Here’s some video from ESPN with Fernando Martinez being called up to the Mets to replace Jesus Feliciano on the Major League roster. He talks about getting scratched from the Triple-A Buffalo lineup on Friday but not being told what was happening. He didn’t know if he was being traded or called up to the Mets.
http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf
According to Adam Rubin of ESPN, the Mets have released Alex Cora and demoted Jesus Feliciano to Triple-A Buffalo. In corresponding moves, Fernando Martinez and Ruben Tejada are being called up and will be with the team tonight in Philadelphia.
Cora is in his second season with the Mets but hitting only .207 this year in 62 games. The problem with Cora is that his $2 million option for 2011 would vest when he played 80 games in 2010 which he would certainly reach. Management decided to nip that in the bud and release him.
Cora is a popular figure in the Mets clubhouse and a leader on the team. It’ll be interesting to see how the players respond to this adversity. Clearly, the message is that nobody is immune from being shipped out if they don’t perform.
Martinez and Tejada wouldn’t be joining the Mets if they weren’t going to get significant playing time. They’re both young, rising stars in the Mets organization. There’s no point in planting them on the bench. So you would expect other moves to be made to clear out more playing time for them. Specifically, Luis Castillo and Jeff Francoeur will probably be the next Mets players to go.
http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsHere’s some video from ESPN with Omar Minaya talking about the Mets lack of activity at the non-waiver trading deadline yesterday. The biggest issue he talks about is that other teams were interested in the Mets young players that are making an impact in the bigs this year like Jon Niese, Josh Thole, Ike Davis, and Bobby Parnell.
It wouldn’t make sense to me to trade those guys for a rental pitcher like a Ted Lilly or Jake Westbrook. The Mets are 6.5 games out of the division and the wild card today. It wouldn’t make sense to make bold moves when they’re not really in either race at the moment.
The Mets need to keep working hard to unload the dead weight on the roster in August. It’s a guarantee that Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo will be going through waivers this week. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jeff Francoeur went through waivers this month either. There’s no chance he’ll be offered arbitration after this season. So there’s no reason not to put him through waivers to see if there’s a taker out there.
Here’s the video:
http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf
http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js“Mets are in no position to deal prospects of any worth at this point.” -David Lennon of Newsday Long Island
One month ago I would have disagreed with this tweet, as would most Met fans, but at this point I wholeheartedly agree. The team has basically let their season unravel and has not been able to overcome key obstacles. We are now seeing the Mets for what they really are, a flawed .500 caliber baseball club.
The asking price of many of the players on the block is far too high in my opinion to begin with. With the Mets sinking lower and lower in the standings, to trade away the team’s young talent in an act of desperation now would make no sense. Although the Mets do have some promising young players on the farm, the depth of the system is still a concern. The Mets are simply in no position to dispatch prospects in an effort to get climb back into the thick of the race.
As dissatisfied as I was that Omar Minaya didn’t make a move when the team looked like they would stay in contention, I can’t say that I really believe that any pitcher, except for maybe a Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt, would have made a significant difference. During the recent stretch that has buried the Mets in the standings, the offense, or lack thereof, has been the team’s primarily fault. This is after fans were calling for Minaya’s head for not acquiring a top of the line starting pitcher. I’ll admit, I was one of them.
Although the front office failed in the Lee and Oswalt sweepstakes, I was happy that Omar did not give up Jon Niese or Ike Davis, as I view those two as cogs of the future and trade untouchables. Recently, it was understood that the Astros were asking for Josh Thole and Bobby Parnell in exchange for RHP Brett Myers or perhaps LHP Wandy Rodriguez. Thole looks to be the catcher of the future and Parnell seems to be progressing nicely in his development. Neither of those pitchers are worth Parnell and Thole in my opinion. Continue reading “Mets Quiet at 2010 Trade Deadline”
This is a guest post by frequent commenter and occasional ranter MetStatHead. The non-waiver trading deadline always brings out some strong feelings in fans and this season is no different. Here are four ways to fix the Mets.
Start Fresh
This team is in need of an overhaul. It starts with the GM Omar Minaya. For years the Mets have forgone the MLB draft and used its resources in Latin America and Asia. The MLB draft produces many Major League ready players and prospects. The team consistently ranks in the bottom third of Minor League systems because of the lack of Major League ready talent. Take a look at the Washington Nationals, they have on their team a handful of drafted players that have pitched and played in college. These players know how to play the game and win. Often times these players are polished and need little work before they climb the ranks in the minors. The Nationals are a team to be admired.
I would like to see the Wilpons clean house. A new GM, coaching staff, and medical staff. Bring in some former Mets that have experienced winning, either with the Mets or with other teams. Bring in a big name coach if needed, but this management needs to be released. Continue reading “4 Ways To Fix the Mets”
http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsDo you? Because I don’t buy it at all.
You can recycle that ad campaign for next year because it doesn’t look like the Mets will be coming back this year. The season is starting to slip away fast and this will be the third year in a row that the Mets, who again have one of the highest payrolls and the some of the best talent in the league, will just choke it all away.
On my very first article for the Mets Report I predicted that the Mets were no better than a 4th place team. The Mets are now ½ game out of fourth and it looks like my prediction may come true.
Despite the fact that I didn’t predict the wonderful additions of Ike Davis and Angel Pagan as true everyday players, which should have made them wild card contenders this year, I did get the feeling that with Omar Minaya in charge the Mets would make an early run and then drop out of the race yet again. Continue reading “2010 Mets – We Believe in Comebacks!”
http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsIf Omar Minaya was smart, he would contact the Mariners’ Jack Zduriencik about trading bad contracts before the non-waiver trading deadline. I have to imagine that the Mariners would love to dump Chone Figgins after the fight in the dugout on Friday with manager Don Wakamatsu. Obviously, the Mets would love to unload their own bad contracts, i.e. Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo.
The funny thing is that the money is pretty even. Castillo and Perez are owed a combined approximately $25 million over the next year and a half. Figgins is owed about $29 million through 2013 plus he has a vesting option for 2014 for $9 million if he gets 600 plate appearances in 2013. The money is fairly close.
The Mets would appear to be getting the better player in the deal but they’d be absorbing more money and potentially more risk if Figgins continues to be a problem. He’s also 32 years-old and his offensive numbers have fallen off a cliff this year. There’s the added risk that he’s in a severe performance decline and the Mets are stuck with a long-term contract for him.
I think it’s a nice “change of scenery” deal for both teams that the Mets had luck with last season when they moved Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur. I don’t think it would be as easy as the deal with the Braves. But the Mets would probably have to throw in a prospect to make it work. Continue reading “Chone Figgins To Mets Trade Could Work”
The Mets Report 