Beauty and Grace

The swing was effortless and smooth. The ball sailed on a line over the centerfield wall and finally collided with the batter's eye wall behind the fence, about 30 feet up the 40-foot wall. And Mets' principal owner Fred Wilpon just said, "Wow."

The blast was courtesy of 18-year-old Fernando Martinez, the phenom the Mets signed out of the Dominican Republic two years ago. Before you get too excited, he's still a ways away from the major leagues. While the Mets want him to get a taste of playing time in the spring -- along with Carlos Gomez -- that is all he is here for now.

The Mets expect him to start the season at AA with Gomez in AAA. One small detail to be worked out -- they are both center fielders, as is Lastings Milledge. With Carlos Beltran already entrenched there for at least five more years, one Mets exec said that they won't switch them out of center until they have to. Milledge worked in the corners last year. The others won't yet.

Both will attend the Mets Spring Training
http://njmg.typepad.com/springtraining/steve_popper/index.html