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According to the team, Orlando Hernandez, Duaner Sanchez and Ramon Castro will begin the season on the 15–day disabled list.
As such, Raul Casanova, Mike Pelfrey, Joe Smith and Brady Clark have been added to the team’s 25-man roster.
Clark will wear No. 44, i.e., R.I.P. Lastings Milledge.
Therefore, the following will be the 2008 New York Mets:
Starting Pitchers: Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Pelfrey
Relief Pitchers: Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Scott Schoenweiss, Jorge Sosa, Matt Wise and Smith
Starting Lineup: Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Ryan Church, Angel Pagan and Brian Schneider.
Bench Players: Brady Clark, Endy Chavez, Marlon Anderson, Damion Easley and Casanova.
For what it’s worth, Brian Stokes was designated for assignment while Fernando Tatis, Ricardo Rincon and Nelson Figueroa were sent to minor league camp for reassignment.
Good moves
The reason they let Register and Gotay go now is because with everyone healhty they have no room….SO they would of been out of options soon anyways
Had to be done people and atleast they were fair to them………
SO keep the guys up that have minor league options
When Duque is back in two weeks Pelfrey is down
When Sanchez is back Smith is down
When Alou is back Clark is down or allectcs FA
When Castro is back Casanova is down
I like Clark over Tatis and when I saw him playing yesterday I figured he made it plus Tatis has a minor league deal
I guess Figueroa could of started but the way they were using him was in relief lately………..
Also Sosa can help Pelfrey if he needs it…………..and Scho had a good spring and according to him he was hurt most of last yr so let the guy try and redeem himself
I see Pagan going down with Alou comes back. He has options, isnt really a bench player, and he’ll be hitting .225 anyway.
The guy ended ST hitting .329 which is down from something like .425 at the mid point of ST. He there is no way he is hitting anything over ~.260 the second half of ST…
It doesnt seem to follow that you take a slumping player with options over other big league choices…
Agree- Clark is more the type of player they need on the bench. Pagan is kind of redundant since they have endy…
nobody can fill the shoes of blastings thrilledge…its like letting a bench player on the bulls wear 23.
zzzz @ crappings milledge…. he will be exposed soon enough.
Pagan has spent his whole career on the bench. Let him temperature control it once more!!!!
Delcos is reporting that the three suspected guys have been officially put on the DL. And Stokes has been DFA.
mets.lohudblogs.com/2008/03/30/roster-moves-2/#comments
overall, given the players available, this is probably the right roster to go with. Tatis would have been a mistake. I still would have liked Register to get a shot, but that isn’t likely to make or break the team.
Only real concern is Pelfrey. He is only keeping the seat warm until ED comes back, so I would have gone with Figgy or Sosa, or even better 4 starters, until they really needed the #5.
I guess it is a low risk option to see if Pelfrey can handle real games yet. He will have 2-3 starts, and then goes to AAA.
Unless the Mets don’t expect to ever see ED again, it is just a bit curious, but they seem fine with sending Pelfrey up and down.
As a fan, I can only hpe he pitches so good that it makes the decision tough though!
Also, better hope that DW and Jose stay healthy, and that Wright wants to play every inning, since there isn’t a BU 3B to be found, and Easley as the SS and 3B guy is pushing your luck.
Clark doesnt make much sense, the guy has no pop and that would be the one thing that Tatis could provide the bench. The bench completely lacks any power threat.
Not to mention carrying 6 OF’s when versatility was a big talking point for Omar the last couple of days. We were double crossed!
are you counting marlon an OF? he is nothing more than a pinch hitter, he actually provides the least versatility and Brady Clark can play a modicum of 1B as well. Clark was a great move.
My only complaint is Joe SMith who had a good spring last year and then produced nothing after May in the majors, actually he cost the mets a ton of games later on, AFTER he was given “rest” in the minors.
oh well, he’s only here till May when Duaner or Juan Padilla is ready.
Why would you say that Clark can play any firstbase? Because he bought a firstbaseman’s glove? Didnt he say he played a few innings at first in the winter league a few years back? He’s never played there in the majors or minors. He played a couple of innings at thirdbase 6 or 7 years ago, should we say he can play third too? But you are right when you say Anderson is just a pinch hitter, though I think he does just as good a job at shagging flyballs as Alou does, so you could say he was an OF if we call Alou one.
Where is Pagan?
Starting lineup
Are you Mike, or the Mad Dog?
very funny SHJ! very funny.
You know, we’ve been bitching about Age all week, but they go with Pagan, and Joe Smith, and Pelfrey after all.
GO BIG PLEF!
Please everyone keep focus, the Mets desperately need Mike Pelfrey to be a part of this rotation in 2009. Pedro, El Duque, and Perez are all free agents after 2008. The only one of the three likely to return is Pedro, leaving only Santana, Pedro, and Maine in the rotation (They won’t want El Duque back and Perez’s agent is Scott Boras).
If Pelfrey can step up and prove he can be a reliable MLB starter then the Mets will only need to look for 1 starter for 2009.
And I need four brand new Armani cashmere sportcoats by next tuesday. Based on realities, neither look like possibilities at this point. (But I hope I’m wrong on both counts.)
Lets get through this season before we are dissecting the 09 rotation
Anyone have a good example of a pitcher like Pelfrey that kept getting shots at the majors and just couldn’t make it? I like this team’s attitude to keep trying but eventually if the guy can’t make it he’s not worth it.
In his defense, how old is Pelf? 24? And just how long was Pelf in the minors before he came up for the first time–half a year, maybe?
I didn’t know that El Duque was on the DL.
A few pitchers who were awful in their first two or more years in the majors:
John Maine
Johan Santana
Greg Maddux
Maddux became an ace at 22. Maine was a 6th round pick, and his career had an unexpected turnaround at 24. Santana was undrafted and an all-star in AAA at 22, ace at 23. Pelfrey was a high 1st round pick, and was 3-6 with a 4.01 ERA in AAA last year (at 23) and we all know how his year went last year with the Mets.
His career isn’t exactly meeting expectations so far.
Meeting unrealistic expectations is always difficult. Pelfrey has 2 years of pro experience — less than 300 career innings including the majors and minors. Maybe he’ll never adjust, but he certainly isn’t a “bust” yet.
SANDY FRIGGIN KOUFAX
NOLAN RYAN!
two that quickly come to mind are roy halladay (whom pelf resembles in size and stuff) and chris carpenter. let me think on it a little more and i could come up with a few morw.
I thought of Halladay as well, but he was good, then tanked completely, and was then awsome.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/H/Roy-Halladay.shtml
Chris Carpenter is a decent comparisons IMO.
He was a 15th overall pick.
At age 22 he went 3-7 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.78 whip in 13 starts including one complete game shutout. (also 4-9, 4.50 ERA, 1.38 whip at AAA) Looks alot like Pelfrey last year.
age 23 he went 12-7 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.36 whip in 24 starts and 9 relief appearances. (nice year)
age 24: 9-8, 4.38 ERA, 1.50 whip in 24 starts.
age 25: 10-12, 6.36 ERA, 1.64 whip in 27 starts and 7 reliefs.
Not exactly the ace we know him as today. But it wasnt until the age of 29 and a full year of rehab that he turned the corner.
Carpenter is a good comp, but I thought of two that go back a bit further: Claude Osteen and Jim Kaat. Osteen was never really given the shots he deserved with Cincinnati, pitched like crap there, and got traded to the Dodgers, where he turned into a what today would be an ace caliber pitcher (having Koufax and Drysdale ahead of you in the rotation kinda has a tendency to make people forget you).
Jim Kaat was a borderline Hall of Fame caliber pitcher. He was given shot after shot and failed three seasons in a row pretty miserably (well, kinda…he was dreadful the first half of 1961, but then pitched well down the stretch). He finally put it together in his third season after controlling his two breaking pitches (12-to-6 curve and slider). Also, unlike Osteen, Kaat put it together with the same team and same pitching coach (though his manager changed from Cookie Lavagetto to Sam Mele in mid 1961).
Correction, Osteen was traded to the Senators, put it together there, then went to LA.
i’d like to see an agreement btw the players and owners to get rid of the dh in the american league and add an additional roster spot on all teams.
it’s silly that it’s still 25 man roster with the way bullpens are used. reyes and wright were supposed to get more rest this year. at leas coming out of blow-out games if not days off. who plays ss and 3rd? just easley?
regardless. solid team especially the starting pitchers and top of the line-up
I agree about the roster size. 25 was fine when teams had 10 man pitching staffs, and borderline when you went to 11. Put with 7 man pens, a 5 man bench is way too small.
And as much as I would love to see the DH go away, don’t hold your breath on that one!
With the DH most AL teams use a 4 man bench and are fine with it.
The 5 man NL bench is enough, but just enough. The Braves are going with two C’s on the bench so effectively they have a 4 man bench.
There needs to be more versatility taught to young players. They shouldnt have to be mid-30’s guys trying to hang onto a job to learn more than 2 positions.
Every team should be able to internally produce a player (or three) who can play all over and hit respectably enough to be the last man on the bench… or produce a Brooks Keishnick like player…
But you know what will happen then?
13 man pitching staffs will become the NL norm too.
with a catcher always being saved that leaves team with four bench players. in the nl pitchers are going 5 or 6 innings now meaning 2 or 3 pinch hitters a game are being used. it’s hardly enough in this era of bullpen moves.
players need rest. versatility is fine, but it should come with an extra player. vets are on the bench for a reason. they uderstand the game. playing off the bench is difficult. why are organizations going to let their kids rot away on the bench when they can play full-time in the minors?
I’ll definately make that DH for a 26th man trade but its 90% because the DH serves no purpose and 10% because I think NL teams need another player.
You know ~15 teams out of 16 will use the roster spot for another pitcher, not another bench player.
How the hell do you turn ‘teaching versatility in the minors’ into ‘kids rotting away on the bench’ ? I have no clue how to respond to complete lack of logic like that…
The players union would never go for that. The DH extends the careers of great players who demand more money. The final roster spot on the team isn’t worth nearly as much money. It’s all about the $$$, and the DH is worth more to the players and the union.
many teams go with 11 pitchers. i doubt they’d go with 13. my comment about the kids on the bench was connected to your comment about mid-30s players hanging on. thought you were implying it was better to have young, versitile players replace their role. i’d rather have anderson and easley than a 22 year old who plays 4 positions.
we can agree to disagree about the roster spot. doubt it will happen as owners don’t want to pay another salary
I would assume that the AL teams use an 11 man staff because they dont have to pinch hit for them. They can keep a pitcher in for an extra inning, not have to replace him for that pinch hitter.
Make it a 27 man roster to appease the MLBPA and allow to pinch hit for pitcher without removing him, but utilizing your extra roster players. More offense, pitchers can pitch longer without being removed for pinch hitters and about 100 more major league roster spots.
I don’t think the players’ union would be concerned about losing the DH. The players whose careers would be shortened by removing DHs are not cash-strapped, they’re already ridiculously rich. The union only cares about the top players’ salary because there’s something of a trickledown effect to their rank and file. If anything, you’d expect them to support losing DHs because it would extend the careers of guys like Damion Easley.
If you added extra roster spots though, they’d definitely go to pitchers – especially if you also removed the DH. I think it’d have the unintended consequence of further reducing the number of innings thrown by starting pitchers. In fact, I’m pretty sure it would.
Listen, I like the idea. I’m a National League guy, and I think the pitcher should hit. I also agree that it would help the pitching situation overall in baseball. But I disagree about the union’s position on the DH. The union is concerned first and foremost with money. It’s not interested in protecting guys like Damion Easley. Whether the guys who become DH’s later in their careers are cash-strapped or not is irrelevant. Obviously they’re not. But they want to continue to play, they are star names, and they demand publicity and big bucks. I don’t see the DH going anywhere.
Easley has quite a bit of experiance at both spots, yeah. Marlon Anderson hasn’t done it in the past but I fail to see why he couldn’t do a somewhat acceptable job out there, particuarly if it’s a blowout.
Plus, you’re assuming that this is the roster we stick with all season. At some point you’re going to see Fernando Tatis (3B) and Jose Valentin (3B/SS) on the Major League roster, probably Anderson Hernandez as well.
The players union would never go for that. The DH extends the careers of great players who demand more money. The final roster spot on the team isn’t worth nearly as much money. It’s all about the $$$, and the DH is worth more to the players and the union.
This probably is a 1 month roster anyway. By May 1, expect to see Sanchez, Alou and Duque back in, with (probably) Smith, Pelfrey, and Pagan or Clark down.
And thinking on it more, if Marlon is still a viable OF option, then dump Pagan and Clark, and find someone that can really back up around the IF (including Ss and 3B).
Hey Stick. I already said that. LOL
i have serious doubts ,you”ll ever see an effective sanchez again……
Blasphemy!
Supposedly, he has the changeup back . . . which is what made him so effective. A 94-mph fastball coupled with an 80- or so mph changeup . . .
“…good luck, mike…be aggressive…b…e…aggressive…”
umm…
Let’s not forget one thing, The Mets AAA club will have a strong mix of capable major leaguers. We have Armas, Tatis, Pelfrey (most likely), Rincon, F-Mart, both Cancel and Casanova, probably Niese and others who showed some promise in spring training.
We have a lot of guys who are going to New Orleans simply to keep fresh. And better than being unproven and prospects, we know they can play major league ball. Until we move our system up through the draft Omar has done a great job stocking our minor leagues with major league talent. That bodes well for us all year long.
Its apparent that Omar has built the minor leagues with not prospects but serviceable major leaguers. We will be able to restock the system with this years draft and all of a sudden we are stronger all the way through.
In addition, had we kept guys like Gomez, Guerra, Humber and Mulvey they would have been at AAA anyways this year. The pitchers would all have had to compete for the 5th spot and that wouldn’t help us anymore than the shape we are in right now.
In other words, we are in good shape. Most teams can not field a Major League team in AAA. We can.
the fact that Humber and Mulvey didnt make the Twins roster is at least something to put us at ease over including them instead of Pelfrey. If they cant make the Twins roster when Liriano is going on the DL then they clearly wouldnt be better options than Pelfrey.
btw, when did Livan Hernandez sign with the Twins? I must have missed that in all the Santanamania…
It was about a week or two after they traded Santana. Most of us were too much in a Santana-mania daze to care.
Which by the way, Humber had a really good spring with the Twins. I always wanted to give him more of a shot here and would rather have him then Pelfrey personally. Although I’m sure many will disagree with me.
Humber will, most likely, be the first pitcher out of AAA if someone goes down. From what I saw, he said he’s got three pitches working.
I don’t disagree. It remains to be seen, of course, but I think time will prove Humber to be a significantly better major league pitcher than Pelfrey, if Pelfrey is even able to be a major league pitcher, which is highly questionable.
I wouldn’t go that far. If they’re major league talents, they’d be in the majors. Let’s not kid ourselves, they’re all a few nuts short of a career journeyman at this point of their careers.
The reason we have these guys (with the exception of young guys like THM and Pelf) is because they can’t catch on with another team…not even the Marlins or Nats. They’re AAAA players at best. Remember Chan Ho Park , Brian Lawrence, Jeff Conine, Aaron Sele, Ricky Ledee, Julio Franco, etc last year? And they all played in the majors.
So we went from having Aaron Sele, Jeff Conine and Julio Franco be pieces of our Major League roster to have similar versions of them in AAA just in case our previous options fail? That seems like progress to me.
Hey, I’m just saying that I wouldn’t be bragging about having these guys in my AAA system since all it takes for them to be a big part of our team is an injury or two which, based on our history, is a likely scenerio.
keep in mind that the veterans all have out clauses that allow them to leave on May 1st or May 15th, etc. So Tatis, Rincon, Armas, etc may all be gone soon.
Along with Pelfrey (eventually) there with be Adam Bostick and Willie Collazo (back to being a starter this year) who all have options and could fill in as starters.
Carlos Muniz and Rudy Lugo would look like the relief callups with Joe Smith potentially joining them once Dauner comes back. Juan Padilla could get in the AAA pen eventually as well.
Anderson Hernandez is the only position player not on the roster who has options… so there is really no flexability there unless FM or a young IF like Argenis Reyes stands out from the crowd when someone is needed.
They only have out clauses if they’re specifically written into their contracts, ala Kris Benson with the Phillies. I haven’t heard such scenario regarding these guys, I actually think it’s against organizational policy.
I’ve read here or elsewhere in the last few days that Rincon and Clark have no interest in going to AAA. Tatis probably has no choice. Armas signed with the intention of not going to AAA but the visa issues probably forced into accepting his reassignment. Jose Valentin has an out clause, Olmedo Saenz invoked his out clause to become a free agent.
Its actually pretty normal as guys wont sign minor league deals without that out clause so they can make a different team if they can.
I’ll say one thing: The Mets better pitch exceedingly well this season, because their lineup isn’t scaring anybody:
Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Ryan Church, Angel Pagan and Brian Schneider
I understand the lineup is much more potent when Alou is back, but he’s only back until he goes down again. Delgado came on a bit towards the end of ST, but still looks like a shell of his former self, and it would be crazy to expect to him approach anything like his production of two years ago. His decline, along with Beltran’s frustrating inconsistency throughout the season (way too many ups and downs – he ends up getting his numbers by the end of the year, but he does it in a dizzying fashion of highs and lows), leaves the Mets with much to be desired offensively.
Both the Braves and Phillies are better offensively. Luckily, the Phillies’ pitching is suspect. The Braves may actually emerge as a better team. Needless to say, it’s going to be another close year, IMO. There’s no hope for the blowout of two seasons ago. I really wish the Mets would add a bat, but I guess there’s really nowhere to go for one at this point, and they’re probably looking towards next year, when a few big names will be free agents.
If our lineup is so unimposing, then how did we manage to score the fourth-most runs in the league last year while playing in a pitcher’s park and getting down years from Reyes, Beltran, Lo Duca and Delgado?
And only a half year of Alou, with the likes of Ben Johnson, Rickey Ledee and David Newhan filling in for him.
I don’t see our offense being worse this year than last, but our pitching looks way better.
We didn’t have a down year from Reyes, he gave us a bad couple of months, perhaps a down second half if you want to extend it to that. Beltran had a typical year, not a down year. As I said, Delgado’s not going to match his production of a couple years ago. What do you expect out of Schneider, better numbers than LoDuca, even in a down year?
Look, they’re going to pile up runs against the crappy pitching of teams like the Nationals and Marlins, among many. How will they do against more formidable teams? As I said, I think they’ll do well against the Phils, whose pitching is suspect. I’m not sure about the Braves. We’ll see. I hope I’m wrong. I’m just not sure what to expect out of these guys heading into the season. But that’s why they play the games.
Good decision on Tatis vs Clark, I know Tatis supposedly gives more versatility but I’ve never been a Tatis fan-don’t like his game. With Clark u know what u get hopefully he can hit some and u know he’ll be solid in OF.
I’m rooting big time for Smitty, I think that kid can be very productive if Willy uses him sparingly. Only vs righties in spot situations Willy, don’t push the kid to finish the inning. If he gets his guy out, get him outta there-help build that confidence.
I’m glad we still have Rincon in the system. If Show starts out doing the same thing he did last yr, we can bring Rincon up and give him a shot at that role.
As far as Pelfrey, let’s just watch and hope. Who knows, maybe he can find himself a little bit and get himself on a little roll until Duque comes back. When Heilman began to find himself back in ‘05, I had just about given up on him being productive. After the Mets helped him change his arm angle that spring, he had a really poor spring if I remember correctly.
We probably won’t get to keep Rincon – he probably has an opt-out to try to make it with another club if he’s not on our roster by May 1st or May 15th.
It’s probably more likely that Tatis will stick around in NO than Clark – I think Clark has an opt-out and intended to use it, whereas Tatis played for the Zephyrs all of last season.