Tag: Nelson Figueroa

Troubled Oliver Perez Should Stay With Mets

Oliver PerezThere’s no disputing the fact that something, and maybe everything, is going horribly wrong for Oliver Perez this season. He’s made five starts now and is pitching to a 1-2 record with a 9.97 ERA. Obviously, he’s hurting the team and shouldn’t continue in the starting rotation. The only debate right now is whether he should be sent to Triple-A Buffalo or stay with the Mets in the bullpen in an attempt to right the ship.

I believe that Perez should stay with the Mets in the bullpen. He doesn’t even need to pitch out of the bullpen, but he should stay with the Mets not be banished to Buffalo.

The Mets should bring up Nelson Figueroa to take Perez’ spot in the rotation for one start. This will give Perez a chance to continue his work with pitching coach Dan Warthen and Johan Santana. Figueroa could take Ken Takahashi’s spot on the roster. Perez will have the pressure off him for 10 games and have a chance to just work on finding himself.

Perez is going to be a part of the Mets for the next three seasons. His 3-year/$36 million contract that he just signed assures him of that. So the Mets need to go forward with Perez on the major league roster and show some confidence in him. I think he needs that right now. The going is tough for him but it’ll get better. You can see it on his face that he’s disappointed in himself.

There are examples of established major league pitchers that have gone to the minors and come back better for it. Steve Trachsel did it for the Mets. But you can also look at Barry Zito with the Giants from last season. On April 29, 2008 Zito was off to an 0-6 start with a 7.53 ERA and was moved to the bullpen. He skipped a start and came back much better. He finished the season at 10-11 record after the bullpen move, and that’s with a bad team that finished the season 72-90. Take a look at Zito’s 2008 game log here. I could see the same type of season for Perez this year.

The Mets made a prett sizable investment in Perez this offseason. They shouldn’t give up on him after one bad month. He should stay with the team and work with the best pitching coaches in the organization. That means he stays with the major league team and works through his problems.

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Mets Designate Fossum, Call Up Takahashi

Casey Fossum was designated for assingment after today’s game against the Nationals. He pitched in 3 games for the Mets after getting called up from Triple-A Buffalo when Nelson Figueroa was DFA’d.

Ken Takahashi is a 40 year old lefty who’s pitched very well at Buffalo. He’s pitched in 6 games, going 11.2 innings and has a 0.77 ERA.

I’m not sure what the Mets didn’t like about Fossum. He did give up 3 hits and 3 walks to the Nationals today. But that’s nothing compared to the disaster that Oliver Perez threw today. Then again, Fossum doesn’t make $12 million/year. So I guess that’s what happens.

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Mets Sign Figueroa, Lamb

Mike LambNelson Figueroa re-signed with the Mets on a minor league deal after refusing a minor league assignment ealier this week. His free agency period was short lived so I assume that he couldn’t find anything other than a minor league deal.

Mike Lamb also signed a minor league deal with the Mets today. He’s primarily a third baseman and was cut by the Brewers after spring training. I doubt that we’ll see him in the majors this season unless there’s an injury. He’s probably filling a need at Triple-A Buffalo.

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Report: Mets Figueroa Will Become Free Agent

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Adam Rubin of the Daily News reports this morning that pitcher Nelson Figueroa will refuse an assignment to Triple-A Buffalo and become a free agent. The story here is that he was upset that the Mets designated him for assignment after his spot start on Sunday. Subsequently, he cleared waivers.

I can understand Figueroa being upset that the Mets started him and then immediately designated him for assignment. But the fact is that every team chose not to claim him on waivers. Even the Los Angeles Angels that are in the market for pitching right now didn’t claim him.

I think Figueroa is shooting himself in the foot with this move. Maybe he plans to pitch overseas or in an independant league. But that would virtually secure that he wouldn’t be in the major leagues this season. At least with Buffalo he has a chance to be back with the Mets at some point.

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Mets O’Day Claimed On Waivers; Appears Incognito

Texas Rangers (baseball)
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Darren O’Day has had an interesting week. He was waived by the Mets on Sunday to make room for Nelson Figueroa on the roster. O’Day was then claimed by the Texas Rangers from waivers and had to report to Toronto for the Rangers series with the Blue Jays.

According to MLB.com, O’Day appeared in his firt game wearing the unirform of Kason Gabbard. Apparently, he was home in Florida when he got the call from his agent that he was claimed off waivers. He flew to Toronto to meet up with the team and was told to go directly from the airport to the Rogers Centre where the Rangers were in the middle of a game. Then, he actually got into the game. But because this happened so fast the Rangers didn’t have a uniform ready for him.

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Mets Figueroa Clears Waivers

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Many of us were surprised that the Mets designated Nelson Figueroa for assignment after having a quality start on Sunday. The start came as a spot start in place of Mike Pelfrey who’s been suffering from some minor forearm tendinitis.

The Daily News reports that Figueroa has cleared waivers today so he can return to Triple-A Buffalo. He was placed on waivers so the Mets could add Casey Fossum to the roster as a second lefty in the bullpen. If Fossum keeps pitching the way he did last night we should see Figueroa back with the big league team soon.

There were some rumors that the Los Angeles Angels were looking at claiming Figueroa off waivers.

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Mets Figueroa Designated For Assignment

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Immediately after pitching six innings against the Brewers yesterday and giving up three runs, Nelson Figueroa was designated for assignment by the Mets. He had a nice spot start for Mike Pelfrey who is not going on the disabled list but resting after feeling some forearm tendinitis.

Casey Fossum was called up from Triple-A Buffalo to replace Figueroa on the roster. So Darren O’Day and Figueroa are now on waivers for the Mets.

I have to admit that I was surprised when I read that Figueroa was designated. He offers some good versatility in the Mets bullpen and has been pretty solid in every role that the Mets have asked of him. Fossum is a second lefty for the Mets bullpen that’s been a source of concern, but I got the feeling that the Mets weren’t overly concerned about Pedro Feliciano being the only lefty in the bullpen.

Hopefully, Figueroa will get picked up by a team that could use him at the major league level. If not, he could end up in Buffalo again and possibly back with the Mets at some point this season.

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