There was some activity on the transaction wire today for former Mets pitchers Jorge Julio and Jorge Sosa.
Julio was designated for assingment by the Cleveland Indians to make room for Jake Westbrook coming off the disabled list from a strained muscle.
Sosa was signed by the Houston Astros to a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Round Rock tomorrow.
Adam Rubin of the Daily News reported last night that the Mets couldn’t trade Jorge Sosa while he was on waivers and Aaron Heilman is being shopped around.
On Sosa:
The Mets placed reliever Jorge Sosa on unconditional release waivers after failing to trade him. Sosa was designated for assignment on May 13.
On Heilman:
The buzz among scouts is that the Mets are shopping Aaron Heilman. Of course, they’re looking for a set-up man – something hard to find.
I agree with releasing Sosa. There really wasn’t another choice. He was terrible. But trying to trade Heilman when his value is at an all time low? That doesn’t make sense. They should keep pitching him in blow out games to get his confidence back. I’m confident that he can get back to his old form. He just needs to get a few stable appearances under his belt.
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The New York Mets should continue the recent trend in baseball by locking up their young talent with long term contracts. The Mets have already done that with Jose Reyes and David Wright. So this practice wouldn’t be out of character for the team. Other teams have started getting in on this as well. Last month the Rays signed Evan Longoria to a six year deal.
John Maine deserves a long term deal now. The benefit is avoiding a contentious arbitration hearing where the team is forced into a antagonistic role of pointing out the players faults. The Mets have done a great job of avoiding that until this season when Oliver Perez beat the Mets in arbitration to earn $6.5 million this season. Continue reading “Mets Should Pay John Maine Now”
WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog just discussed several roster moves for the Mets today:
The purchase of Fernando Tatis’ contract is a bit of a surprise. Luis Castillo must be hurt enough so that the Mets feel like they need some infield insurance. Tatis can provide that if Castillo is out for a week or more.
Claudio Vargas will pitch Wednesday against the Nationals. Who knows what we’ll get from him? He was released by the Brewers for a reason, so don’t expect miracles from him. We should be thrilled to get five innings out of him. He was on the street a month ago.
The Nelson Figueroa dream comes to an end for now. He was a great story but just couldn’t get major league hitters out consistently. He was fantastic the first time through the order and may have been more suited for a relief role.
I’m ecstatic that Omar Minaya designated Sosa. This is best for the team despite the fact that they may have to eat $1.5 million of his salary if he doesn’t accept a minor league assignment. Joe Smith earned the right to stay on the team. I would’ve been livid if Minaya kept Sosa instead of Smith. It would have displayed a lack of concern for winning now. Not to mention the fact that it may have adversely affected Willie Randolph’s ability to keep his job. Good job Omar!
Nelson Figueroa didn’t solidify his position on the team tonight at all. He was wild giving up five walks and made a costly throwing error with the bases loaded. Figueroa gave up six runs, four were earned after his own error and a sloppy fielding error by Carlos Delgado.
Jorge Sosa came into the game in the sixth inning and threw some gas on the fire. He was just as awful as he’s been all season long, giving up four runs in the inning. Joe Smith struck out the side in the eighth making it more difficult to send him to the minors when Matt Wise comes back. The SNY team reported that Wise was sent back to Florida even though he’s healthy and ready to pitch.
The Washington Nationals were hitting everything from Figueroa and Sosa. When they weren’t hitting, they were taking walks. It was an ugly game for the Mets to lose to the lowly Nats. Odalis Perez, the pitcher, went 3 for 3. That’s how bad the Mets pitchers were tonight. Need I say more?
I have to comment on Elijah Dukes chanting in the dugout when the Nats were batting. I haven’t seen anything like that since Little League. I was hoping Billy Wagner would put one in his rib cage when he pinch hit in the ninth inning. That was completely Bush League.
Relief pitcher Matt Wise is in New York and ready to be activated from the disabled list. Reports from MLB.com state that Joe Smith will be sent to New Orleans. Willie Randolph was non-committal about whether Smith or Jorge Sosa would go when Wise came back if you listened to his interview on WFAN yesterday.
I’d prefer to see the Mets DFA Jorge Sosa. His $2 million salary and poor performance would most likely preclude him from being claimed from waivers. If he decided to become a free agent it would be fine with me.
Joe Smith has done a nice job with the Mets and doesn’t deserve to be sent down to New Orleans.
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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.
The Mets Report 