Men, today is not a day to surf MLBTradeRumors, read Buster Olney, and research for your fantasy team.  At least not from three to six this afternoon, at that time, you will watch Olympic hockey.  It is your patriotic duty to cheer on the Americans over the Canadians in the gold medal game.  The match-up presents everything we love to root for.  The best players and the biggest stage in the sport, an underdog, and Americans.  So sack up, drink domestic, and root for the U.S. this afternoon.

(and check out the Bloguin Olympic Hockey Blog, while you're at it)

2010 looms as an important year for Mr. Flushing, David Wright. Last season was a disaster from a team and individual standpoint.  DW hit 10 homers in the inaugural season at Citi Field and the Mets critics were all over him (some deserved, some not).  Luckily for Wright, the team was so bad that it really didn't matter if he hit 50 home runs, they still would've been terrible.  However, if all goes according plan for the Metropolitans in 2010, there's a resurgence and the team contends for the division, that indifference won't be the case again.  The pressure is on for the young cornerstone to produce, produce.. produce this season.  And then some if he's going to get the NY media monkey off his back.

So David Wright did the right thing.  He took the offseason seriously, put on some muscle and looks like Hercules.  He's the classic spring training "best shape of his life" guy and ready to roll in '10.  Hooray, Yipee, Wahoo, blah, blah, blah.  All that's great except for the fact that it's 2010 and he looks like Hercules.  Add in the fact that he only hit 10 home runs last year after four straight years of 25 plus jacks.  Put that together and what do you get?  The answer shouldn't be too surprising:

The "steroids" whispers/allegations running rampant in mid-August when Wright has 30 home runs stream rolling into September. David Wright will be "outraged, disappointed, blindsided" you name it and whomever started the "controversy" will get lambasted by every major media outlet around.  Then barring a positive test (hardly out of the question, I mean, it is 2010) everything will blow over and away.  Unless of course he only hits 10 homers again in 2011, but that's a story for another day.

Is it justified?  Is it fair?  Does Wright deserve it?  It doesn't matter.  Baseball is so far past all the moral issues of who's toes are getting stepped on and who feels mistreated.  If you want to get swoll in the offseason and add shredded muscle, you've got to develop some thick skin because somewhere along the line someone is going to come out and pose the inevitable question:  Is player X on steroids?  It's a sad, but true story of the game of baseball today.

Not only was the question posed, it was borderline screamed by Will Carroll on twitter the other day, here's the tweet in it's entirety:

So Gagne regrets ... something and Wright shows up at camp *noticeably* more muscular. In other words, nothings changed in baseball.

Wow.  We could pretend that Carroll's words are a commentary on the media's handling and creation of the steroid witch hunt, but that's not the case.  In reality, Carroll is expressing the fact that we can't trust the players anymore, no matter who they are.  Baseball players have run out of second chances.  "I didn't do it."  "I'd never disgrace the game." "I'm offended you'd ask that."  From now on, let's ignore all the verbal politicking through the media.  If a seemingly good guy like David Wright has to swallow some criticism and controversy, so be it.  Raul Ibanez had to take a few shots last year and plenty more guys will in the future.  I can't imagine that we'll stop hearing about it until the guys stop cheating or it becomes legal... so yeah, never.

Via the Big League Stew/Hardball Talk whatever they're calling it these days...

More pictures after the jump!

At the end of this season, Ruben Amaro is going to be under the gun.  Jayson Werth established himself as one of the Phillies best players last season and he becomes a free agent.  If Jay puts together a season similar to his outstanding work in 2009, this pay day will be a big one.  Werth is a four tool player who does all four of those things exceptionally: hit for power, play defense, steal bases, and throw from the outfield.  That fifth tool (batting average) isn't a strong suit of his, but it's not so mediocre as to be detrimental to the ball club.

Werth started his career as a promising young outfielder drafted by the Orioles, immediately traded to the Blue Jays and moved again after a few stints in the bigs to the Dodgers.  A 6'5" lanky outfielder who projected with plus-power and good speed, Jay was derailed by wrist injuries throughout his time in LA.  The Phillies signed him in 2007 to platoon in the outfield and by 2008 he'd taken the position from Geoff Jenkins on a full-time basis.  In '09, well you know all about the career year that the Wolfman put together.  In 2010, now 31, Werth will earn himself a huge contract on the market if he continues his improved play.  Another 36 homer, 20 stolen base season will all but cement a contract well above the 3 year, $30 million that Raul signed last offseason.  Matt Holliday money is a little aggressive for the big right fielder because this will only be his second full season as a starter, but the money will be big and presumably, long as well.

Jayson Werth took questions about his future recently and here is some insight on the comment and situation:

MLBTR: Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer was part of the group questioning Werth about the future today.  Asked if he sees himself as comparable to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, Werth said he feels he's "a season away from something like that."  Keep in mind that 2009 was the only time Werth reached 500 plate appearances in his seven-year career.

Werth says he's only had very preliminary talks with the Phillies about an extension.  He wants to stay, and deferred to his agent when asked if he'd negotiate in-season.  GM Ruben Amaro Jr. raised the topic a month ago, saying "there will be some difficult decisions down the road."

It seems feasible that Werth will exceed the three-year, $30MM range occupied by Raul Ibanez and Milton Bradley the previous offseason.  Werth has advantages over both players, and given a strong 2010 he should be able to command four or five years at at least $12MM per.

Hardball Talk: Cliff Lee had "preliminary" talks with the Phillies too. He was shipped out of town, like, a week later.  I don't think that Werth will get the same treatment -- he's quite popular in Philly and it's not like the Phillies can just go out and grab the a rightfield equivalent of Roy Halladay to take his place -- but it's going to be a little complicated.

My guess: Philly will look to lock him up with some sort of backloaded deal in which the real money kicks in after Raul Ibanez's, Brad Lidge's and maybe even Ryan Howard's money comes off the books in 2012.

My guess?  The Wolfman ends up leaving town after a deal can't be done in house.  I'll be sad when he goes, but if Domonic Brown plays well and Raul doesn't need an AARP card by the end of 2010, Jayson Werth might end up being the odd man out.

UPDATE:  Johan says they had a catch together and the "can't grip a ball" rumors are not true.  Well, damn -- forget everything I just said.

News out of Mets camp today, Kelvim Escobar has a sore shoulder to start out Spring Training.  This is the guy who missed the last two season's with shoulder problems (torn labrum) and was a major injury risk coming in.  $1.25 million dollars later, Escobar and his balky shoulder are having trouble again.  On the surface this doesn't appear to be all that noteworthy -- first days of spring, old pitchers are going to have shoulder soreness.

However, if Hardball Talk has it correctly, Escobar can't even grip a baseball right now and that signifies a much, much bigger problem.  I've had every type of shoulder soreness there is while playing ball.  Tendonitis, subluxation, impingement, rotator cuff weakness, labrum soreness, you name it.  Never once have I not been able to grip a baseball.  If I'm a Mets fan, I wouldn't count on seeing Escobar in that set-up man role for too much of this season.

Finally, something in the Phillies universe to talk about.  I don't know about you guys, but top 25 moments lists and recaps of last season aren't all that interesting.  If the people want them, I will supply them, otherwise we will continue with relevant things to talk about.  Today, we've got some comments from Ruben Amaro Jr. (our GM, if you didn't know that, leave now) included in a piece by Ken Rosenthal:

But right now, no team is more settled than the Phillies through 2011. In fact, the Phillies are so settled — and so expensive — that Amaro is not entirely kidding when he says he eventually might need to “disband” the roster.

The Phillies, according to the Cot’s Baseball Contracts web site, already have $132.4 million committed to 15 players in 2011— which, if you’re keeping score, is the season after this one.

Disband is a very strong word, however the point remains, this Phillies team is getting older and more expensive by the minute.  If at some point the teams hits a major block in the road and falters, disbanding is not far out of the question.

“The payroll can’t continue to go north,” Amaro says. “When you get to a point where you’re basically at 100 percent capacity in your ballpark and 100 percent capacity almost in your revenues, somewhere it’s got to stop. I’m not crying poverty by any means. But at some point you have to be cognizant of where things are going.”

The Phillies have never been a "big market" team in the classic sense of the word.  Yes, Philly is a big market, but the team only recently began to spend as such.  The ownership isn't going to continue on a Mark Cuban/George Steinbrenner-like path to fiscal insanity.  The road levels off and drops somewhere, most likely right where it is now around $110-130 million.

The choice, then, came down to this:

• One year of Lee, mediocre prospects for Blanton and the prospect of gaining two draft picks if Lee departed as a free agent or . . .

• Three years of Blanton and three better prospects for Lee.

Not so clear-cut, is it?

Especially not when, in Amaro’s view, the draft picks were less valuable than they appeared.

“Lee is likely to sign with a high-payroll club,” Amaro says. “If we get that pick, it could be somewhere between 25 and 30. That’s the first pick.

“...You’re not looking at slam dunks. You get after the 10th or 15th pick in baseball, you’re kind of rolling the dice... Plus, those guys that we’re drafting may not get to the big leagues for four, five or six years. They are so much further away.

“The whole scenario of ‘Let’s just go for broke and pick up the draft picks and that’s fine,’ that doesn’t serve the purpose of what we’re trying to do, which is put ourselves in a position to win every year.

"We’re going to have to start filtering in younger players for some of the guys who become less productive as they get older.”

Ruben is absolutely in his long-term assessment of the franchise (phew, otherwise we'd be in trouble), but I think he fails to see the ceiling a Lee/Halladay/Hamels team creates.  Does talent directly lead to a championship?  Hell no.  But when you have a chance to distance yourself by such a wide margin, at such a low cost, don't you have to do it?

Yes, there needs to be young players to bridge the gap between retiring and diminishing players.  And yes, the prospects we'd receive via draft may take 4 or 5 years from making the big club, but isn't that about the time we'd really need them.  4 or 5 years in when the Utley's and Howard's and Werth's are going to gone or on their way out.  Why do we need a stocked farm system today?  It's always good to have one, but there's a window where we're not exactly calling up blue-chippers because there's no room on the big club, right now.

Amaro says he would prefer to simply keep Howard “forever,” adding, “we have a little bit of time to deal with that.” But for the Phillies to retain Werth – or find a comparable right-handed hitter – something will have to give.

Things may look very different in Philly starting in 2011.  Namely, the Ryan Howard negotiations could get messy and there are plenty of scenarios where we lose the big man.  However, it is nice to see Amaro paying him his due respect and we can rest assured that the organization does in fact value him long-term.

The Mets had a busy day yesterday as they finalized minor league deals for 4 players, with a lot of incentives if they make the big league team.   Here's a list and some links & analysis (I use that term lightly).

Mike Jacobs 1st Base

Jacobs was dealt to the Marlins in the trade that brought Delgado to the Mets.  At the time he was a rookie with a lot of promise.  I was intrigued by him at the time, but in no way was I sorry to see him go in order to bring in a player of Delgado's caliber.  So with the lack of depth at first, on the surface, this appears to be a good move.  After all, the Mets are power-starved, especially with the absence of Beltran at least until May.  Unfortunately, hitting home runs is the only thing he does well.  He strikes out a ton.  Does not hit for average and plays poor defense.  Some have already speculated that Murpy is a better defender at first after learning on the job last year (after all he is working with Keith Hernandez).  So, there is a minimal benefit of a glorified DH on the Mets bench that would be better served by a more versatile option.  I have been preaching defense this whole off-season as the best way to improve the Mets rotation after Lackey was taken off the board, and Jacobs does not embody that.  Furthermore, if Jacobs doesn't make the team, is he going to sap playing time from Mets prospects Ike Davis & Nick Evans?  Ted berg said it best here.

Hisanori Takahashi Pitcher

Takahashi, or Tak, is a Japanese All Star.   He is a 5' 10" 35 year old left handed pitcher who has 5 pitches, the best being a screwball.  He has been compared to Jaime Moyer...only with more velocity.  He throws in the upper 80's BTW.   The scouting report on him is that he will throw any of his pitches at anytime and keeps hitters off balance.  This is normally the time I start quoting stats, but I won't.  Why?  Because they are Japanese League stats.  Nevertheless, I do think his arsenal of pithes as well as his unfamiliarity to the league will pay immediate dividends (at least until the league catches up to him).  He is being given the opportunity to earn the 5th starters role and compete with the likes of Niesse, Figgy & Nieve.  However, with Feliciano being the only left hander out of the pen, that seems the obvious best place for him.  He can come in to face tough lefties, and could be left in to finish off the inning with his SP experience...or even be an emergency long man.  I would rather give that last starting spot to one of our young guys.

Shawn Riggens Catcher

Non-Roster invite Riggens was picked up from the Rays scrap heap presumably because there was no more room for him after they signed Kelly Shoppach. Not much is known about Riggens as he has barely cracked the Rays depth chart mainly due to being injured the last two years.  He has only had 209 PA's since 2006, and only played in 7 games last year.  This move is simply to bring more depth to the position, however, Chone & Amazinavenue already predict that Riggens could be a better hitter than Santos and could see some significant playing time this year. This will be one of the story lines I will follow closely this spring.

Rylan Sandoval Shortstop

This move above all else intrigues me.  Obviously, he will not challenge Reyes, but beyond this year who knows?  I personally think Jose will be fine and bounce back, but his late season swoons in 2007-2008 and the re-emergence of the injury bug has cast a shred of doubt on Jose's future which is why a good 2010 season would crush those doubts.  Nevertheless, Sandoval was one of the Leading hitters and top defensive shortstops in the AWL this year before he was plucked up by the Mets.  In fact, he was drafted by the Mets in 2007, but opted to remain in School.  I like that.  What I wouldn't be surprised to see (and really what I want to see) is Sandoval being immediately converted into a second baseman.  I think we are going to see Castillo break down this year.  His defense is degrading at an alarming rate, and what this team really needs is good defense "up the middle".  I think if Sandoval can translate his defensive skills to 2nd, though a long shot, we might even see him some time this year.  The only thing that Castillo does well is get on base, and for someone that is not leading off, his services are expendable.

So there you have it.  Apparently, the Buffalo Bisons should have one of the best records in AAA this year as their team is destined to be littered with MLB talent.  Whether that is a good thing or a hinderance to our young prospects is yet to be seen.  One thing is for certain though:  Pitchers & Catchers report in a week, and I can't wait to finally see the start of baseball, and the end of all this negative speculation.  Lets Go Mets!

Here's how Buster Olney sees the Phillies in his top 5 rotations around baseball:

Let's add this:

5a. Phillies: Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer. The Phillies would have been No. 1 if they had Halladay, Lee and Hamels 1-2-3.

I'm surprised by this, frankly.  Obviously in a talk about top 3 staffs Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, + anyone, would be in the top 5 conversation, but on a complete rotation level I didn't see the Phillies this high.  Blanton and Happ could very well be above-average to good in their respective roles, but Moyer is a total wildcard at this point in his career.  This is of the best that the MLB has to offer?  Eh.  And no thanks to Buster for bringing up the fact that we could have the holy triumvirate of Cole, Roy, Cliff, because it ruins my day every time.