In case you missed it, yesterday the Mets had an intrasquad minor league game with Freddy Garcia taking on the Livan Hernandez. Prior to this game, it was pretty much clear that Livan would be the Mets starting fifth pitcher come opening day, so in a sense, this was Garcia's last chance to impress. Well to make a short story even shorter, he didn't impress and Hernandez looks to be the Mets fifth starter. Why? First off, Hernandez allowe 1 run over 5 innings of work again while Garcia allowed 3 over 4 innings of work. Second, and more important, Garcia got moved to the minor league camp today which all but ties up Hernandez's hold on the fifth spot of the rotation. So for now we can put this story to rest until Redding gets healthy, and then we will have to deal with Redding vs Hernandez vs the ethics of losing a spot because you were injuried vs the ethics of knowing that you were worse anyway.
In other news, the Marlins finally got a ballpark approved in Miami. The the photos of the renderings look amazing and it will take place on the same spot where the Orange bowl is located. It will also have a retractable roof and possibly the name will be changed to the Miami Marlins (I have not heard anything official about that, but I wouldn't be surprised). A lot of people are pointing at two big stories with this deal. One, the Marlins will then retain Hanely Ramierez because the ballpark is set to open in 2012 and he will be the face of the franchise and second, now the Marlins might expand their rosters and stop doing this turnover act they have become famous for over the last decade.
