Monthly Archives: June 2005
Scott Lauber offers up a few minor league tidbits in today’s Press & Sun Bulletin…
According to Lauber, B-Mets RHP Kevin Deaton could be headed back to the disabled list with pain in his right-shoulder…
Meanwhile, SS Chase Lambin, who was at Binghamton earlier this season, than promoted to Norfolk a few weeks ago, only to be demoted back to Bingo in place of Anderson Hernandez, has once again been recalled to Norfolk to start at short, while Hernandez plays second in place of injured Jeff Keppinger…
Lastly, 1B Brett Harper and SS Corey Ragsdale will finally appear together on Binghamton infield, something minor league observers have been waiting to witness for quite some time…
…check out the article for some interesting quotes and stats about deaton, lambin, harper and ragsdale…
…also, i will be talking with lauber in a few hours about the state of the mets farm system, so be on the look out for that interview later in the afternoon…
Tagged Minors |“Would we like to have done it today? Yeah.” Omar Minaya told reporters about un-signed first-round draft-pick Mike Pelfrey. “But the history is that some of these guys take a little longer than others.”…
The team’s top-pick last year, Philip Humber, missed all of last season before signing with the Mets just before spring training…
According to Don Burke in the Star-Ledger, there has been little progress in contract negotiations between the Mets and Pelfrey…
…hi scott boras…
Nice job by Pete Abraham in the Journal News who reminds us that the Mets left Royce Ring off their 40–man roster last winter, exposing him to the Rule V Draft…
Ring went unclaimed by all 29 teams, and was returned to the Mets farm system…
“I’m sure teams wish they took him now,” pitching coach Rick Peterson tells Abraham. “I’m just relieved we didn’t lose him.”…
…at the time of the rule v draft, i talked with j.j. cooper, who covers the mets farm system for baseball america…
“I don’t think there are a lot of people right now who think Royce Ring…unless he bounces back a bit…how much he’s gonna be able to help a Major League team right now,” Cooper told me…
…it goes to show you that with young pitching, especially lefties, you just never know…but, while many of us got on the mets for not protecting ring, they, cooper and every other team in baseball that he wasn’t worth having on a team…
…good for you royce…
“I feel that if you have the opportunity to get to the playoffs, you owe it to your players and to the fans to do the best that you can to get in,” Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters before last night’s game. “The question you have to ask yourself is: Where are you at the time.”…
…man, he’s got this spin down tight…i’ve lost count as to how many times omar has given this quote…
“I think we’re close,” Minaya explained. “I don’t even look at the standings at this time of year because we’re in June. But I think playing .500 at this time of the year, you have to be in contention for something.”…
…sure, and you’re also in contention to make a bad deal…
…be smart…think towards next year, as well…
“But it’s too early right now to even be thinking of where we are,” Minaya added, “We just want to play consistent baseball right now.”…
…of course…win, and it will all fall into place…
“I’m not going to talk to you guys about making changes on a pitcher before I talk to the pitcher,” Willie Randolph told reporters when asked about the status of Kaz Ishii in the Mets rotation. “If you’re looking for his head,” he continued, “I’m not going to give you that…You can write your story the way you want. But the bottom line is, if or when we decide to do anything along those lines, we’ll decide to do that. No timetable, no timeframe, no big announcement, we’ll just reevaluate as we go…You don’t want to keep a guy out there who struggles. If and when we decide to do something along those lines, we’ll do it… He might come out the next time and pitch a shutout and you’ll write something else. Obviously he’s having some problems getting through an inning or two here. But right now, he’s still in my rotation. We’ll see. We’ll see.”…
…‘still,’ is the operative word…
Asked by a reporter if he’s ever caught a pitcher as wild as Ishii, Mike Piazza responded, “Not really. I don’t know what to say. He has to pitch ahead. When he falls behind, there’s not much that he has.” Piazza continued, “Kaz just sort of loses his release point and his head starts flying out. Then he can’t pick it back up…odds are against you if you keep getting in bases-loaded situations in this league… It’s not incurable. I’ve seen flashes where he’s able to make pitches and get some bad swings. Tonight was not the case.”…
…being on brink of retirement has made piazza extra candid it seems…i don’t recall him pointing fingers in the past as he has done this season…i like it…
In the New York Post, Michael Morrisey asks, “If Kaz Ishii wasn’t earning $2.5 million, and hadn’t been traded for Jason Phillips, would he still be in the Met rotation?”…
…no…not with aaron heilman and jae seo pitching as they have…
…ouch…
…a few thoughts…
…after watching mike cameron run-down a ball that was basically in center field in the third inning, it makes me think i may be right when i said this spring that the mets should consider playing cameron in right-center, carlos beltran in left-center, while having cliff floyd play the roamer position used in softball…i’m kidding, of course…though it probably could work…
…with a left-handed pitcher and a righty at the plate, mike piazza still can’t throw a runner out…unreal…
…i still can’t believe in a year when i’m being told ‘next year is now,’ that i just watched jose offerman hit a home run for the mets…it’s like ‘ten years ago is now.’…
…ishii-ishterrible…yikes…
…commenting on the positioning of dae sung-koo’s feet on the mound prior to his delivery, keith hernandez and fran healy had the following exchange…‘and that’s an ugly show,’ hernandez said…to which healy noted the batter’s count…‘high tops,’ hernandez remaked, ‘he’s wearing high tops,’…to which healy remarked, like a fashion expert, ‘oh yeah, this has been fashionable a few years now in baseball.’…
…that kill me, man…absolutly crack me up…
…have a good night, kids…see you in the morning…
Appearing on MSG’s SportsDesk, following tonight’s Mets game, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman stated that the Yankees are now saying the Mets came to them with the Gary Sheffield-for-Mike Cameron trade, and that they declined it…
…obviously this is an attempt by the yankees to calm down sheffield, who was quite vocal about the rumor with reporters earlier this evening…
Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters prior to tonight’s game that the rumor is completely untrue…
…which sounds about right…
The Game…
The Mets (38–38) look to take the second of a three games that continues against the Phillies (39–38) at Shea Stadium tonight … the Mets have won four of their last five games … the Phillies have lost a season-high five straight games…
The Pitchers…
LHP Kaz Ishii (2–6, 5.25) starts for the Mets … Ishii has allowed eight runs to the Phillies this season in 11.2 innings pitched … Last week in Philadelphia he allowed three runs on six hits while walking two in 6.2 innings … Ishii is batting .313 in 16 at-bats …
RHP Cory Lidle (6–6, 4.12) starts for the Phillies … Last week against the Mets, Lidle allowed four earned runs on eight hits over 6.2 innings in a loss … the Phillies are 8–4 in his last 12 starts … the Phillies have committed 34 percent of their errors when Lidle is on the mound …
The Notes…
The Mets are 25–27 against right-handed starting pitchers … they are 13–25 when their opponent scores first … they are 20–6 when their starter goes more than seven innings … Mike Cameron has not hit a home run since June 4 … Brian Daubach is 0–for-6 with runners in scoring position … Chris Woodward is batting .375 in 40 at-bats against right-handed pitchers … Danny Graves has yet to pitch with an inherited runner on base … in their last 42 games, the Phillies are batting .313 with runners in scoring position … the Phillies are 0–31 when trailing at the end of the seventh inning…
The Reminder…
Cliff Floyd will host this week’s episode of This Week in Baseball, which will air on FOX before the Mets-Marlins game this Saturday, July 2, at 12:30 PM EDT…
To chat during the game, go to MetsBlog’s Bleachers…or, to access the chat room through IRC, go to server name irc.echo34.com and channel #metsblog…
…enjoy…
Gary Sheffield spoke quite extensively with the media from the Yankees clubhouse a few moments ago…
…to listen to sheffield’s comments, click the play button below…
…this audio file runs roughly four minutes…
Of note…
“It don’t make a difference who it is,” Sheffield told reporters about possibly playing for a new team. He continued, “If I didn’t choose to go there, things are gonna have to change about my whole situation, contract, years, everything. Other than that, you might as well not bother trading for me, cause you’re gonna have a very unhappy player. You gonna inconvenience me, I’m gonna inconvenience every situation there is. I mean, the only reason I’m playing is ‘cause I wanna play for the Yankees.”…
When asked by a reporter if that means he would sit out if traded, Sheffield responded, “No, I would never sit out. I’ll go play, but that don’t mean I’m gonna be happy playing…and if I ain’t happy you don’t want me playing on your team…and that’s just the way it goes…that’s life.”…
Specifically regarding the possibility of playing for the Mets, Sheffield said, “Don’t ask about me, I’m not interested in driving to any other stadium, period. I love Omar Minaya, I love him. I mean, I think he’s a great guy. But this is more personal than anything. This ain’t got nothing to do with him, it’s more personal.”…
…wow…
…um…on second thought…i’ll pass thank you…
…i hope omar was listening…
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked to New Yorkers yesterday at a rally to bolster support for the NYC 2012 Olympics bid…
Standing to Rice’s side was none other than our favorite mascot…
…i don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this photo…i mean, i’d like to think her time would be better spent talking with ariel sharon and mahmoud abbas, than it is doing press junkets with mr. met, but maybe i am wrong…
