The 2011 Sterling Award winner at Brooklyn, Muno got off to as fast a start to his professional baseball career as anyone possibly could. After being drafted in the 8th round out of Fresno State this year, Muno signed quickly and was assigned to the Cyclones to be their everyday shortstop.
He was first in the New York Penn League in batting average in 2011, hitting a cool .355, while batting out of the lead-off spot for the Cyclones. The 22 year-old switch-hitter also led the league in: OBP with .466 and OPS with .980, and tied for first with 23 2B’s. He was third in the league in SLG% with .514, walks with 43, and runs scored with 45. He tied for 5th in the league in hits with 78, and was 8th in TB’s with 113.
He played four years of college baseball at Fresno State, and as a freshman in 2008, he was the starting shortstop for the National Champion Fresno State Bulldogs. Muno turned a huge double play in the bottom of the ninth inning in the championship game to bring t…

I recently conducted an exclusive interview with New York Mets pitcher Chris Schwinden who was kind enough to agree to answer a few questions for me to share with our MMO community. Schwinny was totally cool and I hope you decide to leave him some nice comments for him to come back to. Enjoy!
First of all Chris, congratulations on a terrific season in 2011! Anchoring the Bison’s rotation all year was quite an achievement, and of course being named to the mid-season AAA All-Star team was sweet too. But then to be called up to make your debut in the Major Leagues must have been an unbelievable thrill. And to have realized a dream like that, well that thought is something that fills the rest of us with wonder. Thank you so much for sharing a little of your time. The readers at MetsMerizedOnline.com will really enjoy reading about you and getting to know a little more about one of our newest Mets.
Petey:  When the Mets drafted you out of Fresno Pacific in the 22nd round of the 200…

With the Brewers trailing the Cardinals 3 games to 2 in the NLCS Mets Blob wonders if Bernie Brewer can handle the pressure? In a summer that has been filled with much on field success for the Brew Crew, Bernie’s off the field demons have put his career in jeopardy. Please read this Mets Blob exclusive from June 8th, 2011 below.Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Bernie Brewer Enters Rehab

Michael Baron: I get what Adam is saying here. But to be fair, his suggested end result to the Sandy Alderson era is a hypothesis. The point is, while I agree and am hopeful that Sandy and his group have the Mets headed in the right direction, only time will tell if it all works out.
Sandy has a big off-season ahead of him with a lot of huge decisions to be made. It’s going to be exciting and interesting, and I am looking forward to it.

Thanks to Adam Gross from MetsOnline for submitting this chart.

Last week, the New York Post really ruined my day (not really) when they reported that Wally Backman might be heading to the Washington Nationals to join Davey Johnson’s staff as his third-base coach.
Guess what? Wally is staying!!!!
Yes, it’s true and he even said so himself on the radio which you can check for yourself on MetsBlog if you don’t believe me, Bayonne.
I find it interesting that nobody ever mentions that Backman’s team, the Binghamton Mets, finished in fifth place this season with a 66-76 record. Seems like all we heard last year was how great Wally managed the Cyclones in short-season league. Remember the love-fest?
Is he above such things as his poor record this season?
Wally was blessed with one of the most talent laden rosters of all the Mets affiliates this season. His roster featured an abundance of the best Mets prospects including Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Jordany Valdespin, Juan Lagares, Matt Den Decker and Reese Havens. So what happened…

Last week, the New York Post really ruined my day (not really) when they reported that Wally Backman might be heading to the Washington Nationals to join Davey Johnson’s staff as his third-base coach.
Guess what? Wally is staying!!!!
Yes, it’s true and he even said so himself on the radio which you can check for yourself on MetsBlog if you don’t believe me, Bayonne.
I find it interesting that nobody ever mentions that Backman’s team, the Binghamton Mets, finished in fifth place this season with a 66-76 record. Seems like all we heard last year was how great Wally managed the Cyclones in short-season league. Remember the love-fest?
Is he above such things as his poor record this season?
Wally was blessed with one of the most talent laden rosters of all the Mets affiliates this season. His roster featured an abundance of the best Mets prospects including Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Jordany Valdespin, Juan Lagares, Matt Den Decker and Reese Havens. So what happened…

“[Jose Reyes has no reason to sign in the exclusivity period, having nothing to gain before seeing the market come into focus. The only way would be if the Mets blew him away with an offer, and that isn’t happening…there are very few shortstops in the last 20 years who come close to Reyes in terms of skills and abilities. And that means Reyes will have to test the free agent market to establish a price range.”
~ Steve Popper, Bergen Record

Popper suggests players such as Carl Crawford, Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins, and possibly Alex Rodriguez could be used as a baseline in establishing Reyes’ price tag this winter.

Michael Baron: The difference between Reyes and all of the players Popper mentioned (with the exception of Rollins, who just completed a six year commitment with the Phillies) is those other players have proven to be much more durable over the course of their careers, and that will likely play a role in what Reyes ultimately signs for, whether it…

The New York Mets’ Dillon Gee was chosen as a member of an “all-star” team put together to compete against the Chinese Taipei national team next month.  The word all-star is in quotes because most of the names on the roster are not ones that you would consider all-stars.  Guys like the Los Angeles Angels’ Erick Aybar and Jeff Mathis, Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jose Veras and the Baltimore Orioles’ Jeremy Guthrie are a few guys headed over to Taiwan.  As you can see, using the term “all-star” is a bit of a stretch, but baseball is still in its early stages of development in Taiwan so MLB probably doesn’t need to send over Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and the best hitter at each position.  Either way, it should be a nice experience for Dillon Gee and hopefully one that he can learn and improve from as he looks to build on a very solid rookie campaign for the New York Mets.

The New York Mets’ Dillon Gee was chosen as a member of an “all-star” team put together to compete against the Chinese Taipei national team next month.  The word all-star is in quotes because most of the names on the roster are not ones that you would consider all-stars.  Guys like the Los Angeles Angels’ Erick Aybar and Jeff Mathis, Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jose Veras and the Baltimore Orioles’ Jeremy Guthrie are a few guys headed over to Taiwan.  As you can see, using the term “all-star” is a bit of a stretch, but baseball is still in its early stages of development in Taiwan so MLB probably doesn’t need to send over Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and the best hitter at each position.  Either way, it should be a nice experience for Dillon Gee and hopefully one that he can learn and improve from as he looks to build on a very solid rookie campaign for the New York Mets.

Having fired bench coach Ken Oberkfell, the New York Mets had an opening and ended up hiring former Oakland A’s manager and New York Yankees catcher Bob Geren.  Jim Riggleman was the runner up in the competition.  I’m not going to act like I have a ton of insight into the benefits of one bench coach over another, but I do like bringing Bob Geren on board.  It is hard for us fans to know if he’s a more attractive option than Oberkfell, but I still like the idea of adding a former manager to the staff.  Not only that, but he’s as a former catcher and catchers are often regarded as good baseball minds.  One thing that raises an eyebrow is that Geren has been criticized for his lack of communication skills.  Huston Street, a former player under Geren, went as far to say that Geren was his “least favorite person he has ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27.”  Ouch.  Luckily Geren won’t need to be the primary communicator with the players.  …