Texas Rangers (34-35) at New York Mets (32-34) 7:10pm
Kason Gabbard (1-2 4.75) vs. Pedro Martinez (1-0 6.91)
What to watch: After rumors spread yesterday that Willie Randolph was on the verge of being replaced, the Mets got a big win. The Rangers are an interesting team with huge hitters and almost no pitching. The Mets offense needs to continue to take advantage of the inadequate Rangers pitching staff.
For weeks I’ve been hoping that the Mets would settle on a direction to go for this season. There are two choices: change the manager or change the roster. The acquisition of Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamond Backs may signal that Mets GM Omar Minaya is going to give the latter a try.
Although I hope that Minaya has decided to pursue roster changes, there are a few problems that I have with the Mets organization. First, they shouldn’t leave Willie Randolph twisting in the wind for a variety of reasons. Second, the Mets roster is going to be difficult to make significant changes to, and it will take time to implement.
Minaya has offered tepid support for Randolph twice over the last two weeks. The lack of substance to this support has left the players, and certainly Randolph, wondering when the shoe is going to drop. The Mets need to eliminate this distraction and offer full support such as, “Willie is our manager for the rest of the year” or not talk about Randolph’s job security at all. Going half way with his support isn’t helping the situation. Minaya has to be smart enough to know that.
Continue reading “Roster Changes A Long, Difficult Road For Mets”
The Mets acquired Trot Nixon from the Arizona D’Backs. Nixon has been playing for the Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders this season. His line is .309/ .437/ .558 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs, and 31 RBI’s in 181 at-bat’s over 58 games.
Mets GM Omar Minaya announced the trade immediately after tonight’s game against the Rangers. He expects Nixon to be at Shea tomorrow in time for the second game against the Rangers. The Mets traded cash or a player to be named later. Most likely Robinson Cancel will be headed right back to New Orleans.
Nixon is 34 years old. His major league career spans eleven years, most recently with the Cleveland Indians last season. Typically most telling is his 162 game average which is .275/ .364/ .466 with 20 home runs and 83 RBI’s.
He has a reputation as a hard-nosed, gritty player. That’s something that the Mets seem to be lacking this season. Nixon made $3 million last year with the Indians and signed a one year minor league deal with the D’Backs this season.
Manager Willie Randolph needed a win tonight and he got one thanks to Oliver Perez. He went seven innings giving up one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. The bullpen actually did the job tonight too. Scott Schoenweiss pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Duaner Sanchez a perfect ninth.
Things were dicey early when Josh Hamilton hit a long homer to left field off Perez in the first inning. But Perez recovered nicely.
The offensive stars were Jose Reyes who went 2 for 4, scored two runs and had a stolen base. Perez also had a two RBI single to left in the sixth inning that drew applause from the Mets dugout.
Lenny Dykstra is the subject of a scathing column in Forbes.com this month entitled “Piggyback”. I won’t get into the legal mumbo jumbo but it basically says that Nails has a shadow stock picker working behind the scenes to make him appear successful.
The column describes in gory detail Nails’ failed deal to work with Doubledown Media, LLC and the lawsuits and counter suits that have ensued.
I don’t typically scour Forbes.com but did take notice of the post on Deadspin.
Prior to tonight’s game Mets GM Omar Minaya addressed the rumors swirling that manager Willie Randolph’s firing is imminent. Minaya re-affirmed his statements from two weeks ago that Randolph has his support and the support of the Wilpons. However, he didn’t commit to Randolph managing the Mets for the entire season.
There were plenty of columns written on the topic this afternoon. Perhaps the best one was written by Fox Sports.
Some quotes from the column:
"Bottom line is, I’m just not going to answer every report that’s out there," Minaya said. "This is a game of performance and you have to do certain things."
Minaya didn’t rule out personnel changes, either, and said: "Nobody is untouchable."
"They tell us he’s going to be here. He’s our manager and nothing has changed," Carlos Beltran said. "It’s been rough lately but we need to move on. We need to play better, that’s the bottom line."
Once again, we get a statement of support for Randolph that lacks emphasis. If they’re going to keep Randolph they need to come out and say that he’s here for the year. Until then, the speculation will continue. Clearly, this is a distraction for the players.
The New York Mets and New York Yankees will play a day-night doubleheader on Friday June 27 to make up the rainout from May 16. The games that day will be:
The Mets Report 