Month: March 2009

Bernie Madoff Mets Tickets For Sale

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=789826&PublisherId=1326Bernie Madoff Pleads Guilty To $50 Billion Scheme To De-Fraud Investors

How much fun would it be to have swindler Bernie Madoff’s tickets for a Mets game? Or the whole season? It would be fantastic!

Madoff’s company seats are right behind home plate and are already paid for. The court appointed trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC will be liquidating assets, including the Citi Field season tickets, according to various media reports.

Irving H. Picard is the trustee of Madoff’s company assets in case you want to get in touch to buy some prime Citi Field tickets.

Mets Cut Seven Players; Roster Taking Shape

Jose ValentinYesterday the Mets announced that they were releasing Ron Villone. As I wrote when they signed him at the end of February, it hasn’t looked like Villone has had much left for a few years now. His 10.80 ERA in 5 innings of work just solidifed that opinion for me.

Nelson Figueroa, Jose Valentin, Rene Rivera, and Andy Green were reassigned to the minor league camp. Carlos Muniz and Cory Sullivan were optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

It looks like Jeremy Reed will be the fifth outfielder and Pedro Feliciano will be the only lefty in the bullpen. Bobby Parnell will likely make the major league roster to start the season. Its always nice to see some homegrown talent make it to the majors. But Parnell will need to prove that he belongs on the major league team by getting off to a good start in April.

I still believe that its going to become a problem with only one lefty in the bullpen. If you look at the Phillies’ heavy left-handed hitting lineup, the Mets need to match up against that lineup in the bullpen. If Feliciano is having an off-day, which he is prone to occasionally, the Mets need a backup plan to get lefties out. Will Ohman is still out there as a free agent. He’s rumored to be looking for a 1-year/$2 million deal which is far too much money for the Mets to spend on a reliever at this point. As the season starts, Ohman may reduce his demands as Joe Beimel did just to get back to playing again.

Audio: Mike Pelfrey, Mets News From ESPN Radio

Mike PelfreyMike Pelfrey joins Don La Greca on ESPN Radio to talk about his performance this spring. He also touches on comparing Jerry Manuel to Willie Randolph. And he admits that he occasionally lies about how he feels when the manager or coach asks him on the mound. I liked that he also plays COD (Call Of Duty).

Skip ahead to the 28 minute mark to listen to Rich Coutinho on Oliver Perez‘ poor performance today. They have some audio from Dan Warthen talking about Perez being out of shape. They discuss the fact that Perez gained weight since he left the Mets three weeks ago and the affect its having on his pitching.

ESPN Radio audio

Flickr photo courtesy of Alan Cordova

Mets Release De Los Santos; Cards Waive Royce Ring

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=775513&PublisherId=1326MLB: MAR 13 Spring Training - Cardinals at Orioles

The Mets decided to let Valerio De Los Santos go despite liking what the lefty brought to the table. He had a good power arm and worked well with the Mets younger pitchers. He pitched in 4 games this spring to a 4.15 ERA. It’s surprising that they couldn’t find a spot at Triple-A Buffalo for him. Ron Villone looked awful against the Tigers today. I just don’t see him filling the situational lefty role for the Mets this season with any kind of success. So far this spring he has a 10.80 ERA in 5 games.

In other news, the Cardinals waived former Met reliever Royce Ring. He’s always had decent success against left handed hitters (.229 BAA for his career). Although he only pitched in a small number of games for the Mets, he did have a good run in 2007. Last year he was terrible for the Braves though. But I think he could certainly compete against Ron Villone for the lefty specialist role in the Mets bullpen. It would be worth checking into if he clears waivers to see if the Mets can get him to agree to a minor league contract.

Video: Astros Top Mets, Pelfrey 8-0 3.24.09

Mike Pelfrey got ripped for 10 hits and 6 runs in 4.2 innings yesterday. I thought that Pelfrey was starting to roll but you never know what exactly is happening for pitchers in spring training. In some games they’re just trying to work on a specific pitch, their mechanics,  or location. So don’t take too much from this bad start.