The ESPN Baseball Tonight crew talks about Randolph’s job security as the team heads to Los Angeles to face the Angles. Steve Phillips says that it looks like Randolph will be replaced.
Category: Latest News
The Mets Head West Again To Face Angels
It seems like the Mets have spent half of the first portion of this season out west. Tonight they’re on their way to Los Angeles for a series against the Angels of Anaheim, or California, or Los Angeles. I can’t keep up anymore. So wherever the Angels are from, they’re a good team playing to a 41-28 record which is good enough for first place in the AL West. That’s a .594 clip which is a far cry from the Mets disappointing .485.
Angels Stadium of Anaheim
I haven’t found any reports that Willie Randolph wasn’t on the flight to LA. So as far as we know the same coaching staff is intact. I’m sure that we’ll hear plenty more about that over the coming days. Since we don’t get to see the Angels much here in the National League East, I thought that I would take some time to talk about how they’re doing this season.
The Angels have been one of the best teams in the American League since Mike Scioscia took over the team in 2000. Under his guidance the team has never finished below third place in the Western division and has four first place finishes.
The Angels current injuries are:
Their statistical team leaders are:
Source: Yahoo Sports
We’ll get to see Vlad Guerrero again unfortunately. I hoped we had seen the last of him when he left Montreal. And it’s hard to believe that K-Rod has 27 saves already. Joe Saunders is having a terrific year going for his 10th win tonight so we’ll miss him in this series. It looks like the Mets will have their hands full with this team.
June 14 Mets- Rangers Game Postponed
The Mets-Rangers game tonight is rained out and will be made up tomorrow. The Mets and Rangers will play an unusual single admission double header starting at 1:10pm. John Maine will pitch the first game and Pedro Martinez the second game.
Tickets for tonight’s game will not be accepted tomorrow. You can exchange them for another game that has available tickets.
Video: Kurkjian On Replay And Randolph
ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian talks about the prospect of instant replay being utilized in Major League Baseball this season. He also addresses the possibility that Mets manager Willie Randolph could be fired any day now. He said that it’s his understanding that Randolph’s job is being evaluated on a day-by-day basis.
Juan Rincon Refuses Triple-A Assignment
The Minnesota Twins designated reliever Juan Rincon for assignment on Friday. They asked him to accept an assignment at Triple-A Rochester but he refused. The Twins now have 10 days to trade him or release him.
Rincon has a one year contract for $2.475 million. Last year and the beginning of this season have been pretty bad for him. Check out his career statistics (click to enlarge):
Source: Baseball Reference
He’s pitched in a lot of games in his career and is only 29 years old. It would be worthwhile for Omar Minaya to get a scouting report on him from Johan Santana.
If Minaya is looking at making some deals before the non-waiver deadline this season, the bullpen is an area that they could use as bait. Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoenweiss, and Joe Smith could all have value in trades for more consistent offense at first base and the outfield.
Roster Changes A Long, Difficult Road For Mets
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.
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Mets Trade For Trot Nixon
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.
The Mets Report 