Daily Archives: July 8, 2008
The Mets (46–44) defeated the Giants (39–51) by the score of 7 to 0 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.tv.
Mike Pelfrey escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, striking out John Bowker to end the inning.- After that, it was smooth sailing for Pelfrey, who continues to look relaxed and confident. He has been text-book perfect, mixing up his pitches, getting first-pitch strikes, using his fastball and throwing inside. Tonight, he pitched seven scoreless innings, while letting up just three hits and striking out five.
- Tim, who? Lincecum, what?
- Carlos Beltran put the Mets up early with a three-run home run in the first.
- In the seventh, Beltran knocked in another run with a two-out RBI single that scored Argenis Reyes from second, which was followed by a two-out RBI single by Damion Easley, who scored Jose Reyes from second.
- Easley has a 10–game hitting streak.
- Carlos Delgado and Fernando Tatis each hit a home run.
- Jerry Manuel met with his players on the field prior to batting practice today to discuss fundamentals.
- The Phillies lost tonight, meaning the Mets are now one loss back of the Phillies for first place in the NL East.
The Mets look confident and comfortable, just like Pelfrey. Also, this makes two nights in a row during which they tacked on runs and collected back-to-back two-out hits, which is always huge.
In short, they’re playing good, clean baseball. It’s that simple.
The Mets continue their series with the Giants tomorrow night in Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm, with Johan Santana (7-7, 2.96 ERA) taking on Jonathan Sanchez (8-4, 3.87 ERA).
According to ESPN 1000 in Chicago, the Cubs have acquired RHP Rich Harden and RHP Chad Gaudin from the A’s in exchange for OF Matt Murton, IF/OF Eric Patterson, RHP Sean Gallagher and C Josh Donaldson.
…hat tip to Chicago Cubs Online for the info..
Tagged Mike Nichols, Rich Harden |The Game:
The Mets (45-44) begin a three-game series against the Giants (39-50) tonight at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- RF Endy Chavez
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 2B Damion Easley
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- LF Fernando Tatis
- C Brian Schneider
- P Mike Pelfrey
The Pitchers:
RHP Mike Pelfrey (6-6, 4.23 ERA) starts for the Mets.
RHP Tim Lincecum (10-1, 2.49 ERA) starts for the Giants.
The Bleachers:
For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…
Tagged Mike Nichols |
The Mets have placed OF Ryan Church on the 15-day disabled list due to consistent migraines and lingering effects of a concussion.
Nick Evans has been recalled from Double-A Binghamton, to take Church’s spot on the roster.
Tagged Mike Nichols, Ryan Church |According to MLB.com, as of the midway point, Mets 3B David Wright continues to trail Brewers OF Corey Hart in fan voting for the final spot on the National League All Star team.
You can vote for the final players on both the National and American League squads until 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 10.
To vote for Wright, click here, or click on the link in the side bar.
Tagged Mike Nichols |Carl Crawford stole the 300th base of his career earlier this week, before turning age 27.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, Rickey Henderson, Ty Cobb, Tim Raines, Vince Coleman, Cesar Cedeno, Clyde Milan, Eddie Collins and Sherry Magee are the only other players since 1900 to steal 300 bases before age of 27.
Jose Reyes, who is 25 years old, is 34 stolen bases away from 300 for his career, which he could potentially attain by the end of this season.
He is on pace to steal roughly 400 bases by his 27th birthday.
Tagged Mike Nichols |In his recent mailbag for MLB.com, Marty Noble writes that Jon Niese, Eddie Kunz and Fernando Martinez are the 
team’s primary prospects, adding, “Some might say the only prospects.”
Baseball America, and other minor league experts, like criticize the Mets farm system and do not seem to put much value on it. That said, the team itself is very confident in the talent it has, which, I suppose is all understandable. I mean, what else are they going to say.
Nevertheless, in his most recent Rumor Mill for Gotham Baseball Magazine, Mark Healey quotes an anonymous baseball executive as saying, “The Mets have very little to offer, and I don’t see that changing before the deadline.”
The thing is, prior to last night’s game, Mets GM Omar Minaya confirmed that he had been approached by Indians GM Mark Shapiro regarding RHP C.C. Sabathia, who was recently traded to the Brewers.
According to Minaya, Shapiro felt the Mets had enough young talent to ‘get it done,’ but Minaya declined.
The way I see it, the problem is the Mets lack elite prospects. Fernando Martinez is essentially ‘elite,’ in terms of lists and rankings, but, from what I can gather, other teams realize that he’s been injured often, he’s still just 19, and he has yet to really produce on a consistent basis – and so, while the hype is still there, and while the talent is visible obvious, the results have yet to ‘wow’ anyone.
The sense I get is that, right now, at the deadline, teams are mostly looking for ‘now-prospects,’ like Matt Laporta, who was just traded to the Indians from the Brewers for Sabthia.
And so, like was the case with Johan Santana, if the Mets want to acquire a quality, impact player at the deadline, they may need to further deplete their farm system and bundle a collection of young talent together in order to make a deal happen.
Prior to last night’s game, Omar Minaya was asked if the team is looking for an outfielder in the trade market, given the health of Ryan Church and Moises Alou.
Minaya told reporters that he doesn’t anticipate being in the market for a starting corner outfielder, because he is confident that Church and Alou will soon return.
That said, if Church and Alou do not return, Minaya said he would obviously reconsider his position, adding, “but I feel pretty good that these guys will be back.”
Earlier in the day, reporters talked to Jerry Manuel about Barry Bonds, who is a free agent.
Later, when asked to address Bonds, Minaya said, “I’m going to focus on our guys and our guys hopefully will be OK…I heard somebody mentioned his name. Right now, we’re going to continue with the guys we have.”
Of course, this prompted the New York Post and Bart Hubbuch to write, “Omar Won’t Say No to Bonds,” all while Photoshopping a Mets batting helmet on to a picture of the player.
…of course, they also could have written, “Omar Won’t Say Yes to Bonds,” but they didn’t…
At the same time, in Newsday, which runs the headline, “Mets have No Interest in Bonds,” David Lennon writes:
“No, Minaya hasn’t called Jeff Borris, the slugger’s rep at the Beverly Hills Sports Council, and currently has no plans to do so. When contacted yesterday, Borris sent word through a spokesman flatly stating, ‘The Mets have no interest in Barry Bonds.’”
…folks, omar doesn’t say, ‘No,’ to any player in public…why would he…in fact, he has repeatedly told reporters that it is not wise to make such definitive statements in public, because it can impact his position in the market place…
…i bet if you asked him if he’s interested in Donald Duck as an outfielder, he would abstain from taking a position…actually, not taking a definitive position is his position…
…at any rate, i believe Barry Bonds would be the worst possible solution for the Mets…i pray the team truly has no interest in this guy, for obvious reasons…
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The Phillies failed to acquire CC Sabathia due to a lack of power hitting 
prospects. So, their GM Pat Gillick is switching to plan B.
The Braves are 4-9 over their last 13 games, scoring just 38 runs. 1B Mark Teixeira is hitting well during the streak, however. The combination of poor team play and his fine hitting is making a trade for the first baseman look more likely.
Marlins RHP Josh Johnson‘s rehabilitation progressed extremely well and he’ll start on Thursday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Nationals LHP Odalis Perez pitches against D’Backs RHP Brandon Webb tonight. The Nationals are 4-4 in games in which Perez allows two runs or less.
For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
Prior to yesterday’s game, Omar Minaya told reporters that Moises Alou will play in one or two minor-league rehab games this week, though he will probably not return to the Mets until after the All-Star break.
Alou, who is recovery from a strained calf, is batting .347 with 9 RBI in 49 at-bats this season.
The Mets are 7-8 in games Alou has appeared in this season.
…i’ll be very interested to see how Jerry Manuel manages the day-to-day health of alou, if and when he comes back…
…with a healthy Ryan Church in the lineup and Endy Chavez playing well, alou might need to become a part-time player, playing three or four games every week…perhaps that will allow him to stay healthy, while becoming the team’s go-to pinch hitter…
Tagged Mike Nichols, Moises Alou | ← Older posts
