Metsmerized

For those of us on the Heath Bell bandwagon it has been an excellent week. Bell has thus far allowed no runs in five innings while fanning four and allowing only two baserunners. It is obviously early on, but he is making a strong case for the bullpen. That is obviously more than can be said for Aaron Heilman, who is doing absolutely nothing to help his case, unless his case is to be mentioned in the same breath as Bill Pulsipher and David West. I haven’t seen him pitch, but there is nothing positive you can take from six earned runs in three innings and three home runs allowed.

As for my personal fave for the spring, Luis Garcia has homered in five at-bats with nothing else to show for his chances at the plate. Galarraga also has homered and will most likely make the team for some reason, and I’m guessing that veteran leadership will have something to do with it. After six weeks when Garcia is mashing at Norfolk and Galarraga is doing nothing, the Mets will realize that a 27-year-old who destroyed the PCL is better than a 58-year-old who has been in and out of baseball over the last four years.

On a similar note, the Mets seem to be determining their fifth outfielder based on their performance this spring. Kerry Robinson appears to be the front-runner based on his .400 batting average. Do you think Willie and Omar sit in an office and say, “Kerry Robinson really is a .400 hitter!” Here is my question, if they really think he is good, why wouldn’t he be starting? He would be their best player. I have a decent idea of what he will do, and it is roughly close to his career line of .267/.305/.338. Then again, his competition is Ron Calloway whose career line is .224/.268/.344. How did the Mets end up in this postion where these were there two options for a roster spot? I cannot believe I am saying this, but McEwing would be a better choice than these two because he can put up the same crappy numbers and play a bunch more positions. There had to be a better option out there somewhere.

In the other good news department, Kaz Matsui seems to be adjusting well to second base; however, I cannot imagine he is too happy about it. Last season, the Mets moved their prize prospect off of his position to accommodate Kaz, and now they are making him switch. One would have to think that this is not what he imagined when he signed in the US.

WARNING: HYPOTHETICAL TRADE ABOUT TO BE PROPOSED

So, here is what I have in mind and yes, I am being a hypocrite because I hate when fans come up with hypothetical trades, at least on sports radio. Kaz to the Mariners for Bret Boone. The Mariners are in the midst of an overhaul and would love to rid themselves of a steroid creation (at least according to Jose) who makes a lot of money. More importantly, the Mariners would have Kaz and ICHIRO!, which would be fantastic for marketing purposes. They could put Kaz at short and move Pokey Reese over to second. Kaz would help provide some good PR while the Mariners rebuild a bit over the next couple of years. Boone would provide the Mets with a natural second baseman who, despite being on the downside of his career, would put up numbers better than Kaz. I am not saying I would do this, but it makes sense in a lot of ways. If you think I am being outrageous, I apologize because I might be.

Other thoughts…The Mets signed Brian Daubach to a minor league deal, I have no idea what this does.