Ramon Martinez will return to the Mets as a non-roster invitee, though he has not yet reported to camp.
The 36–year-old Martinez, who bats right-handed, hit .250 in seven games for the Mets last season.
He was the team’s starting second baseman in their final game of the year.
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{ 166 comments }
World Series here we don’t come!
He’s a non roster invitee. Chill with sarcasm.
lol, this season somebody will get fires if we choke again.. i really hope is our GM..
I am expecting California or maybe Australia. They both seem to have problems with fires.
Does TRS actually have a sense of humor??? lol
Yes but very very dry.
fire.. thank you i’m sorry for not writing it properly proffesor. i apologize for insulting your inteligent eyes by writing fires instead of fire.
Will you get mad at me again if I point out it should be “fired” not “fire”?
jesus.. yes.. fired.. well how about let go.. is that better?? ;-p
Hey, Alex, just to point out to you that you shouldve said “fired” not “fire”…
Yes thank you qns as u see above stick guy pointed that out..
Buffalo here we come!
i have no problem with this move, he did pretty well && hes better depth than Argenis as the 3rd or 4th 2nd baseman.
I agree, I dont understand the completely shortsighted and uneducated posters here who scream about Omar handing out NON ROSTER INVITES, or signing guys to minor league deals.
- Ill put it bluntly, minor league teams need to be filled out too.
- depth is never a bad thing, you arent going to sign albert pujols to a minor league deal for depth, you sign guys like valentine and the others we signed.
- tatis was organizational depth in 07, look what he did for us in 08, its always possible for one of those guys we signed for the minors to play a role at some point during the season
- signing minor league guys does NOT take away from our ability to sign manny, im pretty sure they had a budget for the minors to work with and a SEPERATE budget for the majors. it wouldnt make sense to lump them together.
- i know we are mets fans and all, but come on guys! lets get excited, BASEBALL IS BACK! LETS GO METS!!!!!!
Agree completely. We would have been even worse off last year if batting 6th was Awful Reyes.
Yeah….
What Romon does that Kennedy, Durham and Valentin do not is that he can actually hit from the right side. Durham and Valentin are both switch hitters but are much better against RHP. Kennedy is left handed. As backups to Castillo with Cora on the team they would all be useless. Even if Castillo went down and you wanted to platoon them with Cora it could not work. Hernandez, however, does at least fit the part.
Thereal,
While Valentin is an awful right-handed hitter, Durham’s career numbers are nearly identical from both sides of the plate.
As a lefty: .277, .354, .432
As a righty: .279, .345, .446
Granted, the last two years, his numbers as a lefty have been better but in 06 he ripped lefties to the tune of a .340 average……
why sign a guy we gave 2 millions when this guy came cheaper and can get the ball out of the infield? i don’t understand this team..
I don’t believe they think he would make a good back up MI (including SS), and probably don’t think he would do as good a job as Cora in a starting role.
Probably also a difference in the quality of the defense they play.
In a nut shell, the Mets think Cora could be a starter, but martinez couldn’t?
becoz cora brings “LEADERSHIP” and help the sox won a championship with it.
WHAT THE F**K????? This is just getting stupid. Sick of all you apologists on here. Look up the list of signings and tell me why we need 20 of these fools that can’t play. We don’t need to fill up our minor leagues with old has beens that are blocking potential young talent. 80% of these guys have NO SHOT TO MAKE THE TEAM!!!
Which young talent are they blocking from playing at AAA?
80% of all teams minor league signings (actually, that % is probably too low!) have no chance of making the ML team.
And I don’t think the Mets have a 2B (or OF) prospect ready for the majors that any of these guys is likely to hold back in 2009.
Lets slow this down.
MLB Signing= getting a contract to play in the majors
Minor league signing = getting a contract to play in the minors
Nonroster-invite= nothing.
a formidable infield addition…He will platoon nicely with Jose Valentin………..
careful man, the president of this blog is in here. he wants absolutely no pessimist here wit the team, no matter how stupid they look..
If you’re gonna back Omar for signing guys like this then explain why he doesn’t sign better free agents to minot league deals?
Aurilia signed a minor league deal. At least he hit 10 HR’s, 51 rbi’s last year. Some of these guys haven’t done that in their careers.
Why not Durham, Grudz, so many other better cheap options.
One key point you are overlooking.
A lot of the guys that sign minor league deals, will never actually play in the minors. it’s just a way of not costing the team guaranteed money, while giving the player a chance to come to camp to win a job.
Some of them even have release clauses written in (like Andruw jones, who can opt out in late march if not on the 25 man).
Guys like Auriella, Nomar, etc. often will retire before going to spend a summer in AAA hoping for a call-up.
AUrellia is either going to be on the giants (and that was also a “going home” deal) or retired/released, not in AAA.
HE DID NOT SIGN THIS GUY TO ANYTHING. He is a nonsroster invite. Basically he works out for free hoping someone will give him a minor league contract.
Thank You RealMet!
It doesnt say much if your thanking him.
For one thing, Durham, Aurillia and Grudz are signing minor league delas in name only. They will not be spending any time in AAA this season. The minor league deal gives the team flexibility to cut them outright.
The players the Mets are signing to AAA deals will actually play in AAA.
Second, none of Durham, Aurillia or Grudzielanek are good bench options because none of them can play SS or OF. Durham and Grudz are 2B only (and Durham barely at that) and Aurillia is a corner IFer only.
I still think that the Mets should look ingto Grudzy if Castillo struggles in ST. Other than that right on.
I’m not comfortable if Cora has to start. I’m not really comfortable with him on the bench either, but that’s a different story…
If Castillo can’t get the job done then they’ll have to do whatever they have to do to get rid of him. He is of no use on the pine.
And Grudzielanek would be fine as his replacement.
The Boston Red Sox –you know, the team that has won 2 of the last 4 World Series–signed Chip Ambres–you know, the guy who made Willie look good one day in Los Angeles when he hit a pitch-hit GW single–to a minor league deal. He’ll be in camp with them.
You might as well count them out too.
REED
SULLIVAN
MACKOWIAK
FOSSUM
MARTINEZ
DESSENS
ARMAS
DESALVO
KIELTY
SWITZER
SNYDER
MARTIN
DE LOS SANTOS
ROBERTSON
CHERRY
O,DAY
RIVERA
*** NUFF SAID!!!
Do you know how many of those were MLB contracts, minor league contracts, and ST invites? Just curious. I am guessing you don’t.
realmet,
you miust be a die hard bisons fan. Sorry that Omar is not putting a winning AAA team out there.
WRIGHT
REYES
BELTRAN
SANTANA
PELFREY
DELGADO
PEREZ
KROD
PUTZ
*** MUFF SAID
castillo
Wow, that is a list of a lot of good players.
And whichever team has all of them must have one of the highest payrolls in the game.
Cool…..
There are always a few guys on here with some common sense and actual knowledge of baseball. Brock you are one of em.
Thanks, I really appreciate that, and I send that compliment right back at ya, my friend.
Now SIGN MANNY!!!!!!
The Bisons are gonna have a bomb-squad!
Freddy the 69……. innings pitched last 2 years… nice number
73 not 69
oh… I was hoping it’d be 69… we can call him 69 Freddy
Except for the fact that it’s actually 58 IP in ‘07 and 15 IP in ‘08 which to the best of my knowledge adds up to 73 IP.
I hope alex.422 realizes how powerful he is, he started this whole 69 IP thing.
i misread that, i saw 58 and 11 innings..
69 sounds much better… let’s just stick with 69
Seriously though, has anyone on earth made
more contributions to the Washed Up Latin
Ballplayers Retirement Fund then Omar?
ahh.. and here comes the racist slant towards you fongu! get ready..
not racist, just stereotypical..but true nonetheless..There just isnt a need for julio francos anymore..wright must just stand around on the field sometimes going “what the hell are these guys sayin”??
Just like Beltran, Delgado, Reyes and Castillo standing around going “what they heck are Wright, Murphy, Church and Schneider saying?”
LMAO, i like that one gravedigger
Would be more like ¿Qué dicen los blancitos?
HAHAHA!!
Let the blind say what they will homey.
My daughter is half venezuelan, my
Goddaughter is Colombian and my grandmas hubby is from the D.R..
So, let the fools chatter BUT to not
acknowledge Omar’s fondness for
taking care of latin players,coaches&
mgmt personel is just being naive.
Atleast hes out of full fledged”Los Mets”mode.
I had the same argument as you do. No one let me off the hook easily.
Sometimes the truth hurts bro!
fongul, I like and respect you my friend, but how’s about these guys:
Schneider, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding, JJ, Reed, Green, Church, Wright, Marlon, Murphy, Evans, Niese, Stokes. Jerry, Warthen, Shines, HoJo, Niemann.
None are Latin.
Will we have a significantly higher percentage of Latins than average?
what fongul is trying to say, is the washed up latin retirement plan.
Well, when looking at Alou and El Duque, yes, that is true, he has not really signed too many washed up white guys, good point. But Marlon is pretty washed up.
But still, I do not know the overall percentage of Latin players, maybe TRS or Wanny or VC does, but still, do we have that many more Latin players than average? I know there are many less African-American players than there used to be, and the overall stats versus ours would probably be very interesting….
Some on posted it before Kingman and we do but it was strange the large market teams had a higer percentage than the low market teams.
Scott Schoeneweis, Brady Clark, Trot Nixon and Brandon Knight come immediately to mind, there may be more washed up white guys. Matt Wise?
Thanks 718metsfan.Julio Franco,Mota,
Alou 2x,Castillo,Lima,Valentin 2x,Alomar now
Martinez? This is just off the top of my head.
a few Mil here, a few hundred thousand there
before you know it,we’re talkin’ real money.
Thats got alot to do with the larger market teams having the financial capacity to recruit in latin america and the carribean.
Opps and I completely forgot Duque.
The worst part is that in addtion to our
Bullpen failures, the signing of Alou, Duque
and Castillo likely did more to harm our
chances at winning it all the last 3 yrs
than anything else.And there was no good reason to fall all over ourselves giving these
guys contracts Just like theres no good reason to not atleast offer Manny a 2yr/50mil
take it or leave deal.
Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, David Newhan, Jeff Conine, Tom Glavine, Brian Lawrence, Aaron Sele, Dave Williams…
But we are not paying Hernandez yet. What does he have to do with any of them? We have paid him very little in the last 2 years.
…Chris Woodward, Doug Mientkiewicz, Eric Valent, Brian Daubach, Mike Difelice, Kris Benson…
Well, I appreciate all of the perspectives, and I think we are all right to some degree…I forgot about some of fongul’s guys, even though Mota and Castillo and Pedro were most definitely not washed up when we signed them, and I also forgot Grave’s list of washed up white guys, so there is ammo on both sides.
But TRS and NYMETSFAN718 make good points also—the big market teams recruit worldwide, and where does that recruiting bear fruit? China? France? Russia? No, in Latin Countries, hence we and other big market teams have more Latin players. Not because of favoritism necessarily, but because that’s where the talent is.
But again, Latin guys have increased their representation over the last 10–15 years or so overall.
yeah, mackowiak, sullivan, kielty…
this is stupidity.
and so what if the mets do have the highest percentage of latin players? there seems to be an awful lot of talented latin baseball players.
i’d be more concerned if the mets were trying to bring in an unordinary number of Swedes, Fijians and Icelanders (and I don’t mean the hockey team referred to by Steve Somers)
as is often the case, brock made my point for me.
LMAO @ Wanny,
Guys, lets just play ball..
Thanks Wanny, you make my points for me much more often, my friend, and with very good numbers.
And yes, let’s play ball dammit.
AND SIGN MANNYCOUPONS NOW!!
I agree Wanny, it’s stupidity. But sometimes when an argument is getting nowhere I feel like the best way to change that is to show evidence supporting my view, so I did that the most straightforward way I knew how.
I love the Mets as much as anybody, but that doesn’t mean we can’t criticize some things. I went out and bought a 4 seat, 15 pack even without Manny. I buy jerseys and hats enough for my whole family, but it’s hard to look at that above list and not say WTF? Shouldn’t Omar be talking to Will Ohman’s agent today instead of wasting time on scabs?
But you make it seem like these “scabs” are going to be our starters. There nothing more than minor leaguers who will probably never pitch an inning or get an AB in the majors.
This has nothing to do with Ohman and it did not tie up any of Omar’s time. This was a 5 second blackberry email at best.
Ramon: Omar can I come to ST and play for free?
Omar: Sure.
Eaxctly.
I guess the Mets are the only team in the bigs who have non roster spring training invitees.
They are. Since we have a lower payroll than even Pitt and KC, it is all we can afford.
Most other teams just bring in loads of high priced free agents. It sux that all we can afford is these AAA scrubs.
I think Jeff W will even be working as a hot dog vendor this summer to earn some extra money.
You might even see him scalp tickets outside of citi field.
Since when is Will Ohman the savior? He’s the definition of average (which fits nicely into the middle of a bullpen).
Can’t hurt
so who the heck is in AAA……I see alot of names I recognize……..that can be a good thing too if someone gets hurt their are descent veteran options and it buys time for young guys to get better
it’s clear what the Mets organization is doing and its brilliant ,by inviting 17 second basemen you are sending a message to Luis Castillo. “You have to play just well enough to not be beat out by Ramon Martinez and/or Carlos Baerga”
with our luck, Ramon Martinez will end up pinch hitting in the bottom of the 9th in the final game of the season. 1-0 Marlins, runner on 2nd, 2 outs….
He will probbaly come up wit a hit
true, he was one of the only one who showed guts down the stretch last year.
And it will be cool de la, as we will have clinched a week earlier….Johan will be in the dugout going over playoff matchups with Warthen when this at bat takes place…..
hahaha, we can only hope. Lets Go Mets!
Sadly, there are regular posters here who would rather see Ramon Martinez up in that spot than David Wright.
Gravedigger, if i were one of those people, i woudlnt bother showign my face in public
Pretty funny! AND Sad actually.
Another indictment of Omars gm skills.
To be fair, please indict 29 other GMs for their choices as 4th backup plan 2B.
Would need to if Omar had been more
prudent in giving a longterm deal to whoever
was gonna be our 2B last and this year.
Fair point. Ignores the question, but fair point.
My friend,I’m not ignoring your question.
It’s unfair to maybe 3 quarters of the rest of
the GMs to in anyway compare what they
can/did do. Since only a select few have
the fat wallets that teams like us,the yanks,
the sox etc. do. When you have they kind of
payroll we carry,you can make mistakes
and not have it totally wreck your team
i.e. The Royals with the likes oe Sweeney.
Again fong, fair point. But has no other “fat wallet” GM ever signed a player to a long term contract who then got injured? Or signed a player rehabbing from an injury to a long term contract, who then did not rehab as well as expected? I don’t believe Omar is the only GM who has ever experienced either of these scenarios.
lol.. I’m so looking forward to this season!!!
Me too brother.
I sure hope not, if so then we have went on strike. We end with the Nats this year.
Whoops, Astros in October. We actually will play games in October this year no matter what.
this should of went here
I dont get why they dont dont play the WBC after the season is over. THis way if there are any injuries. It wont affect the team as much with the impending off season.
it’s clear what the Mets organization is doing and its brilliant ,by inviting 17 second basemen you are sending a message to Luis Castillo. “You have to play just well enough to not be beat out by Ramon Martinez and/or Carlos Baerga”
Castillo would be forced to walk off into the Dominican sunset if he got beat out by Carlos Baerga…good luck Luis.
I really wonder if at any point do either of the
Wilpons ask Omar,Whats going on @2B?
You wanted Castillo,we jumped on him and
gave him a 4yr/24Mil$ deal when only the
Astros even offered him two,Then we have
to sign the likes of Cora,Valentin and now
Martinez as Insurance.Plus,Omar you’re 4
yrs in here.Theres no one in our system
who could play 2B if Castillo continues to bewhat he was last year?
Houston offered 3/21 for Castillo that’s why they went out and gave Matsui such a bad contract.
Anyway, that is for sure a weak spot in our organization. Most likely why Omar was willing to give out that terrible contract.
I dont get why they dont dont play the WBC after the season is over. THis way if there are any injuries. It wont affect the team as much with the impending off season.
One guess would be because it would be like the NFL Pro Bowl, and no one would pay attention…I think they figure that right now, everyone is focused on baseball….
But the pro bowl is an all star game that doesnt mean anyhting.
The WBC is a tournament of countries playing for a championship.
Oh, I do not disagree with that….I was just citing a possible reason why they may play now, when baseball interest is high, rather than maybe after the season when far fewer people–in the US anyway—might pay attention.
Cross you rfingers that havens is healthy and comes up fast. Either that or they are moving one of the other lower level guys over.
You give me the link to where you found that.
Because I read multiple out of town papers
online everyday. And the stories I followed
in the Houstonchronicle in Nov’07 relayed
Castiilo initially was offered a one year deal
which he immediately turned down and a few
days later rec’d a two year offer for 10mil.
While they(the ’stros)were still talkin’ to Kaz
Matsui about they same deal. A day or two
later Omar came in w/a 4yr deal which Castillo immediately accepted. The Astros
later added a yr @ the same 5mil per to
Matsui’s deal which he accepted.
It was noted that the Mets went one more year but less per year than the Astro’s.
VIVA LOS METS!!!!!!!
VIVA LOS SPRING TRAINING INVITEES!!!!!!
I really have to wonder if Wright, Pelfrey, Maine, Putz, Schnieder, Church etc. mind when you say that. I wonder if you would like being called hispanic because some of your coworkers are?
VIVA LOS METS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VIVA!
VIVA!
VIVA!
VIVA EL OMAR, EL MAS ESTUPIDO GM DEL MUNDO!!!!!!!!!!!
y tu es el fanático más estúpido en el mundo
Omar- don’t rest until you’ve signed every last remaining untalented latin retread out there! Now go…continue!!!
* I meant ever last washed up, untalented latin retread
marked it down, a day or two after the Dominican team wins the WBC, Omar
will sign their Capt.,The Rabbi Alou for
the season and he will stay in Fla on an
extended spring training before joining
the Mets for their home opener.
Provided of course he doesn’t hurt himself
walking,eating lunch, sleeping etc..
VIVA!!!!
Does someone smell something really bad on this thread all of a sudden?
Must be a nasty, hungry troll……
Probbaly from south philly. Pats and Ginos just opened.
This is total garbage.
I’m Colombian myself, but this is just getting ridiculous. It seems like if you’re over 36 and named Martinez, Garcia, or Reyes you’ve got at least an invite to Spring Training.
If the guy was any good at all I wouldnt complain. I love my Mets but I can’t stand Omar’s moves this year, except for K-Rod and Putz of course
Im guessing you havent read all of the posts above. than you would see that the retirement plan is pretty fair.
Thank you for the honesty.
VIVA!!!!!!
muerte
Tu madre!
ay dios mio, you went there? i feel sorry for ya
mistermet,
that was a uncalled for low blow comment
GUYS:
relax, cual es el problema mistermet? si eres latino por que te molesta que omar este firmando latinos? has como yo, me molesto cuando el firma GARBAGE como ALEX CORA.
You forget the intagibles that Cora brings
Alex. You know, like leadership,Scrappyness
thats Scrappyness-Not crappyness,he’s like
a coach on the field. He’s a great driver so
maybe we won’t have anymore Sanchez/Miami situations. Plus,He’ll be a
good influence on Reyes.
Yeah, you’re outta order! This whole place
is outta order! Back to more important subjects like…Signing Manny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
alex, sus medias están en un nudo
jajaja, wow.. que lokera.. fongu, dilo en español, firmen a MANUEL O RAMIREZ..
VIVA LOS METS!!!!!!!!
Good lord what a terrible thread. This is almost unberable.
What TRS said.
Bring back yet another (garbage) player who was part of the collapse last year! Why don’t we just recreate the whole team, player for player? VIVA LOS METS!!!
What garbage, washed up, older than dirt latin player will Omar sign next? My money is on Manny Mota
Or Enrico Palazzo
Robero Alomar?
Juan Samuel?
Juan Valdez? Julio Caesar Chavzez?
VIVA LOS METS!
Chavez*
VIVA!
So, would mistermet count as “intelligent” or “childish”? Just curious….
I love that a note about non-roster invites get 150+ comments on this blog. Two or three years ago, you’d never hear about “news” like this. Sometime, maybe a week into camp, one of the beat writers might write up a list of all of the non-roster invites and tack it on at the bottom of an article. That’d be about the extent of it and noone would really get in a huff about it. Now, every tiny transactions gets its own post and a flurry of comments decrying it as another sign that the Mets are heading in the wrong direction. If there was a post on here that said that Citi Field was going to be using a new brand of sauerkraut, there would be 100 comments saying how the Mets are abandoning tradition, 100 comments complaining that the front office was being cheap, 100 comments defending the move as savvy, and 200 comments demanding that the Mets sign Manny.
I’m so glad we brought back a guy who couldn’t go first to third in a big spot during a game closing out last year. Hope he runs better in Florida if he expects to get very far.
I know everyone will think i am nuts but a healthy Castillo is not horrific………he did have 17 steals with a bum leg…………just pray he is healthy and hope Cora can fill in a few times a week to keep him fresh
With the Nationals having a crowded OF anychance of re aquiring Alex Escobar and seeing what he can do as a platoon with Murphy
If healthy he may surprise and if not he’s at AAA
That some on here complain about every little thing, say we are gooing to finish 3rd place and seem to dreed the season.
it means exactly what your name implies, that many fans as pessimistic, but relax and enjoy the season. thats what the eff that means
*are
yeah, but other fan comes in here giving his idea of trades, and signings and what’s going on with the mets and we should all believe in his word or we’re delusional fans if we don’t ..
Morning Alex, love you too. Dont’ really care to engage you today.
I actually agree, completely, with what you say, but you lose every ounce of credibility when you pine for Ray Durham….he does nothing to help us…not a thing.
Also, in regards to Manny, you are overlooking what has happened with the Wilpons….they had a budget set….and i think they knew they were losing all this money before it became public, hence why they say that “their budget is not affected by this at all.”
Let it go…i have already…..MANNY is not coming….it’s a shame, but it’s the truth.
Not a thing? He’s much better than the 2B currently on the roster…..
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