Bobby Valentine is the Obvious Next Step as Mets Manager

The most obvious next step for Bobby Valentine is Flushing, says Bob Klapisch in a report for FoxSports.com.

According to Klapisch, “Jerry Manuel has two months, at best, to prove he can reverse the Mets downward spiral, which began all the way back in Game 7 of the 2006 NL Championship Series.”

Klapisch feels one long losing streak could get Manuel fired. “Question is,’ he asks, ‘would ownership have the guts to re-hire Valentine?’

I am personally a HUGE fan of Bobby V but let's see what happens during the season. Jerry did a great job of keeping his cool during awful times last year and deserves ample time to do something positive this year. Jerry is a very good personality in the clubhouse and when dealing with the New York media. The only problems I had with the team last year was that they made too many mental mistakes and too many fielding errors. 2 things, if any, the manager can turn around on the field of play.

Mets BlogWatch: Murphy, Omar, Renovations

Mets BlogWatch brings you the best stories from around the Mets blogosphere.

• Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog just posted his Q&A with Daniel Murphy.
• Ed Ryan of Mets Fever says "It was a bad off-season & no way it was Omar's plan." I agree. Omar's job is on the line, and I know that if he could, he'd go out there and be much more aggressive. It's ownership who I think is holding him back.
• Tom Kaminski of WCBS880 flew over Citi Field and took pictures of the renovations of the Citi Field bullpen.

The Complete list of Non-Roster Invitees (18 so far)

Pitchers	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	-- Travis Blackley	L/L	6-3	200	11/04/82
	64 Elmer Dessens	R/R	5-11	200	01/13/71
	-- R.A. Dickey	R/R	6-2	215	10/29/74
	-- Josh Fogg	R/R	6-0	205	12/13/76
	-- Bobby Livingston	L/L	6-3	205	09/03/82
	-- Carlos Muniz	R/R	6-1	190	03/12/81
	-- Eric Niesen	L/L	6-1	180	09/04/85
	Catchers	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	-- Francisco Pena	R/R	6-2	230	10/12/89
	Infielders	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	-- Russ Adams	L/R	6-0	200	08/30/80
	-- Jolbert Cabrera	R/R	6-1	215	12/08/72
	-- Mike Cervenak	R/R	5-11	200	08/17/76
	-- Ike Davis	L/L	6-5	195	03/22/87
	29 Andy Green	R/R	5-10	180	07/07/77
	-- Luis Hernandez	S/R	5-10	180	06/26/84
	-- Mike Hessman	R/R	6-5	215	03/05/78
	-- Ruben Tejada	R/R	5-11	165	09/01/89
	Outfielders	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	-- Jesus Feliciano	L/L	6-0	174	06/06/79
	-- Kirk Nieuwenhuis	L/R	6-3	210	08/07/87

Mets sign four, invite 11 to spring camp

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that the Mets signed four players, including infielder Jolbert Cabrera, to Minor League contracts on Thursday and invited a total of 11 non-roster players to Spring Training.

Along with Cabrera, 37, a .257 lifetime hitter over nine seasons, the Mets signed infielder Luis Hernandez and left-handed pitchers Bobby Livingston and Travis Blackley. The former two players will compete for spots on the bench; the latter two for roles in the bullpen. Hernandez was the only one of the four to play in the Major Leagues last season.Among the invitees were top prospects Jenrry Mejia and Ike Davis.

The Mets also invited right-handed reliever Carlos Muniz, lefty Eric Niesen, catcher Francisco Pena, infielder Ruben Tejada and outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis to camp.

Most eyes in Port St. Lucie, Fla., however, will be on Mejia and Davis, generally considered two of the team's top five prospects. Mejia, 20, is a flamethrowing right-hander likely to start the season in Double-A Binghamton. Davis, 22, has been pegged as the Mets' first baseman of the future, and could earn a promotion to the big club as early as September.

More on FMart

New York Mets outfield prospect Fernando Martinez's prospect status has lost some luster over the past year, thanks in large part to injuries and a poor showing in the big leagues in 2009.

But, as Jore Arangure, Jr. writes today, Martinez had an outstanding showing in both the Dominican League finales and the Carribean Series, where he was named MVP.

Martinez, the No. 73 prospect in baseball, has much more potential than such a ranking suggests. If healthy, however, Jeff Francouer may be playing to keep his job in 2010.

Keith Law of ESPN adds: "He continues to have trouble staying healthy, and there's a real risk of Chris Snelling disease here, with lack of playing time limiting his development; he's never had more than 400 plate appearances in any season, and even including winter ball this offseason, when he was just back from knee surgery, he had fewer than 300 PAs in '09. Martinez has also had his work ethic and conditioning called into question, including a visible lack of effort more than once at the big league level last year. Very few players can coast to major league stardom on talent alone, and Martinez needs to grow up -- he's still just 21 years old -- to turn himself into an elite corner-outfield bat."

Mookie back with Mets and Melvin added as Scout

The Mets have hired former big league manager Bob Melvin as a professional scout and have also brought back Mookie Wilson as their minor league outfield and base running coordinator.

Melvin was the Seattle Mariners manager in 2003-04 and the Arizona Diamondbacks manager from 2005 till May of last season, where he was replaced by AJ Hinch. Melvin was NL Manager of the Year in 2007.

Mookie, a member of the 1986 World Series champion team, was first base coach for the Mets from 1997-2002 and a minor league manager for New York at Kingsport (2003-04) and Brooklyn in 2005.

In other news, Guy Conti was replaced as the rehabilitation pitching coordinator by Frank Fultz, and Conti now becomes a senior adviser in the minor league department. Fultz was the pitching coach for the Gulf Coast Mets last season.

Mets' Martinez named Carribean Series MVP

Mets prospect Fernando Martinez was named MVP of the Caribbean Series as a member of the winning Dominican Republic team.

Martinez hit .348 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in six games as the Dominicans won the series 5-1.

This adds further speculation to the Mets CF debate as Martinez is already off to a hot start with spring training not too far away. For me the competition among Angel Pagan, Gary Matthews Jr. and Martinez can only be a good thing. The 3 CF's will push themselves that much harder knowing the starting CF position is open. Starting on Opening Day is still a big deal to major leaguer's and this should be no different.

Martinez struggled last year in his first stint in the bigs. He hit .176 in 29 games. But maybe now after he's done so well in the Caribbean, he will come into Spring Training more confident and more determined to prove himself. He has expressed concerns about not fitting into the Mets outfield plans recently but the one way he can put himself firmly into those plans is to play really well this coming February and March.

It's OK Hisanori, we had Ken already

And it didn't work out that well.

As we reported last week, the Mets are interested in Japanese pitcher Hisanori Takahashi.

Now, JapaneseBallplayers.com is reporting that Takahashi turned down a minor-league offer from the Mets and Orioles. He reportedly has other offers from the Giants, Red Sox, Dodgers, Pirates, and Padres.

It's been reported he prefers the West Coast, so I'd say he either signs with the Dodgers because of their location, or the Red Sox because of their history with Japanse players.

Note: I need your help

Hello Mets fans,

I am asking you today for a minute or two of your time. I need your help. As you know, MetsGuide has expanded greatly over the past few months. I never checked page views until last month, and I was astonished at the traffic this blog gets. I would have never thought that this site, started on a whim, would become as successful as it is today. Now that we are growing, I think that its time for the look of the site to change as well. But, I need your help. I want to know what the readers want. I will build this site around you. So please, take this quick survey about the site, so I can integrate the things that the readers want into the new site.

In addition, I am aware of the problems when trying to comment on an article. On the homepage, all blog posts will likely show "Comments (0)" on the bottom, when there are actually comments on the post. In addition, some accounts aren't working. I am trying to get this fixed as soon as possible.

The survey takes only 2 minutes. Thank you in advance for your help.

Tom Pich
Lead Writer-MetsGuide

Mets Week in Review: January 31-February 6

Spring Training is 11 days away! Until then, take a look at the latest Mets news:

• Former Met Lance Broadway was accused of a vicious assault.
• The Mets are done spending, according to Buster Olney.
• Cliff Floyd said that the Mets have bad chemistry.
• Nelson Figueroa pitched a three-hitter in the Caribbean Series.
• KeySpan Park will be renamed MCU Park.
• Orlando Hudson signed with the Twins.
• I predicted where the remaining free agents would land.
• I wrote about skin color in baseball.
• Does team chemistry really matter?
• The Mets could sign Hisanori Takahashi to a minor-league deal.
• Omir Santos should not be the Mets starting catcher.
• Todd Wellemeyer could sign with the Mets.

Wellemeyer to the Mets?

Todd Wellemeyer will likely sign with a team in the next few days, and he told a St. Louis radio station that he's likely signing with the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants.

Wellemeyer might fill a fifth starter role or a long relief role for any of those teams. In 2008, he started for the Cardinals but he said the Cards haven't come calling so it's unlikely he's going back.

Talent Evaluators talking Omir Santos

Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes there is a good chance the Mets go in to Spring Training with Omir Santos as their starting catcher.

In a post to his blog, Olney quotes one American League talent evaluator who feels Santos is a ‘capable back-up,’ not a starter, who has average arm strength and average receiving ability, and who can hit around .250 with just under 10 home runs.

The second AL Talent evaluator told Olney:

“I think Santos is more like an up/down guy for a good club… Santos is decent emergency protection at AAA for a good club and a backup catcher for a club that isn’t going to contend. He can run into a fastball, but the more action he sees, the more that his aggressive approach at the plate is likely to be exposed at the big league level.”

In the end, the second talent evaluator wonders, “You’d think they’d be more than willing to give Josh Thole a shot to see regular at-bats, as at least he has some upside.”

Hisanori Takahashi Could Decide on Team Soon

Jon Heyman of SI.com says 34 year old LHP Hisanori Takahashi could decide among the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants, Pirates and Padres soon.

Last month, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com said Takahashi could be viewed as an alternative to Jarrod Washburn or Noah Lowry.

Last year, Takahashi appeared in 25 games for the Yomiuri Giants and in 144 innings he went 10-6 with a 2.94 ERA with 126 strikeouts.

Reader Response: Does team chemistry matter?

Recently on Twitter, I asked my readers the following question: Team Chemistry. Important or overrated?

Here are just some of their responses:

@Darknova306 Chemistry is an illusion. Teams that win 'have chemistry' teams that lose don't. Simple. Just win.

@Ceetar Overrated. And built by winning and losing together, not bringing in overrated players like Hudson.

@SweetCarolynne Chemistry is not overrated. It is a need to be on the same page on the field and the rest will blossom into something special.

@princeofnyc33 overrated

@ontheblack important

@vcMETSFAN28 important

What do you think?