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The Braves have claimed Ruben Gotay off waivers.
According to a team press release, Gotay will be on Atlanta’s 25–man roster.
…no pressure, Fernando Tatis…no pressure…
…this is disappointing, especially since – the whole reason behind tatis making the team instead – is because tatis is a better hitter against left-handed pitching and is more versatile…whatever…i’m not so sure tatis can hit lefties, as much as he can stand in the box against lefties…i’ll believe he can hit them when i see it…also, versatile…really…hey, i can play outfield too…it doesn’t mean i can play it well, but i can stand out there and run after the ball…so, to call tatis versatile may be a slight stretch…
…i’m probably just annoyed that it’s the Braves, actually…ugh…if he turns in to the next Melvin Mora, so help me…
In similar, but different news, Steven Register was returned to the Colorado Rockies, and Anderson Hernandez was optioned back to Triple-A New Orleans.
…according to multiple reports, and logic, the Mets had been trying to work out a trade with the Rockies so they could keep register…i suppose it could still happen, but it doesn’t seem likely…
Good job, Mets.
The Mets dislike young players. Fernando Tatis, a guaranteed terrible year ahead for him. Hes a AAA player at best.
I’d rather suck with a 24 year old Mike Pelfrey than suck with a 42 year old El Duque. Same with Gotay and Tatis- why cut these young players for these old has-beens. Prime reasons why the Mets don’t have guys like Jason Bay or Henry Owens- both would like nice this year and last season.
Either you’re agreeing with me, or not getting my sarcasm. LOL
Willie had something against Gotay from the get go … that much has been clear.
I’m not even making a reference to your post really, just commenting the idea that the mets build their team to be old.
I’m surprised he’s gone but I wish him well.
I think he’s going to be good. But then, I thought
Mo Vaughn was going to be good.
Gotay is an absolutely horrible, horrible defensive player. He might be decent enough against righties, but he would never crack our regular lineup with his horrid defense. Anybody who thinks we’re losing some future star should get a grip. If he played 160 games at 2B he’d probably make at least 30 errors.
So while it be nice to have a young guy with some pop just in case, with him having no options it wasn’t going to happen.
There’s a reason the Royals gave up on him.
future star, no. but a good bench guy.
To whoever wrote Gotay would have 30 errors: Why would you expect his number of errors to be higher in the majors leagues that it was in the minors? In any case Tatis’ fielding percentage throughout his career has been worse than Gotay’s. I’d much rather have the young guy who will improve than an older AAA player who is getting worse.
whynot
Actually KC gave up on him cause they thought he would never hit in the big leagues. They, as well as other scouts, actually liked his glove. If you look at the numbers, they’re not great but they’re not as bad as everyone is making them out to be.
Tatis is not taking over a middle infield slot, so his fielding compared to Gotay’s is not relevant. As others have pointed out below, Gotay was beaten out for a roster spot by Easley, not Tatis. You’re comparing the wrong players.
Gotay may have the skill set to be a good glove man, he’s never been one. I’m not saying the Royals gave up on him b/c his glove was so bad, just b/c he wasn’t very good.
The Mets were never going to trust this guy with 2B, b/c his defense is poor. His range is average, and his arm erratic. If we were a 2nd division club who could afford to break in a young 2B and allow him to learn on the job Gotay is just fine. But we’re not, and having a young player manning a bench spot is not optimal.
I don’t like Tatis, but we need a RH bat until Alou is ready. Gotay, w/o options left just wasn’t an option. The 25th spot probably is worth maybe, maybe 1 win a year. All this crying for Gotay is silly. I imagine as rosters are trimmed there will be another serviceable guy or two available.
All I want is a middle IF backup that can actually play defense. I know and understand why Gotay was waived, but dont say it was because Easley beat him out for it (the others you were talking about said it was Marlon). Gotay had already beaten him out for the secondbase job last year. But Tatis is the one the Mets say they want because of his ability to play all the infield positions as well as the corner OF positions, so to me it looks like it’s him that they want to backup the middle infield. Big mistake.
To add on: i just looked at some scouting reports on Gotay from a few years back and mudvillenine, you are mistaken in how he was viewed by scouts.
It was: solid bat from the left side, needs work on the right side and his glove is below average with poor range.
Having seen him field, below average is complimentary and is arm is erratic enough to make DW’s look like a fountain of consistency.
All totaled, for a team that stresses pitching and defense, Gotay was never a good fit.
I agree with your sentiment except for the fact that Bay was a decent prospect, not real high expectations who exploded with the Padres, and both he and Owens were TRADED
The mets dislike young players? I don’t want to go through the whole roster, but what are you talking about? 3/5 of the rotation is under 30 and 4/8 of their position players are under 30.
I think they dislike poor players. They don’t view Gotay as fundamentally sound. Has he done anything to indicate that last year is what we can expect from him year in and year out?
Look at this… After Castillo was aquired, Gotay hit .194 in August and September. Maybe that’s why the team decided to get rid of him instead of his age.
good points
I guess any 24 yr. old who hits .194 PINCH-HITTING (considered the hardest thing to do in baseball) should be discarded along with the rest of the leftover tuna…
Your statistic should be coupled with the fact he hit .310+ before we got Castillo…
santana they traded for after he has 2 cy youngs…maine and perez were THROW IN’S WITH DEALS…the mets expected nothing from those 2 in 2006, they had no other choice but to stick with them, oh wait, and look what happened when you stick with players…
look…gotay wasn’t making or breaking this team, we all know that…the point is…you have to give young players room for error, they are still developing, look at reyes! i mean, if you trade everyone in AA or AAA or after a half a season with the big league team b/c they didnt succeed right away, that is a poor philosophy…i’m so sick of this veteran presence…young guys can have just as much presence and have a freaking upside…
whatever…you know gotay is going to do something against the mets now…i am sick of old players, they have players in the minors who deserve more of a shot at the bench than freaking fernando tatis…that’s all i am saying
My problem is that outside of 1999, Fernando Tatis has proved himself to be awful. And at 33, he’s not going to get better. You can’t say with certainty that Gotay would improve or even maintain his solid 2007 production, but at least there was a chance.
Maine and Perez were not throw ins. That is what people think because they hadn’t heard of Maine before we got him and Ollie was making money and losing games.
Omar first approached Pittsburgh (when Sanchez was healthy) about aquiring Ollie. Pitt asked for Nady. That was too much for the mets to give up, but once Sanchez got hurt they worked the deal with Hernandez coming back as well.
Maine was the centerpiece of the Benson deal with the mets taking Julio’s salary (who omar then turned into duque) in return.
Umm guys.
The reason he was put on waivers:
1) He had no options left. Had he did, he would certainly be kept.
2) While he is a switch hitter, he is not a true switch hitter like Beltran. He is essentially a Left hand hitter. He hit .194 vs. Lefties last year and struck out 42 times in 190 Ab’s. They need a Right Handed bat for the bench, and this above all reasons is why I think he was expendable.
3) His services would be needed more at 2nd base, a position his defense was far below average.
4) He got hurt during spring training and did not get to show that he could hit lefties.
While I would have chosen Clark over Tatis, he is right handed, his role will be primarily that of a pinch hitter and he plays almost every position thereby making him more valuable than either Gotay or Clark….IF HE CAN HIT. If he doesn’t, I expect clark to be brought up.
NOW OF COURSE THIS WHOLE SITUATION COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED HAD THEY ONLY WENT WITH A 4 MAN ROTATION FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS. THEY COULD HAVE KEPT GOTAY & TATIS AND AT LEAST DELAYED THE DECISION.
Tatis…Dominican. Big plus here.
I’m only frustrated for the fact that we never heard Ruben’s name mentioned in trade talks. If they new that they would eventually release him, why not trade him?
On the other hand, teams are aware that he is out of options, and probably consider that.
Because obviously he had no value. Teams don’t place players on the waiver wire when they could trade him.. Obviously if Omar could have traded him for a meatball sandwich he would have done it because then at least we’d have something to show for it.
I know this is a mets comments page but come on, the guy isn’t good enough to crack the 25 man roster why would anyone give up anything of value for him??
not to mention he passed through 15 teams on the waiver wire… that means there are 15 other teams that would rather have nobody than have gotay… what does that say about how great this guy is? I trust scouts over fans reading stats.
I could just see it now. Mets vs Braves. Gotay is announced as the pinch hitter and drives in the decisive run to win the game.
I doubt it. If it were the winning run, Wagner would be the pitcher.
Gotay was let go of because he cannot hit lefties. He’s never hit lefties, not in the minors, not in the majors – even last year he didn’t hit lefties (.194 BA, .508 OPS – YUCK!)
more likely he flails wildly trying to hurt the mets, and strikes out. All of this hoopla over this kid is friggin insane.
Is it a stretch to predict that Gotay will haunt the Mets this season while with the Braves? Well, maybe “haunt” is a bit strong, but you know the routine. We’ve seen this before. He’ll probably have a couple big pinch hits or something against the Mets. I can feel it.
This will def. come back to bite us sometime this year.
yeah, everyone said the same about Julio Franco last year.
I look at this the same way. the Braves are competing with the Mets and they are filling roster spots with players the Mets can’t find room for.
What?! Franco was 50 years old. Really bad comparison.
no. it is not a bad comparison. the quote specifically said that this would come back to bite us THIS year. the comparison fits.
Oh please. You’re comparing a 50 year old has been with a developing player half his age. Bad comparison.
no. I’m saying that everyone gets scared that Gotay is going to come back and hurt the Metys chances this year. Give me a break. He’s a player that couldn’t fit in a role before his options were up so he left and went elsewhere.
get over it. turn the page and look forward to Opening day of what we all hope will be a great season. I can;t wait for Monday. we need games to count so that we can stop worrying about the Ruben Gotay’s and Steve Register’s of the world.
OK … I understand what you’re saying. If you didn’t put Julio Franco in the first time it would have sounded better. :)
Nobody thought Franco would come back to bite the Mets last year. Maybe gum them a little, but nothing serious.
that is just not true. many people posted on here thinking it would come back to haunt the Mets. maybe not you, but many people did.
I will go on record and say Ruben Gotay will never be anything more than a backup 2B or a starter for a bad team his whole career. I hope he succeeds because he seemed to be a good all around guy but I would put him below a prospect at this point until he actually steps up and does something.
personally I hope he starts every game this year that the Mets play the Braves because I would love to see Johnson out of Atlanta’s line up.
Well, the Mets gave up Julio Franco and they didn’t make the playoffs… So did it bite us in the ass after all???
Coincidence??
Discuss…
Coincidence??
Yes.
The only way this will come back to bite us if if Tatis REALLY stunk it up. Gotay won’t play in ATL, no way. He’ll just sit on the bench and rot…kind of like what Tatis will be doing.
That said, I will miss the kid.
nice…i don’t understand why we just didn’t keep him..
because he has no options and would have to be on the 25 man roster.
in august and september gotay batted under .200
he had 2 good months in his entire career. i like the kid, but let’s not go crazy.
The Braves have good scouting.
but they picked up julio franco last year. Where were their scouts then?
Wow Gotay, with his bad defense and poor batting average in August and September couldn’t even slip through waivers, not even past those pesky Braves who we all know are so bad at scouting players. What a joke!
Good luck in Atlanta Ruben.
15 teams with bad records from last year passed on gotay including the a’s, twins, and dodgers who have great scouting.
braves could use a pinch-hitter, the mets had a different need since they already have anderson and easley who meet that need
Your really reaching on that one. Take the orange and blue Mets glasses off ,stop trying to make excuses and just admit that the Mets messed up here.
where’s the reach? the teams with the worst records have the first chance to claim players. anderson and easley are much better and more reliable than gotay.
i have been very critical of the team this offseason until santana. the truth is you weren’t bright enough to come up with an argument so you make a silly comment
Actually the Braves had dibs over the As and Twins because being in the same league trumps having a worse record.
He still got past the Cubs, who have been actively looking at 2Bs.
I’m somewhat surprised we let him go to the Braves without apparently getting anything back, but I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it
It’s not so much that Gotay didn’t get a fair shake. It’s that Tatis stinks and the only reason he was given the job was his past relationship with Minaya. Not only that, I am tired of Willie and how he only trusts crusty veterans. Cerrona said it best, he can throw on a glove and play the OF. Doesn’t mean he is any good. Willie is a hypocrite because when Mcewing was let go he made a comment to the effect that while McE was able to play positions, he needed people who can play them well. That comments seems absurd considering what he said about Tatis the other day…”he’d versatile. I like that.” Are you sh*tting me?
actually, it’s because he’s right handed.
can the mets pull him back or is he gone for good?
He’s gone for good now. The announcement is only made after it’s a done deal, and it’s been made.
rest in peace rubenn.
don’t torch us too much.
God, I hate the Braves!!!!!
While I wold have liked to have seen him develop with a Mets uniform on, this really isn’t a big deal.
omar sucks….
dont forget willie….
you suck
That doesn’t make any sense….
made sense to me…
I don’t suck because I’ve never mismanaged a talent-laden team to underachieving and failure. I also have never been the leader of a team that endured the worst collapse in history.
You’ve also never won WS rings as a player or coach. So your ability to be an authority on suckiness….well…sucks.
Go play your videogame or read some stat sheets.
Your right, I’m not as good a ballplayer as Willie was, that’s not surprise here. A rather stupid and pointless allegation also.
But you just show me HOW Willie has been a good manager in his term with New York. You probably can’t, but it is very hard to even try to prove that.
….Especially when you lost to an 84 win team in the playoffs and you’ve got about 9 all-stars playing for you.
“But you just show me HOW Willie has been a good manager in his term with New York.”
Actually it’s quite easy:
2003 managed by Art Howe: 66/95
2004 managed by Art Howe: 77/91
2005 managed by Randolph: 83/79
2006 managed by Randolph: 97/65
2007 managed by Randolph: 88/74
I know this may be hard for you to understand, but did you notice a pattern? Like winning seasons after Willie arrived? Looks like the bottom line hallmark of a good manager to me.
Yea an 84 win Team that went on to WIN THE WORLD SERIES. They were obviously not an 84 win team then they were peaking at the right time. Also its not willie’s fault Pedro and Duque went down before the playoffs. I suppose you’d like to bring back Art Howe?
You evidently don’t know much about baseball if you think Art Howe’s teams were of equal talent to Willie Randolph’s teams.
Willie gets players like Beltran, Glavine, Reyes, Wright, Wagner, Maine, Delgado, Lo Duca. All but Maine have been All-stars, and Maine should have been one.
Howe had the likes of Ty Wigginton, Kaz Matsui, Steve Trachsel, Mike Cameron, Shane Spencer, and Jason Phillips.
That’s not even close to compare.
Not to mention, a good manager like Valentine had decent talent, but maximized his talent and reached a WS with players like Payton, Agbayani, Abbot, Timo Perez, and Todd Zeile.
Don’t tell me Willie doesn’t have the best of that bunch
And by the way, talent wins out. Howe had no talent in New York. When he did have talent, he was AL Manager of the year- something Willie has never been able to get.
omar doesnt suck . i mean ARE U KIDDING ME?! he got us maine perez santana pedro wagner and beltran so if u dont know baseball u should just get off this site.
OMAR IS THE BEST GM!
you know i’m really not all that broken up over this, with 2b ss and 3b locked up for the foreseeable future where did he fit in on this team. And i’m sorry about the tears but the fact remains… there is no crying in baseball.
THANK YOU!!!….. I wish we kept Ruben over Tatis, for the simple fact that he’s still young …… but there is definitely NO crying in baseball…. especially major league baseball.
Right on about no crying in baseball.
I wouldn’t necessarily say 2b is locked up for years. I know Castillo has a 4 year contract. But the guy I saw hobbling around last year looked reminded me a lot of Cliff Floyd. He’s a rough takeout on a DP, a slip on wet grass or a bad slide away from being out for a long stretch of time. Plus he would benefit from playing 5 days a week instead of six. Gotay would give the lineup a spark on all of those Sunday games Willie likes to phone in. PS if we’d won two of those games last year we could have been embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs instead of the last day of the regular season.
i see your point about Castillo, but i don’t think he’s as fragile as you are making him out to be. Also i think he is the perfect role player and perfect #2 man between reyes and wright for the next 4 years. plus i think second base is a position where defense is very important.
im sorry, I liked ruben… but I cant get too worked up over this.
ditto gbaked.
ONE.
Indeed. Despite all of the preseason hype Hanley Ramirez is getting (and NO, Gotay is not Hanley Ramirez at the plate, to put it mildly,) putting a poor fielder at a middle infield position is a recipe for disaster. Maybe you roll the dice and hope an uber-athlete on a horrid team develops fielding prowess before deciding to switch him to OF, but Gotay hadn’t shown anything to earn the spot on a playoff contender.
gee didnt see that one coming. ill never understand why gotay handled the way he was on this team. i sure hope fernando tatis makes us forget about gotay but something tells me he wont.
what is there to remember about Gotay? A nice month of hitting?
how about the fact that hes younger and overall probably a better player than tatis.
i understand this is you wanted Gotay to start, but that wasn’t going to happen, just couldn’t have, he’s not ready for that. But how is he going to do as a bench player? Who knows, but that’s what he is now. Now, if he played more positions and could hit lefties, sure.
he showed how he hits as a bench player last august and september, the answer was: not so good.
What is there to remember about Tatis? A nice year of hitting, followed by a number of horrible years, followed by him fading into obscurity, followed by him showing up at Mets camp and making the roster solely because he’s a righty?
i still don’t see where Gotay fits on this team, if he had another option, i’d love to have him in AAA, but that’s just not possible, and I think we need to move on. Things like this happen.
i didnt want him to start and i know hes not a righty. I understand you would like to play the percentages in late close games when it comes to PH. but i mean just bc tatis stands in the opposite batters box he gets to make the team? and gotay goes to our arch rivals. its just a frustrating situation im sure if he went anywhere other than philly or atl i wouldnt care, but he did so im upset.
… making the roster solely because he’s a righty
Yeah, I’m sure the FO didn’t care at all about his .844 OPS in AAA last year.
i’m so happy for this news. i was getting so tired of everyone talking about gotay like he was the second coming.
I know, he only hit 290 with 4 homers and 24 rbis in 190 at-bats. It’s not like he was good or anything. Oh, wait…
with only 190 ABs, do you know the difference between hitting .295 and hitting .263? SIX hits. SIX. The guy hit .227 with 282 ABs in 2006 with the Royals. A much larger sample size is 282. he started more games that year and he didn’t hit so well. i think you overvalue his hitting ability.
i meant 2005 with the Royals. he didn’t play in the majors in 2006.
Johan Santana’s first two years in the bigs were horrible, to say the least. Should the Twins have tossed him onto the scrap heap too?
I don’t quite understand your logic. You’re going to point out a kid’s stats in one of his first years in the majors, when he was probably a bit over his head, and just write him off as a bench player based on that? The guy is in his early 20’s. He hit progressively better last year than he did in his previous taste in the bigs.
If you didn’t see the incredibly potential he had, you’re either blind or a member of the Mets front office.
you make me laugh…comparing santana to gotay. that’s a reach, to say the least.
by the way, gotay started off well, yes. but, he hit .189 in Aug and .200 in Sep. He had a nice, short run with the bat and then fell back to what he was: a bench player at best.
look, if you want to cry over a guy who wasn’t going to make this team and was probably not going to be a starter due to his poor defense, fine.
i give up.
Comparing Gotay to Santana? Do you read people’s posts in entirety , or do you just skim over a few words and then rant for a few paragraphs based on what you think the person was saying? Wake up.
It’s merely an example of just how much a player’s first few years don’t automatically tell you what kind of player they’ll be.
Do you want to know what coincidentally happened with Gotay’s bad “cooled off”? We acquired another starting second baseman. It’s hard to judge how well he did in those months considering he took the field only a handful of times, and at sporadic times.
When he started, Gotay played well. You Minaya apologists can twist and turn it anyway you like, but Gotay did not deserve to be put on waivers, and if he gets a chance to start somewhere, we’ll regret it.
I know for one I’ll miss the strikeouts and the double play balls thrown into the camera wells.
LOL….Word.
I talked about this a lot last year, but overall I don’t like the way Omar manages the roster. Not sure if this falls on him or Willie. But I don’t see any value add for Tatis over Gotay. Or for Schowenweis over Register. I know Show is owed money, but so what? Why keep a guy who is not that good just because you are paying him? You made a mistake by paying him in the first place, why compound that by putting a substandard product on the field. In my opinion the same can be said about Delgado.
I don’t want to mar the giddyness for opening day, but this team feels a lot like the ‘02 squad to me. Albeit with much better pitching.
oh yeah, ‘02, when we had budding superstars in David Wright and Jose Reyes on the team and a perennial gold glove CF’er in Carlos Beltran. This team reminds me of that team A LOT….you’re right…not to mention the pitching right? wow, uncanny…
Did the 02′ squad have Reyes, Beltran, Martinez, Santana, Wright, Wagner and so on?
Ill never understand some Met fans…Gotay had no place on this team with Endy, Easley and Anderson on the team…and he can;t hit lefties.
Its about addressing needs…and unfortunately, Gotay is not needed, for better or worse.
so does that mean since church cant hit lefties we could get rid of him too……wishful thinking
thrilledge is monster and everyday is halloween
Why? Who was David Wright in 2002? Jose Reyes?
The 02 squad was just a poor attempt at buying their way back into contention. An ill-fitting assemblage of fading stars with no chemistry…just like 92. I can’t for the life of me see where this team is analogous in any way.
I guess you are thinking Delgado and Alou are fading as well, but they are not being relied on in the same way, they are part of the fabric of the team, and yeah the pitching is in another league.
This batting order has 3 reliable parts (if Reyes bounces back) in Reyes, Beltran and Wright.
Castillo, Alou and Delgado could be major contributors or they could spend a lot of time on the DL like Vaughn, Piazza and Fonzie did that year.
The similarity I see is that there were huge expectations on a team full of guys that ended up getting hurt and underperforming.
I think the expectations for this years team are a bit irrational. The only real improvement over last year’s team which underperformed and didn’t appear to have much more chemistry than the ‘92 or ‘02 Metropolitan squads is Johan Santana. While he is a great addition and I think will be a force in the NL he only plays once every 5 days. Is pitching going to win the race for us? Our pitching didn’t kill us last year. Don’t forget the Mets played .500 ball for most of the summer. They got off to a hot start and rode that until the collapse.
Will Church and Schneider make a big difference? I hope so, but that remains to be seen. Alou staying healthy and Delgado not only staying healthy but contributing may be the lynch pins to this team being a first place team or missing the wild card. That’s risky.
pedro is also a difference. And “the only difference” being santana is pretty major I’d say.
Register over Schoenweis before game 1?
Schoenweis has been a proven reliever in his career who actually had a very good 2nd half last season. He is left-handed and is battle tested. Register is what? One more of Spring Training.
PULL HIM BACK, PULL HIM BACK, PULL HIM BACK!!!!
I’m not sure I agree with poo-pooing the loss of a talented young player due to stressing over the handed-ness of the 25th man on the roster.
All offseason we ignored other backup infield options assuming Gotay was set, only to turn his roster spot over to a has-been. If Tatis does nothing it’s going to seem really silly to have lost Gotay.
I don’t care if it is the Braves – it will be as impactful as them snagging Woodward from us last year – I’d just like to have seen us develop him a bit more.
i would have too, but that would have been impossible without sending him through waivers, considering he would have been a bench player and would have been unable to develop.
I wouldn’t just dismiss this as “no big deal.” I was shocked to even see Fernando Tatis’ name at Mets camp. Last I heard Tatis hit 2 grand slams in one inning like 10 years ago, that’s it. Obviously we didn’t lose a hall of famer but I wouldn’t put this on par with the useless departure of Julio Franco last year to Atlanta. I like Gotay’s presence and I prefer him to Tatis as a backup/utility infielder.
I’m guessing Omar has a connection to Tatis from his Expos days. Look I like Omar and the big splashed he’s made here, but to be blindly loyal to guys is pointless. We miss and love you Gotay (that was a bit overboard).
Oh, and one more thing…I’ll put money down that Fernando Tatis does not play the full season with the team.
same here, versatility….pffftt. this really SUCKS
Can everyone stop crying over Gotay. The Braves need a second back up infielder to go with Martin Prado until Omar Infante comes back for the Braves in late April. I guarantee you Gotay will be waived once again. Please just get over it and worry about our regulars. You would think Gotay is a future hall of famer and 2 good months. Count them….2 good months. Lets move on.
Clearly you weren’t here when Metsblog commenters were debating sculptors for Victor Diaz’s HOF plaque.
Some guys have to “prove themselves” and “pay their dues”. Certain guys do this … and get banished. Other guys come late to spring training, after not playing for a while … and don’t have to prove anything.
Way too much favoritism and contradiction.
someone needs to tell omar hes not with the expos anymore and its not 10 years ago, i think hes still shell shocked from that grady sizemore trade and has flashbacks occasionally.
Last 2 comments above = 100% correct
simple fact is Omar gave Castillo 2-3 years too many. Easley is nothing more than a pinch hitter, and Tatis is a friggin joke. Mets need to get younger and 2nd was a perfect place to start. No way omar should have gone 4 yrs/$25 million on bad knees/weak hitting Castillo….not saying Gotay was the answer, but Omar created a logjam that should not have been creating allowing Gotay to stay in NY and develop….
like i said earlier, only way Gotay develops is if you either trust him with the starting spot (can’t do that in a year you want to win) or send him to the minors, which required him clearing waivers.
well said
concise and to the point
Why couldn’t you give him a chance at the starting spot? At least start him there for a bit and see what he can do. You know what you’re going to get from Castillo, and it’s not good. Also, Willie is going to hit Castillo in the 2-slot, when his skills don’t merit him hitting up there. If the Mets played Gotay and he didn’t perform up to the standards Castillo has set over the past two years (which is to have a park-adjusted on base plus slugging that’s 10% worse than average, and statistically be 15 runs below average defensively per 100 games) then cut him. But the kid earned the opportunity to play.
Castillo’s skills don’t merit him hitting in the 2 spot? You’re joking right? Of course any stat involving stuggling is going to suck for Castillo, using that stat is worthless, because that’s not the type of player he is. Castillo gets on base, hits around .300, takes pitches, and has decent speed still (of course it’s not what it used to be, but he still has some). Gotay has proven nothing to me except for having a decent 1 and half month stretch. If you do’nt sign Castillo and let Gotay start, you’re asking for trouble, who do you turn to next? Further more, Castillo’s range isn’t what it used to be, but he still is one of the best in the league at turning a double play, which isn’t included in your defensive stats. The game is not all about stats either, in some instances its about knowing what you’re going to get over a season and fitting that into the rest of the team. With Gotay, its a total crap shoot, and with a team that wants to win, you can’t have that, especially not hitting 2nd. Who else would hit 2nd? If you want to praise Gotay, go for it, he’s a nice young player who’d i’d love to have in AAA (not on our bench) but Castillo is not a bad player and would be much more consistent (except obviously for extra base power) over the course of a season then Gotay.
Well, this is interesting. Where woudl Gotay fit in with the Braves? Johnson is at 2b. Gotay can’t play SS. I don’t get the move from the Braves POV.
Good luck Rueben.
He’s played some 3B, and you figure Chipper’s gonna be hurt at some point. Or several points.
Gotay is a lot more versatile than people are willing to admit. He can manage at second, ss, and third, and will be a nice back up for the Braves at all those positions if anybody goes down.
huh?
the guy played 5 games a SS last year. how many at third you ask? 2 games.
in 2005, he played zero games at SS and 3B.
Charlie
How many did Tatis play there? How many did Easley play there last year? Even looking at the numbers Gotay played better there then what they have left, and dont go further into the past then last year because its meaningless. If you’re gonna say Delgado is on the decline because of last years numbers then Easley’s numbers show him declining as well in the field. Tatis played short in the majors for a total of 3 games, ten years ago, and none in the minors. Glad to see we’ll be ok if Reyes fouls a ball off his leg and has to be out 3 or 4 games.
let’s not compare a guy who is making the team to a guy that was not going to make the team, okay? tatis stinks. in fact, he stinks as much as EVERY team’s 25 player. we are all wasting our finger muscles.
I don’t understnd how Omar can just waive a gut with a bat as good as Gotay’s. Tatis could not hit a curveball in his prime. He strikes out practically every other at bat. It is all very puzzling to me.
SON-OF-A!!!
Ruben Gotay, really? People are getting upset at losing Ruben Gotay? If anything, a fan could be a little annoyed at Keppinger being TRADED for Ruben Gotay. That’s the one that gets me…
Keppinger was out of options at the time, I believe. With Gotay they bought more time and got younger.
As for Tatis, I’d still rather take Clark so he can spell Church against tough lefties. They say Tatis can play the corner spots but I will believe it when I see it.
I think you can expect to see Tatis in there at 1B in some of those situations.
how does this work, do the braves have to put him on their 25 man?
Yes, he is out of options.
Simply put, I would have liked to keep Gotay, but thems the breaks…
Gotay to the braves……are you kidding me???
I had no problem with him backing up Castillo and Reyes…this is just terrible…terrible, terrible, terrible
Lets keep a steroid user like tatis and get rid of a good kid like gotay. Heres comes Bonds by June
oh god, i dont think we’ll be getting bonds. dont even joke like that.
this is better than last year when julio franco and david newhan were “good” enough to make the roster
I guess the attachment to guys like Ruben comes from seeing them do well, when they start out with little or no expectations. I hope he continues to show flashes, but not against us.
This will really suck if / when Easley-Tatis-Marlon go down. Imagine Anderson playing 1b, Damion 2d & Tatis on 3rd… IF pop fly, all three try to make the play and Marlon runs the other two over, putting them on the DL for a month…. we’re left with Anderson Leather Hernandez as our backup IF’r.
ummmmmmmmmmmm
yea cause that would happen on the same day…
Cause i’m sure the team will let delgado, castillo and Wright have the same days off…
wow
so Register is gone, and we are stuck with Stokes, who will suck for a while then get DFAd?
Should have just kept him on the roster, and dealt with the numbers crunch when, and if, it comes up. This move IMO is shortsighted, and will look even worse when Stokes is getting lit up and Sanchez (god forbid) gets reinjured.
Yeah, the Register move still doesn’t make much sense to me.
I guess the team was worried that Stokes might not clear waivers now, so they’d lose him now and then lose Register as well when Sanchez comes back.
Stokes stands a good chance of clearing waivers once the season’s underway and noone has room on their 25-man rosters, so even though he’s not as good as Register the club still has the extra arm in the farm.
It seems to me that once again Omar bringing in (one of his old time flunky friends) has handicapped and overuled Willie. I’m really getting tired of Omars old buddies, Tatis was a terrible fielder to start with and once again he’s hitless today ….his bat stinks too and so does he. Tatis = Franco.
Watch the confidence rating on metsblog go down, down, down…
I would really hope the 25th man on the roster would have minimal impact of people’s confidence.
Can Matt post a poll or something about this so we can vote on the following:
-Gotay stinks
-Gotay would be a nice pinch hitter (even though we do not need another one)
-Gotay should be starting instead of Castillo
It boggles my mind that Stokes will be in our plans and Register wont…..
i liked Register, but I think we still need to realize he has ZERO major league experience
Stokes=Sele
I can’t believe everyone is this worked up over Ruben Gotay. Life is good.
It’s more the symbolism of the move. These are the kind of backward moves that will never put Omar in the class of a Schuerholtz or even a Cashman.
HUH? What Cashman moves are you referencing? What hidden gems has he uncovered?
Minaya gets guys who are legit 2/3 starters for peanuts, but we should say he makes ‘backwards’ moves because he lost a bad-fielding infielder and a rule 5 draftee? Come on.
Hear Hear!
exacley wat i was thinking thumbs up 2 that
Gotay did not get beat out by Tatis….Gotay is a bad fielding 2B who is basically a left handed hitter….he lost out to Marlon Anderson, we can not have 3 of our 4 backups be LH, this sucks, but dont pull this Gotay lost to Tatis crap, he lost to Marlon and we would ALL rather have Marlon. tatis is on the team until Alou comes back. If Alou is healthy this isnt even an argument….Gotay still goes to waivers.
good argument
I’m not saying Gotay will be a star. Far from it actually. What really gets me is the habitual practice of singling certain guys out and never giving them a fair shot at playing time and doing everything possible to run them off.
My gripe is that Gotay was never really given a chance. Even as he was red hot last year, we went out and acquired Castillo. Clearly the Mets front office sees nothing more than a occasional fill-in in Gotay and every other option is a better alternative to Gotay such as a healthy 33 year-old that’s only amassed 56 ABs since 2003.
Versatility has nothing to do with Tatis being on the roster (only position where he’s played 50 innings is 3B). His RH bat has nothing to do with him being on the roster (he’s still a career .260 hitter and the last time he hit .260 we where in a difference millenium). This is a “anyone but Gotay” move by Omar and Willie.
My god, one of the first intelligent comments I’ve read so far.
Anybody watching games last season should have seen the fact that Gotay was not being given fair opportunities, despite his superior offensive output. Even with an injured Valentin hobbling around at second, batting below 250, Gotay was not given a chance, despite the fact that he was hitting above 300 at the time. In fact, the only reason Gotay got any starts was because Valentin injured himself to the point where Willie had no other choice.
And what did Gotay do?
Hit 290 (311 against righties) stole a few bases, knocked in 24, and drove 4 home runs out of the park. That’s not bad, by any stretch of the imagination.
Actually Gotay did beat out Easley for the job before Castillo was acquired.
what else did he do? blew a few key games with some really bad throws on double plays… don’t underestimate the power of a double play to turn the tide of a game, and the power of missing that opportunity to demoralize a pitcher.
Three is a few? And two of those games the Mets won. Maybe your arguement should be with Willie since he’s the one who gave him the starting job. Which he did because Easley was showing signs that he couldn’t handle the position that well anymore.
KFS…you are dead wrong
On what? Tatis S U K S or Gotay getting run off?
Gotay didnt get run off…Tatis sucks but we need a RH person who can play multiple positions, Gotay can play 2B and SS and is a lefty, on days Easley would start we would have no righties on the bench
BTW I would greatly prefer Brady Clark…screw tatis, give me Brady
by your reasoning, we’d only have 1 guy really who can play the IF.
I wouldn’t say Tatis can play multiple positions. Being at a position and actually being able play at that position are two different things. In the majors Tatis has played, 3 games in LF (22 inn), 1 in RF (8 inn), 3 at SS (8 inn), 5 at 1B (42 inn), 1 at 2B (2 inn), and 641 at 3B (5421 inn). In the minors, all he did was play third. He played those 3 games at short 10 years ago, and those other positions other than 3B he played in 2006. For a team that wants defense up the middle they sure dont have any of it in their backups. I’d rather see AHern at the 25th spot if defense is the priority. As some people have said why be concerned with the last spot on the roster. If this is true then Ahern should be there. How many times will they have to rely on the 25th man to get a key pinch hit? If they have to go to that well too often they’re not winning anything.
I just feel like some Met fans will always nitpick, complain and never be satisfied.
it’s Ruben Gotay. The “he’s gonna come back to bit us in the A$$” talk is almost as annoying as the panic over who’s going to win the fifth rotation spot.
Thank you. People act like we just let the left side of the infield walk.
Rueben Gotay is a bit piece kid that was all potential in KC and sucked. KC knew he wasnt a great player come on get a grip everyone. we were not building our team around him.
right…
to be really upset at the Mets brass for this move is to not fully comprehend the situation they are in.
lack of need for a lh, defensively challenged player on the 25 man roster + no options left = exposing to waivers. They really had no choices.
And, if you really look at this kid’s statistics, he had some major development to do at the plate. He K’d every 4.5 ABs and four times more than he walked. Clearly he needs to be in AAA. To bad it won’t be in New Orleans but calling for Omar/Willie’s head on this is just ignorant.
I bet these are the same fans that freaked out when Kepp was traded for him.
Gotay has had a ton of chances in the minors, he just isn’t that good. He’ll eke out a fine career as a backup infielder, switching teams every couple of years. He reminds me of Chris Woodward or Joe McEwing, guys like that are a dime a dozen.
Then toss in that dime because we dont have that kind of guy now. I hear Woodward was just waived by the Yankees. Right-handed bat, can actually play all the infield spots defensively and can play in the OF. Not the greatest but he can actually play defense which is the key word according to Omar and Willie.
IF easley starts a game we have ZERO RH bats on the bench without keeping eitehr Tatis or Clark..it had to be done, grow up, you are not compiling a fantasty roster, you are compiling one to help your team, otherwise we would just have 7 lefties in the pen as well…
I bat righthanded! Maybe I can get a spot too.
except that if he starts for castillo, reyes or wright or alou then wow, theres a right hander on the bench!!!
Un F’n believable. I understand that the Mets gestapo on this board will defend waiving Gotay, but this was STUPID. It’s a good thing Omar is good at signing checks, because his personnel decisions on a more modest level are extremely questionable. I can’t believe this, this made absolutely no sense, 25 years old, and to a division rival no less. What a waste.
Omar….WAKE UP, IT’S ‘08 NOT ‘98!
Gotay only succeeded when he started, he was not a good bench player. Why is everyone getting so worked up over losing a guy who is a career .258 hitter in the majors and .276 hitter in the minors?
Lets all settle down. If Gotay’s absence costs the Mets the season, then you can complain, but until then, this is one of those ‘whatever’ moves.
He’s 25 years old, Tatis is ancient and over the hill. It’s the fundamental philosophy that underlies the move that bothers me more than the move itself. Omar’s seems incapable of grasping the concept that as you get older your skills decline and you can’t stay healthy.
young people can get hurt two… reyes couldn’t stay on the field for 2 years (ages 20-21). Not to mention, he was a very undisciplined player all around. As he gets older (hopefully) he will become more well rounded as is the natural progression of an athlete.
gotay stinks.
Tatis had a better year in AAA last year than Gotay will ever have at any level.
gotay stinks.
you were probably the same moron who kept saying the Mets should bring back Green to be a RH backup 1B….get a life, get a clue, this is a real 25 man roster, get over fantasy…as mets fans havent we learned over the years that the RIGHT 25 guys make winners not necessarily the BEST…ask the Stankees with their all-star back up LF Matsui, theyd be more succesful with real backups.
Was that directed at me??
Green is a Lefty.
Gotay is as close to useless on the Mets as anyone can be. What purpose would he serve? To be the third LH bat off the bench? He can’t hit as a righty and struggled overall when he wasn’t given consistant playing time.
settle down Mota, this is just a discussion here pal.
Hi. While I question plenty of Mets moves (Newhan and Sele were my favorites last year), I can’t really question this one.
While it’s regrettable that we lost him, here’s the argument He wasn’t going to start much at all, so Gotay = bench. According to reputable agencies (Baseball Prospectus), he is unable to play on the left side of the infield, so Gotay = 2b. He is very poor at hitting lefties, and our bench needs someone who can do so, so Gotay = left-handed bat. He was unsuccessful as a bench player after Castillo’s arrival, so it is likely that Gotay = bad fit for our big-league team.
Tatis? I’m not that optimistic, but I imagine if he flops, we can find some other right-handed bat to take his place. I’m thinking Todd Zeile. (kidding.)
you are out of line rooster… stop injecting common sense into this argument. don’t you know that whenever we get rid of someone (regardless of the fact that half of MLB would rather have nobody than gotay), that guy is great. And whenever we aquire someone, that guy will stink?
Nothing makes these people happy… Ever.
Plus, this message board is chock full of people that know more about potential success than baseball scouts.
Actually, this message board is chock full of people that probably couldve drafted better than the Mets scouts in the last 20 years! lol
“It’s a good thing Omar is good at signing checks, because his personnel decisions on a more modest level are extremely questionable.”
then do you care to explain the acquisitions of john maine, oliver perez, johan santana, endy chavez, marlon anderson, pedro feliciano, to name just a few?
Perez was luck because Omar tried to trade him right away for Linebrink. Johan Santana was not a “modest” move. Marlon Anderson was only re-acquired after Omar realized he made a mistake getting rid of him in the first place. Chavez and Feliciano were good moves, but getting rid of Bannister, Lidstrom, Bell, Ring, Bradford, re-signing Mota, and trading Milledge, more than nullified those.
so you dismiss Perez as just luck? Wow…how objective. So Omar gets no credit for that?
Well, how about turning Benson into Maine and El Duque? Jose Valentin, Endy Chavez, Pedro Feliciano? The trade of Jae Seo, now banished to pitching in Korea, for Duaner Sanchez? Remember when fans, like you, cried and complained about how that was a terrible trade because Seo was the next Sandy Koufax and Omar didn’t know what he was doing?
It’s awfully conveniant that you left them out your rebuttal. Or perhaps Omar was lucky with those as well?
im sorry but the people omar let go nulifies the fact omar got santana,maine,perez,beltran,pedro and wagner? please wolverine omar helped put this team 2gether.
I just cant believe this!
how could they send Anderson Hernandez to AAA?
please tell me thats sarcasm oozing from that post
of course, I’m also poking fun at Cerone for actually including AH in this entry about Gotay and Register because no one cares that he (AH) isnt on the team…
“THAT BOY GOOD!”
yeah,honestly he is not major league ready. he cant hit.
What’s sad, you know that Gotay is going to win a game against the Mets in September and it will be huge. It’s the Braves and that’s what they do.
I’ll take that. They’ll only mean the Braves are out of it. There’s no way Gotay gets PT unless something went very wrong down in ATL.
With an aging and often inured Castillo it makes 0 sense that they gave up on Gotay.
No choice. I agree with you that Gotay would’ve been the best choice to back up or be contingency for an injured Castillo, but Plan B is Anderson Hernandez. I think Gotay would provide more offense, but A-Hern will give more than enough defense. And it seems like he might actually be learning how to use a bat. (I make no guarantees.)
im happy 2 hear that anderson hernandez is doing well i love this guys defense and i always believed that eventually he will learn 2 hit. hopefully well c him soon in years 2 come.
yo who cares, we dont need a developing player,we need to win now. Its not like we were setting ruben up for a starting job. he is a bench player. we have a solid bench
Question: who is more likely to help us win, Gotay or Tatis?
With the way this team is currently constructed- Tatis.
Who cares, honestly. The bench is different year to year, and you can always get a back up switch hitting infielder who can’t play multiple positions and can’t hit lefties. He was never gonna eb a regular for the mets and never will be for the braves.
You think hes really going to be around as a bench player in 3-4 years after castillo is done? I think not. This is not a big deal. Hes just not that good.
I don’t get how people are getting so worked up about this. He’s not Wright. He’s not Reyes.
The bench, like the bullpen, is a crapshoot every year. Gotay was good early last year when we needed him in the Spring, hit poorly when we needed him more in August/September, and was going to be a bench guy this year.
I liked him, but I’m not losing sleep over the loss of him. It’s just that I hate the Braves.
And, if it does come back to bite us, it won’t be that significant. One timely hit? That’s about it. In the grand scheme, not a big deal.
Easley can play second base and Easley is by FAR a better option than gotay with the stick.
Plus he looks like hes 22 so if you go with that theory hes actually younger than gotay
I think he looks closer to 12 than 22
And he’s about as athletic as a 60 year old. He maybe able to out into the OF and shag some flies but his days of effective defense in the IF are over. He’s shown signs of it in ST and he had shown them last year before he injured his ankle. We just better hope Castillo stays healthy and Reyes stays on the field every inning of every game.
This is Ruben Gotay we are talking about, right? Who cares who the 25th man on the bench is. Think the Mets don’t win in 1986 if Danny Heep gets cut? Relax and enjoy the upcoming show.
Tatis is temporary as well, as soon as Alou comes back he is gone.
Dont you dare sully Danny Heep’s name what the hell are you thinking.
wait was danny heep on the roster that year.
i think Randy “Lights Out” Neimann is a better example
Of course, as the salt in the wound that was the Mike Scott trade (assuming Scott would have learned the finer art of scuffing in NY too)
Sorry bad moment had to check the roster. Definitly on there.
Don’t get me wrong, Danny Heep was a classic, just not a player that made a difference, just like Gotay if he was the 25th player on this team.
Funny how Keith and Ron say what a big part of the team and how big Heep’s contributions were to winning that year. Guess they were wrong. As I said before, if this is the attitude about the 25th player then it should go to someone who can actually backup at 2B and SS and not to somebody who might contribute with the bat. If the spot is as meaningless as you seem to say then it should go to someone who fits the team mantra of defense up the middle. On a championship caliber team, how many times would you need the 25th man on the roster to come up and get a big pinch hit? Now weigh that against all the days Castillo will need off and the few more days they’d like to give Reyes some rest. Easley’s and Tatis’ bats haven’t shown me anything this spring to make anyone forget their defensive deficiencies at these defensive positions. If they’re hitting, swell. If not…
I like you analogy actually, coupled with the smart post above about Marlon being the guy who really took Gotay’s spot.
Heep was actually expendable in 86 after Mazzilli was brought back – they filled the same role, except Mazz was a switch-hitter. As a matter of fact, if George Foster wasn;t such a useless dill-weed that year, I bet they would have looked to dump Heep first. By 1987, Heep was gone.
If Marlon was on the team last year to start the season, and if he and Easley were healthy at the same time, Gotay would probably never have come up from AAA. This move really isn’t about Tatis, it’s about the combination of Tatis, Anderson, Easley, Chavez, and Pagan…or maybe Clark instead of Tatis, and that being a more complete unit than Gotay in for any of them.
Danny Heep is in the pantheon of immortals, right before Ed Hearn. Do not sully his name….
the second coming of Al Weis!
2 good months doesn’t make a player worthy of a roster spot. We’ve all determined that Omar, who does this for a living is a fool and all of us amateur scouts know how good Gotay is. KC gave him up, and how many teams didn’t jump on him when he was on waivers? You think the Braves took him because they love him? They are taking a flier on the guy and maybe he can stick as a 25th guy.
Then why is Angel Pagan on this team?
Umm back-up outfielder?
Actually I wouldnt put it past the Braves of doing this just to throw a monkey wrench into the Mets plans of sending him down to AAA. Teams do this all the time after the trading deadline to keep another team from making a trade that would hurt them.
Can’t wait for the inevitable Gotay pinch-hit 3-run bomb off of Heilman in the 8th inning of a tie game at Shea…
And then we all realize its not a big deal because there are 161 other games!!!!!
Now if Fernando Tatis gets a game winning hit for us, doesn’t that bring us back to even??? just curious.
Its the freaking 25th man.
….driving in a smirking Larry Jones who waits for him at home, as Willie stares into the air like he seeing a flying saucer, while the Coxmeister laughs his evil laugh and slaps his underrlings on the back. (Too bad Armondo could’nt throw that meatball, just to salt up the wound!)
spoken like a true Mets fan
Love the new saying up top- “One team, One million GM’s” Does this thread prove that or what.
Theres 145 posts on Gotay and 14 on the fact that El Duque pitched well for 5 innings. So which is more important…
I think the reason people are so upset over this is because of the story that Gotay had tears in his eyes when he was packing up his bags, we really shouldn’t feel sorry for him. The Mets had no room and they did what they had to do. Anderson Hernandez can play excellent defense from that position if Castillo gets hurt. Hernandez hit 268. in the spring with eight RBIs in 28 games, he probly isnt the answer but still he can do what Gotay would do in my opinion.
except hit.
what could the mets have done? hmmm, maybe not add the washed up guy with 56 big league ABs in the past four (4) seasons to the big club instead.
i don’t see tatis sticking around long. i hope i am wrong.
This totally sucks. It’s not that Gotay was a huge prospect, but I kind of liked his makeup and he really started to grow on me.
I’d rather have Gotay on the bench. Gotay is a good line drive hitter with a little pop. He could back up Castillo if he gets hurt. I think Tatis is going to strike out a lot and give us very little.
170+ comments in 2 hours?
You were valued, Ruben. Whether people admit it or not. Numbers speak for themselves…
Good luck in ATL.
And let’s not forget, other teams are making cuts. There could be a bunch of guys better than Tatis or Gotay out there. For instance, the Cubs just cut Alex Cintron, a decent utility infielder. There’s probably a bunch of guys like that. Just because Gotay is gone, doesn’t mean Tatis has the spot locked up.
good call on cintron. career .768 OPS vs LHP and can play IF.
i remember when the braves claimed a great met off waiver last year for their playoff push: julio franco
Look at the rotation. The Mets are now a pitching team. All the pitchers rely on great ground ball fielding. Especially Santana.
As soon as the Mets got Santana, there was no way Gotay could provide the strong middle infield the starters require.
Easley is a better backup at 2B than Gotay. In fact there are players at AAA who are probably better fielders than Ruben.
Except Easley isnt one of them. But I agree, we need a defensive backup for the middle IF.
The volume and depth of the comments on this move are astounding. Here’s the way I see it:
Gotay will get a couple of starts and a handful of pinch hit at bats for Atlanta until Omar Infante comes off the DL in about 4-6 weeks at which time Gotay will be waived by Atlanta.
Tatis will get a couple of starts and a handful of pinch hit at bats for New York until Moises Alou comes off the DL in about 4-6 weeks at which time Tatis will be waived by New York.
Big whoop!
Thank you Gravedigger. I mentioned that earlier in the post regarding Gotay. I agree with you 100%
AMEN! Talk about a tempest in a teapot!
Its an unfortunate situation but as they say “it is what it is.” Gotay is a nice pinch-hitter with no glove, no full-time experience, and most importantly NO OPTIONS. I need all my sanity for when the season comes, im not going to lose it in March, over Ruben Gotay.
Re sanity and Ruben Gotay: Best comment of the day! You may redeem your free beer at Shea when I’m there (or I’ll mail you one).
Gotay’s not even that good a PH… he’s a good hitter when starting against RHP.
great, in-depth scouting report of f-mart:
neworleans.zephyrs.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080327&content_id=375457&vkey=news_t588&fext=.jsp&sid=t588
perhaps argenis reyes passed gotay on the depth chart this spring
Loosing Melvin Mora back in teh day was a good thing, maybe the Mets woulded have traded David Wright in a package deal a few years ago if they didnt loose Mora.
I hope this move comes back to bite us in the ass.
You hope? You jerk.
This is totally screwed up! I LOVE GOTAY! And now he’s a BRAVE?? Someone yesterday was talking about the difference between waivers and irrevocable waivers. Was there a chance to pull back Gotay, once the Braves took him and the Mets actually are letting them have him? Sounds sick, if true. And what do we get back in return. If anybody has the info on this, I would appreciate it.
Since he was out of options and he didn’t make the team, he needed to clear waivers in order to be sent to AAA. Since he didn’t there is no way the mets can keep him without putting him on the roster, which they don’t want to do.
Thank you for the info, Mr. Arm. This is stupid, from my perspective. Why didn’t they just put him on the DL?
Man, did anyone else see that the Braves placed Scott Thorman on waivers and he cleared? We could have done at sneeky one there ourselves!
Wow, over 200 comments on Gotay’s departure? Looks like the dude actually does get some fan mail after all…
all my comments are about he stinks.
You sure you arent Mackey Sassers Ass?
I finally realized what all the noise/comments was about… as I sat here thinking to myself, we’re one weekend away from opening day, a horrible year is about to officially be put behind us, we’re still trying to figure out who the 5th starter will be (note: starter, not bench player) and all this about Gotay? Why? I got it: he had the big hit in the Cubs game last year. The huge come from behind game. In my opinion, the year went down from there. We never saw a gutsy performance by the entire squad like that again. Sure, Wright manned up, as did Alou, as did Beltran in making that catch in Houston. The entire team never gave that inspired of an effort again. I think Gotay, in some people’s minds, represents that last glimmer of hope last year. That our team had some fight. Just an opinion.
note: I’m not in the “WTF KEEP GOTAY!!” crowd… I liked him as a part time (see against right handed pitching) backup, but he didn’t have a spot on this team. Tatis is more versitile, and more importantly bats right handed. Gotay is out of options. Too bad we couldnt send him to triple A. Good for him he gets to stay in the show, albeit with Atlanta.
This one will haunt the Mets. Gotay was a good hitter. For some reason, Willie did not like him. I’m getting the impression more and more, if you are in Willie’s dog house, you ain’t getting out. Why do the Mets contine to give up on young players? Tatis might be okay but he’s much older and is a gamble. And the Braves aren’t stupid. Not only is Gotay a good hitter but now he’s motivated to prove the Mets wrong, Sorry Omar, dumb move!!!
All this Gotay-love is so laughable! VALENTIN would have made the team before Gotay. Did any of you ever watch him play? I remember a game when he threw a dp ball into the camera pit….I couldn’t stand to see him on the field after that. His d completely bit. The Mets brass have talked all winter about wanting to be the strongest team in the NL up the middle. Gotay obviously does not fit that model. Oh, and please…..his bat wasn’t any sort of guarantee either. I’m no advocate of Tatis, but I can’t see him getting much playing time anyway, barring any major injuries.
tell me how can u defend the statement “gotay is a good hitter” ?
what a joke
Watch him blow up in ATL.
Please!……Duque pitching solid today is BIG…..it’s only a game but if he can do what he did today even 75% of the time then that is a GREAT 5 man rotation…….and Sosa to back them up…………I also don’t mind Pelfrey, Vargas, Armas Jr, Niese ………at AAA……not great but meh
Also Tatis over Gotay blows but hey apparently they think he’s not worth the 25th man spot
I won’t be surprised to see Matt Murton in a Mets Uni tommorow at some pt
Gotay was a talented individual but the mets didn’t have plans for him in the future.
And any met fan that thinks he wasn’t any good with the mets because he just became a brave thats sad
best of luck ruben…
in the words of steve sommers…
“ruben gotay….everybody clap your hands”
the worst part of this is that we will never know the true reasons why Ruben had to go. It really makes me sick that our organization seems to be so blind to talent. Something is seriously wrong with this front office. It truly is amazing to watch this front office give away our young talent.
I have a sick feeling like this year is going to be more heartache. With Willie calling the shots this team and our organization is destined to fail. Willie Randolph is a karmic nightmare. We will never win a world series with him and will end up wasting the careers of our best prospects we’ve had in 20 years, because of this massive tool.
In many ways I hope they fall 12 games back by all-star break and cut our ties with Willie forever. I cannot go into another season with this man. Its really sad Omar doesn’t see what most of us have seen since day 1. God save the organization from itself.
A long, long time ago…
I can still rememberHow Ho-Jo used to make me smile.
And I knew if he had his chance
Jose Reyes could make those people dance
And, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.
But march made me shiverWith every trade Omar deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;Gotay couldnt take one more step.
I cant remember if I cried
When I heard about the waiver wire,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the Ruben Gotay died.
If the Braves got Gotay that only makes their defense better. They have a horrible defense except for Francoeur and Teixeira. They can hit and they have a few starting pitchers but their defense and relievers aren’t too strong. This doesn’t help them where they need it.
Secondly, I believe this may have something to do with the development of other Mets hopefuls. That Reyes kid that hit well in spring at 2B may be a better option down the road. Gotay wasn’t the future of the Mets.
Thirdly, I know that Willie has a bias towards veterans but this is for a bench spot. If you have a game on the line would you rather have a 24 year old pinch hitter or a 34 year old pinch hitter. There is a reason why the most successful Rusty Staubs and Jeff Conines of this world were in their 30s. They understand their role and play it well. You can trust an older guy off the bench more than a younger guy.
Lastly, there may have been some animosity that Gotay held about not getting the job when the Mets acquired Castillo. He was never going to be anything more than a backup on the Mets.
Just as a sidenote- I am not a big fan of Tatis but its mainly only until Alou gets back that we need him. After that he will play about as much as Newhan did last year. That is the role that Tatis fits into.