Daily Archives: August 10, 2009
Update, 6:35 pm:
The White Sox have acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays in a straight waiver claim, sending nothing in return, Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi told reporters from Yankee Stadium today.
…well, that is disappointing… i understand rios is due to earn big money, $60 million over six years, and people are skeptical he 
will ever grow in to the contract… i am not one of them… i feel he is very talented, with a lot of upside, a good fit for Citi Field, and could end up being a bargain in a few seasons…
Original Post:
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com told SNY today that he does not believe the Mets were among teams to put in a waiver claim on Blue Jays OF Alex Rios.
According to MLB.com, Jays GM JP Ricciardi will hold a press conference with reporters before tonight’s game.
Last Friday, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reported Rios had been claimed on waivers, and speculated the Mets and Giants could be involved.
However, in a report later in the evening, Olney said the White Sox were most likely the team to put in the claim.
The Mets (52–29) begin a three-game series with the D-Backs (50–62) in Arizona tonight at 9:40 pm, with Mike Pelfrey (8-7, 4.75 ERA) taking on Doug Davis (6-10, 3.67).
Gary Sheffield will again be out of tonight’s starting lineup.
He last played on Aug. 5, against the Cardinals.
Angel Pagan will hit leadoff, followed in order by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Jeff Francoeur, Fernando Tatis in left field, Daniel Murphy at first base, Omir Santos behind the plate, and Anderson Hernandez at shortstop.
Pelfrey is a 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in four career starts against Arizona. Pelfrey has has three of his last four starts.
Davis is 2-1 with a 4.83 ERA in seven starts against the Mets. He allowed two runs while walking six in six innings in Citi Field in July.
Pedro Martinez is scheduled to make his first start of the season on Wednesday, August 12, against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told reporters before today’s game.
Tagged News |In a post to NY Sports Dog, Dave Singer lists the top five things left to root for in 2009, such as, “The continuing improvement of Oliver Perez.”
…yep, we are all talent evaluators at this point… personally, i look forward to watching Bobby Parnell, who looked decent in his first start over the weekend, though he did little to distinguish himself from his work in the bullpen… also, perez’s outings are important, especially coming off his last start, in which he looked the among best i have ever seen him… on the other side of the ball, i’d like to see Daniel Murphy and Angel Pagan more, regardless of whether Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado return… all of these decisions will help establish how the Mets should approach the off-season…
By the way…
Zoe Rice of Pick Me Up Some Mets has fun with Photoshop and suggests a few slogans for the Mets 2010 season, such as, ‘The DL is the New Black.’
…of course, there always the classic Ya Gotta Bereave…
Tagged Oliver Perez |In a post to heir blog for the New York Times, Billy Witz explains why, “Time for a Change, Meant Time for a Shave,” regarding the team’s .500 beards.
Sam Page of Amazin Avenue pens a fantastic post about Omar Minaya, his strengths and weaknesses, and the role the media is playing in framing him, while concluding, “He’s just a big-picture guy on a team 
that needs paperwork.”
In a video for On the Black, Kerel Cooper talks with Dave Doyle of Mets Report about ticket prices.
Marty Noble of MLB.com says the acquisition of Jeff Francoeur is paying dividends.
Lastly, in another must-read post, Matt Himelfarb fills in on Mets Today, and breaks down Oliver Perez’s release point using Pitch F/X.
In a column for the New York Post, Kevin 
Kernan explains why the Mets should hire A’s GM Billy Beane.
By the way, Will Leitch wrote a similar column for New York Magazine last week, writing, “Beane has nowhere to go with Oakland. Hmmm… Who needs a GM?”
In his column, Kernan writes, “A’s owner Lew Wolff has complete faith in Beane, and Beane might not want to leave, but the Wilpons need to make that call to find out exactly what’s going on with him.”
…hey, as long as they’re making phone calls, why don’t the Wilpons also find out what’s going on with Albert Pujols, Tim Lincecum and Joe Maddon…
…anyway… back here in reality, people connected to beane have long said he is unlikely to take a job with the Mets, because he needs to know he has real, authentic, full autonomy, which he has in Oakland, and is not likely to have with the Mets… that said, the buzz in toronto has been Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi could be out of a job sooner than later…
…jp grew up in the Boston area, and played baseball in the Mets minor league system, like beane… he’s a talent evaluator, who ran the A’s farm system under beane, where he drafted and produced players like Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, Tim 
Hudson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Rich Harden, before becoming GM of the Blue Jays…
…if the Mets decide to let Omar Minaya go, from what i understand, they’ll be most inclined to make current assistant GM John Ricco the new General Manager, but pair him up with a strong, heavy-weight talent person, like a Gerry Hunsicker, and do like the Yankees did in the 90s, who teamed up a young business-mind in Brian Cashman with a veteran, talent-mind in Gene Michael…
…i am not sure of minaya’s future… it would not surprise me if he stays or go… i am not 100 percent sold either way, and i’m not sure Mets ownership is either… i do believe they challenged omar with delivering a concrete plan for the future, and the future is getting close with every day that ticks off the schedule…
Padres OF Brian Giles told reporters that Carlos Beltran should rest, not rush to return this season, and be ready for next year instead.
To read more from Giles, who had microfracture surgery in 2007, and says Beltran should ‘Take care of himself,’ check out Newsday and the Bergen Record.
…from what i can gather, beltran will stay in New York for much of this week, and the team is likely to talk with him about exactly this issue… frankly, the same could be said for Carlos Delgado, but, my guess is delgado will rush to come back to prove he can play because he will be a free agent this off season…
Beltran will earn $18.5 million in 2010 and 2011, after which he will be a free agent.
In a post to Mets Fever, Ed Ryan asks, ‘Is it time to trade Beltran?’
…it’s a fair question… the thing is, a) he has a no-trade clause, but, most important, b) who is going to pay big prospects and negotiate an extension when beltran’s health is in question… no team will pay top dollar, not knowing what they’re getting… the same can essentially be said for Jose Reyes, by the way…
Johan Santana allowed one run and five 
hits in eight innings in a win against the Padres yesterday.
“I knew coming into this game that it was a very important one because of losing three games in a row,” Santana told reporters following the game. “We knew that somehow we had to stop that.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, yesterday, Santana became the first pitcher in any major league game this season to get two hits and a walk, while scoring one run and driving in another.
“I was just lucky, I guess, at the plate,” Santana said. “Any time you have a chance to do something like that, it’s very special.”
…it’s pretty clear, despite all of the discussion about offense and power, the Mets top off-season priority needs to be trading for another elite starting pitcher… the team can piece together the offense, but santana is too good to waste… adding one more top arm will mean the team never hits a big-time losing streak… the two aces will create a floor, so to speak, that the team can build up from… i don’t know who that pitcher is, but he’s not on the roster right now…
Santana is tied with Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright for the most wins in the National League (13); he’s 11th in ERA (3.00); and seventh in strikeouts with 138 in 153 innings pitched.
…i wonder if the Mets will start to rest him, maybe pitching him every six days or even skipping a start… i mean, what’s the point in having johan throw 220 innings this season, when he can get rest that might save him down the road, next season and beyond…
