Mets Top Stories- 4.6.09

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I’m sure, like me, that many of you watched Derek Lowe and the Braves put the hammer down on the Phillies. Lowe threw eight shutout innings of 2-hit ball. Of course, the dreaded comparisons of Lowe and Oliver Perez are coming out already. Why didn’t the Mets sign Lowe instead of Perez? We already know why. Perez is nine years younger and costs $24 million less than Lowe.

Onto the top stories of the morning:

CBS Sports has a good recap of the opening night game the Phillies and Braves put on last night. Of course, Derek Lowe was masterful and Jordan Schafer hit a homer in his first major league at-bat. Who says kids shouldn’t do HGH?

Kevin McCarthy of Metsopolis writes a preview of the Reds-Mets series starting the season in Cincinnati.

Mets Prospect Hub posts the opening day roster for the 2009 Binghamton Mets.

Ben Shipgel of the New York Times writes about Johan Santana‘s increased comfort level with the Mets this season. He’s become more of a vocal leader with the departure of Pedro Martinez and is fitting in well in the locker room.

Sarah Green from Ump Bump has a good photo essay of her day at Citi Field on Saturday.

Darren Rovell of CNBC writes that the Citigroup executives will be conspicuously absent on opening day at Citi Field. They won’t be throwing out the first pitch as you would have expected a year ago. If they’re at the game at all, they’ll be hiding in their luxury boxes.

Mike Steffanos of Mike’s Mets writes the first part of his Key to the Mets for 2009 series. At the top of the list is the fact that the honeymoon is over for Jerry Manuel.

Mets Option Nick Evans To Triple-A

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Nick Evans was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo today to make room on the roster for OF Gary Sheffield. The move doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. In fact, it never made sense to me to keep Evans on the big league roster if he wasn’t going to get significant playing time. The guy just turned 23 years old in January. What good does it do for him to sit on the bench?

Evans needs to be playing every day at Buffalo. The best thing the Mets can do for him is to prepare him to be an everyday player. Hopefully, next season Carlos Delgado will be gone and Evans can take over at first base. Keeping him on the roster as a pinch-hitter and part-time player isn’t in his best interest or the Mets.

The bigger issue will be what the Mets do next Saturday to get Livan Hernandez on the roster. Most likely, they’ll release Marlon Anderson and keep Jeremy Reed as a defensive replacement outfielder. That makes the most sense to me. An option they have is to move one of the relief pitchers off the roster though. Bobby Parnell still has options so they could send him to Buffalo. But I think they like him and believe that he can make a contribution this season. My guess is that Marlon Anderson is waived.

On Deck: April 6- Mets At Reds [Game 1]

Johan SantanaNew York Mets (0-0 Road: 0-0) vs. Cincinnati Reds (0-0 Home: 0-0) 1:10 pm

Johan Santana (0-0 0.00) vs. Aaron Harang (0-0 0.00)

TV: ESPN Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets and Reds get things started for the 2009 season with Johan Santana and Aaron Harang dueling. Harang is looking to rebound from a tough season last year and the Reds look to surprise the National League with their new, younger lineup. The Mets are looking to redeem themselves from two straight late-season failures.

Visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans.

Wright Call Lands Sheffield For Mets

David WrightThe newest Met, Gary Sheffield, spoke to the media today after the last exhibition game of the season against the Red Sox. Sheffield talked about how his uncle, Dwight Gooden, had spoken to him over the years about signing with the Mets. But it never quite worked out, until now.

One interesting fact that came out during the press conference was that David Wright called Sheffield urging him to sign with the Mets. Jimmy Rollins from the Philadelphia Phillies and Dusty Baker from the Cincinnati Reds had also put calls into Sheffield.It seems that Sheffield was most impressed that Wright made the effort to get in touch with him about signing with the Mets.

From ESPN:

“When you have the face of the franchise making a call to you, that means a lot,” said Sheffield, who’s one home run shy of 500. “You never want to tell other people you’re going the other way, but when he made that call I made my decision.”

Apparently, David Wright really has some clout around baseball now. That’s great for a young guy that hasn’t been around that long to have established himself. We’ll see how much Marlon Anderson, Ryan Church, and Daniel Murphy appreciate Wright’s call to Sheffield. They’re the ones that stand to lose the most by Sheffield’s presence on the team.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Gary Sheffield, Mets Agree On Contract

gary-sheffieldMike Francesa is reporting on WFAN that the Mets have agreed to a contract with Detroit Tigers castoff Gary Sheffield. Its a good low risk, high reward move that could play a big part in the 2009 season for the Mets. Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reported that two Mets scouts met with Sheffield in Tampa on Wednesday for a workout at a college field. They wanted to see what Sheffield could do in the outfield. He hasn’t played the outfield regularly since 2005 when he played 131 games in right field for the Yankees.

This move may spell the end of Marlon Anderson‘s tenure with the Mets. Anderson’s contract was a mistake. The Mets shouldn’t have given him a 2-year deal before the 2008 season. The Mets will have to eat the $1.15 million that they owe him for 2009.

Sheffield shores up the possibility that Daniel Murphy and Ryan Church can’t handle playing the corner outfield spots every day. It also relieves the Mets of their lefty heavy lineup that’s been a concern for Mets fans throughout the offseason.

The other teams that were reported to be interested in Shef were the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Philles. A point that I haven’t heard anyone address to this point is that signing Sheffield keeps him away from the Phillies. The Mets haven’t engaged in that type of activity much in recent years but its not a bad idea. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been doing this to each other for years. There’s no reason that the Mets shouldn’t try to keep useful players like Sheffield away from the Phillies.

Overall, I think its a good move that will pay dividends for the Mets. The key is to make sure that Sheffield gets enough at-bats in the outfield to keep him happy. If he’s not happy with his playing time, he can cause real problems for this team.