2008 Spring Training Non Roster Invitees
| Pitchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
| — Tony Armas Jr. | R/R | 6-3 | 225 | 04/29/78 | |||
| 58 Andy Cavazos | R/R | 6-3 | 225 | 01/05/81 | |||
| 68 Ryan Cullen | L/L | 6-2 | 204 | 01/20/80 | |||
| 74 Joselo Diaz | R/R | 6-0 | 240 | 04/13/80 | |||
| 66 Nate Field | R/R | 6-2 | 205 | 12/11/75 | |||
| 27 Nelson Figueroa | R/R | 6-1 | 180 | 05/18/74 | |||
| 78 Eddie Kunz | R/R | 6-5 | 250 | 04/08/86 | |||
| 62 Jonathon Niese | L/L | 6-3 | 190 | 10/27/86 | |||
| 28 Juan Padilla | R/R | 6-0 | 200 | 02/17/77 | |||
| 75 Robert Parnell | R/R | 6-3 | 180 | 09/08/84 | |||
| 73 Ricardo Rincon | L/L | 5-9 | 210 | 04/13/70 | |||
| 76 Brant Rustich | R/R | 6-6 | 225 | 01/23/85 | |||
| Catchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
| 70 Robinson Cancel | R/R | 6-0 | 195 | 05/04/76 | |||
| 30 Raul Casanova | S/R | 6-0 | 235 | 08/23/72 | |||
| 71 Salomon Manriquez | R/R | 6-1 | 190 | 09/15/82 | |||
| 65 Gustavo Molina | R/R | 6-0 | 220 | 02/24/82 | |||
| 59 Mike Nickeas | R/R | 6-0 | 220 | 02/13/83 | |||
| Infielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
| 63 Michel Abreu | R/R | 6-3 | 245 | 01/02/79 | |||
| 64 Anderson Machado | L/R | 5-11 | 160 | 01/25/81 | |||
| — Olmedo Saenz | R/R | 6-1 | 230 | 10/08/70 | |||
| 17 Fernando Tatis | R/R | 5-10 | 175 | 01/01/75 | |||
| 22 Jose Valentin | S/R | 5-10 | 190 | 10/12/69 | |||
| Outfielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
| — Ben Johnson | R/R | 6-1 | 230 | 06/18/81 | |||
| 67 Fernando Martinez | L/R | 6-1 | 190 | 10/10/88 | |||
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Perez And Mets Headed For Arbitration
According to David Lennon the Mets and Oliver Perez are headed for arbitration. The Mets have not had an arbitration case go to hearing in 16 years. The hearing is scheduled for February 21.
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Livan Signs With Twins
Those fans hoping to see Livan Hernandez join the Mets starting rotation this season will be let down this afternoon when the Minnesota Twins announce they have signed the righthander. There were string rumors that the Mets would sign him if they couldn’t land Johan Santana. I still would like the team to acquire another starter and move Orlando Hernandez to the bullpen. Tony Armas Jr. is not that starter. But I suppose it could be much worse and I’m satisfied with starting the season with what they have right now.
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Mets Sign Armas To Minor League Deal
The Mets made a move to provide some depth at starting pitching after depleting their upper farm system of top prospects in the Johan Santana trade by signing Tony Armas Jr. to a minor league contract yesterday. After starting his career as a rising star in the Red Sox organization Armas career has fizzled out after stay in Montreal/Washington and Pittsburgh. He’s not the top of the line starter people thought he would be when he was coming up for Boston but considering he’s being brought in to help the AAA rotation and as insurance for the back of the Mets rotation the risk here is minimal.
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Many Open Questions
With spring training starting this week it’s time to to ask some questions that the Mets will be facing this season. Here are some I came up with. Feel free to leave your own in the comments.
- Top of the rotation – This is what Mets fans have been dreaming of all off season. Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez at the top of the rotation. But there are several question marks here. How will Santana adjust to National League hitters? Will having to bat affect his game? Will Pedro pick up this season where he left off last season or will he show signs of age and injuries past?
- Bottom of the rotation – Orlando Hernandez, Oliver Perez and John Maine appear to be the bottom of the rotation. Plenty of questions here. Is El Duque up to the task of starting every 5 days or will he show signs of the wear and tear that hurt him last season? Can Perez improve upon last season in his walk year? Will Maine be the pitcher he was in the first half of 2007 or the one he was in the second half? I’d actually like to see the Mets get another starter (Kyle Lohse? Bartolo Colon?) and have them compete with Hernandez for a spot in the rotation.
- Bullpen – Will Duaner Sanchez be able to return to the form he was showing prior to the injury he suffered in that cab in Miami? Before the injury he was arguably the best setup man in the game.
- Catcher – Will the tandem of Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro do any better than that of Paul Lo Duca and Castro? Or even Johnny Estrada and Castro?
- Outfield – Is Ryan Church a good enough outfielder to complete a championship caliber starting lineup?
- Bench – The starting lineup is one of the strongest in the league. But what about the bench? Will there be enough punch there?
These are just some of the questions I’ve been thinking about going into spring training. Feel free to ask your own in the comments.
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PETA Gets On Pedro
Yesterday’s news about Pedro Martinez and cockfighting got under the collar of PETA who issued a letter calling for Pedro to apologize. Pedro and the Mets released separate statements but neither issued an apology. Both said that cockfighting is legal and part of the culture in the Dominican Republic.
Personally, though I don’t support cruelty to animals, I think everyone should shut up and let this story die because there’s really nothing there. The only thing this incident stirs up is memories of Little Jerry Seinfeld.
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Church Signed
The Mets avoided arbitration with Ryan Church by signing the outfielder to a 1-year, $2 million deal.
Oliver Perez is the last remaining arbitration eligible player on the roster. Omar Minaya has a good track record for avoiding arbitration having never gone into spring training without having all of his arbitration eligible players signed but he’s got a tough task ahead of him with Perez who is asking for $6.5 million. The Mets have offered $4.725 million. That’s a big gap to close and may make Perez the first player the Mets go to a hearing with since Minaya took the general managers position.
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Pedro At The Cockfights
A video showing Pedro Martinez and Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal serving as honorary “soltadores” at a cockfight in the Dominican Republic. “Soltadores” are those who release the animal at the start of the fight. Cockfighting is legal in the Dominican Republic so Pedro didn’t break a law. However considering it’s looked down upon (to the point of being illegal) in the United States you’ll hear some animal rights people complain about Pedro’s involvement. This is really not a big deal and yet another non story.
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Santana Introduced At Shea
Johan Santana was introduced at Shea yesterday. This was one of the biggest non-events I’ve seen in a while. We already knew he was a Met. We already knew what he would say (I’m glad to be in New York, baseball is a team game, etc.). There was really nothing new. It was nice to see him don a Mets shirt and cap but I’m over the excitement of the acquisition and I feel the next step is when he reports to spring training next week and not yesterday’s photo op.
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Mathematically Alive Live Chat and Radio Show
The folks who made Mathematically Alive will be doing a live chat tonight at 8 at The Happy Recap. Login early as you will need to register before joining the chat.
They will also be doing a radio show this Saturday at 1 PM with the guys from the Seven Train to Shea blog.
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