Daily Archives: May 28, 2008
At MLB.com, Jon Blau writes of Billy Wagner, who moved to sixth all-time with his 368th career save last night, and who puts winning at the top of the priority list for the team and himself.
Blau quotes Wagner as saying:
“To be able to go out there and do my job, to get three outs, that’s all you are thinking about … I am not thinking about what happened the last time I was on the mound. Even when I get a save, I am still anxious and nervous any
time I get out there, so I don’t really think about the other 300 and some odd ones I’ve gotten and the 70 some odd I’ve blown.”
Wagner side-stepped the limelight and gave credit to his current and former teammates for making ‘a lot of good plays so I look good.’
With 10 saves in 12 opportunities this season, Wagner has a minuscule 0.43 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 21 IP.
…one of the few enjoyable things to watch so far this season has been billy…it seems his change in delivery has added some serious life to his fastball/slider combination…
…i know matt brought this up in his post-game comments, but the angles from behind the plate by SNY were simply awesome…especially when wagner was closing it out…
The Reds designated for assignment 1B Scott 
Hatteberg, who is batting .173 with seven strike outs and three extra base hits in 52 at bats this season.
In a post to his blog for Newsday, in which he discusses the alleged difficulty of the in-season manager switch, Ken Davidoff writes:
“The Mets have some, but only some, interest in Hatteberg…There would be more interest if Hatteberg hit righty. Once Hatteberg clears waivers, the Mets will likely gauge his interest in a minor-league contract.”
Hatteberg hit .289 in 2006, and hit .310 with a .396 OBP in 361 at bats last season for the Reds, during which he hit .323 against left-handed pitching.
Tagged Scott Hatteberg |
In a recent chat for Baseball America, Jim Callis wrote that, while the Mets are financially capable of spending as much as any other team in baseball, it appears they will ‘stick to slotting’ once again in 2008.
At Hot Foot, Anthony De Rosa swaps e-mails with Callis in an effort to understand why the Mets will do this, after which he is left ‘scratching his head.’
For more on the ‘slotting system,’ check out Baseball Prospectus (scroll down) and Baseball America.
Callis has written this about the Mets before, as has Keith Law from ESPN.com.
The thing is, according to people connected to the Mets, and those would dictate this policy, the sense I get is the opposite.
However, I also trust Callis and Law, who are among the best at what they do.
It makes me wonder if the Mets are sending mixed signals as they approach the draft, knowing there is no way to predict exactly what will happen, all while they also try to make nice with the Commisioner’s Office as they work to host an All Star Game in Citi Field, among other things.
What do I know is that, thanks to a bevy of free agent signings and trades from the last few years, and a rapidly changing baseball economy, the Mets need to make out like bandits during this year’s draft – and adhering to the slotting system may hurt such a goal.
In other words, speaking as a fan, I would rather the Mets draft a potential ace than host an All Star Game.
This year’s Draft will take place in Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, on Thursday, June 5 at 2 pm through 9 pm, and will continue the next day starting at 11:30 am.
ESPN 2 will televise the first four hours of the draft.
Tagged Minors |In case you missed it, Sunday night’s game at Shea Stadium between the Mets and Dodgers has been switched to an 8:05 pm start and will air on ESPN.
According to the Atlantic League’s website, the Mets have signed RHP Brandon Knight, who had been pitching for the Somerset Patriots.
In six starts for the Patriots, the 32–year-old Knight had a 2.56 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched while striking out 50 batters.
In 11 career starts for the Yankees, in 2001 and 2002, Knight allowed 23 runs in 19 innings pitched while walking eight and striking out 14 batters.
According to the report, Knight will report to Triple-A New Orleans.
In Newsday, Anthony Rieber reports that Johan Santana would not pitch last night unless the team’s media relations director, Jay Horwitz, wore the infamous orange suit jacket previously made famous by Jeromy Burnitz and Pedro Martinez.
Following the game, talking to reporters, Santana said of Horwitz and the jacket:
“You know what’s funny, it fits him perfectly. I didn’t know it was going to be that way. You know, we tried to get something going. We talked earlier, before the game to have better luck and he put it on. Come on, he looks good?”
…jay has got to wear the jacket again…no doubt…in fact, security should not let him stay in the building unless he’s glowing like the great pumpkin…
Damion Easley, Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro were a combined 5 for 9, driving in all five runs in last night’s win against the Marlins.
…i understand if Willie Randolph needs to get Brian Schneider back in the lineup, for the purposes of his pitching staff and defense, but tatis and easley need to stay right where they are…it’s not like the team was playing well prior to yesterday, so keep it as is…i think it sends a good signal to guys like Carlos Delgado, and it keeps a good thing going…
Randolph, regarding Easley, Tatis and Castro, while talking to reporters following last night’s game, said:
“The bench guys did an outstanding job tonight…We need to pick eachother up like that. We usually do that when we’re playing well. Over the years I have been here, we’ve always had good contributions from our back-up guys, and for the first part of the season we haven’t really had the opportunity to play them a lot. But, they’ll got a lot more playing time as we move forward…Hopefully, they’ll start to heat up for us.”
To watch all of Santana’s post-game comments from yesterday, courtesy of 
, click here.
For more, check out the Daily News and the New York Post.
Tagged Ramon Castro |
Johan Santana allowed three runs on eight hits through seven innings pitched last night in a win over the Marlins.
…as i wrote last night, he worked from behind in the count quite often, though that will do just fine against the free-swinging Marlins…
Santana is 6–3 with a 3.41 ERA in 11 starts this season, during which the Mets are 8–3.
…it’s so close, though, i mean, he is seemingly always pitching in danger…last night, he stranded two runners in the second inning, two in the third and two more in the fifth…had it not been for key defensive plays by Nick Evans, Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran and others, i’m not sure things would have ended the way they did last night…i did not watch him very much while he pitched for the Twins, who were notorious for having great defense, so maybe that is just his style, i don’t know, but, wow, it makes me edgy…that said, it’s hard to argue with the results, which is ultimately the point…
David Wright, regarding Santana, talking to reporters after last night’s win against the Marlins:
“That’s what Johan does. He’s a tremendous stopper…It’s good to get a win under your belt so you can take a deep breath, relax a little bit. Just get back to what the goal is and get away from some of these distractions. We needed some positive energy going through the clubhouse and Johan gave that to us tonight.”
Willie Randolph, also regarding Santana, talking after the game:
“He’s a guy that we look for to stop the bleeding, and he did that tonight…That’s what he’s paid to do: come in and just get us a win so we can get going in the right direction.”
Santana, on pitching with a 3–0 lead after the first inning, talking to reporters after the game:
“I was like, you know, every pitch I threw with a purpose to get people out. Every pitch. I wasn’t trying to go crazy or do too much…We made some plays and I was able to throw the right pitch and the right time…and I was able to get a win. That’s what we’re looking for. We got a great effort tonight from everybody and it’s good to see that.”
To watch all of Santana’s post-game comments from yesterday, courtesy of , click here.
For more on Santana, check out Filip Bondy’s column for the Daily News, as well as Bob Klapisch’s column for the Bergen Record, in which he quotes a major league scout of saying about Santana, “I’d have to say he’s in his late prime.”
The Mets announced yesterday that 
Marlon Anderson has a torn left hamstring, according to the results of a recent MRI.
Anderson was put on the disabled list over the weekend, after injuring himself while running the bases on Friday.
Anderson told reporters that he is able to walk right, but not run.
Pedro Martinez is scheduled to throw a minor-league rehab game for the Single-A St. Lucie Mets tonight at 7 pm.
MLB.com and ESPN.com both list Martinez as next Tuesday’s starter for the Mets in San Francisco against the Giants.
…get healthy…get to SF…and get to winning…
Tagged Pedro Martinez | ← Older postsNewer posts →
