Daily Archives: July 30, 2009
Following this afternoon’s game, Jerry Manuel said Luis Castillo’s wife gave birth to a baby girl – he is expected to be in tonight’s starting lineup.
Castillo is batting .400 with a .500 OBP in his last 70 at bats, raising his average to .306 on the season.
Yesterday, Manuel told reporters he is unlikely to give Alex Cora a day off, considering how well the team is playing.
The Mets (49–51) defeated the Rockies (55–47) today by the score of 7 to 0 in Citi Field this afternoon.
For a full recap and boxscore, click here
The Mets have won fives games in a row.
In the second game of today’s double-header, the Mets and Rockies will play the final game of their four-game series tonight at 7:10 pm..
The Least You Should Know:
- The Mets put together five consecutive hits in the second inning, including RBI hits from Omir Santos, Cory Sullivan and Angel Berroa, to give them a lead they’d never relinquish.
- Johan Santana then pitched seven scoreless innings, struck out eight and allowed just four hits, while using 104 pitches.
Misc., Etc., and other Observations:
- It’s a good day when some one says, ‘Vintage,’ and, ‘Johan.’ He had his fastball all over the zone, and the Rockies were chasing it, and chasing it and chasing it all day. Finally, the difference between his fastball and change-up were back to where he likely wants it to be.
- David Wright hit a ball to deep, deep right-center field, just in front of the bullpen, which might have been a home run in other parks.
- The Mets need to thank the Colorado outfielders, who were bobbling and kicking the ball around the outfield on a few occasions.
- Hmmm… Maybe the key to the winning streak isn’t the beards, but the string of apologetic press conferences. Hey, can some other beat writer please be assumed of seeking a job, so Omar can out him, and keep this streak alive?
- The Rockies have not scored against the Mets during the last 22 innings.
The Mets (49–51) conclude their four-game series against the Rockies (55–47) tonight at 7:10 pm, with Jon Niese taking on Jorge De La Rosa (8-7, 4.78 ERA).
Random buzz on Twitter…
According to the Washington Times, Nationals OF Josh Willingham was a late-scratch from today’s lineup.
The Nationals announced Willingham was pulled due to a neck injury, but that has not stopped people from speculating he may be involved in a trade.
…i get no sense willingham will be traded, though i have heard from several Mets fans who feel he’d be a good fit in Citi Field…
…the Nationals are not looking to cut money… and, from what i can gather, they see Adam Dunn and willingham as part of their team for next season…
According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, ‘It looks like Blue Jays 3B Scott Rolen has a good chance of being traded to the Reds.’
Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes the Red Sox and Padres are in detailed talks regarding 1B Adrian Gonzalez.
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says he has a hunch the Padres will trade closer Heath Bell, not Gonzalez.
According to Amy K. Nelson of ESPN.com, citing 
an NL team official, there is a 10 percent chance Gonzalez is traded.
…any time i ask about a player like this, and whether the Mets have a chance, i’m told by people in-the-know that the Red Sox can put together a much better package… the thing is, the Red Sox can’t acquire every one… in either case, you know the drill, basically, to get a guy like gonzalez, it’s back-up-the-truck time… frankly, like i said yesterday, from what i understand, there is a far, far better chance gonzalez is traded in the off season, when more teams can be involved, as opposed to know… my guess is that the Padres are simply trying to take advantage of a desperate Sox club…
Gonzalez is batting just .258, but with 28 HR and 59 RBI.
The 27-year-old Gonzalez will earn just $4.75 million in 2010, with a $5.5 million team option for 2011, after which he can be a free agent.
Sean McAdam of the Boston Globe believes 
the Red Sox rejected a straight-up swap from the Indians of top pitching prospect Clay Buccholz and C Victor Martinez.
Meanwhile, according to FoxSports.com, ‘there are other, unidentified teams interested in Martinez.’
Earlier this week, Joel Sherman of the New York Post quoted a team executive as saying there is a 1000 percent chance the Indians trade Martinez.
Martinez is hitting .284 with a .368 OBP, 15 HR and 67 RBI in 99 games for the Indians this season.
He will earn $7 million next season, after which he can be a free agent.
Speaking of hitters, and trades…
The Royals are willing to trade Mark Teahen, reports the Chicago Sun-Times, ‘but they are said to be looking for a center fielder.’
Teahen is batting .290 with 34 extra base hits, 36 RBI and a .344 OBP in 97 games for the Royals this season, while playing first base, second base, third base and right field.
Teahen is under contract and arbitration eligible in 2010 and 2011, after which he can become a free agent.
…oh, lord, hold on to your hats:
Omar Minaya will speak with reporters today from the dugout in Citi Field at 11 am.
…i hope they set up prompter… or, just have him read directly from notes, ‘I apologize to Adam Rubin, P.S. Have a nice day,’ and get off the stage…
Update, 11:20 am:
Minaya told reporters that he talked with Adam Rubin in person in New York City yeterday, he apologized, and they both look forward to moving on.
“For me to say those things was not right,” Minaya said, “I was wrong.”
He says Rubin and he agreed to keep the conversation between them.
He says the decision to fire Tony Bernazard was his descision, based on the investigation, an had nothing to do with Rubin’s report.
Minaya says ownership supports him and has always supported him.
“You guys know Omar, and this was not an Omar action,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s time to move forward, we have a baseball season to play.”
Update, 11:24 am:
He says this has not stopped him from working the baseball side of the business in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline, noting he is talking to clubs everyday.
“I even turned down a couple of trades yesterday,” Minaya said, saying he has talked to teams about big-time players.
Update, 11:33 am:
In the end, he said he apologized to Rubin, he aplogizes to ownership, amd he apologizes to Mets fans, because, as he put it, “This was a distraction.”
Tagged Omar Minaya |…ok, let’s try this again…
The Mets (48–51) continue their series against the Rockies (55–46) at 12:10 pm, with Johan Santana (11–8, 3.12 ERA) facing Jason Hammel (5–5, 4.28 ERA).
Angel Pagan will hit leadoff tonight, followed in order by Alex Cora at second base, David Wright, Daniel Murphy at first, Jeff Francoeur in right, Cory Sullivan in left, Omir Santos behind the plate and Angel Beroa at shortstop.
Santana has never faced the Rockies.
Meanwhile, Hammel is 4-2 with a 1.93 ERA in 10 games away from Colorado.
Update, 10:38 am:
The Mets designated Elmer Dessens.
C Robinson Cancel has been promoted to the 25–man roster.
Cancel had been hitting 218 with a .266 OBP in 57 games in Triple-A.
Brian Costa of the Star-Ledger says Brian Schneider’s knee is hurting.
Jeff Francoeur was hit on the hand by a pitch Tuesday night.
Yesterday, Jerry Manuel said Francoeur immediately had an X-ray in the clubhouse, which was negative.
According to Manuel, “The hand was visibly swelling up and guys were telling him to rub some dirt on it and go out and play. He said, that’s what he was planning on doing… You couldn’t take him out of the lineup anyway.”
“I’ll be fine,” Francoeur said after Tuesday’s game, according to the Star-Ledger. “Just need to go home and grab some ice and a Jack and Coke. Maybe not in that order.”
…from what i can gather, his hand is fine, there is no swelling, and he’ll be back in the starting lineup today as if nothing happened… note to self: dirt, ice, jack and coke, for the next time i injure myself…
“He has seemed to really mix well with his teammates,” Manuel said of Francoeur, prior to yesterday’s rainout. “If there’s a golf outing, he’s part of that; they went out to eat, he was a big part of that… He’s brought a lot of life and energy to the clubhouse and on the field.”
Joland sent in an e-mail asking:
“Are you surprised that you don’t hear any rumors of the Mets looking to make a trade to upgrade some weak areas? Do you think the nightmare that Omar has created for himself has distracted him from the job at hand?”
I talked to two people who know Omar well, and who spoke with recently, and, though he feels very badly about the way things went down at the press conference, he is 100 percent focused on improving the team.
From what I can tell, his scouts and assistants are working as usual, talking with other teams, building bridges and seeing what is available.
The thing is, that’s the problem, there isn’t much available to the Mets, because, while teams like their prospects, especially Ike Davis, Brad Holt and Jennry Mejia, it appears they are inexperienced to build a deal around. The way I understand it, right now, because of where the economy is at, teams would rather trade a player like Victor Martinez for one or two major-league ready prospects, making little money but able to contribute today, like a Clay Buchholz, as opposed 
to accepting a basket of young, Double-A guys, who have yet to has any sustained success and are potentially years away.
From talking to prospectors around the game, I sense the Mets may have a top rated farm system two or three years from now, because of Davis, Wilmer Flores, Mejia, Holt and other pitchers getting attention; but, for now, they may be a tab short.
As for tomorrow’s 4 pm Trade Deadline, I believe the Mets are talking, be it with the Rays, O’s or others, but I honestly have no idea what they’re trying to accomplish. In other words, stay tuned, as it would not shock me if they made a big trade, nor would it shock me if they get boxed out, despite Minaya’s best efforts.
Jerry Manuel told reporters yesterday that Livan Hernandez is ‘on call,’ and will be considered as an available pinch hitter today, as the team continues to play with just a three-man bench.
…earlier this week, i watched livan take batting practice, like one of the regular hitters, cycling through with Gary Sheffield and others… he is in to it… it’s pretty clear he likes to hit… he has a pretty good swing, too, hitting several one-hoppers to the wall in left field… but, let’s be honest, if jerry has to call upon livan, something is going wrong…
Hernandez is batting .143 in 35 at bats this season.
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