Category: Roster

Billy Wagner’s Comedy

Bart Hubbach of the New York Post writes that after last night’s game in Philadelphia Billy Wagner had some comments about the rude reception he received from the Philly crowd:

“They were booing so loud, I thought Schoeneweis was running in with me,” Wagner, an ex-Phillie, said of the reaction he received from the crowd during his ninth-inning appearance.

It’s good that they can joke about Schoenweiss being the target of frequent boo birds. Schoenweiss doesn’t put smiles on Mets fans faces but that comment from Billy made me laugh.

Latest Injury Updates

  • Carlos Beltran’s stiff neck is still bothering him when he looks to his left (bats right handed). But he didn’t even think about sitting out against Cole Hamels and the Phillies tonight.
  • Pedro Martinez is still working on his strained left hamstring with personal trainer Angel Persinal. You may remember his name from getting linked, at the Toronto airport, to a bag of performance enhancing drugs with Juan Gonzalez. Omar Minaya says Persinal is a Domincan legend and has no concerns about Pedro’s work with him.
  • Moises Alou played in an extended spring training game in Port St. Lucie, FL and got five at-bats. The Mets are encouraged by his progress but needs to be able to play in the field before going to the Florida State League.
  • Ramon Castro suffered some further tightness in his hamstring while running and is going for further evaluation.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

SI’s Heyman On The Mets

Jon Heyman’s Daily Scoop column has tidbits of information from around the major leagues. I’ll give you the Mets related stuff below or you can read the full column here.

  • While Moises Alou may be as close as 10 days away for the Mets, that four-to-six week estimate for Pedro Martinez‘s hamstring appears to have been a very optimistic scenario.
  • Mets outfielder Angel Pagan (.381 so far) has earned more playing time with his superb start. Pagan, a favorite of the front office, could find himself in a four-man outfield rotation once Alou returns. Carlos Beltran would miss less time than the others, but Mets people appear to like the way Cleveland’s four-man rotation works.
  • Manny Acta is treated like returning royalty by some members of the Mets front office when he comes back to Shea as Nationals manager — a little awkward considering he’s managing the competition. Imagine how great they’d think he is if his team didn’t have the worst record in the league at 4-10 (tied with the Tigers).

Pedro May Be Back in April

ESPN is reporting that Pedro Martinez spoke to Dominican television for an interview, and told them he may be back this month.

“We will give everyone the surprise of the month, I think, if things keep going well and there are no further delays,” Martinez said in an interview with television channel CDN-37 in the Dominican Republic.

Martinez has been in the Dominican visiting his ailing father and working out with a personal trainer. He’s scheduled to be back in Florida today.

Luis Castillo Needs More Rest?

Multiple media sources are reporting that Luis Castillo told the press after last night’s game that he needs more rest. The good news is that Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson are capable back up’s at second base. The bad news is that we have to watch Luis Castillo with the Mets for the next four years. His contract will probably be one of the worst in Mets history. There couldn’t have been any other teams offering anything close to that.

From MLB.com:

“Sometimes, I do [need a rest],” Castillo said. “When I play three or four games in a row, maybe I can get a day off. I’m going to ask Willie [Randolph] about it.”

Duaner Sanchez is Back!

Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez is back on the roster today. Carlos Muniz was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans to make room for him. It’ll be interesting to see how Willie uses him. I suppose he’ll need to build some trust that he can get outs consistently. Hopefully, before long he’ll be back to his old (really old) role as the eighth inning set up man, and move Aaron Heilman up to the seventh inning.

Pedro Martinez Return Delayed

Omar Minaya told the Post today that Pedro Martinez isn’t expected back until mid-May at the earliest and possibly into June. Martinez is recovering from a hamstring strain and the Mets want to be especially cautious with the fragile former Cy Young winner. Read the full story at the Post.

"Where's Pedro" sign at Yankee Stadium
Image details: "Where’s Pedro" sign at Yankee Stadium served by picapp.comhttp://pis.picapp.com/IamProd/javascript/imageV2.js?p=1326&i=15194&w=357&h=235&adH=90&adS=3&fv=picviewerv2_1.swf&pv=http://pis.picapp.com/IamProd/FlashSite/en/&u=http://pis.picapp.com/IamProd/ImageServing.aspx&sp=false&n=2