Daily Archives: March 19, 2009
Jon Heyman of SI.com believes the Mets 
made free-agent RHP Pedro Martinez an offer that’s well below his $5 million minimum asking price.
“I can assure you, we are not paying him $5 million,” a Mets person told Heyman.
Heyman believes the Mets offered Martinez $1-2 million, plus incentives.
Last week, Heyman wrote that Martinez is seeking a guaranteed, one-year deal, worth between $5 million and $8 million.
Also in his report, Heyman lists 33 young players who might be worth watching, including Mets OF Daniel Murphy and RHP Bobby Parnell.
Tagged Pedro Martinez |
The Mets (8-10-1) defeated the Astros (1-16) by the score of 12-to-1 today at Tradition Field.
For a complete recap, boxscore and stats, check out SNY.tv
- Wow, the Astros are brutal to watch. WBC mercy rule, anyone? I hope we see this same Astros team the last weekend of the regular season.
- Mike Pelfrey continued his strong spring, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, while striking out three over six innings.
- Nick Evans continues to make his case for one of the final bench spots, going 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, a homerun and 2 RBI.
- Jose Reyes was 2-for-2 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI.
- Sean Green, Carlos Muniz and Fernando Nieve each pitched a scorless inning in relief.
- It was funny listening to Keith “I’m not a blogger” Hernandez try to ad-lib a MetsBlog read during the broadcast. Glad you back, Keith.
The Mets continue their Grapefruit League schedule against Orioles tomorrow with Oliver Perez getting the start.
Tagged Mike Nichols |
As discussed on MetsBlog.com yesterday, the Washington Nationals signed left-hander Joe Beimel to a one-year, $2 million contract. Beimel reported to camp today.
The Nationals also cut starting pitcher Shawn Hill.
Florida’s Hanley Ramirez was originally in Wednesday’s lineup, but the shortstop took himself out of the game right before the team boarded the bus to play the Nationals. Apparently, his right shoulder was still too sore for game action.
Ramirez is absent from today’s game as well and is listed as day-to-day with right rotator cuff tendinitis.
Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels long tossed from about 150 feet Thursday morning in Clearwater and felt fine.
“I didn’t feel any tightness,” Hamels said. “I felt a little soreness from where the needle went in, but all the other areas where I was feeling tightness I didn’t feel anything. That’s great.”
Brett Myers will still most likely be the opening day pitcher for the Phillies.
And finally today…Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus did his annual ranking of the top minor league systems in baseball, and here’s how the NL East faired:
Atlanta – #4
Florida – #5
Philadelphia – #14
New York – #18
Washington – #29
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Tagged MetsBlog |
Mets Weekly will debut this Saturday at 12:30 pm on SNY, with new host Julie Alexandria.
This week, the show looks at the vibe in Mets camp, and puts a mic on Marlon Anderson during a game.
Also, Julie has lunch with David Wright, Howard Johnson and Dave Racaniello, where they talk rivalries and American Idol.
In St. Lucie, Julie and I interviewed one another for SNY.tv, which you can watch by clicking play below:
A friend of Metsblog, Danielle, of The Wright Stuff, gives us the supposed answer as to why David Wright is wearing #4 in the World Baseball Classic.
Apparently, growing up, Wright wore the number four, as it was his favorite number. When he came up to the majors in 2004, third base coach, Matt Galante, wore the number.
As a result, David was given the number five. You can read about it in this transcript from 2005.
…so does this mean he would rather be number 4 as a met…
…the world will never know…
Update…
A trusty source notes that Wright gave up number 5 for Davey Johnson and may have settled on number 4 because it was Lenny Dykstra’s number.
The Game:
The Mets (7-9-1) continue their Grapefruit League schedule against the Astros (1-15) today at Tradition Field, starting at 1:10 p.m. EDT.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- RF Bobby Kielty
- LF Fernando Tatis
- 1B Nick Evans
- 3B Ramon Martinez
- C Ramon Castro
- CF Cory Sullivan
- P Mike Pelfrey
The Pitchers:
Mike Pelfrey (0-0, 3.86 ERA) starts for the Mets. Sean Green, Brian Stokes, Matt DeSalvo, Jon Switzer and Brandon Knight are also scheduled to pitch.
Wandy Rodriguez (0-3, 6.75 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Astros.
How To Catch It:
Today’s game will be broadcast locally on
.
You can also follow the live GameDay boxscore, by clicking here.
Update, 6:14 pm:
Jerry Manuel told reporters following today’s game that Schneider is expected to return to action on Sunday.
Original Post:
The results of an MRI revealed that Brian Schneider has a PCL strain in his knee and strained calf.
According to the New York Post, ‘Schneider is sidelined indefinitely.’
He suffered both injuries Tuesday and did not play yesterday.
In a report for the New York Times, Ben Shpigel profiles Mets Rule 5 pick Darren O’Day, who considered entering the medical field before baseball changed his career path.
Shpigel talks with O’Day about the decision to pursue his baseball career after the dean of the University of Florida’s medical school told him not to apply, taking the LSAT on a dare and seeing increased velocity after dropping his arm slot, while goofing around during a beer league game.
In 8.1 innings pitched, O’Day has allowed three runs on nine hits this spring.
…one of my favorite parts of spring training is the in-depth profiles of players about their lives outside of baseball…these profiles, including this one, have become must reads…
Tagged Mike Nichols |
Yesterday, Livan Hernandez pitched five innings, allowing one run on five hits, while striking out three.
Later, Freddy Garcia allowed five runs on seven hits in two innings pitched, raising his spring ERA to 16.71.
According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, “Mets officials appear to be seriously weighing the release of pre-camp favorite Freddy Garcia.”
Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez continues to seek a guaranteed, one-year contract, worth between $5 million and $8 million.
In the Bergen Record, Steve Popper writes, “A person close to Martinez hinted that if the money was not right, he might just walk away, unwilling to lower the bar for future players.”
Popper believes the Mets have been in contact with Martinez, but will not negotiate with him until he lowers his asking price.
Popper provides quotes from Mike Pelfrey, and others, in praise of Martinez.
In a report for ESPN.com, Rob Neyer explains why signing Martinez is ‘probably not a good move.’
Nevertheless, Rubin concludes, “Jon Niese is Hernandez’s primary competition at this point, but the Mets seem content letting the 22-year-old lefthander hone his control at Buffalo.”
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Tagged Mike Nichols, Pedro Martinez |According to MLB.com, David Wright cracked a toe nail while fouling a ball off his left foot in last night’s loss to Venezuela in the WBC.
Manager Davey Johnson said Wright tore the entire nail off his toe.
“I’ll be all right,” Wright said, who will play in the semifinals this weekend at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
“It’s a little sore… It’s tough to put weight on it.”
Wright had an X-ray following the game, which was negative.
In case you missed it, click play below to watch Wright’s walk off hit versus Puerto Rico on Tuesday night:
Tagged Mike Nichols | ← Older posts
