New York Mets News For Sunday 3/11/07

[GaryMrMets]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/03/11/2007-03-11_time_for_mets_to_dump_troubled_reliever.html

Time for Mets to dump troubled reliever

BY BILL MADDEN
DAILY NEWS COLUMNIST
Sunday, March 11th 2007, 3:25 AM

PORT ST. LUCIE - Duaner Sanchez, the fat and tardy Mets reliever, arrived at camp at 6:45 a.m. yesterday, a full hour and 15 minutes before he was scheduled to sit down with Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya to explain why he has taken such a cavalier approach toward getting himself ready for Opening Day.

According to Randolph, Sanchez showed true remorse - to the point where he actually got a tad misty-eyed - for his repeated tardiness, which had prompted the Mets' manager to kick him out of camp for a couple of days. Sanchez apparently will extend that remorse in a public apology to his teammates today when he returns to camp for some actual work after three days of inactivity.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/03/11/2007-03-11_clock_ticks_on_sanchez-2.html

Clock ticks on Sanchez
Teary Duaner apologizes to Willie & Omar

BY ADAM RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Sunday, March 11th 2007, 4:00 AM

VIERA, Fla. - Duaner Sanchez arrived at the Mets' spring-training complex in Port St. Lucie shortly after sunrise yesterday - more than an hour before his scheduled meeting with Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya. Then the misty-eyed reliever apologized for repeated tardiness, which had prompted the manager to send him home from camp Thursday.

"Good things happened," Sanchez said about the half-hour meeting. "We talked about a lot of things. I apologized to the front office and coaching staff. I'm going to do it with my teammates one-on-one. I overslept. There's nothing else that I can say."

http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2007/03/11/amd_sanchezpitches.jpg
Duaner Sanchez offered a tearful apology for his tardiness.

[GaryMrMets]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/sports/mets/secondbest_mets_joel_sherman.htm?page=0

SECOND BEST
PUTTING DAVID AT NO. 2 SPOT IN ORDER THE WRIGHT MOVE

March 11, 2007 -- PORT ST. LUCIE - There are many reasons why David Wright should bat second for the Mets rather than Paul Lo Duca - and we will get to those. But here is the biggest reason:

Wright is a better, more dangerous hitter than Lo Duca, and should bat more often and in more critical situations. Period.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/photos/mets089.jpg
MET-AMORPHOSIS: David Wright, who usually hit fifth last season, should be moved up to the No. 2 spot this year instead of Paul Lo Duca.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/sports/mets/perez_sharp_again_mets_mark_hale.htm

PEREZ SHARP AGAIN
By MARK HALE

March 11, 2007 -- PORT ST. LUCIE - Oliver Perez has improved from start to start to start.

Perez scripted his third spring outing yesterday, and the Mets lefty gave up only a run on two hits and two walks in four innings in the Mets' 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Nationals in Viera, Fla.

Perez's first start of the spring was poor (four runs, two innings), but in his outing last Monday, he gave up one run in three innings. Perez is a rotation frontrunner.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/sports/mets/wake_up_call_mets_mark_hale.htm

WAKE-UP CALL
'MISTY-EYED' SANCHEZ MAKES APOLOGY
By MARK HALE

March 11, 2007 -- PORT ST. LUCIE - In his meeting with Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph yesterday, Duaner Sanchez apologized and demonstrated that he realizes how he should be behaving.

Sanchez had been evicted from spring training by the Mets on Thursday and Friday because he was late multiple times. He had an 8 a.m. meeting with his manager and GM yesterday, and Randolph called it "very productive."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/photos/mets088.jpg
MOUND OF IMPROVEMENT: The Mets' Oliver Perez winds up during yesterday's 7-6 loss to the Nationals. Perez allowed two hits and a run in four innings of work.

[GaryMrMets]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/sports/mets/infield_of_dreams_ranking_mets__phils_young_stars_ already_is_great_debate_mets_mike_vaccaro.htm?page =0

INFIELD OF DREAMS RANKING METS' & PHILS' YOUNG STARS ALREADY IS GREAT DEBATE

March 11, 2007 -- WHAT we have here is the kind of baseball debate that can fortify you all across the summer, then all across the next few years, probably all across the next decade, maybe for as long as the next decade-and-a-half. These are the kinds of conversations that sustain us as sports fans, the questions mostly unanswerable, the emotions irresistible.

But beyond that, we have a classic baseball question:

Whom would you rather have?

Jose Reyes and David Wright, or Ryan Howard and Chase Utley? Would you rather have the left side of the Mets infield or the right side of the Phillies infield? Soon enough, we'll have answers to all of this. Over the next 10 years or so, one of these duos will emerge as the dominant force in the NL East. Which one will it be?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/photos/sports086.jpg
CAN'T GO WRONG: Phillies Ryan Howard (left) and Chase Utley could share the NL All-Star infield with Mets David Wright and Jose Reyes for the next decade. Mike Vaccaro wants to know how you would stack them up.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/sports/mets/amazins_offered_jose_to_tribe_for_alomar_mets_joel _sherman.htm

AMAZIN'S OFFERED JOSE TO TRIBE FOR ALOMAR
By JOEL SHERMAN

March 11, 2007 -- If you think the Roberto Alomar trade was a disaster for the Mets, you should know it could have been worse. Far, far worse.

An official who was involved in the discussions that led to that Dec. 11, 2001 deal said that one of the players the Mets made available to Cleveland was a Low-A shortstop named Jose Reyes. The official said the Indians liked Reyes, but simply did not have enough information from their South Atlantic League scouts to make an 18-year-old with just two pro seasons the key player in the deal rather than Alex Escobar.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/sports/mets/encore_leads_to_more_mets_joel_sherman.htm?page=0

ENCORE LEADS TO MORE
'07 IS KEY TO LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF BELTRAN-REYES-WRIGHT METS

March 11, 2007 -- PORT ST. LUCIE - The Mets have a good thing going. How long it lasts has a lot to do with 2007. I see many similarities to where the Mets are now and where the Yankees were in the mid-1990s and the Braves were in the early 1990s.

They have a nucleus growing around young, mostly homegrown, cost-effective, professional players who care about the organization. So the talent is there to be contenders for years. But is the mindset?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112007/photos/mets087a.jpg

[GaryMrMets]

New York Mets Postgame Alert March 11, 2007

N.Y. Mets 4, Detroit 2 at Joker Marchant Stadium
N.Y. Mets Record: (4-8)
Detroit Record: (6-5)

Winning pitcher - Aaron Sele (1-0)
Losing pitcher - Mike Maroth (0-1)
SV - Willie Collazo (1)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
N.Y. Mets 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 10 1
Detroit 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 0

NYM HR - None
DET HR - T. Perez (1)

Next N.Y. Mets Game: March 12, 2007 01:05 PM ET vs. Washington Nationals

Upcoming N.Y. Mets Home Games:
vs. Boston Red Sox, March 15, 2007 07:10 PM ET Purchase Tickets
vs. Washington Nationals, March 17, 2007 01:10 PM ET Purchase Tickets
vs. Baltimore Orioles, March 20, 2007 07:10 PM ET Purchase Tickets