Off Day Transactions
Omar Minaya used the off day to make some moves. Nothing earth shattering but just enough to rattle the roster. The first of the moves was the release of veteran right handed reliver Mike DeJean. DeJean had allowed 36 hits and 18 walks in 25 2/3 innings this season. The nail in the coffin for DeJean was his poor performance in Sunday’s game against the Mariners. When DeJean entered the game the team had a fighting chance. By the time he was done the Mets had no shot at winning the game or even staying in it.
Also yesterday, Kazuo Matsui was placed on the 15 day disabled list. Matsui suffered a bruised knee as a result of a hard slide by Oakland Athletics catcher Jason Kendall during a game ending double play last Thursday. With both Matsui and Miguel Cairo on the DL the tag team of Chris Woodward and Marlon Anderson will man second base for the Mets.
Dae-Sung Koo was activated off the DL to take DeJeans spot on the roster. The lefty Koo spent a significant amount of time this season as the only lefty in the Mets bullpen. he now joins Royce Ring as the two lefties in the bullpen. It’s about time this team had more than one lefty in the pen. Though neither Koo nor Ring has been all that spectacular the additional lefty will give manager Willie Randolph some more flexibility from the pen.
The Mets also recalled outfielder Gerald Williams from Norfolk. Williams was not doing so well for the Tides. I have to believe that he was brought up as experienced insurance for the Mets ailing starting outfielders, all of whom are suffering some kind of nagging injury the most severe of which is Mike Cameron, who had his right knee drained yesterday and claims he’ll be ready to play tonight in Philadelphia.
I have a feeling these moves signify that Minaya is ready to make some changes. Williams will be gone (probably released) in the next couple of weeks after serving his purpose. and with Randolph’s obvious loss of confidence in Matsui, the shortstop turned second baseman will probably be traded for whatever the Mets can get for him. Depending on what the team has to trade and who’s available. I’d look for a move to be made in the bullpen too. We shall see.
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Mets Sign Santiago
I guess Mike Piazza put a scare into Omar Minaya last week when he left a game against the Houston Astros in the first inning. Perhaps fearing the team was a little thin at catcher should Piazza get hurt and be out for any length of time the Mets signed free agent catcher Benito Santiago to a minor league contract. Santiago had been with the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier in the year before being given his release in May.
I’m guessing that Minaya was not satisfied with having Ramon Castro and Mike DiFelice share the catching chores should Piazza go down and was likewise not satisfied with the possibility of using AAA catcher Fernando Lunar. Santiago gives them a little more depth at the position and is a ‘nothing to lose’ proposition.
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Mets End Skid
Click here for a recap of yesterday’s game.
Carlos Beltran hit a 3 run homer in the 7 run 5th inning to give the Mets a lead they wouldn’t give up (no matter how hard Danny Graves tried). It was Beltran’s 8th homer of the year and first in a game not started by Pedro Martinez.
Kris Benson started shaky but then settled in to have a respectable outing (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB). Graves came in to pitch the 8th inning after Heath Bell pitched a perfect 7th. Graves allowed 4 hits and 3 earned runs in 1 inning. Not good for his first outing but the Mets were up 9-3 at the time so it was a good idea to for the coaching staff give him some work and see where he’s at to give them a starting point to work from. And it also allowed Braden Looper to come in to the game in the 9th in a save situation. Looper closed the game for his 13th save of the season.
Brian Daubach started at first base in his first game as a member of the team. He walked 3 times and scored twice.
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Quick Quiz
Q: How do you load the bases on walks with one out and fail to score any runs in the inning?
A: You put on a Mets uniform.
This quiz was inspired by the Mets pathetic display of hitting with runners in scoring position in the top of the fourth inning of today’s game against the Oakland Athletics.
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Wake Up, Doug Mientkiewicz
Doug Mientkiewicz is about to get a wakeup call. Brian Daubach was called up from AAA Norfolk to take Miguel Cairo‘s roster spot after Cairo was placed on the DL. Daubach is a first baseman and outfielder with some pop. Like Mientkiewicz, Daubach doesn’t hit for good average but he’s agressive and has a little pop in his bat. With Mientkiewicz hitting at around the Medoza lineyou can expect to get a good look at Daubach at first base. You can also expect to see him in the outfield with all three starting outfielders suffering from various ailments and needing a little more rest than they would if they were healthy. Daubach is a mjor league caliber player. He’s not the right answer to fixing first base (a Mientkiewicz type player who can hit at least as well as Mientkiewicz was expected too would suffice) but he gives Willie Randolph another option that he didn’t have before.
In the meantime you would expect Kazuo Matsui to get a vote of confidence now that his primary competition at second base is on the DL. But Randolph said he will not give the everyday job to Matsui. Instead Randolph said he’ll give some playing time to Chris Woodward and Marlon Anderson. Considering the two week timetable on Cairo’s return (he’s eligible to come off the DL on June 30) there’s not alot of time to be playing 3 guys at one position. I have a feeling that Matsui’s playing time won’t change much from what it’s been the last few weeks with Woodward and Anderson filling the time that would have been allotted to Cairo.
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Podcasting Mets Games… Revisited
I hate when the Mets play on the west coast. With a family at home that doesn’t give me much opportunity to watch games it’s hard enough for me to follow the team when we’re in the same time zone. Shifting them over to Pacific time totally throws me off. I’m lucky if I can watch any part of a night game since I need to get to bed so I can go to work the next day. This is one of many reasons why my proposal of podcasting Mets games is a good idea. Take a condensed version of the Mets broadcast on WFAN and put it in MP3 format for download to iPods (and other portable MP3 players) so that people can listen to them the next day on their commute to work or wherever. It would give us a chance to listen to a game that we would probably otherwise miss.
The problem with this, of course, is that MLB would probably want to control it and charge a crazy fee for it. But I’d still like to see this idea play out.
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Graves Finally A Met… Officially
The Danny Graves signing was finally made official yesterday and he was in uniform last night. The Reds will pick up the $6.25 million Graves was due under terms of his contract with them. The Mets will pay a prorated portion of the Major League minimum to Graves this year and own a $5 million club option for next year with a $500,000 buyout clause.
To make room for Graves on the roster Manny Aybar was designated for assignment.
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Floyd Picks Up Minky
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Cliff Floyd hit a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Mets a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The homer capped a wild game in which Marlon Anderson pinch hit an inside the ball park homer to tie the game in the 9th and Doug Mientkiewicz comitted a rare error that gave the Angels the lead in the top of the 10th.
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Barry Bonds – Racist?
An article in the Chicago Tribue quotes Barry Bonds as calling Ron Kittle an idiot for commenting in his book how Bonds said he doesn’t sign autographs for white people.
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Heath Gets His Bell Rung
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
The Mets bullpen, most notably Heath Bell, blew a good start by Tom Glavine. Bell gave up 3 runs in the 11th inning to turn a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 loss.
David Wright batted 5th in the order in place of Mike Piazza who is recovering from a bruised wrist suffered Wednesday in the first inning. Piazza said he should be ready to play this weekend. Wright hit his 10th homer of the season.
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