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The Mets have signed free-agent 2B Jose Valentin to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training.
Mets GM Omar Minaya, on the return of Valentin…
“Jose is progressing well from his surgery and already is rehabbing for his return. We hope he can bounce back and help us in a variety of ways.”
Valentin, on returning to the Mets…
“The main reason I came back to the Mets is that the team is focused on returning to the postseason and I want to do my part to help us win. My goal is to start playing spring training games by mid-March.”
Valentin had season-ending ACL surgery on his knee in late September, which he initially hurt in April.
He recently told El Nuevo Dia that he still not 100 percent, and may need to begin the year at Triple-A.
The Mets declined Valentin’s $4.3 million option for 2008 during early November.
In addition to Valentin, the Mets will have Damion Easley, Anderson Hernandez, Ruben Gotay, Luis Castillo, Marlon Anderson, Fernando Tatis and Jose Reyes in camp, all of whom have experience playing second base.
…and so, i now challenge them to start an entire team of second basemen during one of their spring training split-squad games, which is fitting since their manager, Willie Randolph, was a second baseman as well…
big splash!
Welcome back “stash” !!
Hopefully, the Mets can get farther than second base this year.
I feel better about losing Green knowing that Valentin might be back and on the bench. We can’t expect more than 90-100 games from Alou.
Church + Valentin + Alou + Endy + Anderson
might =
Green + Milledge + Alou + Endy + Anderson
Wow…someone call the Twins and tell them we are out of the Santana sweepstakes!
Another monster signing by Omar! Now if Castillo, Easley, Marlon Anderson or Gotay get hurt we are all set!
You know what they say, you can never have enough second basemen!
Don’t forget Anderson Hernandez!
Or better yet, maybe forget him.
is there even room on the bench for valentin? we already have gotay and easley to play 2nd backup
Valentine is just a chip to get Super Joe back into the organization.
Eh, just a token vet in camp. Wouldn’t be surprised if he retires if he doesn’t make the team.
Actually nvm, just re-read…sounds like he’ll gladly play in AAA.
And the lineup for that would be:
Jose Reyes SS
Luis Castillo 2B
Ruben Gotay 3B
Damion Easley 1B
Castro C
Fernando Tatis RF
Marlon Anderson LF
Anderson Hernandez CF
Pitcher
Dammit, I forgot the Stache. Make that:
Jose Reyes SS
Luis Castillo 2B
Ruben Gotay 3B
Damion Easley 1B
Stache LF
Fernando Tatis C
Marlon Anderson RF
Anderson Hernandez CF
Pitcher
I like this:
Reyes P
Castillo 1B
Gotay SS
Easley 3B
Stache LF
Tatis C
Marlon RF
Hernandez CF
Willie 2B
You know, I’d put Willie as the pitcher, given how much he liked pitching BP before his surgery, but I bet he could still pick it at second.
Who are all these skankee fans… it’s not like Omar re-signed Felix Millan. C’mon.
insurance if gotay is in a deal… good guy to have in camp
no problem with this
Character guy, and maybe you strike oil twice. Little downside to this deal, even if the upside is remote.
cool.
i was worried the mets would go back to signing older (over-the-hill) injury prone players who all play the same position for the bench.
valentin seems like a a good clunhouse guy.
Key words: minor-league contract.
Good signing, in my opinion.
exactly, how can anyone say its a bad thing to sign a player who WANTS to be here and will do anything, even if it includes playing AAA ball.
And at worst the mustache quotient is back to an acceptable level. Seriously, that is a fine looking lip hat.
Valentin is a good clubhouse guy and a baseball lifer. He owns a team in PR and may never “retire” as a player. Great guy to have on a AAA team. He has some pop in his bat but I don’t see him getting much playing time in Queens unless the injury bug hits.
good clubhouse guy…will be a good influence to the AAA guys
he is basically signed as a coach as it will take Easley and Goaty getting hurt to bring him on the roster as there isnt even a rsoter spot for Gotay currently with the 5 man bench being Castro, Endy, Marlon, fith OF (Pagan?) and Easley
Omar gets blasted a lot on this forum, but i feel some people don’t recognize the moves he makes and their intrinsic values.
some people screamed bloody murder after the LoDuca shenanigans, stateing that the fire and passion has left the clubhouse.
now omar signs a guy to a minor league contract that has fire and passion for the game/team and he gets blasted.
big picture here guys!!!
Yeah…I’d like to think that the average Mets fan understands baseball. Some of the bloody murder screaming on here makes me wonder sometimes, though.
We has some serious roster inflexibility because only a certain number of guys can go down to the minor leagues during the season because of their contracts. Because Valentin is a standup guy, we are able to have flexibility and character.
Win. Win.
Fernando Tatis has 2 innings in his career at second base, and I doubt Reyes is moving back there any time soon.