Category: Roster

Mets Minaya Not Ruling Out Barry Bonds

SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 10: National League All-...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The New York Mets outfield has been decimated by injuries this season. Two thirds of the starting outfield that the Mets aniticipated would be there, hasn’t been there. Moises Alou was sidelined early in the season after hernia surgery. Now he’s on the shelf witha calf strain.

Ryan Church has suffered two concussions this season and a three week long stint on the disabled list. Now he’s back in New York being evaluated by neurologists for migraine problems.

Bart Hubbuch of the NY Post reports that Mets GM Omar Minaya was asked about signing free agent Barry Bonds last night in Philadelphia. Minaya didn’t say that they wouldn’t try to sign Bonds. He did say:

I would say that I’m going to focus on our guys and our guys hopefully will be OK.

Barry Bonds isn’t a perfect fit for the Mets. But he does add some needed depth to the outfield rotation. If the Mets aren’t able to secure a right-handed hitting corner outfielder/first baseman before the July 31 trade deadline, they should pursue Bonds. He isn’t facing charges of perjury until next year. Although he brings as much baggage as possible, Bonds isn’t suspended from playing Major League Baseball. He’s fair game to sign.

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Video: Ryan Church Explains Migraine Problems

This video is from the post game on Saturday when Ryan Church left the game against the Phillies after three at-bats with dizziness. I’m not so sure that I buy the migraine explanation after Church has had two concussions this season. I think there may be more to it than that. The video from SNY isn’t that great. There’s way too much camera time for the fat guy behind Church in the locker room, but listen to what he has to say anyway.

Link: The Demise of Johan Santana

FLUSHING, NY - FEBRUARY 06: (L to R) New York ...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Peter Bendix of Beyond the Box Score wrote an in-depth look at the premature demise of Johan Santana. Bendix’ post goes into great depth comparing his 2008 statistics versus prior years. There are several problems that I have with the analysis though:

  1. The author compares his current season performance averages versus complete prior year averages. Specifically, his strikeout rate and walk rate are compared to complete prior seasons. Santana is a notorious second half pitcher. Bendix’ comparisons should be made to the first 18 starts of past seasons or first 121 innings of past seasons for a more relative conclusion.
  2. Velocity of fastball and changeup are compared to prior seasons. The importance of velocity is debatable in my mind. As long as a relative difference in velocity is maintained between fastball and changeup, that’s what’s important. In the post-steroid era pitchers should be expected to lose velocity as they near 30 years old and beyond. The Mets knew they weren’t getting the 25 year old Santana with 265 K’s when they traded for him.

If you’ve read this blog in the past you know that I’m not down on Santana like some Mets fans are. Remember Carlos Beltran’s first season with the Mets in 2005? His line was: .266 BA| 16 HR| 78 RBI| 17 SB. We were all questioning 7 year/$119 million contract and whether he was a “New York guy”. Well, he responded in 2006 with this line: .275 BA| 41 HR| 116 RBI| 18 SB. That’s a “New York guy” in my book.

Bendix does a deep dive into Santana’s stats nicely but he fails to mention a few stats that would contradict his theory. Santana is on pace to give up fewer home runs than last season, has a lower ERA than his career average, and his 2008 WHIP of 1.192 is barely higher than his career WHIP of 1.103.

The point is that evaluating someone on half a season that’s been playing for nine years may not be the best sample size to utilize. Sure, his record is 7-7 but that’s hardly the best statistic to use to evaluate a pitcher’s performance as some Mets fans have. Give it time, Santana will be more than fine. He’ll be here until 2013 (or club option for 2014) so he has plenty of time to prove his worth.

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Phillies Tom Gordon To Disabled List

NEW YORK - APRIL 11: Tom Gordon #45 of the P...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Philadelphia Phillies announced today that relief pitcher Tom Gordon was going on the 15-day disabled list with elbow inflammation in his throwing arm. He’s been pitching this season with a partially torn rotator cuff, but apparently the elbow injury has become too much for him to pitch in back to back games.

Read the full story at Philly.com.

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El Duque Pitches Rehab Game

New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernández before...Image via Wikipedia

Orlando Hernandez began his rehab games today according the NY Post Mets Blog. He hasn’t pitched this season because of a bunion and a ligament problem in a toe.

Today he went four innings on 62 pitches giving up two runs (one earned). Hernandez gave up four hits and a walk to go along with six strikeouts.

After he left the game El Duque went to the bullpen and threw 15 more pitches.

What a shot in the arm it would be to get El Duque back! It seems to be so long since we’ve seen him pitch that I went back to look at his 2007 season stats. He started 24 games and pitched in relief in 3 more. He was 9-5 with a 3.72 ERA.

The only problem when (if, I should say) he comes back is which pitcher goes off the roster. Joe Smith and Mike Pelfrey are the only pitchers with options and Pelfrey isn’t going anywhere. The likely choice to be designated for assignment would be Tony Armas. He’s the last man in, so he’ll probably be the first one out. Not that he’s pitched that badly but he could be replaced by El Duque as the long man/spot starter rather easily.

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Mets In The News: Beltran, Reyes, El Duque, And More

This image is a candidate for speedy deletion....Image via Wikipedia

As the Mets prepare to face the Phillies today at 1:35pm, there are several stories circulating the newswire:

  • Mets manager Jerry Manuel told the press that he’s thinking of moving Carlos Beltran to second in the batting order so he sees more fastballs. I’m in complete agreement. Even moving him to third would be better.
  • El Duque is going to start his rehab work in Port St. Lucie this week.
  • Moises Alou is working out in NYC now. He’s expected to play a few rehab games with Brooklyn or Binghamton before returning to the Mets from his calf strain injury.
  • John Maine feels fine after experiencing cramping in his left forearm last night. He’ll be doing his regular workouts between starts.
  • A fan has filed notice to the City of New York that he intends to sue for $5.5 million after being hit in the face last August by a piece of Luis Castillo’s bat that shattered.
  • David Wright will not participate in the All-Star game home run derby.
  • Mike Lupica writes at the Daily News that Jose Reyes is the best shortstop in New York this season and gets picked on too much for the things he does on the field.
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Mets’ Church Unavailable Today

PORT SAINT LUCIE, FL - MARCH 01: Manager Will...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Ryan Church left last night’s game in Philadelphia complaining of dizziness. The Mets team doctors spoke to Church and feel that it’s a migraine situation not a recurrance of the post concussion syndrome. He missed two weeks on the disabled list last month due to concussion-related problems.

Church won’t play today against the Phillies in the third game of the four game series. He’s played so well this season for the Mets that it would be a real shame for him and the team if this was an ongoing problem.

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