Listen to Wagner’s weekly spot on ESPN Radio with Michael Kay.
Category: Roster
Angel Pagan Day To Day
Pagan bruised his shoulder going after a pop up in Los Angeles yesterday. He made an tremendous catch but flipped over a short wall in left field into the stands.
It doesn’t sound serious and that’s great news for the Mets. Pagan has been making a really nice contribution so far this season.
Links: Jose Reyes and Oliver Perez
Jose Reyes– Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports writes about Reyes growing up in New York with the Mets. It’s a well written piece focusing on quotes from Reyes and Damion Easley. Despite the way that last season ended, particularly for Reyes, I’m convinced that he’s got a huge career ahead of him. He’ll be known as one of the best leadoff hitters ever by the time he’s finished playing.
Oliver Perez– Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes about Oliver Perez from the angle of his contentious arbitration hearing and impending free agency. The column contains plenty of Perez directed fluff from his agent, Scott Boras. Determining Perez’ value in free agency should be interesting because he’s such a wild card, no pun intended. He’s brilliant at moments and dreadful the next moment. I suppose Perez’ value will really depend on what other pitchers get on the free agent market in this coming off-season. Certainly, C.C. Sabbathia will be the big fish in the pond of free agency. Even though he’s had a tough start to this season, he’s got potential to be the #1 starter on most teams. After he signs, that will play a big part in determining how much value Perez has.
Mets Injury Report
Image via Wikipedia
Pedro Martinez– Threw in Port St. Lucie last Friday and again on Tuesday. The Mets are just seeing how he feels after throwing before putting him up against live hitters.
Orlando (El Duque) Hernandez– Doctors allowed him to take the boot off that he’s been wearing. He’ll be in Port St. Lucie starting a light running and throwing program.
Matt Wise– He’s pitching in a Florida State League game today. The Mets will evaluate his performance. He’s eligible to come off the disabled list now. The Mets want to see how he looks pitching back to back days.
Angel Pagan– He flipped over the railing into the stands catching a fly ball in Los Angeles. He stayed in the game for another inning but Endy Chavez substituted in left field for him. It sounds like it isn’t anything serious.
The big decision for the Mets will come when Matt Wise comes back. Do they DFA Joe Smith or Jorge Sosa? That seems to be the logical choice. Smith has options so it would be easier to do it that way. The problem is that Smith has been more effective than Sosa. This is sure to create a big debate among us in the near future.
Read the full story at ESPN.
Just Say No To Turnbow
Image via Wikipedia
Derrick Turnbow was designated for assignment by the Milwaukee Brewers and some stories have surfaced in the media that the Mets management is considering picking him up. The Brewers transaction took place on May 2nd and they have 10 days to trade him, place him on release waivers, or send him outright to the minors. Turnbow has no options so he could refuse an assignment to the minors.
The bottom line with him is that this is the third consecutive season that he’s been really bad. The Mets really don’t need another project on their hands in the bullpen. Rick Peterson has his hands full as it is.
“The Jacket” needs to concentrate on Jorge Sosa, Aaron Heilman, and Oliver Perez. There isn’t room for another problem pitcher. We all know about the famous line about how he could fix Victor Zambrano in ten minutes. He couldn’t do that… and he can’t fix Turnbow in ten minutes either.
Related articles
- Brewers jettison struggling ex-All Star Turnbow [via Zemanta]
Santana vs. Other Met Mid-Career Acquisitions
Baseball Crank has a great chart comparing Johan Santana against other mid-career pitching acquisitions the Mets have made. The comparison is through their first seven starts.
Santana looks pretty good but doesn’t compare to some like Al Leiter who was lights out in his seven starts in 1998. 
Thanks to The Hardball Times for the link.
Pedro Martinez Isn’t Close To Returning
Image via Wikipedia
I’ve been scouring the Internet today looking for an update on Pedro Martinez’ injury status. This is his sixth week on the disabled list since straining his hamstring in his first start of the season.
Finally, this evening MLB.com posted an update on what Martinez is doing. He’s still throwing side sessions from a bullpen mound in Port St. Lucie. He hasn’t faced live hitters yet but expects to as early as this week.
He’ll need to throw a simulated game or an extended spring training game first. Then he’ll need to make some rehab starts in minor league games. It could be a while before he’s back.
A month ago Pedro was making noise to Dominican newspapers about how he’s going to surprise everyone and be back in New York before the end of April. It’ll be interesting to see what the Mets do with the rotation when he gets back. Mike Pelfrey or Nelson Figueroa will be out. Pelfrey could go to New Orleans and work on his control. I’d prefer to see Figueroa stay in the rotation but he’s probably better suited to come out of the bullpen than Pelfrey.
The Mets Report 