Pedro’s first start of the spring was rained out on Thursday night. So he pitched a simulated game on Friday against Endy Chavez, Damion Easley, and two minor leaguers. His fastball was around 90 mph, change was good, but the curveball wasn’t there. Don’t read into this too much. He still has three weeks to get ready for his April 1st start in Florida.
Month: March 2008
Red Sox Scout Arrested in PSL
Boston Red Sox scout Jesse Levis was arrested Sunday at a PSL hotel for lewd and lascivious behavior. He was in a room overlooking the hotel pool and the police were notified by two teenage girls of his behavior. So much for being busy scouting the Mets.
Omar is Looking to Fill Some Gaps
Joel Sherman of the Post reports that Omar Minaya has to word out that several players are available for trades now. Joe Smith is apparently available now. Sherman writes:
Aside from Smith, the Mets also would consider trading Orlando Hernandez
, Scott Schoeneweis, Jorge Sosa and Anderson Hernandez. Ruben Gotay, who was out of options and, thus, could not be sent back to the minors without facing waivers, also was on that list before injuring his foot.
The Mets will need to pay a big portion of Schoenweiss’ bad contract to unload him. That was one of Omar’s biggest missteps. Three years was utterly ridiculous for him.
Moises Alou is back in NY
Alou came back to have an MRI on his groin and found out that he has a hernia. He’ll be out four to six weeks. It’s hard to believe, at this point, how many injuries that the Mets have sustained already. Moises Alou is no stranger to injured reserve. We all know that but the Mets need some healthy bodies. They can field a team in spring training but I’m afraid to see what the roster will look like on opening day in Florida. March 31st isn’t that far away. They need to get healthy in a hurry.
Baseball Analysts: 2008 NL East Rookie Preview
The Baseball Analysts have a good site if you’re into stat-heavy analysis. Today they published their 2008 NL East rookie preview. The Mets have no rookies that expect to get significant playing time this year, so there’s no Mets on the list. But there are some rookies that sound pretty good like Cameron Maybin in Florida (from the Tigers) and Carlos Carrasco in Philly.
Of Carrasco they wrote:
“As mentioned above, the need to hurry Carrasco has been lessened, but the likes of Benson and Adam Eaton won’t keep him down for long. Carrasco has been moved through the system aggressively and has responded well, although his numbers did dip noticeably in Double-A. The biggest warning sign was the increase in his walk ratio (5.89 BB/9). That obviously has to improve. Although Carrasco handles lefties almost as well as righties in terms of batting average allowed (.252 vs LH, .248 vs RH at Double-A), lefties are much more successful at getting on base and hitting the ball hard .855 OPS vs .690 OPS at Double-A), which is something the soon-to-be 21 year old will have to work on. If Carrasco can show improvements in the first half of 2008, don’t be surprise to see him recalled in July or August to add fuel to the Phillies’ playoff run.”
Schoenweiss and Sosa Available for Trades
Good luck Omar! Scott Schoenweiss has 2 years and $7.2 million left on his contract. Jorge Sosa has one year and $2 million left. Look at last year’s numbers:
Schoenweiss: 70 games 0-2 5.03 ERA
Sosa: 42 games 9-8 4.47 ERA
Neither one of these two is a prize out of the bullpen. Hang on to your hat when they come in the game because it’s going to be a wild ride. Sosa can start but I don’t see him having much value there either. He started 14 games last year and wasn’t particularly effective.
Omar Minaya must be hoping that some desperate team for bullpen help will take one or both of these bad contracts off his hands.
Pedro Martinez’ Intangible Value
Ken Rosethal wrote a good article on the intangibles that Pedro brings to the Mets. It sounds like he’s about as healthy as he’s going to get. If that’s the case, the Mets will have one of the best, if the not THE best, one-two starters in baseball.
The Mets Report 