With pitchers and catchers reporting today, Spring Training officially begins. The problem for the New York Mets is their players are arriving at a complex which is still under renovations.
As reported by Keona Gardner of the TC Palm, the $57 million renovations to Clover Field, the Mets Spring Training complex and home to the High-A St. Lucie Mets, is behind schedule. So far, the project is only 62% complete, and the ballpark is not going to have completed construction until February 24. That is two days AFTER the Mets Spring opener.
At the moment, the railings in the seating area have not been completely installed, the concourse construction and roof installation is a little more than halfway complete, and the parking lot is still being used for the construction equipment. The TC Palm reports local officials are frustrated by the process, and County Administrator Howard Tipton said, “There will certainly be areas where signs that say ‘Pardon our dust’ will appear. It’s still an active construction site, and fan, player and staff safety comes first.”
Despite the ongoing construction, aul Taglieri, Mets executive director of minor league facilities, said, “We are going to be 100% open and ready for spring training.” To that end, Mets players have already been working out at the facility, and pitchers and catchers have been officially reporting to St. Lucie today.
While he promises everything will be completed for the start of Spring Training, the complex very much remains a work-in-progress with reports indicating construction will be not completed until June 3. The same can be said about St. Lucie’s coaching staff.
With the fallout from mutually agreeing to part ways with Carlos Beltran, the Mets have opted to fill their new vacancies internally. Luis Rojas was promoted to manager, and Brian Schneider was promoted to replace Rojas as the Mets quality control coach. Schneider’s position as the manager for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets was filled by St. Lucie manager Chad Kreuter.
This means as pitchers and catchers report St. Lucie does not have a manager. Endy Chavez is the bench coach, but he does not have managerial experience. The hitting coach, Bruce Fields, has not been a manager since he was the 2002 manager for the Toledo Mud Hens of the Detroit Tigers system.
Of course, the Mets could opt to promote one of their other minor league managers. While Ed Blankmeyer may want to stay closer to home with the Brooklyn Cyclones, it is possible Kingsport manager Chris Newell or Columbia manager Reid Brignac may be promoted to fill the St. Lucie vacancy.
Overall, pitchers and catchers may have reported to St. Lucie, but by the look of things, there remains a lot of work left to be done with the ballpark and coaching staff there.
