Boone says he either starts or retires
Bret Boone, who signed a minor league contract with a spring training invite with the Mets,
said that he either wins the 2nd base starting job against Kaz Matsui, Anderson Hernandez, and Jeff Keppinger, or he will retire. Foxsportsnet wrote an article about him, saying that he has a very slim chance of getting the 2nd base job. That is stupid, because he has a great chance, the 2nd base job is a battle, anyone can win.
“I need to leave spring training knowing I can play at an All-Star level. Mentally, I need to feel that guy is there. I feel good. I would say that guy is going to be there more than he’s not. But talk is cheap. It’s going to be two or three weeks before I have a good feeling of where I am.”
Boone said that if he doesn’t end up getting the job he wants, he said that he will know, and that the team won’t need to give him the bad news.
Kaz Matsui, on the other hand, lost his starting job to Miguel Cairo last year and had a definite off year, and has been declining ever since the start of last year, so we’ll have to see how his spring goes… and maybe, just maybe this year he will hit another homer in his first at-bat. Two seasons ago, Kaz Matsui hit a home run on the first pitch of the season against the Braves. He batted leadoff, and gave the Mets something to hope for in that game. Same as last year - except he didn’t hit a home run on the first pitch, but still the first at-bat .
Pedro Problem: Pedro’s toe hurting, but will be fine for season
Pedro Martinez said that his toe is about 70% better than the end of the 2005 season, where he had to miss starts at the end of the year because of his toe. He has received a new shoe from Nike designed just to fit his toe. He hurt his toe by developing a habit of pushing off the rubber, when the pain started during the 2004 Red Sox playoff run. He shook it off and played in 2005 fine, but during the 2nd half of the season, it started hurting again. He is not expected to play in the 1st round of the World Baseball Classic.