Centerfield April/May

Now that Beltran will be out for April and probably most of May, who will patrol center in his absence? The obvious would be Angel Pagan. He has a career average of .281 and a .306 batting average in a full season with the Mets in 2009 with a .350 OBP.

My question is why not have a platoon with Fernando Martinez? He got his feet wet last season and although it wasn't the prettiest of sights, this kid needs to get some playing time if he'll ever live up to his super-prospect status. We all know Angel Pagan can play, we learned that from last season. So, honestly, why should the Mets care for him over their prized minor league talent?

F-Mart still has a lot of prove, including his health. This is a great time for Fernando to get a feel for the bigs and what he's made of. He's made some pretty good catches defensively last season, so he did show promise.

Why sign someone to play centerfield when Beltran (hopefully) will be back at the end of May? Give Fernando some playing time in a platoon with Pagan to give him some more major league experience. Who knows... maybe he'll surprise us.

Would you want Fernando Martinez to patrol CF with Pagan before Beltran gets back?

• Yes, I like that platoon.
• No, have someone else platoon with Pagan.
• No, sign an outside CF.

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Interesting Reads: Pineiro, F-Mart, McGwire, Sheets

Jeff S. of Mets Merized takes a look at Joel Pineiro.

Joseph Pascullo of the Queens Courier wonders if F-Mart should stay or go.

Eli from Mets Underground takes a look at Toy Story 3, the third part of the greatest series ever created (not really, but still).

Harris from Baseball From a Teen's Perspective looks at Mark McGwire and his career.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says the Cubs are eyeing Ben Sheets.

Should the Mets step in on Sheets? I want him, but I also don't. If he's healthy, he can be lethal. I just don't know if I'd want to bring in an injury prone player after what happened last year. Call me superstitious, I just don't want that domino effect to happen again.

What's the big deal about F-Mart?

I recently was thinking about the Mets prospect's in potential deals for other players and did an investigation on one prospect the Mets are very high on, Fernando Martinez.

The 21 year old prospect that the Mets generally feel is one of their best is not as stellar as everyone thinks. In his minor league career he has played 274 games hitting .282 with 30 homers and 132 RBI's. But what concerns me in the 274 games he has played he has struck out 226 times.

Now I know it's a stretch but I went back to some well known players and checked out their stats at his age. In 1996 at age 20 Alex Rodriguez hit .358 with 36 homers and 123 RBI's in 146 games. Jeter in his few years in the minors was a .308 hitter from age 18-21.

So after reviewing the stats not to mention his very sub par performance this year in the majors. I think it's time for Met fans to stop shouting from the roof tops that Fernando Martinez is the next messiah for the Mets, and realize that right now he's on pace to be a middle of the road everyday player. He may never live up to the young stars who have been hyped up by their team before him and may never become the incredible pro that we think he will become.