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The Mets beat the Indians, 8-6, in a Grapefruit League game in Winter Haven, Fla. this afternoon. Oliver Perez started for the Mets, allowing six runs — three earned — in 2 2/3 innings of work.
Argenis Reyes had three hits for the Mets, including a double. Olmedo Saenz hit a home run and a double in four at-bats, and Angel Pagan added two hits and a double of his own.
Nelson Figueroa pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Mets, earning the win. He was followed by scoreless innings from Matt Wise, Pedro Feliciano and Carlos Muniz.
In the case that Sosa is dealt for outfield help Figueroa looked like a damn good option as a long man today. Any one else think he has a chance of landing a spot in the bullpen sometime this season?
yes, if he doesnt win the long man job out of ST he is likely to be one of the first starters called up from AAA in the event that Pelfrey is already in the rotation and they need another starter.
I wonder why the Mets took 9 pitchers to this game if they were going to use Figueroa for so long… feel sorry for Lugo, Kunz, etc who spent 4 hours on a bus when they could have been throwing in minor league camp.
Figueroa has good offspeed stuff and he does battle the hitters, but I’m a little concerned that he doesn’t have a good enough fastball to get ahead of hitters early in the count.
With his slider and 94 mph fastball, Sosa really should be better than he is, but he just doesn’t spot the ball well.
Yeah but I like Figueroa’s determination. He doesn’t seem to give in to hitters. Sosa always seems a little worried to me. I never much cared for his body language on the mound, and the walks will always be a concern with him. Especially in a swing role and specialist situations, I’ll take the guy who throws strikes and trusts his stuff.
After watching this game I can state catagorically that the bench on the 2010/11 team looks like its gonna be a force to be reckoned with.
hahah, too true!
Figueroa is really making a name for himself… Good to see Saenz have a good game as well. We’re gonna need that guy.
7 in a row!
6*
my bad i thought they played 2 games the other day
And finally… a game the Mets won with a lead the took before the 9th!
Figueroa looked really good today. we’ll probably see him in september, or if one of the other relievers really struggles at some point during the season. Also, his name makes use of every vowel in the alphabet so that’s a plus.
This game showcased the potential that some of our prospects have, and that’s really comforting since the rest of the world has been talking about it being pretty depleted by the Santana trade.
The way they’re stretching his arm out, it looks like they’re currently thinking he can provide starting depth.
Not a bad idea with Duque & Vargas hurt, and Armas still having visa problems.
for the most part Figueroa’s arm is stretched out. He was throwing complete games in the winter league playoffs a few weeks ago.
I think they signed him to be part of the AAA rotation once Mulvey and Humber were traded, but he could be the Mets long man as well.
And sometimes just for fun he spells his name Fyigeroa.
Errr….Fyigueroa. Ah well, joke already dead.
who is Argenis Reyes?
Ravich said something about him playing in Erie last year, I think thats the Indians AA club. Veteran minor leaguer I would assume, they tend to shuffle around year to year.
Erie is the Tigers’ AA club. Not that other AL Central team’s that I have to put up with… ;)
But I do know Indians prospects pretty well as a result of applying the same logic to the Tigers as I do the Mets…look at your rivals’ farm systems and see if they have anything good there. Anyway, Argenis Reyes is a speedy utility guy. He can play second (natural position), third, short, even center field and sometimes right and left field. He steals like 25-30 bases a year. No power (well, doubles and also triples, but zero homerun power), but he makes decent contact (then again, he doesn’t walk much). I can see him being a bench guy for Binghamton or New Orleans.
ahh, so he’s the new Jason Alfaro or Wilson Batista…
What I take from this game besides the long man intrigue is that Pagan is still ripping the cover off the ball and that calms my worries about OF issues. Also Saenz is playing well so 1B may be covered if Delgado is hurting at the start of the season. Pagan is proving to be a good pick up and he may not just be a flash in the pan. No need to trade Joe Smith and Sosa for a Thames when we have Pagan. Keep our extra arms for now ans see where we are at the end of spring training as Omar said. At that point we can see what our biggest needs are and act accordingly.
Its good to know we have some adequit backups at those positions to get by for a while. Unless they can pick up a Kendry Morales or Inge I dont think trading makes much sense.
Remember guys, Pitchers are just getting started and building up arm strength.
Lets wait a couple more weeks and see how Pagan does then.
That being said, he is ripping frozen ropes all over the field.
Plus, Register looks real good as well and could be another option as the long man.
Morales would really be a good pickup. I wonder what it’d take to get him.
Inge I wouldn’t give away much for. He’s overpaid and sounds like he thinks he’s owed status his stats don’t deserve.
Nady would be great, if we could get him without creating a gaping hole anywhere. I do like the idea of picking up Morris’ salary to sweeten the deal.
Unless I’m mistaken, it seems very premature to think Saenz can start at 1B or even contribute. He has very few ABs (maybe 7) in ST and is batting .286 with 1 HR. He’s 37 and hit under .200 in Triple-AAA last year.
With you on Pagan. He said Hojo corrected a flaw in his batting approach–he was off balance and jumping at the ball. And so there seems to be a decent chance he can be a great 4th OF, but he needs to do it for a longer time against ML pitching before we think he can start for extended games.
My mistake Saenz batted .191 with the Dodgers, not AAA last year.
My biggest worry is not Delgado, or even Alou but rather Beltran who said after getting his knees cleaned out he has to re-learn how to run the bases and slide! That is discomforting to hear from one of our most important players. If Beltran is hurting all year or goes down we are up the creek without a paddle. No trade can be made or signing to replace Beltran. Scary stuff. Very scary. What was total excitement and optimism after trading for Johan has turned into panic and concern for me after all of our injuries. At least all of our pitchers are healthy (minus El Duque and knock on wood), so we have that going for us. And Reyes and Wright are healthy being our 2 biggest players other than Santana, Maine, and Perez. Perez looked horrible today really justifying his arbitration win. Wink, wink.
After this season Omar needs to get this team younger and healthier. No more signing aging vets. Giving Castillo and his bum knees 4 years at that price was insane. We need to fill 1B and LF with good young players next year. Maybe F-Mart for LF if ready, and spend to get Texiera for 1B. Too many old, hurting position players. Enough already.
Omar’s at the Beach Club !
drinkin’ Red Stripes and El Presidenta’s
I give up! Who are you Apple/Cowbell? Obviously from Rockaway but who?
The Beach club is gone.
its actually El Presidente
went to Punta Cana all inclusive and the local beer was included
much better than Coors, Bud or Miller too
sorry about that chief!
I musta missed Prof Reyes lesson on El Presidente spellin’
but they sure go down easy!
I’d actually like to see them develop Nick Evans for 1B. He’s supposed to be the organization’s top 1B prospect. He was in high A last year and I think will be at AA this year. I’d like to see the Mets some how work him into the long term plan for 1B instead of the Free Agency route. But, he might not be ready in time, so we’ll see.
Also, Dan Murphy is supposed to be another solid prospect, but he’s at 3B right now. Obviously with Wright not going anywhere, why not switch him in to 2B to spell Castillo? I mean, like BSMITTYFDNY said, it was insane to give him 4 years. Move Murphy to 2B so he can take it over because who knows how long Castillo is going to be healthy for. Just some thoughts…
I get the impression that Murphy is more of a Ty Wiggington type of player than an everyday player. He’ll make a nice bench player because he can hit and it seems like he is rounding out a nice collection of gloves…
I agree about Evans, although if they could trade for Morales without giving up Pelfrey I would do that pronto.
I sort of agree on Castillo. But the thing is, the 4 years seemed silly to me on the outset, but after 2 years if some young 2B hits the market we can always trade Castillo and eat half the salary, and its not that big of a deal. Castillo also had both knees cleaned out, so lets hope he stays healthy all year. I disagree on spending on Tex. If you want to spend the money next year, either spend it bringing back Ollie, or go all out and sign Sabathia(if they were willing to spend the money, I am not in anyway really saying that should do this, not that I would mind), and then call F-Mart up and put him in LF for 09, which would save money, and find a young cheap 1B elsewhere because finding a pretty good 1B is much easier then finding a number 1 pitcher. One of the things I keep wishing is that we trade for Kendri Morales, who can mash, and is being blocked by Kotchman in LAA. He can have some AB’s this year off the bench and spelling Delgado, and take over next year. This would save us about 20 million between Delgado and Alou coming off the books and being replaced by F-Mart/Morales, freeing up money to go big time after Perez or Sabathia (I only suggest this because if you are willing to spend 15 mil or possibly 17 or 18 on Perez once teams start bidding for him on the open market, some would argue with a big payroll you might as well spend the extra 5 or 6 mil to bring in CC and have 2 true aces, and possibly 3 if Pedro stays healthy).
Again, this all seems absurd given what Santana was paid, but if the following things happen this year then is isnt as far fetched as it seems.
1) Our lower level talent has to impress this year. People talk about the Mets having some interesting guys way down in A ball and rookie ball etc. We have to see guys that may actually have some value down the road.
2) We need a big time draft this year. This draft coming up is going to be our most important in a long time. We have to replenish our system, and fast, because like you said, we are old and overpaid right now, with not much help on the way in the near future. If there is reason to believe that we can fill a couple of openings internally in the next couple of years for the minimum salary, then spending 22 mil on Sabathia isnt as crazy.
Either way, to me it seems like we have gone all in on the next couple of years, because we have a lot of guys with a couple of years left in them. So say, if Kunz and Martinez dominate in the minors this year and we can bring them up in the next 2 years, we get some of our 17 and 18 year old kids to open some eyes, and we have a monster draft, we can do more spending.
While I like your thinking, you do have some major holes in your argument. Let’s dissect:
“if some young 2B hits the market we can always trade Castillo and eat half the salary”
Firstly, who are you referring to? I mean if you plan to do this soon (1-2 years) then you should have a player in mind. Besides, what do you mean by “hit the market” – do you mean trade market or free agent market? If trade market – who are you trading? Secondly, eating Castillo’s salary is not a minor thing…even at half his salary we’d be out a more than just “a couple of million”
“find a young cheap 1B elsewhere because finding a pretty good 1B is much easier then finding a number 1 pitcher”
Really?? How many “pretty good 1B” can you name? Especially young and available on the FA? Didn’t we get a number 1 pitcher this year? So you want to spend all our money on another one next year instead of getting an all-star in Texeira??
“I keep wishing is that we trade for Kendri Morales”
Morales won’t come cheap – LAA have a great farm system of their own and not too many needs at the major league level – so don’t expect them to take a low ball offer of 3 single A guys. That said, who are you trading?
“go big time after Perez or Sabathia (I only suggest this because if you are willing to spend 15 mil or possibly 17 or 18 on Perez once teams start bidding for him on the open market, some would argue with a big payroll you might as well spend the extra 5 or 6 mil to bring in CC and have 2 true aces, and possibly 3 if Pedro stays healthy”
Oh boy, where do I start? Ok, first of all, you have no idea what Perez is going to be worth come next offseason. If he has a season like last one, he’ll likely get 13-14 mil per for 3-4 years, if he flops he’ll get 8-10 for 2 years, and if he does real well he can get may be 16 per over 4. I don’t see any team willing to give Perez 18 mil per year and more than 4 years. He only had one decent season last year and has way too much to prove. If you think that the difference between Perez and Sabathia is 5-6 mil than you’re dreaming. Sabathia is going to get 20-22 per year over at least 4 years, 5 being more likely. So you’re looking at another 100+ million dollar contract for a pitcher vs. 50-60 mil for Perez. BIG difference. Lastly – Pedro. Do you remember that he needs to be resigned as well?
My solution to 2009 would be (and this is assuming everyone performs to their expectations):
Resign Perez (50-60mil) and Pedro (28 mil over 2 years).
Sign Texeira (130mil over 6 years)
Pelfrey – #5 starter, FMart – LF
There will obviously be some other signings but nothing too major. Texeira will take a lot of pressure off FMart who won’t need to perform at a very high level to stay on the major league squad. He would bat sixth or seventh and benefit greatly from being around Castillo and Reyes – who can teach him how to bat in the top of the order – I eventually see him replacing Castillo in the #2 hole.
It doesn’t look like the Mets will need to spend all that much more money than they have coming off the books. Our lineup will be the best in the league for many years to come with Reyes, Wright, Beltran, and Texeira and our pitching will be one of the best in the majors. No big trades necessary. Farm system stays intact and continues to replenish. Young guys have time to play and develop and we can work on getting us a second baseman without being cornered into looking for one. Biggest offensive question for me is Ryan Church. No one knows how he’ll react to a full season of play. What if he’s a Ramon Castro/Endy Chavez type of hitter who provides you with the same production in 450 ab’s as he does with 300 ab’s?
clap-clap-clap
well done
I don’t think it’s such a grave sin to have signed Castillo to a long-term deal. The Mets have more depth at 2B than probably any other position… Easley, Marlon Anderson, Anderson Hernandez, Valentin.. and they’ve got A. Reyes ready in another year or two…
1B… now that is more fascinating. Can we make Shawn Green an offer he can’t refuse just to get us through the last year of Delgado’s contract? I know he’s retired and wants to play on the West Coast, but you beg the guy and offer him $4 mil, I think he’ll be OK. :-)
Beltran is able to run fine, it’s stopping that’s a problem.
Basically his rehab period after the surgery left him with no quads, so he has to build up the strength again.
I don’t see it as a big concern, and I’m glad the club is being very careful about getting him sliding again – one stuck spike could end his season at this point because he doesn’t have the muscles to protect his knees yet.
i don’t when his surgery was, but strength should be the one of the first things that is addressed following swelling and rang of motion. all this tells me is that beltran didn’t work hard enough or the mets need a new rehab staff. i can ubderstand the team being cautious with him, but its only 3 weeks until the season and he is not performing everyday baseball duties yet,,, that to me cause for concern…..
the thing with Beltran’s surgery was that they were on both knees. If you have surgery on both knees, you can’t exactly start rehabbing right away, let alone walk at all. If it was just one knee he’d be fine by now, but the fact is, it is both and he had to wait a while to rehab and that has caused this to take a longer time. They’re obviously being careful with him, and for good reason, as long as he can hit in the cage, there’s no reason to rush him back for spring training games.
that’s fine, but he should be playing in games by the last week of spring training. look, i feel beltran is a bit diva anyway, so i am worried about how he will hold up over the season, and even the length of his contract. pert of the problem is i don’t see a willingness to move to a corner OF spot to save some wear and tear on him physically. over the last 3 yrs we have seen he can’t take a full season pounding.
I don’t really see that Beltran urgently needs to play in games. He’s coming into his 10th full season in he majors – his baseball instincts are pretty well ingrained. Plus he’s taking BP so his timing at the plate is gonna be well grooved.
He’s already running the bases, so I’d be surprised if he isn’t playing in games by the last week of ST – Omar expects him to be playing within a week.
Saying he’s a diva is very unfair. The guy plays through injuries all the time. If someone asks him about it, he’ll answer honestly, but I don’t remember him ever saying “ow ow ow it hurts I’m hurt so bad Willie you have to take me out for a week”
Also, go to baseball-reference.com and compare Aaron Rowand’s games played with Beltran’s.
diva, i dont want to go out for a curtain call, they booed me previously.. aaww, poor spoiled rich kid. and he is always missing some time due a nagging injury. and all the time he misses, its not willie saying “why don’t you just rest it up a couple of days” he is saying he’s not ready. belive me , i want , need beltran to play like he did in houston. we all do, i’m just saying i question his toughness.
by the way i never said i wanted rowand as my CF
Just got back from the game. Alot of slow, lumbering young Mets today….all looking to each other for help in the outfield. Certainly everyone was pounding the ball. OP was a little ticked that he had to keep facing batters as the defense just wasn’t able to back him up. He threw alot of change-ups, and mostly back to back changes at that. He had a little trouble locating, and got hit hard a few times, but there were many Met fans there supporting him. He signed quite a bit afterwards which is unusual for him. Looking forward to the weekend’s games in PSL. No one hurt today, right?
Is Kenny Lofton signed anywheres yet?
The hell with Bonds….what a crack head idea is that….
dumped Milledge cause he liked rap, for crying out loud!
who needs Lofton when you have Pagan or Chavez? Its redundant…
Listen, if you dont like Bonds as a person, or whatever, then fine. But why wouldnt you want him on this team right now where we are tryign to win a WS this year. Our lineup would be absolutely unreal straight up mind boggling scary. Seriously. Picture this. Barry Bonds batting 2nd behind Reyes. Reyes get ro first base. Bonds is up. Imagine the fastballs he would get too hit? Reyes steals second anyway. Gona walk Bonds and face Wright? Move the pitcher up to the 8 spot, put Castillo at 9 and boom. You have a 3 headed LF/RF with Church, Alou and Bonds, keeping the older 2 healthy and limiting Church’’s AB’s against righties. On days that Alou/Bonds dont start, then we have an awesome pinch hitter coming off the bench. Calling it a crackhead idea is silly. They didnt trade Milledge because he likes rap. They traded him because they got a really good catcher and pretty much (atleast in my opinion) the weighted mean of what you can project from Milledge over the next few years, or a pretty safe projection, so he doesnt drop off, but he doesnt break out yet also. Milledge obviously has the higher break out potential, but you live with that because Church is more polished now, but people dont realize Schneider is the key piece of the deal. We are going for it now, these guys are more seasoned and can help more in situational parts of a game which is what leads to succes in the playoffs and in big games. Just a fun fact, Schneider was one of only 11 players in major league baseball last year with an 86 percent contact rate and an 11 percent walk rate. The other 10 guys were Scott Hatteberg, Kenny Lofton, Hideki Matsui, Conor Jackson, Brian Giles, Magglio Ordonez, Albert Pujols, Vlad Guerrero, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer. Brian Schneider will be a fan favorite in NY by July.
It is a crackhead idea because there are no DH in Shea.
Beltran can’t cover 2/3 of the outfield every game.
Alou may not have the best range in baseball, but next to Bonds he’s Endy Chavez.
Plus Bonds is ancient, and a clubhouse cancer.
If Adam Dunn can play LF, Bonds can. He has a 480 OBP and hit 30 home runs in less then 400 ABs. Thats sick.
WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT “CLUBHOUSE CANCER”
good GOD, what a terrible reason not to sign a player
Didn’t you see how many games the Mets lost last year in September when their heads were not on straight? What do you think Bonds’ effect on the minds of the players will be? I just think that you haven’t seen enough All Star teams flop in other sports because they couldn’t get them to play as a team. Bonds is a primadonna and will require special treatment, whether you want it/like it or not. Giving him that while denying it to everyone else is cancer. Oh, and did you just put Barry Bonds in the #2 spot? Real smart, way to move the runner over and play little ball. Bonds doesn’t hr every at bat and he can’t run at all – what do you propose the situation will be the 65% of time when Reyes doesn’t get on base? And who do you have protecting Beltran in the cleanup spot – Ryan Church??
Bonds in LF. That sounds about as great an idea as Vince Coleman 15 years or so ago.
btw, Pedro’s next assignment will be on Tuesday, on 3 days rest. He will pitch in a sim. game or a minor league game while the Mets travel to Ft. Myers.
He pitched this morning rather than this afternoon to give himself more time to recover for Tuesday, which is needed to get him back on track for the second game of the season. Look for him in a ST game in St. Lucie on March 15th.
more words, but the same content in this article from Marty Noble
newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080307&content_id=2411027&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym
buster olney writes that the Mets should sign Barry Bonds and you know what honestly from a baseball only standpoint wouldnt bonds be perfect.
offsets losing Alou’s bat when not if he gets hurt again
put him in between beltran and wright and he gets walked less and gives Beltran and co better pitches
endy/church/anderson/pagan/easley replaces him late in games
takes pressure off Santana, Pedro, Reyes, Wright etc.
even though he’s left handed he can still play they wouldnt have to rely on him but if he gets 250 ABs then all he hurts is the payroll but an incentive ridden contract so he can win a world series should entice him
plus you dont have to get rid of anyone to acquire him. you dont have to give up any other prospect from our diluted farm system
so he took steroids up until a few years ago he’s been clean for a few years and if he gets hurt so be it its just wilpons money
i have actually been thinking this same thing. as soon as alou went down, he was the first person i thought of. i think it is truly worth a look.
yea b/c remember alou will be out probably to memorial day
(he’s old and a slow healer)
Please no. I want my biggest memory of Barry Bonds at Shea Stadium to be Bobby Jones striking him out in the last AB of that near-perfect playoff game v. the Giants. He is better remembered as a villain IMHO.
Yeah, it makes perfect sense from a pure baseball perspective, but the game is about more than that… You really want the Mets to be the team that signs a steriod user that isn’t courageous enough to admit it, and is currently on trial for purjury.
I couldn’t cheer for him even if he was the reason that we were in first place.
watch the game on espn? hear john kruk essentially smacking the mets at each and every single opportunity? it was laughable. both he and another ‘expert’ they had on picked the mets for third. he called out the mets pitching, in that he more or less dismissed pedro, maine and perez. lastly, he was showing his love than not dare speak its name for rollins while ripping on beltran for making his statements a few weeks ago.
i understand that he was a phillie, but it was just a bit more than ridiculous. i don’t remember him being THAT bad. is it just me or does he sound even worse now that the phillies are the super happy most greatest bestest team ever?
He was way over the top on Beltran. I definitely got the impression that he doesn’t like Beltran because he makes big $$$ but doesn’t play through leg injuries.
i hate that perception, becaues he DOES play through injuries.
Long before this game ever started, I considered John Kruk to be not only the dumbest commentator in baseball, but also the most completely inept analyst in professional sports in general. I’d normally say his “analysis” of today’s game lowered his reputation in my eyes, but that would be almost impossible. Poor Ollie not only had to deal with weird, quasi-cyclonic winds in the outfield and a horribly wet playing surface, but also getting chewed out by the stupidest announcer on ESPN’s staff (which is saying a lot). On the upside, his “split-change” (really a forkball in the technical sense thrown as a changeup) had some sink to it and it looks like he might be able to generate some groundouts if he throws that (as opposed to be Mr. Fly Balls from last year).
Karl Ravech, the other broadcaster, is a pretty mediocre game-caller, though at least a decent analyst on paper. The woman they had on, Amy Nelson, was terrible as usual and knows little about baseball (I almost fainted when she gave credence to Tim Redding about the Nationals making the playoffs…).
Does ESPN intentionally hire idiots as Baseball analysts to strengthen their Football coverage? It’s laughable. Steve Phillips? The guy runs a club into the ground, and this gives him credabillity? Fernando Vina can’t articulate anything. Ravich, well he’s Ravich. Kruk’s a dumb homer, who again, can’t articulate anything. Who was that guy who got fired and now works on MLB.com? He stunk too.
Kruk was a joke. After the Mets committed two errors behind Perez, he immediately said that Perez pitched himself into trouble. I guess he didn’t realize that those were errors not hits. Ravech had to correct him.
Neither mentioned that the graphic was wrong when it said that all the runs that Perez gave up were earned.
Kruk rambled on about nothing the whole game, and gave no analysis whatsoever. It’s as if they put some random guy off the street into the booth.
Kruk said that the Mets would finish third in the NL East. Later he said that Randolph’s job was tenuous–because the Mets should win the NL penant, and if they don’t Randolph would be blamed. I guess his views make little sense, and are obviously contradictory.
Amazingly, Amy Nelson also picked the Mets to finish third. Her first scoop was that Liriano watches Spanish soap operas. Her big “scoop”–as Necciai27 pointed out–was that Redding said the Nats could make the playoffs with a .500 record.
This is an idiotic statment, and she should have ignored it. The Mets, Phillies, and Braves aren’t going to finish under .500, and it’s almost mathematically impossible to win the wild card at .500. The division leaders would have to pile up tons of wins–there just aren’t enough interleague games.
I watched Nelson Figueroa pitch in the Caribbean World Series. He was simply fantastic. I think that he should have a shot at the 5th starter position. El Duque is probably their long man at this point. You just can’t rely on him anymore to be ready every fifth day. I like Jorge Sosa, but he probably should be the guy at AAA that is your first in line to make a spot start.
I’m still not impressed with Pelfrey. He was hitting his spots the other day, but I think he really needs some more time at AAA. I’d hope the Mets would give him some more time and perhaps call him up in September (or earlier if really necessary). He’s been rushed IMO.
He needs that pitch, that inning, that game; that gives him that elusive “confidence” to throw with out pointing and sweating.
Give him that chance and I believe you got Johnny ” remember the ” Maine II, the sequal.
LET’s GO METS !!!!
but that don’t mean I got a problem with Nelson; the more the sweeter the champagne….
el Duque’s done for the year. I heard he sprained his eyebrow throwing bullpen sessions
Hilarious post. Honestly. So funny. I laughed out loud. Something about bullpen sessions put that joke over the top for me. For instance, if you would have said he sprained his eyebrow in a simulated game, it wouldnt have been nearly as funny to me for some reason. Lol. Either way, good stuff.
I really do not know why Matt Murton’s name has not been brought up much at all here. The kid is still pretty young and definitely more of an able body to help patch up the outfield compared to some other options that are being mentioned. He is right-handed, 26 years old, and provides some decent pop in his bat. If the Cubs had shown a little more faith in him than they have over the years and given him consistent playing time in a starting role on the team, Murton probably would have turned people’s heads with what he can do and be a pleasant surprise. From what I have read recently, he is currently on the trading block and I do not think it is too far-fetched for Omar to acquire him for a bullpen arm, such as Schoeneweis, and some cash thrown in. Murton also has posted good numbers against left-handers and would actually compliment Church rather well in case a platoon should arise whenever Moises is able to hobble back onto the field. Lastly, the addition of Murton allows Easley to focus his main attention this spring on working his skills at first base to become the backup for Delgado.
like the murton idea, young, cheap, time for a new address for him.
get omar to get him…
Certainly seems a vastly preferable option to either of the Detroit players that have been mentioned.
Question is, what’d it take to snag him?
a couple of things…
Daniel Murphy doesn’t have the range defensively to play 2nd. he’s best suited to either 3rd or 1st – though throws righty so he’s less appealing at 1st – or possibly a corner OF.
the point in keeping him at 3rd even with Wright blocking him is to increase his value to other teams. clearly he’s got a real good bat. so if he puts up good numbers at AA this year, then he becomes more valuable as a chip — which we need with the current lack of depth in the farm in case in season moves are necessary this year. moving him to 2nd if he struggles defensively doesn’t help his value. if he does turn into a legit prospect and hits 30HRs this year – as per Pedro’s prediction – then we’ll probably see him shift to 1B or OF if the Mets don’t move him to fill a need.
both Figueroa and Matt Wise looked very good today. those two along with Register seem to give us a lot of options in terms of depth in the bullpen in case a) someone struggles b) gets hurt or c) we end up having to trade for a bat – relievers are always valued, and with Figueroa, Wise, Sosa, Shoe, Muniz, and Joe Smith we have a deep group to choose from.
but there’s no need to trade for a bat now. there’s still 3 weeks till the season starts.
oh, and everyone would be a lot better off if they stopped listening to/asking about Beltran talk about his legs. he’s gonna miss some games this year with leg problems, but he’ll be playing in the majority of them…including the season opener….and he’ll have 30+ HR and 100+ RBI’s.
Bonds isn’t gonna happen, but why can’t Slammin Sammy? he’s proven he can still hit, and everyone loves him in the clubhouse. We know Omar has a good relationship with him. He can platoon with Church when Alou comes back and can play in Alou’s place while he’s out. What’s the harm?
And if not Sosa, how about FA veteran Reggie Sanders, who can still play at the ripe old age of 41?
Hmm… bit of an unknown whether he can “still play” after missing most of last season to injury
… Sanders, that is
omar’s fasinaction w/ some older players has put the team in a difficult postion. delgado and alou are big time on this team and they are at the point where its win now or never. it seems to me the mets are a mismash of talent, put together, not w/ vision but w/ a who would i like to play this pos. approach? do they have talent, no doubt. but i don’t see the cohesion in the lineup, its like the pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit.
The Mets batting order makes more sense than, say, the Phillies’.
I think the acquisition of Castillo belies your thinking – the team was obviously thinking “#2 hitter” as well as “2nd baseman”
that’s sort of how you make a baseball team. just an fyi.
Perez gave up 6 runs?? Whats with these starters? They are getting outplayed by our non-roster invitees
He better perform this year, or else his ass isn’t gonna get any $$ from any team next offseason
Those non-roster invitees you mention played horrible defense that inning in albeit terrible conditions–gusty wind and a wet slippery field.
In that inning
Hernandez (SS) throws wide right–error.
Carera (LF) overruns popup and slips–not ruled an error, but should have been.
Pagan (CF) misplays hard hit ball to deep center (very tough play though but he didn’t give himself a chance for a great play.).
Bloop single to right-center.
Catcher drops throw to plate which beats runner by 10 feet.
Perez as usual made things worse by pitching worse when his defense lets him down but good defense gets him out of the inning with no runs.
As mentioned above and below, virtually all the hits Perez gave up were complete flukes. A variety of fielding gaffes (caused by bizarre winds and a horribly wet, almost marshy field) led to four of the earned runs and Nelson Figueroa letting two inherited runners score before settling down led to two more.
As I mentioned above, Perez was also getting some ground-outs by throwing his changeup. That may seem kinda odd, but consider that Ollie’s change is technically a forkball, which can also be thrown as a sinker (Steve Trachsel used to use his as such and Hideki Okajima’s “sinker” is a forkball). Incidentally, for those wondering, a forkball is NOT a splitter; there’s a difference…the forkball is thrown with less velocity and also jammed into your fingers a bit more. Further, Perez is also learning a cut fastball, which should be interesting.
does anyone know whos starting tomorrow?..
I think Pelfrey. So far they’re pitching in the same order as they would in the regular season.
I’m pretty sure John Franco is starting for the Pros. The Joes starter I’m not so sure about.