Radomski Names Names
Former Met clubhouse assistant Kirk Radomski, who pleaded guilty to charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, has reportedly named names to Major League Baseball’s chief steroid investigator, former Senator George Mitchell. Part of Radomski’s plea deal calls for him to testify for a grand jury if needed and to cooperate with MLB’s investigation.
This is a major step for baseball’s investigation which has been extremely slow due to lack of cooperation from players (surprise!). So far the only cooperation they’ve gotten from a player has been from Jason Giambi. Giambi, of course, had no choice but to cooperate after he stupidly made a comment to USA Today about his previous steroids use. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig pressured Giambi into talking with Mitchell or suffering a long suspension.
It’ll be interesting to see how the fallout from Giambi’s discussion with Mitchell and Radomski’s cooperation pan out. These developments may actually lead to either a major breakthrough or at least some cooperation from people whose names were mentioned by the slugger and former clubhouse man.
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Mets Get Conine
With Damion Easley possibly done for the year and Carlos Delgado‘s status unknown the Mets traded two single A players to the Reds for Jeff Conine. The veteran Conine plays both corner outfield positions and first base. He has also played a little third base.
Conine is a good addition. At 41 he’s close to the end of his career and wants to end it on a high note. He has post season experience having won 2 world Series with the Marlins (1997 and 2003). His contract is up at the end of the year so there’s no further commitment to him. besides, he has one of the best Chris Berman nicknames ever – Conine the Barbarian.
I’ve read some critiques that have said the mets should be concentrating on acquiring a catcher considering both Ramon Castro and Paul Lo Duca are currently on the shelf. Some of that criticism is sentimental due to the fact that Mike Piazza has cleared waivers. I agree that they need to take a serious look at but I don’t think they need to be in panic mode about it just yet.
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Mets Wounded Update
- Ramon Castro was placed on the DL over the weekend for his arthritic back. With Paul Lo Duca already on the shelf the Mets now ‘boast’ a catching tandem of Mike DiFelice and Sandy Alomar Jr.
- Endy Chavez played in his fourth rehab game in St. Lucie last night. He said he is ready to return to the Mets whenever they call him but that he still needs to work on his timing.
- Pedro Martinezpitched his third rehab game yesterday throwing 72 pitches (52 for strikes). There is still no solid timetable for his return.
- There hasn’t been any news on Carlos Delgado the last day or so. He hasn’t played since last Wednesday when he suffered a contusion on his left leg.
- Damion Easley suffered a severe sprain on his left ankle and is possibly done for the year.
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Injury Updates
With Paul Lo Duca already on the disabled list the Mets have been playing it safe with Ramon Castro. Castro is suffereing from arthritis in his back and while he has not be placed on the DL the team has been starting Mike DiFelice the last few games.
Adding injury to injury Carlos Delgado left the game with a leg injury in the eighth inning. The contusion on his left leg was suffered when trying to catch a foul ball. The injury will keep him out of today’s series finale against Pittsburgh.
On the positive side of things Endy Chavez will be making his first rehab start today. Chavez has been on the shelf with a hamstring injury since June 7.
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Moises Alou Hitting In Top Form
What has gotten into Moises Alou? He has a 7 game hit streak going through last night’s game and has hit in 12 of last 15. In the last 3 games he has 7 hits, 3 home runs and 9 RBIs. Last night he even stole a base. Since coming off of the disabled list on July 27 Alou has raised his slugging percentage from .447 to .514. This is the kind of hitting the Mets need from him.
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R.I.P. Phil Rizzuto
It was reported yesterday that former Yankee shortstop and long time Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto died Monday night. Many people in my age group fondly remember the banter between Rizzuto and Bill White and later with Tom Seaver in the Yankee booth. Billy Crystal opened one of his comedy albums, recorded in New York City, with a line about how nice it was to be back in New York and hearing “This is Phil Rizzuto for The Money Store”. Scooter was part of New York City and will surely be missed by both Yankees and Mets fans alike.
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Martinez Improvement
In his second rehab start Pedro Martinez threw 47 of his 60 pitches for strikes while allowing 3 runs on 3 hits over 4 innings. A marked improvement on the numbers he put up in his first rehab start last week. More importantly he got his speed up to around 88 mph. Martinez felt good about his performance but needed to wait and see how he feels today before determining what his next step should be.
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Pedro to Start in St. Lucie Tonight
I neglected to mention Pedro Martinez in yesterday’s post. I figured I’d wait until today since he will be making is second rehab start this afternoon. Pedro had previously thrown a simulated game when his first scheduled rehab start was rained out and finally pitched in his first game last week. He got rocked but the start was not about the numbers. It was about pitching to live hitters, building strength and getting comfortable. This start is about improving velocity and control. We’ll see how it goes.
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Last Week’s Missed Events
Looks like I took the wrong week to miss posting to the blog. Last Sunday, August 5, Tom Glavine won the 300th game of his career. Glavine allowed 6 hist and 2 earned runs in 6.1 innings en route to an 8-3 Mets victory.
Two days later Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron as the career leader in home runs. A lot has been said about Bonds during his drive to pass Aaron but you have to give the guy some credit. Until there is irrefutable evidence of his steroids use (such as a failed drug test) you can’t hold that against him. The character issue (the fact that he comes off as a jerk) may be a reason to root against him but it’s not enough for an asterisk to be added to his record.
Also, last week, Mets closer Billy Wagner was named the DHL Delivery Man of the Month for the month of July. In 9 games Wagner converted all 8 of his save opportunities. Wagner allowed 2 hist and struck out 7 over 9 innings.
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Bullpen Blows 300
The bullpen blew the game last night so Tom Glavine will have to wait another few days before trying for win number 300 again. Though the bullpen blew the game the offense must take some of the blame too. They simply must score more runs before they can be taken seriously as a championship contender.
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