Yours truly is currently in Port St. Lucie

For the next couple of days, I will be at Port St. Lucie to check out some of the workouts and try to get some autographs. I will be taking plenty of pictures, so be ready for that. I will be at Friday's infra squad game, and Saturday's game against the Nationals. Here are a few pictures that I have taken so far today.

Here is a picture of Tradition Field.

 I thought that this was a cool feature to the stadium. Each banner represents a season that the minor league team made the playoffs. 

Here is a picture of the inside of Tradition Field.

Like I said before, I am going to Saturday's game against the Nationals. I will try to post up a game preview, and a game recap as well. Additionally  you can expect plenty of pictures of Wheeler, Marcum, Parnell, and others who are expected to pitch that day. 

Puello linked to PED clinic

According to ESPN.com, Mets outfield prospect Cesar Puello is among the new names on the list of players who received performance enhancing drugs from Anthony Bosch's biogenesis clinic in Miami. 

"Because of the ongoing investigation, we have no comment," the Mets said in a statement. "We refer all questions to Major League Baseball."

Puello hit .260 with 4 homers for Single-A in 2012, and is still on the 40 man roster, despite missing most of the season due to an injury.

Uh oh. I thought that the Mets would find a way to stay out of the whole biogenesis clinic rumors, but obviously they now are going to have to be involved. I am not terribly concerned about Puello, even though he was a decently-regarded prospect, because the Mets (believe it or not) have other outfield options. Puello  had a rough season and wouldn't have been ready for a few years if lucky, so this isn't going to kill the future.

I also want to mention that Fernando Martinez, the former top prospect in the Mets' system, was also found on the same list of players. Oh, it seems like yesterday that F-Mart was ready to step in and become the future of the organization. Well, I suppose the drugs explain his vast amount of injuries throughout his career. 

H4TV Article- Are the Indians ready to take over the AL Central?

The Indians have had a major roster turnover this off-season, and many are wondering if they are ready to become a threat again in the American League Central. They certainly have tough competition between the Tigers, White Sox, and possibly even the Royals. Winning the American League Central won't be an easy feat, but Cleveland certainly has the talent to pose a threat. 

Asdrubal Cabrera is the team's best offensive player, and, despite the trade rumors, he will be in Cleveland for the long-run. He is getting better with each passing season, and should continue his fine production in 2013. Carlos Santana has some flaws in his game, but will be the team's backstop for the next couple of years. There is no question that Santana has incredible power, however, his strike-out rate is very alarming. Over at first base the Indians finally have a decent player, and that is Mark Reynolds. Reynolds came over to Cleveland on a one year deal, and will certainly see a lot of playing time in 2013. His strike-out numbers concern me, as well as pretty much every other fan in the game, so that could end up hurting the Indians. It is home run or bust with Reynolds, and I wouldn't be thrilled with having a player like that.

Trust me I'm not going to completely bash the Indians offense, because there are a few other bright spots. Jason Kipnis has the potential to be one of the best second-baseman in the game, and could find himself being a 20-20 or even a 30-30 player within the next couple of years. Lonnie Chisenhall has yet to break out at the big league level, but I like his potential and hope that he stays healthy so he can prove himself. The outfield is extremely solid,  especially with the most recent addition : Michael Bourn. Bourn will immediately provide Cleveland with an above-average lead-off hitter. He is a huge upgrade over Drew Stubbs, who may find himself as trade bait now. Nick Swisher, another key addition, will give the Indians power in the middle of the lineup, and should make the departure of Shin-Soo Choo seem slightly less painful. Finally, Michael Brantley has had mixed results at the big league level, but will get another year of every-day playing time in 2013, only this time he will be the left-fielder.

The biggest thing that will hold Cleveland back is going to be their pitching. They haven't really made drastic changes to their rotation, and that certainly concerns me. In my mind, Justin Masterson will need to find some consistency to become a true ace, and Ubaldo Jimenez is going have to return to his 2010 form to become a valuable asset. I don't mind the addition of Brett Myers, as he will bring a veteran presence to the rotation, and should be able to eat up some innings. Trevor Bauer is a nice pickup given his high potential, but I get this strange feeling that Arizona knew something about him, therefore prompting him to be included in the Shin-Soo Choo deal. Bauer will need to face American League hitting, and I am not sure how he will fare in 2013. The addition of Daisuke Matsuzaka is definitely a questionable one, considering that it seems like he has completely lost the ability to have success at the big league level. However, it is a low-risk, moderate reward pickup, and Cleveland could use all of the arms that they can get.  Finally, Zack McAllister, Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber are all number 5 pitchers at best, and I don't expect them to give serious contributions to the team.

Luckily Cleveland's bullpen is one of the best in the game. Despite several trade rumors, Chris Perez stayed put this off-season, and will most likely remain the team's closer. Perez is going to need to have a serious bounce-back season before his job gets taken away from him. I really like Vinnie Pestano, and I believe that he would be the one to take Perez's job. The rest of the bullpen is filled with several under-the-radar arms, such as Joe Smith, Matt Capps and Matt Albers.

I am trying not to be a downer on the Indians for next season, but in my mind I just see too many question marks regarding this team. The offense is slightly above-average, but the pitching rotation is a complete mess. Guys like Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, and others are going to need to have huge years in order to keep the Tribe in reaching distance for the division. I like the idea of bringing in Terry Francona to manage the ball-club, considering his past success with the Red Sox and former ties with some of Cleveland's current players. However, I am just not fully convinced that this team is ready to compete in 2013, despite all of the additions.

Murphy to miss a week of Spring Training with an injury

According to Matt Dunn of SNY, Daniel Murphy has discomfort in his intercoastal muscle, and will head to New York for an evaluation. Sandy Alderson expects Murphy to miss a week of Spring Training. Murphy described the feeling as "a little sore", and that the injury could be connected to some of the changes that he has made to his swing. 

This isn't a huge story, but it may allow Collins to a get a longer look at other options at second base, such as Valdespin, Reese Havens and others. I am a big Murphy supporter, but I feel like his job is up for grabs this Spring. There is a lot of competition for that job, and with this injury Murphy may be sidelined for a week or two. 

Mets, Hampson, agree to minor league deal

The Mets have re-signed left handed pitcher Justin Hampson to a minor league contract. Hampson will report directly to the minor league camp. In 2012, Hampson posted a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings with the Mets, and left handers hit just .150 against him in 23 plate appearances. He was removed from the 40 man roster in October, and declared free agency shortly after that.

The Mets have plenty of lefties, but I guess throwing in Hampson will make the competition even more thicker. He put up good numbers in his brief stint with the Mets last season, and he may turn out to be a surprise. However, I'd like to get a look at Robert Carson, Darin Gorski, and others before I give him a real shot at a bullpen job.

Buck may get traded when d'Arnaud gets the call

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York says that is is possible that the Mets trade catcher John Buck once they decide to promote Travis d'Arnaud to the big leagues during the season.

"The summer David Wright succeeded Ty Wigginton at third base for the Mets, Wigginton found himself traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates... a similar scenario could play out this season, as catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud waits in the wings to succeed John Buck," Rubin explains.

Buck hit .192 with 12 home runs in 398 plate appearances with the Marlins in 2012, and will earn $6 million next season. 

It is way too early to determine Buck's fate with the Mets, but it will be interesting in, let's say July, if the Mets are out of contention and Buck is having a semi-decent season, then what would they do with him? I highly doubt that he would fetch a good prospect in a trade, so perhaps keeping him is the best option. Right now, he seems like the ideal mentor to d'Arnaud, and having a veteran catcher on your club is never a bad thing. The only reason that I would trade him would be to get some salary relief, which is something that could definitely be nice to have at this point in time. 

Valdespin to work as an infielder this spring

Terry Collins recently told reporters that Jordany Valdespin will spend this spring focusing on his infield work. 

"He played a lot of of outfield in winter ball. This spring, we need to put him back in the infield a little bit," Collins said. "We know if, need be, we can play him in the outfield. We need to take a look at him in the infield now."

Earlier this week, Collins said that Valdespin was a candidate for a full-time outfield spot, and that he was also looking at Justin Turner and Zack Lutz to play the outfield as well.

I definitely disagree with Collins here, because Valdespin isn't going to find any playing time as an infielder. The infield is pretty much set already, with the exception of Murphy, whose job may be up for grabs. I don't exactly understand why the organization would switch Valdespin yet again, especially given the weakness of the outfield. If Valdespin was able to win an outfield spot and play everyday, then I'd expect him to take advantage and have a successful season. However, maybe at this point the team will just look at him as a bench player at best.

What I would personally do would be let Valdespin start the season in the minor leagues as an outfielder. Let him improve defensively, and call him up when he's ready. He seems to have a decent amount of power, and the speed is there, so he is capable of being a decent outfielder someday. I just hope that the team doesn't pull a "Jenrry Mejia" on him and constantly change his role on the team.