Daily Archives: January 13, 2010
In a post to Twitter, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus said:
“Big news pending for Mets. Doesn’t sound good.”
…oh, man, and pitchers and catchers is just five weeks away… what’s up, will…
Updated at 9:35 pm:
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says he heard Carlos Beltran had microfracture surgery today without the team’s permission.
Updated at 9:39 pm:
According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, Carlos Beltran had knee surgery today, he is expected to need eight weeks of rehab and will miss the start of the season.
Updated at 9:45 pm:
In a follow-up post, Joel Sherman of the New York Post says a second source believes Carlos Beltran simply had his knee ‘scoped,’ and ‘cleaned up,’ ‘though the Mets are acting like it was more than routine.’
Sherman cites a third source who says this was not microfracture surgery, “but standard scope and Mets team physician Dr. David Altchek and team were OK on this.”
Updated at 9:51 pm:
The Mets issued the following press release a few moments ago:
“Carlos Beltran had worsening of osteoarthritis of the right knee during the offseason. He had not been experiencing pain following the conclusion of the season and into his early offseason conditioning. The symptoms returned to the point where pre-spring training conditioning became too painful. He elected to undergo arthroscopic clean out of the arthritic area of his knee by Beltran”s personal physician Dr. Richard Steadman today in Colorado. He is anticipated to return to baseball activities in 12 weeks.
…i talked with someone close to the team earlier tonight, and they sounded quite distraught… i can’t blame them, that’s how i feel… what a shame, and now what… i mean, how does the team go about replacing beltran for the year, now, with five weeks left before pitchers and catchers, because i really hope they do not freak out and panic… yes, i realize the team says 12 weeks… but, i heard earlier in the day he would be out for the season, and, so, like was the drill last year, until i see him out, running, playing on the field, i’m going to assume the worst… i do think the Mets can hang tight with Angel Pagan, if beltran really is going to be out just through mid-April…
…and b) how is this going to impact the team, who had to deal with injuries all last season, probably thought it put that behind them where they could now start new in March, only to have to face the same questions and concerns before the season even begins… ugh… what a shame…
Updated at 10:10 pm:
…here’s the other thing, if what Kevin Burkhardt said on SNY is true, and the Mets really didn’t know he was having this surgery, despite what sherman said earlier, then does have any implications in terms of his contract, and what does that say about his relationship with the team’s medical staff, and decision-making process, in that he did this on his own and chose to use his personal physician…
In a post to TedQuarters, SNY’s Ted Berg asks the Mets not to panic.
Updated at 10:22 pm:
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets are claiming Beltran’s procedure was done ‘without their blessing,’ ‘and are threatening some form of action.’
…i also talked to someone close to the team who does not sound happy…
…from what i can gather, the team might have been aware he was going under for one reason, but then, for some other reason, things changed and beltran might have elected to have a different procedure done… if this is the case, things could get ugly…
Updated at 10:30 pm:
…according to a person high up with the team, the Mets did not make any major changes to their medical staff this off season; but instead added an assistant or two to help facilitate paperwork, and other administrative duties, for Ray Ramirez and Company…
In an on-air report for SNY, Kevin Burkhardt called this a ‘flat-out disaster.’ Later, in a post to Twitter, he said, though the Mets knew about the surgery, they didn’t agree with him having it.
Updated at 10:45 pm:
…also, i get the feeling Scott Boras is going to be called out for this, in some, way, shape or form, before all is said and done… from what i can gather, he and beltran played a big role is convincing Oliver Perez to go to Arizona for off-season training… boras has a heavy hand in his client’s activities… the word last summer had been that beltran was planning on asking the Mets for a contract extension, but then hit the disabled list and that was that… now here we are… something just doesn’t seem right… and, i can’t help and think we might soon see people pointing fingers…
Updated at 11:13 pm:
According to a new report for the New York Post, recapping the night’s events, Joel Sherman says, ‘the Commissioners Office and the Players Association have been alerted ‘the Mets are claiming this was done without clearance and that the Mets are threatening to take some form of action. There is a potential issue out there.’’
However, Sherman believes the Mets were not in the dark on this, and, ‘Mets doctors and trainers were kept abreast of the diagnosis in Colorado, even if the Mets did not agree with the remedy.’
To see video of David Wright talking to reporters today in Citi Field, check out Brian Costa’s blog for the Star-Ledger, here.
To read quotes from Mike Pelfrey, read Marty Noble’s report for MLB.com, here.
Original Post at 4:30 pm,
by Michael Baron:
In a report for the Star Ledger, Brian Costa provides quotes from David Wright’s talk with reporters today at Citi Field.
According to Wright, he fussed with his swing too much last year, and will look to keep it more consistent in 2010, adding:
“I think last year, more than any other year, I tinkered with things that probably shouldn’t have been tinkered with… Instead of kind of riding it out and sticking with it and understanding that there’s going to be some ups and downs, when I got into a little slump, I started making minor adjustments, kind of overhauling things, and I think that was a mistake.”
Carlos Delgado was a guest on SIRIUS XM’s MLB Home Plate yesterday, and said he is slowly easing in to playing the field, while adding:
“Then after that our team is going to make it to the playoffs so I’ll talk to the team to see where we are and take it from there because at a playoff level you can’t have the luxury to have a guy come in seven innings and get taken out of the game. So, we’ll figure it out.”
In regards to teams showing interest in him this off season, he said:
“Well, at this stage you try and put yourself in a position where you can win because I don’t have that many years left and I never had the opportunity to be on a team that has actually won a World Series. So considering the options you try to get the best choice, the best opportunity to be in a competitive ballclub. Then after that you want to try to get the best fit for you. I’d rather play as much as I can. You can go to a competitive team but you’re only going to get 100 at-bats. That might not work. So you want to play and contribute as much as you can.”
The MLB Home Plate channel is available to listeners nationwide on XM channel 175 and SIRIUS channel 210, which you can also listen to online here.
David Lennon of Newsday says new Mets reliever Ryota Igarashi will wear number 18 in 2010.
…personally, i think it would be nice if he chose a different number…i remember having those feelings when Darryl Hamilton wore the number ten years ago, but at least his first name was ‘Darryl,’ but in all seriousness, i’m a little more focused on how he is going to perform as opposed to his number right now…
According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, a source says free-agent Carlos Delgado does not fit into the Blue Jays plans.
Yesterday, in a post to Twitter, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse said the Blue Jaysare a more likely landing spot for Delgado than the Mets, but Delgado “is not moving well” in the field.
…i think it’s still a little early to tell how he will fare defensively, considering its his first week of competitive baseball in seven months…that said, while i still think Delgado will end up back in queens, the mobility issue is a big concern for me and i have to wonder if he is dealing with pain in his surgically repaired hip right now…it’s not to say this won’t improve but this would, of course, be another nightmare if the Mets brought Delgado back and he went on the shelf again early in the year…
Speaking of first basemen…
Earlier today, Matthew Cerrone, in a post to Twitter, was at the Citi Kids event at Citi Field today and said Daniel Murphy introduced himself as the Mets first baseman.
…like Matt, I like the fact he is taking the rumors in stride and is very positive about the situation…
Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Pedro Feliciano and Omir Santos spent time with kids from the Citi Field Kids program today, while taking pictures with them, answering questions and giving a tour of the ballpark.
In a talk with reporters following the event, Wright was asked about his power numbers in Citi Field and said:
“It’s not about home runs, it’s about wins and losses. Nobody’s talking about the ballpark if we go out and win as a unit.”
In regards to the team’s expectations for 2010, and whether they consider themselves underdogs given last season, Wright said:
“We dont feel we’re the underdogs… We play to win. We always expect to go deep into the playoffs and bring back a Championship.”
David Wright will be an in-studio guest of Mike Francesa today on WFAN around 2 pm.
To listen live, online, go to WFAN.com.
Jose Reyes made a similar appearances last month on WFAN, talking for nearly an hour with Francesa as well, which you can read a transcript of here.
Update, 12:31 pm,
by Michael Baron
David Lennon of Newsday says the Mets Hall of Fame should be ready for Opening Day.
…this is great news…i’m hoping it’s not just a hall of fame, but it also contains one of a kind team artifacts that chronicle their history…i think it’s something they were missing even when they had the hall of fame in the diamond club at shea stadium, and while they had their championship trophies and headstones for their hall of famers, i thought it was really thin and missed out on key moments in their history..,
Original Post, 10:26 am,
by Matthew Cerrone
The windows for what used to the team store at Citi Field, by the Rotunda, are all boarded up, as I assume the ballpark is hard at work building the much-anticipated museum:
Joe Janish from Mets Today breaks down the remaining starting pitchers available on the free-agent market.
Andrew from The Ropolitans is down to the Final Four for Met of the Year Voting.
Matt, in a post to Caught Lookin’, examines batting averages and run production and wonders why the “batting average stat category has become the Ex-wife of baseball stats”.
Finally, Mets Walkoffs has five trivia questions about the Mets and Mark McGwire.
Tony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles says the Dodgers have talked to Adam Katz, the agent for free-agent RHP Joel Pineiro.
However, Jackson says if the Dodgers were to sign Pineiro, it would require them to get creative and Pineiro would have to be flexible due to the issues with ownership.
On Monday, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse said the Mets were discussing a two year, $15 million contract with Pineiro, but Jackson also says that might be in the right price range for the Dodgers.
…honestly, Pineiro doesn’t thrill me at all…he is coming off his best year since 2002 with Seattle, and i really believe he is a Dave Duncan product and therefore, he would be most successful back in St. Louis…the Mets are essentially discussing the same dollars that he earned last year which isn’t the end of the world from a financial perspective, but i think they’re better suited to explore the trade market before Pineiro right now…
The 31 year old Pineiro earned $7.5 million and went 15-12 with a 3.49 ERA in 32 games and 214 innings pitched with the Cardinals in 2009.
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