Category: Minors

John Maine Rehab Assignment To Begin

NEW YORK - JULY 10: John Maine #33 of the New...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Mets pitcher John Maine will begin a rehab assignment for the Binghamton Mets in Trenton on Sunday. He says that he’ll need one more start after that before re-joining the Mets. He’s been on the disabled list for right rotator cuff tendinitis.

Maine can rest and rehab all he wants, but if he doesn’t re-gain his velocity there’s no way that he’ll be an effective pitcher. He just doesn’t have the control or secondary pitches to throw a sub-90’s fastball successfully.

The big issue for Maine is that he’ll be a free agent after this season and likely pitching somewhere else in 2011. This is his third straight season with health problems and he’s become a guy that can’t stay healthy and hasn’t been effective when he is healthy.

Maine will return to the starting rotation when he comes back, likely next week. The only reason he’ll get a rotation spot is because Hisanori Takahashi has been equally awful in his last two starts.

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Matt Harvey – Mets 2010 Draft First Round

The Mets selected RHP Matt Harvey with the seventh pick in the first round of the 2010 MLB draft. Most projections had him ranked around the 20th best player in the draft. But a lot of the baseball draft is based not only on skill but the ability to sign the player. Harvey went to high school in Groton, CT and attended the University of North Carolina.

Harvey was drafted out of high school in the third round (118) by the Angels but never signed. He had a poor sophomore season at UNC but bounced back this season. He’s got a high 90’s fastball but struggled with control and was worked very hard at UNC including a 156 pitch start this year.

Here are some links to scouting reports:

MLB Trade Rumors

MLB.com with video

Amazin’ Avenue

And click “Continue Reading” to see some video of Harvey pitching at UVA last month. Continue reading “Matt Harvey – Mets 2010 Draft First Round”

Video: Mets’ Minaya on Beltran, Matthews, Castillo

Luis Castillo batting for the New York Mets on...
Image via Wikipedia

Mets GM Omar Minaya addressed the media before last night’s game to talk about a flurry of roster moves the Mets made and the one that will be made today. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Gary Matthews – designated for assignment and will go home to count his money
  • Luis Castillo- on the 15-day disabled list for his bad foot/gimpy legs
  • Ruben Tejada- re-called to play second base
  • Omir Santos- re-called because Henry Blanco is slightly hurt
  • Jon Niese- starting tomorrow and they need to find a roster spot but Oliver Perez won’t leave

Carlos Beltran also played in an extended spring training game but didn’t run. So he’s starting to work his way back.

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

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Mets’ Oliver Perez Not Going Anywhere

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 28: Starting pitcher #46...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The continuing Oliver Perez saga has taken a few turns but the result has been the same. Perez isn’t accepting a demotion to the minors. He isn’t going to Florida to see a sports psychologist and he wants to know who the anonymous teammates are that told the media that he should go.

He told Fanhouse that he’s staying to work through his problems with Dan Warthen and Randy Niemann. He has to start prepping himself to pitch in New York again and that could get really ugly. There’s been a lot of talk about booing home players over the past couple of years. This one could be off the charts though.

Check out what Perez had to say when asked about the teammates that told the media that he should go.

Audio- Oliver Perez

The fans and the media are calling loudly for him to go including the Times drawing a comparison to Dontrelle Willis and the Daily News as well. But none of that could compare to the barrage of boo’s he’ll get the next time he pitches at Citi Field.

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Mets’ Oliver Perez Should Refuse Minors

New York Mets starting pitcher Oliver Perez reacts after being pulled from the game at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsIt’s probably safe to say at this point that we’re all tired of Oliver Perez and his lack of focus, free-wheeling side-arming, and general lack of any semblance of pitching ability. Now, we’re hearing from the NY Post that some anonymous Mets players want him off the roster. I’m not so sure I believe that story from the Post. But it’s coming to a point soon when the Mets will have to do something about Perez.

John Fitzgerald of Mets Today wrote a good post today summarizing the different storylines surrounding Perez and the Mets attempts to get him to agree to go to the minors. The organization is continuing to try to convince him and his agent, Scott Boras, that it’s in his best interest to work out his problems in Port St. Nowhere or Buffalo.

I’m going to reiterate what I wrote two weeks ago. If you look at the situation from Perez’ perspective, he should refuse an assignment to the minors. Page 63 of the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2007-2011 is very specific about assignment of contracts. Perez falls in the category of a player that has the right to approve assignment to a minor league team. Continue reading “Mets’ Oliver Perez Should Refuse Minors”

Mets’ Jon Niese Makes Rehab Start Monday

Jonathon Niese
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

According to the Buffalo News, Jon Niese will be making an injury rehab start tomorrow afternoon for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in their series opener against the Syracuse Chiefs. Niese has been on the DL since May 17 with a hamstring strain.

Niese made 16 starts for Buffalo last year with a 3.82 ERA. So far for the Mets this season he’s 1-2 with a 4.79 ERA in eight starts.

Niese’s return will continue to solidify the rotation for the Mets. Fernando Nieve will go back to the bullpen and the Niese will slot back in. The additions of R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi have made a big difference in the consistency of the Mets over the past two weeks.

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Video: 2010 MLB Draft Preview

Here’s some video from Fox Sports with Jim Bowden previewing this year’s amateur draft. Bowden’s mock draft has Bryce Harper going first to the Nationals and the Mets with the seventh pick drafting catcher Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is a junior at the University of Miami and a 2010 preseason All-American.

http://img.widgets.video.s-msn.com/flash/customplayer/1_0/customplayer.swf<br/><a href=”http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/bowden-mlb-draft-preview/12uzjwo5?fg=sharenoembed” target=”_new”title=”Bowden: MLB draft preview”>Video: Bowden: MLB draft preview</a>

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