Daily Archives: July 27, 2009
The Mets (47–51) defeated the Rockies (54–45) by the score of 7 to 3 tonight in Citi Field.
For a full recap, and boxscore, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
- In the eighth inning, and the game tied at three, Fernando Tatis hit a pinch-hit grand slam, to left-center field, to break the game open.
- Oliver Perez pitched out of a jam or two, and allowed three runs and five hits in five innings, after which Brian Stokes, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez tossed three innings in relief.
Misc., Etc., and Other Observations:
- Everybody clap yo hands… and point them to the sky, who was called out of the dugout for a smile-inducing curtain call. This was great to see. The crowd was excited, the team was pumped, smiling, and, for the first time in a while, looking like they were having fun… and winning.
- The Mets have scored 29 runs in four games. Incredible.
- Luis Castillo had two more hits, and two runs scored, and is now batting .305. He has nine hits in his last four games, during which the Mets have scored 29 runs, 11 of which he had a hand in. I’m happy for Luis. He shook off criticism, worked hard, and produced. He dropped a devastating pop up, got mocked, but shook it off and, again, is producing.
- I hate the off-field drama. I really do. So tonight’s game was a breath of fresh of air. It was important. End of story. I was on the edge of my sofa as though it was September, because, when a team must go roughly 45–20, a game in July is like a playoff game. I was pumped when Tatis hit the grand slam, I got giddy. I will not lie, I started thinking of what could be… I’m a dreamer, what can I say.
The Mets play the Rockies again tomorrow at 7 pm in Citi Field, with Mike Pelfrey (7–6, 4.99 ERA) taking on Jason Marquis (12–6, 3.49 ERA).
In a post to Twitter, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, Mets GM Omar Minaya’s friends say he has confided to them that he messed up by attacking Adam Rubin of the Daily News during today’s press conference.
Speaking to reporters from the press box, Minaya said he is sorry for out Rubin, noting it was the wrong forum.
Minaya, however, stood by his statement that Rubin lobbied the team for a job.
…so, he’s not sorry for what he said, he’s sorry for where he said it…
Speaking from the press box, Jeff Wilpon later said Rubin is not the first writer to ask him for job advice.
…jezuz, please, guys, stop calling press conferences… good lord, quit it now, i’m begging you…
…i must have missed the One Step Forward, Two Steps Back method to crisis management in college…
…i don’t know what to think of all of this… i really don’t… i wish omar would just come out and say what he was trying to say about rubin… i mean, technically, he never talks of his opinion of rubin’s motives… he only repeatedly states rubin lobbied for a job, which rubin denied… however, it’s pretty clear, based on the course of events and what omar was alluding to, that he was trying to imply something, be it that rubin had it out for tony b, or rubin wanted a job, or something… but, he never says so… i hate when people are coy… just say what you want to say, and prove it…
Prior to tonight’s game, SNY’s Ron Darling said on air, “It’s an awful day here in Met-land… This is a very interesting thing, for me, how you move forward from this, because this is something that will be there for a long period of time. How do you talk to Omar now without thinking something is going to be on or off the record?”
…i still have to wonder, is that Chilling Effect the point… that exact freeze, is that what omar and the Mets were trying to accomplish…
Tagged Omar Minaya |
In case you forget, the Mets are a professional baseball team, who play baseball, and there is a game tonight…
The Mets (46–51) take on the Wild-Card leading Rockies (54–44) tonight at 7:10 pm in Citi Field, with Oliver Perez (2–3, 7.68 ERA) facing Ubaldo Jimenez (7–9, 3.85 ERA).
Angel Pagan will bat leadoff tonight, followed in order by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Daniel Murphy at first base, Jeff Francoeur in right field, Cory Sullivan in left, Omir Santos behind the plate and Alex Cora at shortstop.
Update, 5:42 pm:
…here are my conspiracy theories, based on nothing:
…omar got emotional, went rogue, and said, ‘Screw it, if I’m going down, you, Adam Rubin, are going down with me, for making me fire my friend, Tony B,’… and, by doing so, omar is ready to face the consequences, since he’s already had to fire every one else he brought on in 2005, when he was given ‘full autonomy.’…
…or, rubin did try to get a job in player development, tony b said no, an rubin intentionally got the ball rolling to take him out, and the minaya had every right to fight back…
…or, maybe this was coordinated… maybe omar, ownership and others, were not happy about having to fire tony, and they were tired of the leaks through the media, and rubin, who broke the story on tony, and who wrote a ‘scathing review of omar,’ as he put it, was thrown under the bus in an effort to spook him and his colleagues in the press box…
In the end, Buster Olney of ESPN.com writes:
“He will not survive this, and this has nothing to do with whether what he said was accurate or inaccurate. He won’t survive because Minaya now has become a public liability, a target of criticism, and if there is a defining characteristic of the Mets’ organization, it’s a devotion to the whims of public opinion. Within seconds after Minaya’s press conference ended, talk radio in New York erupted with criticism of the general manager for how he handled the situation. And that’s just the quick response. This will only worsen in the hours and days ahead, as the blogs and columns of reaction are posted and the Mets fall out of contention.”
Update, 5:20 pm:
…hey, omar, in case you forgot, your team is five games below .500 in late July, and you’re trailing seven teams for the Wild Card…
…like my friend Roy O wrote me, “So now the Mets are what they Yankees used to be: a crappy team with more drama than a soap opera, and old players who are injured.”… great, so, then, can we bring back Rickey Henderson…
…here’s a shovel, Mets, keep digging…
Update, 5:15 pm:
Rubin said Minaya’s decision to call him out by name is a ‘low blow.’
Rubin acknowledged that he wrote a ‘scathing review’ of Minaya earlier this month.
“I thought Omar had a thick skin, obviously not,” Rubin said, adding:
“The bottom line is, too, they fired Tony Bernazard because he did the things I said he did… For them to change the story like this, personally it devastates me. This is my livelihood. Look, I have tremendous relationships with most of the people in uniform. I guarantee you if I walk in to the clubhouse right now I’ll have more pats on the back, unless people are just scared to do that because it’s their bosses. I could assure you they just made my job impossible to do in the short-term.”
Update, 5:02 pm:
Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN Radio asks, “We don’t doubt that Rubin tried to get a job with the Mets. That probably happened, though, we haven’t independently confirmed it. But what does that have to do with anything, even if true?”
In the end, Marchand explains why this is the beginning of the end for Minaya.
Update, 4:53 pm:
In a post to Twitter, Can’t Stop the Bleeding writes:
“Here’s a list of things the Wilpons and Minaya don’t understand : 1) public relations, 2) journalism, 3) ponzi schemes, 4) baseball.”
Update, 4:35 pm:
Rubin told reporters that he once probed Jeff Wilpon about how to get a job in major league baseball, ‘but that’s it.’
Rubin said he never asked for a specific job from the Mets, he just asked general questions on e-mail about how to go about finding a job ‘in the industry.’
“I’m floored,” Rubin said, “I don’t know how I’m going to cover the team now… To make this type of accusation is obscene.”
Rubin will also be a guest on SNY’s Daily News Live at 5:00 pm.
…i hope omar had Jeff Wilpon’s blessing for calling rubin out by name, because if not, and omar did this on his own, and just caused more heat, he better look out…
…John Ricco, hide in the closet, man…. no subtle movements…
Update, 4:30 pm:
Rubin will an on-air guest of SNY in the next few minutes.
…like Clark Griswold said, ‘This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy.’… i can’t believe omar called rubin out during this press conference… i mean, this was supposed to be a day of clearing the air, turning the page from last week, building on two wins in Houston and looking forward… instead, omar throws rubin under the bus and here we are at the cross section of Unique and Sensational, and as one fire goes out another is set…
Update, 4:15 pm:
During today’s press conference to announce the firing of Tony Bernazard, Mets GM Omar Minaya was clear to point out that Adam Rubin of the Daily News, who wrote the initial reports about Bernazard, had been lobbying the team for a job in the team’s player development department.
…interesting… so, maybe this will finally answer my question of why rubin is always wearing a suit… seriously, always with the suits…
…seriously, though, the insinuation, which is pretty serious, as i hear it from omar, is t hat rubin wrote this story about tony to try and get tony fired, because he was seeking a job in the team’s player development department… this is an amazing accusation, and omar better have proof…
Rubin, in the audience, then told Minaya, to his face, that he is ‘despicable’ for alleging that he set out to ‘tear Tony down’ to take his job.
…this just took a fascinating turn… i have never heard of anything like this, which is about to make national attention, i would think, in terms of sports and media…
In a post to his media watchdog blog for Newsday, Neil Best called this press conference one of the “strangest in the history of New York media!”
Tagged Omar Minaya |Omar Minaya officially announced that Tony Bernazard has been fired.
To watch Minaya’s comments, click here.
Tagged Omar Minaya, Tony Bernazard |Update, 2:01 pm:
The Mets have announced Omar Minaya will hold a press conference with reporters today from Citi Field at 3:30 pm, which will air live on SNY.
…well, either a trade is going down, or the axe is about to fall…
…i’m betting on the axe, considering last week’s headlines…
…they scheduled this for the exact moment the clubhouse opens, so they’re gonna pull everyone in to the media room, and rock…
Original Post:
…there are rumblings around the Mets that some sort of news will go down today… but, i have no idea what…
…i would think if it was a trade, by now, someone, from one of the major news outlets would be reporting something, but who knows… i’m intrigued…
Joel Sherman of the New York Post quotes a team executive as saying there is a 1000 percent chance the Indians trade RHP Cliff Lee and C Victor Martinez in an effort to cut payroll.
Sherman believes the Rays, Phillies, Brewers and Rangers are all interested in Lee, while the Red Sox and Giants are interested in Martinez.
However, Heyman later said on Twitter that talks between the Indians and Red Sox are not ‘progressing.’
…there are few players, at this point, who i’d like to see the Mets trade top prospects to get, but, martinez might be one of them…
According to Sherman, citing an American League executive, the Phillies will likely acquire either Lee, Blue Jays RHP Roy Halladay or M’s RHP Jarrod Washburn by Friday’s July 31 Trade Deadline.
Sherman also reports on teams interested in Padres RHP Heath Bell.
Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi told Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com that the chances of trading Roy Halladay are ‘very slim.’
Yesterday, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com said the Blue Jays also rejected Philadelphia’s offer of JA Happ, and prospects Michael Taylor, pitcher Carlos Carrasco and SS Jason Donald.
According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, the Jays asked the Angels for pitcher Joe Saunders, SS Erick Aybar, 3B Brandon Wood and an outfield prospect.
…at this point, any one who truly believes the Mets could have acquired halladay for Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese, Fernando Martinez and Ruben Tejada should realize that deal was never going to fly… no chance… obviously…
…for more on what i believe took place between the Mets and Jays, read what i wrote on Saturday, here…
To recap the weekend blow-by-blow regarding Halladay, Ricciardi’s demands, and who else may have interest in Halladay, check out MLB Trade Rumors.
Tagged Roy Halladay |
Mets 22–year-old Double-A 1B Ike Davis was listed on Baseball America’s Prospect Hot Sheet this week.
According to Baseball America, “Davis has clubbed more home runs this season (12) and compiled a higher slugging percentage (.486) than any of the other four first-round first basemen from the 2008 draft.”
In 31 games since being promoted to Double-A, Davis is batting .308 with seven HR, 24 RBI and .400 OBP.
…i asked some people who know the team’s system about davis the other day, and i left with three things, so far, a) he has adjusted well to hitting off speed pitches, something he struggled with last season, b) he is capable of being a major-league first baseman, but c) he has such a strong arm, so strong he could be a relief pitcher, it might make sense to eventually put him in right field, especially if the Mets are committed to Daniel Murphy at first…
The report also comments on Mets 17-year-old Single-A SS Wilmer Flores, who is showing strong discipline at the plate.
Tagged Wilmer Flores |
Adam Rubin of the Daily News believes Tim Redding can stop worrying, as it appears he is ‘off the chopping block.’
Last week, Rubin said the Mets had decided to release Redding by the end of the recently-concluded road trip.
… redding can probably thank the injury to Fernando Nieve, as well as John Maine’s decision to visit Dr. Andrews for a second opinion on his shoulder…
Redding has not pitched in a game for the Mets since July 19, when he allowed five runs in three innings in relief.
This season, he is 1–4 with a 7.16 ERA.
Tagged Tim Redding | ← Older posts
