Monthly Archives: August 2006
According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, the Red Sox have traded LHP David Wells to San Diego for C George Kottaras…
The left-handed hitting Kottaras, 26, was selected to the 2006 All-Star Futures Game, and ranked as the second-best prospect in the Padres system by Baseball America…
Tonight’s lineup for the Mets as they take on the Rockies:
…nothing wrong with Carlos Delgado…he is just getting the day off vs. the lefty Jeff Francis…
The Game…
The Pitchers…
LHP Jeff Francis (10-10, 3.53 ERA) hopes to salvage one for the Rockies…Francis got the win in his last start against the Padres, despite being charged for 5 ER over 6 IP…He is 4th in the NL in batting average against (.227)…The southpaw lost his lone start against the Mets this season on August 19th, allowing six runs, five of them earned over 5.2 IP…David Wright is 3-for-5 against Francis, including a HR…
The Numbers…
The Mets are 5-0 against the Rockies this season — They were 4-3 against the Rockies last season…
Paul Lo Duca carries a nine-game hitting streak into tonight’s game — He is 16 for his last 40 (.400), including three doubles, a triple, 10 runs scored and four RBI…
The Mets have scored at least 10 runs against the Rockies in consecutive games — prior to Tuesday’s 10-5 loss, the Rockies went a club record 39 straight games at home without allowing an opponent to score in double digits…
The Bleachers…
To chat during the game, go to HotFoot’s Bleachers … or, to access the chat room through IRC, go to server name irc.echo34.com and channel #metsblog…
…enjoy...
At SI.com, Jon Heyman quotes a Mets official as saying, “I’m not entirely comfortable,” with regards to the team’s starting rotation…
A few weeks ago, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Red Sox LHP David Wells had cleared waivers…
During today’s broadcast of the Yankees-Tigers game on ESPN, broadcaster Gary Thorne noted that the Mets have begun looking in to acquiring Wells…
However, according to Heyman, whose column was posted at 11:10 this morning, the Mets were not showing much interest in Wells at all, who, according to the Boston Globe and San Diego Union-Tribune, is most likely to end up in San Diego or with the Dodgers…
…the buzz around baseball has the padres potentially parting with minor-league C George Kattaros, while the sox have asked the dodgers for OF Matt Kemp, who is described by a scout in heyman’s column as being the next Dave Winfield…
At his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin writes that the Mets have added 2B Anderson Hernandez to the 25–man roster…
However, Rubin explains that by adding Hernandez, the Mets could later add Lastings Milledge to the post-season roster if need be…
…i don’t get how, but rubin seems to…i’m guessing it has something to do with that rule in the post below this one…
For more on Hernandez, go here…
…it appears that i botched, or, over simplified, the playoff eligibility rule in the previous post…
…from what i can gather, the rule is as follows…
According to Rule 40(a), a player must be on his club’s active big league roster or disabled list (or bereavement list, suspended list, or military list) on August 31 in order to be eligible for post-season play…
…then it gets tricky…
The following comes from Mike’s Baseball Rants, and seems to be the most clear version of the remaining rule…
Playoff rosters must be set at 25, not including disabled players, on August 31…
For each player on the 60-day disabled list, teams may add players to the eligible list during the playoffs at the same position, provided that they were in the organization on August 31…
Teams must choose 25 players from their playoff eligible list before each round of the playoffs…
…ok, so, if i have this right, the mets can add an additional catcher (for Ramon Castro) and two pitchers (for Duaner Sanchez and Victor Zambrano), after the fact…Cliff Floyd and Pedro Martinez do not impact this rule because they are on the 15–day DL, and will be back before the end of the season…
…however, if they want an additional right-handed bat off the bench that can play a variety of infield positions, they’ll have to call up a player from the minor leagues, like Edgardo Alfonzo, Anderson Hernandez or Ruben Gotay, or a make a trade, before tomorrow…
…this also would suggest that Lastings Milledge officially has no place on the post-season roster, since he’ll likely be called up in the days after tonight’s deadline…
…guys like Mike Pelfrey, Brian Bannister and Heath Bell can wait, be promoted after the deadline, and still, technically, be eligible for post-season, since they’re pitchers, thanks to the 60–day disabled list replacement rule listed above…
…the morale of this story is that it has been way, way too long since the mets have been in playoffs, because this all seemed like news to me…
Following his second win for the Mets in three starts, RHP Dave Williams was sent back to Triple-A Norfolk…
However, Randolph said he will be recalled Tuesday to start against Atlanta…
According to Williams, who spoke with reporters following the game, the team plans to promote a back-up infielder, so the player can qualify for the post-season roster…
…only players who have appeared on the team’s 25–man roster prior to september first are eligible to play in the postseason…
…there are many, many loop-holes, however, so this rule, while enforced, can be pretty flexible should a team need a player come october…just ask Daryl Strawberry and Brian Cashman…
…the buzz around shea suggests that either Edgardo Alfonzo or Ruben Gotay will get the call…some have suggested Anderson Hernandez could be promoted…however, he’s already been on the 25–man roster, so it would seem he’s not in the running for this particular promotion…
…and, obviously, and i think i speak for all mets fans when i say, lets go fonzi…
In 130 at-bats since joining Triple-A Norfolk, Alfonzo is batting .262 with three HR, 14 RBI, 18 walks and 14 strikeouts…
Meanwhile, Gotay is hitting .241, also with three HR, but with 26 strikeouts and eight walks in 141 at-bats since being acquired for 2B Jeff Keppinger…
…i’m sure gotay is a fine player, but, man, i’d love to see fonzi back in a mets uniform at least once…i doubt he’ll get to the post-season roster, but just knowing he can makes me smile…
…speaking of help on the infield…
In the Journal News and Daily News, both John Delcos and Adam Rubin note that Julio Franco took ground balls at both second base and third base prior to yesterday’s win…
Spanning his 14 year career, Franco has played all four infield positions and four games in the outfield. The last time he played anything other than first base was in 1997, when he played 35 games for the Indians at second. Prior to playing second and first, he played 111 games at shortstop for the Indians in 1987, when Lastings Milledge was just two-years-old…
Appearing in his weekly interview with WFAN yesterday, Willie Randolph said Orlando Hernandez will certainly start against the Braves next week, at the latest, in an effort to get him three or four starts before October…
…suggesting that the team sees el duque as a starter, not a reliever…
…fair enough…
Randolph told reporters prior to yesterday’s game, that Hernandez could start as soon as Sunday in Houston, pushing Steve Trachsel to pitch on Monday against the Braves in New York…
…either way, we’re looking at Tom Glavine on friday, John Maine on saturday, and either hernandez or trachsel on sunday, or trachsel or hernandez on monday…
According to multiple reports, Cliff Floyd remained, and will remain, in Port St. Lucie as he was unable to travel due to severe weather…
…oh, man…he’s got to be crawling the walls down there…maybe he’s really kevin finnerty…
…the buzz around floyd is that he’ll continue his rehab in the psl, and will most likely meet up with the mets in new york early next week…however, my gut tells me that he’ll lose his mind and hop on the first plane he sees, meeting the mets as soon as he can regardless of where they are…
Carlos Beltran has set a team record by scoring a run in 12 consecutive games, during which he has also driven in 13 runs, while sporting a .326 AVG and a .418 OBP…
…in an interview prior to this season, i actually told a radio show that i expected beltran to hit .280, with 25 HR and roughly 90 RBI, while playing a far better defense than last season, but further irritating his fans by playing a smaller brand of baseball than his salary would suggest he should…
…guess i underestimated him, as he’s been totally amazing and worth every dime for team wilpon…
