Omar Minaya In No Rush To Replace Moises Alou

Minaya insists that the Mets can replace Alou from within until early-mid May when he gets back from hernia surgery. I’ve been arguing here for some time about signing Barry Bonds. A right handed bat, with power, would be a better fit for this team though. The Mets could really use a right handed hitter that can play the outfield and first base.

I don’t believe that Minaya is looking within the organization exclusively to replace Alou. I believe that he doesn’t want to appear desperate publicly.  Sammy Sosa would be a fit if he could play first base, which I don’t see happening. Sosa wouldn’t be happy for long periods of time on the bench and occasional pinch hitting duty though.

There are rumors that Minaya is trying to work a deal with the Tigers for Marcus Thames. Last year he played in 86 games for the Tigers: .242 18 homers 54 RBI. He played 33 games at first base, 33 in LF, 9 in RF, and 6 at DH. The Tigers could use some help in the bullpen too. That’s where the Mets are trying to move some players. This could be a good fit for both teams.

Oliver Perez is Bad Again

Perez pitched against the Indians yesterday and had his second bad start of the spring. He’s one pitcher that really needs to find a “groove” in the spring. The other pitchers are just there to get their work in and build up to pitching 6+ innings per game. Perez can get so far away from the mechanics that are successful for him that he really needs to pull it together earlier than most pitchers.

Pedro Martinez Just “Okay” in First Simulated Game

Pedro’s first start of the spring was rained out on Thursday night. So he pitched a simulated game on Friday against Endy Chavez, Damion Easley, and two minor leaguers. His fastball was around 90 mph, change was good, but the curveball wasn’t there. Don’t read into this too much. He still has three weeks to get ready for his April 1st start in Florida.

Omar is Looking to Fill Some Gaps

Joel Sherman of the Post reports that Omar Minaya has to word out that several players are available for trades now. Joe Smith is apparently available now. Sherman writes:

Aside from Smith, the Mets also would consider trading Orlando Hernandez, Scott Schoeneweis, Jorge Sosa and Anderson Hernandez. Ruben Gotay, who was out of options and, thus, could not be sent back to the minors without facing waivers, also was on that list before injuring his foot.

The Mets will need to pay a big portion of Schoenweiss’ bad contract to unload him. That was one of Omar’s biggest missteps. Three years was utterly ridiculous for him.

Moises Alou is back in NY

Alou came back to have an MRI on his groin and found out that he has a hernia. He’ll be out four to six weeks. It’s hard to believe, at this point, how many injuries that the Mets have sustained already. Moises Alou is no stranger to injured reserve. We all know that but the Mets need some healthy bodies. They can field a team in spring training but I’m afraid to see what the roster will look like on opening day in Florida. March 31st isn’t that far away. They need to get healthy in a hurry.

Baseball Analysts: 2008 NL East Rookie Preview

The Baseball Analysts have a good site if you’re into stat-heavy analysis. Today they published their 2008 NL East rookie preview. The Mets have no rookies that expect to get significant playing time this year, so there’s no Mets on the list. But there are some rookies that sound pretty good like Cameron Maybin in Florida (from the Tigers) and Carlos Carrasco in Philly.

Of Carrasco they wrote:

“As mentioned above, the need to hurry Carrasco has been lessened, but the likes of Benson and Adam Eaton won’t keep him down for long. Carrasco has been moved through the system aggressively and has responded well, although his numbers did dip noticeably in Double-A. The biggest warning sign was the increase in his walk ratio (5.89 BB/9). That obviously has to improve. Although Carrasco handles lefties almost as well as righties in terms of batting average allowed (.252 vs LH, .248 vs RH at Double-A), lefties are much more successful at getting on base and hitting the ball hard .855 OPS vs .690 OPS at Double-A), which is something the soon-to-be 21 year old will have to work on. If Carrasco can show improvements in the first half of 2008, don’t be surprise to see him recalled in July or August to add fuel to the Phillies’ playoff run.”

Camreron Maybin

Carlos Carrasco