Schoeneweis Off The Hook
Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis avoided suspension yesterday when MLB announced that
Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons would be suspended for the first 15 days of the 2008 season for receiving shipments of human growth hormone (HGH). MLB decided that there was insufficient evidence to suspend Schoeneweis.
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More Pitching Updates
- The Mets will reportedly need to give up John Maine if they hope to land Oakland’s Dan Haren. It also seems that no longer having Lastings Milledge as a bargaining chip may hurt the Mets run at Haren.
- Livan Hernandez remains a possibility if the Mets fail to land Johan Santana, Haren or Erik Bedard. In other words you can look for him to be in a Mets uniform next summer.
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Pitching Update
Pitching is the key word for the Mets this off season so let’s take a quick look at what’s going on there.
- After being thought to be out of the race for Johan Santana because of a refusal to deal Jose Reyes the Mets have been linked to the Twins in negotiations for the star pitcher. This was reported by one source without very much detail. Other sources have said that the Twins don’t like any of the Mets high prospects. All it means is that it could still happen but it probably won’t.
- Rumor has it that David Wells has been trying to get the Mets attention. Wells reportedly is looking for a one year deal.
- There are rumors that the Mets brass is considering moving Aaron Heilman back into the rotation. This obviously makes sense regardless of if a front line starter is acquired. Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber obviously need more time to develope and Heilman has wanted to start all along. What have you got to lose by letting Heilman start and buy some time for Pelfrey and Humber to reach the heights that are expected of them? The worst that can happen is Heilman flops, is moved back to the bullpen and you’re back to where you were. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
- The Mets are among a few teams that have requested the medical records for Freddy Garcia. Garcia had shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him out until June but there are a few teams interested in the free agent due to the lack of available pitching.
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Willis, Cabrera Go To Detroit
The Florida Marlins have traded Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers for 6 prospects. That’s good news for the Mets as they will not have to deal with the players anymore. However it means that the Mets have missed out on another good pitcher this off season.
Though it seems like Omar Minaya is sitting on his hands I think he actually wanted Willis but got rebuffed. Minaya was quoted as saying “Sometimes a player is available but, he’s not available to you. There are teams that don’t like to trade in the division.” Sounds like Omar is a bit sour at not having the chance to bid on Willis.
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Mets To Play In Civil Rights Game
On March 29 the Mets will close out spring training in Memphis, Tennessee against the Chicago White Sox in the 2008 Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game. Last year the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians played in the inaugural Civil Rights Game. Who knew?
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Minaya In Denial?
The following quotes were attributed to Mets GM Omar Minaya yesterday:
If there’s front line starting pitching out there, we are going to have dialogue with those teams. That beings said, we are going to talk to clubs. Deals don’t have to happen here. A lot of times conversations are going. I remember when I was here with Bartolo Colon. Well, he didn’t get moved here… We don’t feel we have to deal for a big pitcher.
Sounds to me like Minaya is either in denial or finding himself shut out of deals for the players he wants and needing to put on a good face in public. I’d think it was the latter but I won’t rule out the former.
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Rubin: Mets Could Get Colón
In yesterday’s New York Daily News Roger Rubin suggests the Mets may sign Bartolo Colon. Angels assistant GM Ken Forsch has said that the Los Angeles Angels will not offer Colon salary arbitration and let him become a free agent. He could be had relatively cheap and may be worth a try considering the Mets limited resource of prospects to use in a trade.
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Minaya Defends Milledge Trade
Omar Minaya on the trade that sent Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider:
Before we made this trade, we checked around with some of the teams and said, ‘Will this compromise or hurt the possibility of getting the trades done with the players we’re talking about? They said, ‘No, you have enough players to do a deal without that player involved.’
With the winter meeting this week we shall see how true that is.
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Milledge Traded?
News is breaking as I type this that the Mets have traded outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider.
David Lennon at Newsday is reporting this as if it’s a done deal.
I have been growing tired of waiting for Milledge to mature and break out so I won’t mourn his loss (at least until he ends up breaking out in the coming season). Church will be inserted into the cloudy mix that is the Mets right field situation. Schneider will probably take the place that most people figured Johnny Estrada would take. If that’s the case then Estrada will likely be released.
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Torrealba Signs With Rockies, Agent Not Happy With Mets
Yorvit Torrealba finalized a 2 year, $7.25 million contract with the Colorado Rockies. This should put an end to any discussion Torrealba and the Mets. But just when you thought it was over Torrealba’s agent, Melvin Roman, had this to say:
I’m disappointed how the whole situation was handled by them. Yorvit is 100 percent healthy. I’m talking to the Players Association and we’re investigating where to go from here… We agreed to the terms, pending on him passing the physical and then according to them, he didn’t pass the physical.
Roman also said the Mets claimed Torrealba had a partially torn shoulder. But the Rockies doctors and respected orthopedic surgeon James Andrews said Torrealba is healthy.
Mets general manager Omar Minaya has not commented about this yet. Odds are we won’t hear anything from Minaya until the players association actually files a grievance. Until then there’s really nothing to comment about.
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