Is There A Window Open? 'Cause We Feel a DRAFT on us...
Sorry- couldn't resist the title...we'll play catch-up tonight as we watch the game, because we've had some computer issues of late and so has the wonderful and usually very reliable blogspot...
~Here's our short take on the Mets' draft- every year, experts give their opinions about draft picks, and we as fans take them as the gospel. And every year, out of th players that we drafted who we think will be superstars, many end up being the Terry Blockers, Steve Chilcott's and Shawn Abners of the world. Rather than being upset about not having a first round pick in this year's draft, we're thankful that Omar brought us Fernado Martinez, who we consider as our #1 pick this year, and we remain in negotiations for Tony Pena's son while, at the same time, we have apparently entered into negotiations with an even better catching prospect, one Jesus Montero, a 16 year old from Venezuela. Omar will continue to bring us great players, and he obviously feels very comfortable with our everyday lineup (when healthy) because he drafted so many pitchers (and so many college-level right-handed pitchers, at that) with the hopes of restocking the system. With Pelfrey on the rise, Humber, Maine & (soon, hopefully) Bannister coming back from injuries, and a host of interesting relievers on the come (Owens, Lindstrom, to name but 2), it looks like we'll be well-stocked with live arms for years to come- so don't worry about not having a first rounder this year! Besides, our first pick is someone who was expected to go in the 1st round and he fell to us! He's Kevin Mulvey, our first pick but the 62nd overall, who pitched in college at Villanova and is a New Jersey kid and Mets’ fan! He worked out for the Yankees last week and the Orioles previously. He throws a 94 mph heater and his arsenal includes 4 different pitches (fastball, slider, change-up and curve, and he throws both a 4-seam & 2-seam fastball). He struck out 88 this season while allowing 91 hits in 92 1/3 innings, with a team-leading 3.61 ERA. We like the pick but again, who knows where he will end up?! We also drafted Jeremy Barfield, brother of the Padres’ Josh and son of ex-Yankee and Blue Jays Outfielder Jesse. Jeremy is already 6”5’ and growing, and papa Jesse likens Jeremy’s swing to brother Josh’s, only with more power. He also thinks Jeremy will eventually be a first baseman, but that he could also play rightfield well. An interesting pick as well. (And by the way- former Little League pitcher and scandalous head-line maker for being over age, Danny Almonte, was not drafted on Tuesday. I’d like to see us offer him a try-out, at least.) Pedro Beato, we never knew ya- and now Jimmy D has a player the Mets actually wanted (unlike Kris Benson, who they didn’t, and who has been shelled of late.) Joe Smith, drafted in the third round from Wright State (gotta love a school that shares David’s last name) is an interesting prospect, throwing in the mid-90’s since lowering his armslot (Rick Peterson will LOVE that)!
~Speaking of young catchers, Jesus Flores continues to tear up pitching in St. Lucie, as he already has 11 homers, 17 doubles, 28 extra base hits and a .526 Slugging Percentage - and he's a better catcher then Justin Huber ever was. Let's hope he is the heir apparent to PLD in another year or two... ~Gary Sheffield is going to be out until September with a torn ligament in his left wrist..we wish him well, but we're glad we didn't trade for him after all...
~Bob Keppel, ex-Met and someone Jonathan and I saw in Spring Training in 2004 and liked a lot, is up with the Royals and isn't doing too badly, to say the least...he pitched tonite vs. the Rangers, giving up 1 run in 8 innings with 2 k's and 2 bb's, and his ERA so far is 2.11. We wish him well, as he seems to be fully recovered from an injury the organization apparently felt he wouldn't come back from...and there are 2 youngsters on the Royals who 2 years ago we thought would leave their mark with us, Keppel & Huber, as a battery, and now they are making their mark with the Royals...and so goes the life of a baseball prospect...
~El Duque was MASTERFUL tonight, giving the bullpen a much-needed rest for a change and the Mets another great pitching exhibition not given by either Pedro or Glavine, throwing a complete game for a change!! Just what the doctor ordered and a great way to start the 4-game series! And Jose Reyes was back in the line-up to boot! And he hit a double before Beltran came up and knocked one out of the park! Welcome back, Jose! Back to El Duque- he kept the D-Backs hitless from the third to the ninth, retiring 15 of 16 straight batters he faced, and he looked amazing all night, only tiring slightly in the ninth, giving up a mere 3 hits and one run (love his motion, by the way). He got ahead of hitters for a change, and mixed speeds real well. Carlos Beltran went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's (40 & 41)and a homer, his 15th, 2 shy of beating last years’ total for the entire season, and Lastings Milledge went 1 for 4 with a double. Valentin and Chavez both went 2 for 4, with Endy getting 3 RBI's and Valentin getting 1, his 20th (not bad at all considering his playing time to date). This is EXACTLY what the Mets needed tonight! PLD had a homecoming of sorts, born in Brooklyn but raised in Arizona, and he went 1 for 5. The final line for El Duque - 9 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 BB's and 3 K's - and he lowered his ERA to 5.48. He threw 114 pitches, 73 for strikes. A few more like this and he'll be sub-4.00 in no time! Very encouraging, and being the greedy fan that I am, I want more tomorrow!!!! The Mets are now 36 – 23, the first time they are 13 games over .500 this season. On the Cliff Floyd front, he is apparently still walking with a slight limp, but he believes he will be able to resume playing some time during the 4-game series. Cliffy is a gamer, but we’d rather have him healthy for the long-haul, so take your time and get well once and for all!
~17 year old Deolis Guerra threw a beaut for Hagerstown tonite, pitching 5 innings and allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 5 k's and no BB's - his record is 1-3 with a 4.20 ERA but he's still ONLY 17- this kid has tremendous upside!!! If you'd like to, you can consider him to be our second first round pick this year, along with Martinez, as Omar signed them both at the same time!
~In the rumor department, it’s possible that the Brewers might trade slugging outfielder Carlos Lee if they continue to fall out of contention – wouldn’t you love to see Lee in the OF? We’d love to say we could make a 3-way deal- Floyd to the Tigers, young pitching to the Brewers from Tigers and some from us, and Lee to Mets- but why wouldn’t the Tigers just try to get Lee directly instead? We don’t want to see Floyd go, but if we weren’t to sign him, Lee would make an excellent addition to the team, either buying more time for Milledge, who may not need it anymore with the way he’s playing, or making Nady a super-sub once more….It looks like the Nationals are about to enter into fire-sale mode, and perhaps, as we discussed last week, they’d be interested in trading Vidro and L. Hernandez our way…and it looks like Kerry Wood is going to spend the rest of his career, or at least the rest of his career with the Cubs, as a reliever. The Yankees will probably be looking to take a chance on him next year when the Cubs elect to not pick up his option…
~There is nothing in baseball like the reaction of the crowd in Los Angeles when closer Eric Gagne comes into the ballgame. It’s not just “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns ‘N Roses that lights the park up- Gagne brings an energy with him to the mound that is amazing and the crowd feeds off of it. Being in Dodger Stadium in the 9th inning with Gagne coming in means be prepared to stand up because the rest of the crowd does, sometimes for an entire inning, certainly for the first batter. And if he gets an immediate K, the place is louder then a Seahawks game in the old Kingdome!
~Rather than getting into the whole Jason Grimsley situation here, we’ll let Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports give you a recap. Here is the link. Ugly, and getting uglier. I’m sure my brother will have an editorial on this situation soon. Another good recap on this situation is offered by Newsday’s Ken Davidoff here.
~David Lennon, also of NY Newsday, on Friday has an article entitled “Leaving A Lastings Impression” – and readers of our blog will note that we used that same title a few weeks ago. Additionally, a bunch of Mets were apparently kidding Cliff Floyd, throwing around the name “Wally Pipp”, the old Yankees first-sacker who got injured and was replaced by the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig. Yes, this is something we kidded about more then a week ago, on the day that Nady got hurt, and Milledge was brought up, only it was directed at Nady. There we go again, ahead of our time (and if you think we take ourselves seriously and really cared to blow our own horns, you haven’t been reading this blog long enough!) A link to Lennon’s article is here.
~That's all for tonight- more for sure on Friday!!! And hope for no more computer problems, as I'd love to get my photos up before the weekend!
~Here's our short take on the Mets' draft- every year, experts give their opinions about draft picks, and we as fans take them as the gospel. And every year, out of th players that we drafted who we think will be superstars, many end up being the Terry Blockers, Steve Chilcott's and Shawn Abners of the world. Rather than being upset about not having a first round pick in this year's draft, we're thankful that Omar brought us Fernado Martinez, who we consider as our #1 pick this year, and we remain in negotiations for Tony Pena's son while, at the same time, we have apparently entered into negotiations with an even better catching prospect, one Jesus Montero, a 16 year old from Venezuela. Omar will continue to bring us great players, and he obviously feels very comfortable with our everyday lineup (when healthy) because he drafted so many pitchers (and so many college-level right-handed pitchers, at that) with the hopes of restocking the system. With Pelfrey on the rise, Humber, Maine & (soon, hopefully) Bannister coming back from injuries, and a host of interesting relievers on the come (Owens, Lindstrom, to name but 2), it looks like we'll be well-stocked with live arms for years to come- so don't worry about not having a first rounder this year! Besides, our first pick is someone who was expected to go in the 1st round and he fell to us! He's Kevin Mulvey, our first pick but the 62nd overall, who pitched in college at Villanova and is a New Jersey kid and Mets’ fan! He worked out for the Yankees last week and the Orioles previously. He throws a 94 mph heater and his arsenal includes 4 different pitches (fastball, slider, change-up and curve, and he throws both a 4-seam & 2-seam fastball). He struck out 88 this season while allowing 91 hits in 92 1/3 innings, with a team-leading 3.61 ERA. We like the pick but again, who knows where he will end up?! We also drafted Jeremy Barfield, brother of the Padres’ Josh and son of ex-Yankee and Blue Jays Outfielder Jesse. Jeremy is already 6”5’ and growing, and papa Jesse likens Jeremy’s swing to brother Josh’s, only with more power. He also thinks Jeremy will eventually be a first baseman, but that he could also play rightfield well. An interesting pick as well. (And by the way- former Little League pitcher and scandalous head-line maker for being over age, Danny Almonte, was not drafted on Tuesday. I’d like to see us offer him a try-out, at least.) Pedro Beato, we never knew ya- and now Jimmy D has a player the Mets actually wanted (unlike Kris Benson, who they didn’t, and who has been shelled of late.) Joe Smith, drafted in the third round from Wright State (gotta love a school that shares David’s last name) is an interesting prospect, throwing in the mid-90’s since lowering his armslot (Rick Peterson will LOVE that)!~Speaking of young catchers, Jesus Flores continues to tear up pitching in St. Lucie, as he already has 11 homers, 17 doubles, 28 extra base hits and a .526 Slugging Percentage - and he's a better catcher then Justin Huber ever was. Let's hope he is the heir apparent to PLD in another year or two... ~Gary Sheffield is going to be out until September with a torn ligament in his left wrist..we wish him well, but we're glad we didn't trade for him after all...
~Bob Keppel, ex-Met and someone Jonathan and I saw in Spring Training in 2004 and liked a lot, is up with the Royals and isn't doing too badly, to say the least...he pitched tonite vs. the Rangers, giving up 1 run in 8 innings with 2 k's and 2 bb's, and his ERA so far is 2.11. We wish him well, as he seems to be fully recovered from an injury the organization apparently felt he wouldn't come back from...and there are 2 youngsters on the Royals who 2 years ago we thought would leave their mark with us, Keppel & Huber, as a battery, and now they are making their mark with the Royals...and so goes the life of a baseball prospect... 
~El Duque was MASTERFUL tonight, giving the bullpen a much-needed rest for a change and the Mets another great pitching exhibition not given by either Pedro or Glavine, throwing a complete game for a change!! Just what the doctor ordered and a great way to start the 4-game series! And Jose Reyes was back in the line-up to boot! And he hit a double before Beltran came up and knocked one out of the park! Welcome back, Jose! Back to El Duque- he kept the D-Backs hitless from the third to the ninth, retiring 15 of 16 straight batters he faced, and he looked amazing all night, only tiring slightly in the ninth, giving up a mere 3 hits and one run (love his motion, by the way). He got ahead of hitters for a change, and mixed speeds real well. Carlos Beltran went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's (40 & 41)and a homer, his 15th, 2 shy of beating last years’ total for the entire season, and Lastings Milledge went 1 for 4 with a double. Valentin and Chavez both went 2 for 4, with Endy getting 3 RBI's and Valentin getting 1, his 20th (not bad at all considering his playing time to date). This is EXACTLY what the Mets needed tonight! PLD had a homecoming of sorts, born in Brooklyn but raised in Arizona, and he went 1 for 5. The final line for El Duque - 9 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 BB's and 3 K's - and he lowered his ERA to 5.48. He threw 114 pitches, 73 for strikes. A few more like this and he'll be sub-4.00 in no time! Very encouraging, and being the greedy fan that I am, I want more tomorrow!!!! The Mets are now 36 – 23, the first time they are 13 games over .500 this season. On the Cliff Floyd front, he is apparently still walking with a slight limp, but he believes he will be able to resume playing some time during the 4-game series. Cliffy is a gamer, but we’d rather have him healthy for the long-haul, so take your time and get well once and for all!~17 year old Deolis Guerra threw a beaut for Hagerstown tonite, pitching 5 innings and allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 5 k's and no BB's - his record is 1-3 with a 4.20 ERA but he's still ONLY 17- this kid has tremendous upside!!! If you'd like to, you can consider him to be our second first round pick this year, along with Martinez, as Omar signed them both at the same time!
~In the rumor department, it’s possible that the Brewers might trade slugging outfielder Carlos Lee if they continue to fall out of contention – wouldn’t you love to see Lee in the OF? We’d love to say we could make a 3-way deal- Floyd to the Tigers, young pitching to the Brewers from Tigers and some from us, and Lee to Mets- but why wouldn’t the Tigers just try to get Lee directly instead? We don’t want to see Floyd go, but if we weren’t to sign him, Lee would make an excellent addition to the team, either buying more time for Milledge, who may not need it anymore with the way he’s playing, or making Nady a super-sub once more….It looks like the Nationals are about to enter into fire-sale mode, and perhaps, as we discussed last week, they’d be interested in trading Vidro and L. Hernandez our way…and it looks like Kerry Wood is going to spend the rest of his career, or at least the rest of his career with the Cubs, as a reliever. The Yankees will probably be looking to take a chance on him next year when the Cubs elect to not pick up his option…
~There is nothing in baseball like the reaction of the crowd in Los Angeles when closer Eric Gagne comes into the ballgame. It’s not just “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns ‘N Roses that lights the park up- Gagne brings an energy with him to the mound that is amazing and the crowd feeds off of it. Being in Dodger Stadium in the 9th inning with Gagne coming in means be prepared to stand up because the rest of the crowd does, sometimes for an entire inning, certainly for the first batter. And if he gets an immediate K, the place is louder then a Seahawks game in the old Kingdome!~Rather than getting into the whole Jason Grimsley situation here, we’ll let Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports give you a recap. Here is the link. Ugly, and getting uglier. I’m sure my brother will have an editorial on this situation soon. Another good recap on this situation is offered by Newsday’s Ken Davidoff here.
~David Lennon, also of NY Newsday, on Friday has an article entitled “Leaving A Lastings Impression” – and readers of our blog will note that we used that same title a few weeks ago. Additionally, a bunch of Mets were apparently kidding Cliff Floyd, throwing around the name “Wally Pipp”, the old Yankees first-sacker who got injured and was replaced by the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig. Yes, this is something we kidded about more then a week ago, on the day that Nady got hurt, and Milledge was brought up, only it was directed at Nady. There we go again, ahead of our time (and if you think we take ourselves seriously and really cared to blow our own horns, you haven’t been reading this blog long enough!) A link to Lennon’s article is here.
~That's all for tonight- more for sure on Friday!!! And hope for no more computer problems, as I'd love to get my photos up before the weekend!
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