Broken News: Curtis Granderson, The Underappreciated Met

Curtis Granderson smiles one last time in a Mets uniform.  (Elsa/Getty Images)

Welcome to another edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news and then we break it some more.  As most of you know, Curtis Granderson was traded on Friday to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that's currently one thousand games over .500 (give or take a couple of games) and planning its World Series parade in August.

The departure of the veteran Granderson to the Dodgers was a move that many people expected to happen for months.  However, one thing that wasn't expected was the outpouring of love for a player who heard a few boos earlier this year after a slow start to the season.  One particular fan on Twitter couldn't help but notice that Saturday's first post-Granderson game caused others to dust off their Granderson apparel to wear at Citi Field.

There are more Mets fans wearing @cgrand3 shirts and jerseys today than I've ever seen at Citi Field. That shows how much he'll be missed.

— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) August 20, 2017

Curtis Granderson went through his share of slumps in nearly four years as a Met, as evidenced by his .239 career batting average with the team.  However, in his short tenure in Flushing, he earned every penny of the free agent contract he signed prior to the 2014 season and provided several moments that caused many a fan to get out of their seats and cheer.  He was also much more valuable than most people think.

For example, as much as people say Daniel Murphy was a postseason hero in 2015, and he was, at least in the NLDS and NLCS, did you know that it was Granderson who led the team in RBIs during that magical playoff run?

Murphy may have hit seven home runs in 14 playoff games in 2015, but that only led to 11 RBIs.  Granderson drove in a dozen runs batting out of the leadoff spot in the batting order.  The right fielder reached base 24 times in those fourteen October and November games, stole four bases and scored ten runs, all while striking out just seven times in 64 plate appearances.  Compare that to Murphy, who struck out seven times in the World Series alone when he forgot that the postseason didn't end after the Mets won the pennant.

In the Division Series, Murphy hit three of his seven postseason homers and almost single-handedly won Game Five.  But there may not have been a Game Five had the Mets not won the critical Game Three, and Granderson collected the series-turning hit in that contest.  After the Mets lost the second game of the series on Chase Utley's leg-breaking slide, the Dodgers took an early 3-0 lead in Game Three.  Not wanting to face elimination in Game Four with Clayton Kershaw on the mound, the Mets stormed back against starter Brett Anderson.  New York scored a run in the third and loaded the bases for Granderson, who promptly cleared them with a long double to center field.  With that blast, the Mets took a lead they would not relinquish and went on to win the series.

Granderson continued to give the Mets leads in the NLCS, driving in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning of Game One against the Cubs.  His two-out RBI single broke a 1-1 tie and the Mets would never trail in the series; a four-game sweep in which Granderson reached base five times, scored three runs and stole three bases.

Had the Mets defeated the Royals in the World Series - a Fall Classic Murphy famously didn't show up for - Granderson would have been the odds-on favorite to take home the World Series MVP trophy.  In the five-game series, Granderson hit three homers and scored six runs.  No one else on the team crossed the plate more than two times.  Each of Granderson's three homers gave the Mets a lead, but unfortunately, the Mets could not capitalize on Granderson's penchant for providing emotional lifts with the fly balls he lifted into the outfield seats.  New York coughed up all three leads Granderson gave them and lost a heartbreaking World Series.

Murphy got all the accolades (and the lucrative free agent contract) for what he did in the 2015 postseason, but Granderson was the most consistent player the Mets had during their October run.  His clutch hitting should not be buried behind Murphy's exploits.

So what else did Granderson do as a Met that went largely ignored by his detractors?  During his tenure with the Mets, no position player had a higher WAR than Granderson.  His 10.4 bWAR is higher than the runner-up in this category, Juan Lagares, who posted an 8.0 bWAR from 2014 to 2017.  Everyday players like Yoenis Céspedes (6.3 WAR) and Michael Conforto (5.9 WAR) didn't play for the Mets in 2014 and the first half of 2015, but Granderson's 5.1 bWAR in 2015 alone was higher than the combined WAR put up by Céspedes (2.3) and Conforto (2.1) in just over 400 plate appearances between the two.  To put Granderson's Mets career in perspective, the only player on the team with a higher WAR since 2014 is Jacob deGrom, who has a 15.5 bWAR since his Rookie of the Year award-winning 2014 campaign.

Finally, had Granderson stayed a Met for another few weeks, he would have joined some elusive company.  Granderson hit 19 HR in 2017 before being traded to the Dodgers.  In his first three seasons with the team, he clubbed 20, 26 and 30 home runs.  Had he hit one more homer before the trade, he would have become just the sixth Met to reach 20 home runs in four consecutive seasons.  The other five?  You may have heard of them.  Their names are Darryl Strawberry, Kevin McReynolds, Howard Johnson, Mike Piazza and David Wright.  Not a stinker in the bunch.

Granderson finished his Mets career needing five homers to reach 100 with the team.  Had he reached triple digits, the Mets would have been the third team for which he hit 100 homers, as he accomplished the feat with the Tigers (102 HR) and the Yankees (115 HR).  Only five men have ever homered at least 100 times for three different teams.  Four of the five are Hall of Famers and potential Hall of Famers (Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Alex Rodriguez, Adrian Beltre).  The other is Darrell Evans, who hit 414 HR in his career and won a World Series ring with the 1984 Tigers, something Granderson is now shooting for as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Perhaps most importantly, in this era when Mets trainer Ray Ramirez is Public Enemy No. 1 because of all the injuries that have befallen Granderson's former Mets teammates, it should be noted that Granderson played in 573 of a possible 606 games during his time as a Met.  He played in 150+ games in each of his three full seasons with the team and had played in 111 games this season before the trade, putting him on pace for another 150-game campaign.  To put that in layman's terms, Granderson never went on the disabled list as a member of the Mets.  The Hospital For Special Surgery - also known as the second home for many members of the Mets - only saw him during the 2015 off-season, when he went in for thumb surgery.  But I'm sure he made several appearances visiting patients while he was there.  Because that's the kind of guy Granderson is.

Curtis Granderson was loved by his teammates and by members of the community.  His charitable efforts and work with children and the needy earned him the Roberto Clemente Award in 2016.  His performance in the 2015 World Series could very well have brought him an MVP trophy had the Mets not surrendered the crown to the Royals.  His career numbers with the team in less than four full seasons are among the best in franchise history.  And lest we forget, his final hit as a Met was a grand slam against the Yankees.  Despite all this, Granderson was very much underappreciated by Mets fans.  Or so we thought.  The love on Twitter after his departure and the plethora of Granderson shirts and jerseys at Citi Field last night tell another story.

Granderson was actually very much appreciated by supporters of the Mets.  It's too bad it took his departure for most of them to realize his value to the team and the city he played in.

We tip our cap to Curtis Granderson, who walks off to Los Angeles as a great Met. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

Broken News: Milestones Within Reach For Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes has experience at doing what he's not supposed to do.  Now we'll see if he's changed.  (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Welcome to yet another edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news and then we break some more.  Unless if you've been laying under a rock or beneath Bartolo Colon, you already know that the Mets have brought back Jose Reyes into the fold.  Obviously, his recent domestic violence issue is being discussed by anyone with an opinion.  That means all of us.

But that is not what we are intending to do with this blog post.  We'll leave that to people who know far more about the topic than we do.  Instead, we're going to stick to what we do best.  We're going to stuff numbers down your throat.  (Not to worry, some of them are tasty.  Some may even be gluten-free.)

When Jose Reyes left the final game of the 2011 season after dropping down a bunt in the first inning for the 1,300th hit of his career, we thought that would be it and he would never add to his numbers as a Met.  But once he ends his short stint in the minors, he will continue to make his way up the Mets' all-time offensive leader board.  He will also be approaching several career milestones.  Here is what he will be shooting for.

Mets Milestones Within Reach For Jose Reyes:

Reyes needs one triple to become the first Met to have 100 three-baggers.  Mookie Wilson is the only former Metropolitan who made it halfway to triple digit triples in his career, legging out 62.  Cleon Jones is third in Mets history with 45 three-base hits and he needed a dozen seasons to get there.

With 222 doubles as a Met, Reyes is currently fourth among all players who suited up for the team.  However, with four doubles, he would pass another former No. 7, Ed Kranepool, for third place.  Seven more two-baggers would put Reyes ahead of former teammate Daniel Murphy, who ended his Mets career with 228.  Reyes will probably have to settle to No. 2 all-time in doubles, as David Wright is well ahead of the pack with 390 two-base hits.

Jose Reyes currently sits at No. 3 in team history with 1,300 hits.  Since he is under contract through the 2017 season, it's reasonable to think that he will eventually pass Ed Kranepool at some point into second place.  Kranepool collected 1,418 hits in his Mets career.

During his first stint in New York, Reyes played in 1,050 games, good for 10th place on the club leader board.  Depending on when he is called up to the big leagues and how often Terry Collins decides to use him, Reyes could pass Edgardo Alfonzo (1,086 games), Darryl Strawberry (1,109 games) and Mookie Wilson (1,116 games) before the end of the 2016 season.  Playing time in 2017 for Reyes could cause Howard Johnson (1,201 games) and Jerry Grote (1,235 games) to move down a peg.

As a leadoff hitter, Reyes was supposed to get on base and score runs, but he was also quite adept at driving in his teammates when they were on base.  With 34 RBI, Reyes will pass Kevin McReynolds into 10th place in franchise history in runs batted in.  Reyes would need 46 RBI to move past Keith Hernandez into ninth place.

Career Milestones Within Reach For Jose Reyes:

Depending on when his second tour of duty with the Mets begins, Reyes has a chance to reach 2,000 career hits this season.  He currently stands at 1,906 hits, needing 94 safeties to reach the milestone.  Reyes just turned 33 a little over two weeks ago.  Only 81 players in history have reached 2,000 hits by their age-33 season.  Why is that important?  Because 23 of the 29 hitters who eventually made it to 3,000 hits had already reached 2,000 by their age-33 season.

Reyes needs 21 stolen bases to reach 500 for his career.  Should he make it this year, not only would he probably have more stolen bases than all of his new Mets teammates combined, but he'd be just the 24th player in the modern era (since 1901) to achieve that feat.

In the dead ball era (prior to 1930), triples were commonplace.  That's not the case anymore.  Reyes now has 117 career triples, making him one of the few modern players to surpass 100.  In fact, in the last 30 years, only the retired Steve Finley (124 triples) and the rarely-used Carl Crawford (123 triples) have legged out more three-base hits than Reyes.  Jose would need just eight triples to become the most prolific triples-hitter of the past three decades.

Unfortunately for him, Reyes might need more than triples to get fans back on his side.  (Getty Images)

Say what you will about Jose Reyes.  You may not like him as a person right now.  You may never like him the way you used to even if he helps the Mets reach great heights.  But what he accomplished on the field prior to what he did off it this past winter made him one of the most exciting players of our generation.

Boo the name on the back of his jersey.  Cheer the name on the front.  And bear witness to several franchise and career milestones that we never expected Reyes to approach in a Mets uniform.

 

Broken News: Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Welcome to another edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news and then we break it again.  In today's installment, we're going to look back at Friday night's game between the Mets and Giants, otherwise known as the game in which the bottom of the third inning turned into a matchup between the Gas-House Gorillas and the Tea Totallers.  (Go watch classic Bugs Bunny clips if you don't know what I mean.)

In the third, the Mets sent 15 men to the plate and scored a dozen runs, breaking the franchise record for tallies in a single frame.  Yoenis Céspedes put the icing on the inning by giving his regards to Giants reliever Mike Broadway, lining a grand slam to score the Mets' ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth runs of the frame.  Earlier in the third, Céspedes had driven in two runs with another hit.  His six RBI set a club record for a player in one inning.

The Mets basically did a conga line around the bases in the third, scoring half a dozen runs off starter Jake Peavy and another half dozen against Broadway to set a team mark with 12 runs in one inning, breaking the old record of 11, which was accomplished in 2006 in an inning where the Mets clubbed two grand slams.

I attended Friday night's game and got to witness the third inning in person.  It was the 13th grand slam hit by a Mets player that I've had the pleasure of seeing at Shea Stadium and Citi Field.  I've also had the honor of being at Citi Field for eight of the 12 walk-off homers hit in the park's history, including all six game-ending blasts since 2013 and the only two walk-off grand slams ever hit there.  I've been in the right place at the right time for many of these exciting finishes, which reminds me of the first times I ever saw a grand slam and a walk-off homer.

If you're a long-time reader, then you know about the first walk-off homer I ever saw in person.  It happened in 1996, when Rico Brogna accomplished the feat against the Chicago Cubs in the same game where Mark Grace punched me in the face.  But there were also fisticuffs in the game where I witnessed my first-ever grand slam, and it involved a mighty mite and a future Hall of Famer.

On May 14, 1994, the Mets and Braves hooked up for a Saturday matinee at Shea Stadium.  I got to my seat a little late for first pitch, but realized that I had a celebrity sitting next to me in my field level seat.  It was none other than MTV personality Dan Cortese.  That's right, the bandana enthusiast from MTV Sports and Rock n' Jock fame was my next-seat neighbor for the festivities.  Because I like to rock with the cool kids.

My seat mate for the game in which I witnessed my first grand slam in person.  (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images)

The Mets took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning and had two outs and no one on base.  It did not appear as if the Mets would be able to extend their lead against Braves starting pitcher John Smoltz in the frame.  But then Smoltz allowed singles to Bobby Bonilla and Jeff Kent and followed that up with a wild pitch that moved Kent into scoring position behind Bonilla, who was already at third.  Smoltz then intentionally walked David Segui to load the bases for Ryan Thompson.  On a 1-2 pitch, Thompson blasted a long home run off Smoltz to give the Mets a 7-0 lead and me my first in-person grand slam hit by a Met.  That brought up Brooklyn-born John Cangelosi to the plate and he made sure to let Smoltz know that he still had a lot of Brooklyn in him.

On the first pitch following Thompson's grand slam, Smoltz nailed Cangelosi in the back.  It was the second consecutive inning Smoltz had hit Cangelosi in the John-on-John crime, as he was plunked by the Braves starter in the fourth inning as well.  Bruised, but not battered, the diminutive Brooklynite then charged at Smoltz, who had seven inches and sixty pounds on the Mets left fielder, and a bench-clearing brawl ensued.  There is no truth to the rumor that I had to hold back Dan Cortese from joining the fracas, but he was throwing air punches in his seat as if he were mentally trying to show Mets players who were 200 feet away from us how to defend themselves against the big bad boys from Atlanta.

After the dust had settled and Smoltz and Cangelosi had been tossed, the game continued without incident and the Mets went on to record an 11-4 victory.  An interesting side note that was overshadowed by the boxing match was that Mauro Gozzo recorded the win for the Mets in the game, a win that was made possible by Thompson's grand slam.  Gozzo was originally drafted by the Mets in 1984, but was traded to Kansas City in 1987 in the deal that brought David Cone to New York.  Five years later, Cone was traded to Toronto for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson - the same Ryan Thompson who helped Gozzo defeat the Braves.  (Gozzo had returned to the Mets as a free agent following the 1992 campaign.)

Since Citi Field opened in 2009, I've had a better than 50-50 chance to be in attendance whenever a grand slam or walk-off home run has been hit by a Mets player, including the grand slam by Yoenis Céspedes on Friday night.  It's gotten to the point where I've kind of gotten used to seeing slams and walk-offs.  But prior to 1994, I had never seen either type of blast in person.  Then Ryan Thompson ended my grand slam drought in 1994, followed by Rico Brogna's walk-off blast two years later.  Both firsts were accompanied by fists.  (Only one was accompanied by Dan Cortese.)  At least both were also accompanied by Mets victories.

Broken News: Jonathon Niese Speaks!

Did Jon Niese's mouth turn him into a Royal pain?  Did he make a Giant mistake?  I say no!  (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Welcome to the latest edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news and then we break it some more.  In today's segment, we'll discuss Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese, who shared a few interesting thoughts about Mets fans with Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.

In the article, Niese claimed Mets fans really want their team to win, but also questioned their loyalty.  The 27-year-old southpaw noted that Mets fans showed up when the team played well at Shea Stadium, but have largely been absent at Citi Field, where the team has mostly struggled since the park opened in 2009.

Many fans didn't know what to make of Niese's statement.  My opinion on the matter can be stated in three words:  GOOD FOR HIM!!

Niese is the third longest-tenured player on the Mets behind David Wright and Daniel Murphy.  And no pitcher on the roster has toiled longer for the Mets than Niese.  That, my friends, makes him a veteran.  And that also gives him the right to speak his mind if he sees something that bothers him.  Niese has been there, seen that.  And he's just stating what everyone else has already seen with their own eyes.

Attendance at Citi Field has dropped steadily since the park opened its doors for the first time five years ago.  Half a decade of less-than-mediocre baseball will do that to a fanbase.  Sandy Alderson said earlier this year that if the fans come to the park, the team can generate more revenue which can then be reinvested in the team.

But what is Alderson giving the team right now?  Why should fans come out to see a team that is not good right now?  Would you pay top dollar for a Broadway show in 2014 if you knew that the best actors weren't going to appear on stage until 2015?  Of course not.  But that's what our general manager wants us to do.  Jon Niese knows we're not dummies.  And he knows fans will not come out to see a struggling team.

Sandy Alderson is a patient man, and wants Mets fans to follow his lead.  Jonathon Niese is more of a realist, and knows that fans in general - not just Mets fans - don't have the same type of patience his general manager has.

I have no problem with anything Jonathon Niese said.  He spoke from the heart and he spoke the truth.  And that's what veteran players are supposed to do.  But now it's up to him and his teammates to make sure the fans eventually come back to cheer them on.  A little more winning will make Mets fans, true or otherwise, make their way back through the turnstiles.

Broken News: Lucas Duda Can't Afford Movers

Welcome to the latest edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news, then we break it some more.  In today's edition, we literally have broken news, or more accurately, we have news of a break.

Earlier today, Adam Rubin reported that Mets' outfielder Lucas Duda underwent surgery to repair a fractured right wrist, which he sustained while moving furniture in his California home.  The surgery should allow Duda to be ready for spring training, according to the team.

Lucas Duda made a shade under $500,000 this past season and is expected to get a raise in 2013.  (Duda got an $83,200 raise after the 2011 season.)  He can afford to hire someone to move his furniture around.  But no.  The man who flubbed many a fly ball in right field has now made an error at home, joining the likes of Hunter Pence (injured when he walked through a sliding glass door in his spring training apartment), Clint Barmes (broke his collarbone while carrying venison up a flight of stairs), Joel Zumaya (inflamed wrist on his throwing hand due to an addiction to Guitar Hero) and the granddaddy of all "stay-at-home" injuries, Glenallen Hill, who injured himself sleepwalking while trying to flee from nightmarish spiders (no word on whether Freddy Krueger had something to do with Hill's injury).

At least Duda won't miss any games with his injury, like Pence, Barmes, Zumaya and Hill did.  But his injury should:

a) teach him about the wonders of hiring movers, or at the very least, a neighbor who could use a few extra bucks, and

b) serve as a notice to his teammates (like the one pictured below high-fiving Duda) that injuries can happen at any time, even when doing the most mundane things.

Justin Turner, take heed.  You don't want to end up like 2009 NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan, who followed up his sensational rookie season by getting injured while giving a teammate a shaving cream pie to the face.   The Mets have enough weird injuries as it is.

Broken News: The Two Hours Before Midnight Massacre

Welcome to the latest edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news and then we break it some more.  Broken News might be the perfect title for what I'm about to say because fans of Jose Reyes feel like their hearts have been broken this morning.

A little over two hours before midnight, it was revealed that Jose Reyes decided to accept the Marlins' latest contract offer of six years and $106 million to leave the only team he'd ever known.  I'll let that sink in before I continue...

 Sigh...

...I know.  It'll never sink in.  Soon he will take his physical, pass it and appear before the Miami media (which probably outnumber the true Marlins fans in South Florida - the ones who still proudly wear their Charlie Hough Marlins jerseys to games).

Gone will be the legs that produced 1,300 hits, 99 triples, 370 stolen bases and the only batting title in franchise history.  Replacing him at shortstop will be Ruben Tejada, who shows promise defensively and is very good at working the count.  That being said, this is the equivalent of replacing Tom Seaver in the rotation with Pat Zachry, who was also a promising young player in 1977 coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign with the Reds.  Pat Zachry was no Tom Seaver.  He was barely better than Nino Espinosa, but Nino rocked his afro better.  Ruben Tejada might not be able to rock anything, other than an occasional double or two that might hit the moved-in walls at Citi Field on three hops.

None of this is Ruben Tejada's fault and fans should not expect him to replace Jose Reyes' production on the field.  Similarly, no one should boo Angel Pagan if he's not the leadoff hitter Reyes was.  However, those two players will probably be heckled when they go through a slump, prompting the 7 Line to create "Bring Back Reyes" T-shirts and placards for display at an empty Citi Field.  (Note to the 7 Line:  If you do create "Bring Back Reyes" shirts, can I have one for free for giving you the idea?)

The Marlins are giving Jose Reyes $106 million for the next six years.  That's more than the Mets are willing to commit to every player on their roster in 2012.  The average annual value of nearly $18 million is more than the $15 million the Marlins spent on their entire 25-man roster in 2006, which coincidentally was the last (and only) time Jose Reyes played in the postseason.

 Double sigh...

You might say that $106 million is too much to pay for a player who'd been on the disabled list in each of the last three seasons.  You might also say that six years is too much for a player whose game depends on his legs, especially one who will still be earning $18 million annually when he's in his mid-thirties.

But one thing is for sure.  Jose Reyes was a dynamic player, one who could change a game like no other player on the Mets could.  The Marlins noticed that and were willing to take a risk, one that might bite then in the end, but for now makes them a far better team than the one that finished in last place in the NL East in 2011.

The Mets never had a chance.  And the way things look now, they're not going to have a chance in the NL East for years to come.  Last night, the current generation of Mets fans lived through their version of the Midnight Massacre.  If the Marlins ripped the fans' hearts out in 2007 and 2008, then they took their souls last night when they acquired Jose Reyes.

It's always been hard to be a Mets fan in this town.  It just became harder.

Broken News: While We Were Away In San Francisco

As some of you may or may not have known, the Studious Metsimus staff (minus roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran) spent the past five days in San Francisco, visiting the plethora of tourist attractions (see photo, left) and hoping to bring back some of that championship attitude that has permeated the Bay Area now that the Giants have finally won their first championship since leaving the Polo Grounds over half a century ago.

However, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to take that winning attitude aboard the plane. You see, the baggage check people at the airport noticed that we were dressed in our Mets gear. Since we're only allowed one piece of carry-on luggage, they claimed that as Mets fans, we have too much baggage as it is.

On that note, let's see what we might have missed while we were trying to find a place on Alcatraz for Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo to play their next game of catch.

The Mets dropped the ball on one of these guys. The other guy dropped the ball for the Mets.

Carlos Beltran suffered a setback on the road to becoming the 198th rightfielder in franchise history. Beltran will not play until next week, after it was announced that he is suffering from tendinitis in his left knee. With the prognostication of time missed due to injuries not high on the Mets' accuracy list, it would not be a surprise if Beltran was not ready for Opening Day.

For years, Carlos Beltran has been 85% healthy any time he has been afflicted with aches and pains. For now, it appears as if he's 85% sure that he's 85% healthy.

Yes, we still like Carlos Beltran...85% of the time.

There is still no clear-cut favorite for the opening at second base, leaving room for plenty of competition over the final three weeks of Spring Training. As sad as the situation may seem, it might be true that the best second basemen currently employed by the Mets are AA-Binghamton manager Wally Backman and AAA-Buffalo manager Tim Teufel.

If only former first round draft pick Reese Havens were not so injury-prone, perhaps this could have been the year for the second base prospect to make the jump to the major leagues. However, perhaps Ike Davis said it best when he spoke of the man who was drafted four spots ahead of him in the 2008 draft:

"All I know is that he plays 10 games a year, and hits 10 home runs."

Havens' power potential at a position where long balls are scarce (except for division rivals Philadelphia and Atlanta, who can boast Chase Utley and Dan Uggla as their second sackers, respectively) would have provided a big boost for the Mets in 2011.

Last season, the Mets used Luis Castillo, Ruben Tejada and Luis Hernandez at second base. The trio combined for three home runs in 507 at-bats in 2010, including the September blast hit by Luis Hernandez soon after an unnamed teammate wished him luck by telling him to "break a leg", which of course, was taken literally by the 26-year-old Hernandez.

Had Luis Hernandez chosen Wheaties instead of Rice Krispies for his pre-game meal, perhaps his leg wouldn't have gone "snap, crackle, pop" as he fouled a ball off it prior to hitting this home run.

Terry Collins, Dan Warthen and Sandy Alderson have decided to move Oliver Perez to the bullpen, thereby not allowing Ollie the opportunity to invade the Top 20 on the club's all-time list for games started. (Currently, the lefty ranks 23rd all-time with 91 starts over his 4½ seasons with the Mets.)

Perhaps a better idea would be to banish him from ever appearing in a Mets uniform again. That would give Ollie the opportunity to appear in Major League 3 (although it would actually be the fourth film in the Major League franchise of films, as Major League: Back To The Minors was released in 1998 to the delight of all five people who watched it).

Since Charlie Sheen is busy promoting his "Winning Is Everything" World Tour, he would have difficulty reprising his role as Rick Vaughn. What better role for Oliver Perez to make his film debut than in the role of "Wild Thing"? His performance on the mound since 2009 (100 walks, eight hit batsmen and six wild pitches in 112⅓ innings) should save the film production company plenty of money in casting costs. He'd be a natural for the role, and he could reunite with the unemployed Carlos Delgado, who'd be a natural to fill Dennis Haysbert's shoes in the role of Pedro Cerrano. Of course, Delgado would have to pry away Jobu from the hands of Carlos Beltran, who allegedly bought the icon as a means to improve his curveball hitting skills.

Pedro Cerrano and Carlos Delgado, or is that Carlos Delgado and Pedro Cerrano? Dang doppelgangers!

That's all for this edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the story before us, then we break it some more. Remember, if you catch wind of a Mets-related story, send that wind over to us. We have no problem breaking that as well.

Enjoy the rest of Spring Training!