holding out all hope ?) to see Jose in a  Mets uniform when I see the Mets on Opening Day at Shea -Err I mean Citi Field.

This leads me to my next question. I will be attending Citi Field on Opening Day  - will there be anyone else there also? If so  I would like to have a pregame meet up so that we can all put the faces to the names . So if you are expecting to attend either write me at rustyjr@nleastchatter.comor write in the comments section where you think a good location to congregate .

                                                  ” Don’t worry about Johan , The force is with him !”

With that said  HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!

Happy Birthday wishes go out to original Mets reliever from ‘62- 63, Ken MacKenzie (1934). Ken was one of the better Mets pitchers from that era, posting a record of 8-5 with a e.r.a of 4.96.

Middle reliever from the ‘79 team, Wayne ” The Twitch” Twitchell is 62 (1948). He was one of the few bright spots on that ‘79 team - so bright that they sold him to the Seattle Mariners in August of that year because the team was strapped for cash.

Mets  bullpen coach for much of the ’90’s, Greg Pavlick is 60 . (1950)
Emergency starter from ‘92 - ‘95, Mike Birkbeck is 49 .(1961)
Brooklyn’s own John Cangelosi is 47 (1963) . He was a reserve outfielder for a horrible ‘94 Mets team. He didn’t play all that well, but he became a fan favorite .

New York Mets released Duaner Sanchez on March 10, 2009. Lets face it , Duaner was never the same after that car accident in ‘06 , in ‘07he came into spring training out of shape and proceeded to reinjure his shoulder. And by the time spring training ‘09 came along he was not the dominant reliever he once was. He later signed with the San Diego Padres , where he was released two months later.

And don’t forget , there are just 26  Dave Kingman days until the Mets open the 2010 season against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field.

”

The New York Mets say Jose Reyes has an overactive thyroid, but the shortstop isn’t buying it.

The team said on Tuesday that Reyes is expected to remain in New York while the results of additional blood tests are used to determine his treatment after tests confirmed he has an overactive thyroid.

But Reyes told ESPNDeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas later Tuesday: “The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I’m fine and that there’s nothing wrong with my thyroid. The test [taken to follow one conducted during his physical] showed that I’m fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed.”"

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2010/news/story?id=4980758

What the heck is going on?

UPDATE: Jose Reyes quotes from ESPN Deportes in spanish then translated in english.
Reyes: “Los especialistas que me atendieron en Nueva York me dijeron que estaba bien y que no tengo problemas de la tiroide”
Reyes: The specialists that attended me in New York told me that I am fine and that I don’t have Thyroid problems.

Reyes: “Me dijeron que solamente tenía la garganta inflamada y no necesitaba medicinas para la tiroide u otra cosa”
Reyes: They told me that I only had a inflamed throat and did not need medicines for the thyroid or something else.

Reyes: “La única recomendación de los especialistas fue que no comiera mariscos por la cantidad de yodo que contienen y que debía chequearme cada tres semanas para ver como sigue todo”
Reyes: The only recommendation of the specialists was to not eat seafood because of the amount of iodine that they have and that I should check myself every 3 weeks to see how everything is going.

Reyes: “El primer examen mostró que estoy bien, me dijeron, y los resultados del segundo no los tenemos”
Reyes: They told me the first examination showed that I am fine and the results of the second ones we don’t have.

Reyes: “Quieren que todo esté claro antes de autorizarme a volar de vuelta a Florida”
Reyes: They want everything to be clear before authorizing me to fly back to Florida.

Again according to ESPN Deportes Jose Reyes says the Mets announcement that Reyes has a hyperactive thyroid are false. Stay tuned I am sure there is more to come.