Continuing Careers of Ex-Mets, 2008 (2009 content too)

[Guest mario25]

Joe Mcewing is the Triple A hitting coach for the Charlotte Knights (White Sox) and Joel Youngblood is the Triple A hitting coach for the Diamondbacks. Met both guys at Mets Fantasy Camp and they were great guys and awesome baseball coaches. Youngbloods team hit .297 tops in baseball in 2007.

[Guest AG/DC]

How did you do? Do we get a report?

[Guest AG/DC]

WASHINGTON -- Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca suffered a left knee injury this week while working out in a New York gym.

Lo Duca saw Dr. Andrew Pearle, the Mets' associate team physician, on Friday and had an MRI in New York. Lo Duca will return to Washington on Monday to be looked at by Dr. Ben Shaffer, the Nationals' physician and orthopedist. According to a baseball source, the injury was described as a "tweak."

It has not been determined if Lo Duca will miss time in Spring Training. The Nationals will give an update on Lo Duca's condition next week.

[Willets Point]

Looks like we dodged a bullet twice.

[DocTee]

Nats sign furtive Met Johnny Estrada to a one-year, $1.25 million deal as insurance for Paulie.

[Guest AG/DC]

With that kind of coin, I guess Flores goes down whenever Lo Duca is ready.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Astros are collecting former Mets infielders.

HOUSTON (AP) � Right-hander Brian Moehler and utility player David Newhan agreed Tuesday to minor league contracts with the Houston Astros.
�� Moehler was 1-4 with a save and a 4.07 ERA in 42 games for Houston last year, and the 10-year veteran has a 64-83 record with a 4.75 ERA.
�� Newhan appeared in 56 games with one homer and six RBIs for the New York Mets last season. He also spent time last year with Triple-A New Orleans, hitting .347 with seven homers, 12 doubles and 30 RBIs in 44 games. He also has played for San Diego, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm not the kinda guy who makes a big deal about this stuff normally but thank heavens Newhan is out of here. I mean, he wasn't at all useful.

[Fman99]

I'm not the kinda guy who makes a big deal about this stuff normally but thank heavens Newhan is out of here. I mean, he wasn't at all useful.[/quote:3rfh7bn7]

I agree - he stunk out loud.

I was present at Shea for his one home run that he hit as a Met. Sadly it came in a game where ol Pelf' was getting shelled by Milwaukee.

[Guest AG/DC]

Kansas City signs ex-Met Tim Hamulak

Houston signs es-adoptee Harold Eckert.

Eckert has played for Las Vegas four straight years, and had an ERA over six each year. Nice work if you can get it.

[Farmer Ted]

Benson and his wife looking to move up I-95. From the Philly Inquirer.

The Phillies continue to talk with Gregg Clifton, the agent for free-agent righthander Kris Benson.

The team has seen Benson, 33, throw twice in private sessions recently. Benson, who missed last season recovering from shoulder surgery, is looking for a one-year contract with performance bonuses. Today could be an important day in negotiations because Benson is scheduled to throw for a few teams tomorrow. If those teams like what they see, that could change the dynamic of negotiations between the Phillies and Clifton.

"Trying to get to the finish line," Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "I know the player is interested in playing in Philadelphia, and we have interest in signing him. But it takes two to tango, and at the end of the day we have to be comfortable and they have to be comfortable."

If Benson signs, he would compete for a spot in the rotation with Adam Eaton, Chad Durbin and Travis Blackley.

[Guest AG/DC]

Phillie Phans are pheeling phrustrated and phunky with that back end of the rotation.

I'll be honest. I'm not blown away by Hamels and Myers up front either. Nor their pen.

That lineup is golden, though.

[MFS62]

Tony Clark a Padre:
http://www.rotoworld.com/conte....aspx?sport=MLB

Later

[stevejrogers]

Couple of recent ex-Met signage

Both Steve Traschel and Doug Mientkiewicz to minor league deals with the Orioles and Pirates respectively

Also Chris Woodwardsigned with the Yankees.

[Valadius]

Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca apologizes for 'mistakes in judgment' By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Sports Writer February 16, 2008 VIERA, Fla. (AP) -- In his first words about his inclusion in the Mitchell Report, Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca apologized Saturday for his "mistakes in judgment." The four-time All-Star was one of more than 80 players cited in baseball investigator George Mitchell's report on drug use in the sport. Lo Duca was to arrive at the team's spring training camp Saturday for a preseason physical. "In regards to Senator Mitchell's Report, I apologize to my family, all of my fans and to the entire baseball community for mistakes in judgment I made in the past and for the distraction that has resulted," Lo Duca said in a statement released by the Nationals. The report came out in December, two days after the Nationals announced they signed Lo Duca to a $5 million, one-year contract. One of the main sources of the report, admitted steroid distributor Kirk Radomski, gave Mitchell's investigators copies of checks he said were from Lo Duca, each in the amount of $3,200. Radomski said those were for human growth hormone. The report also included handwritten notes from Lo Duca to Radomski, one of which was seized from Radomski's house during a search by federal agents. "So that I can focus on making positive contributions and avoid creating further distractions, I respectfully decline to comment any further on the content of the Mitchell Report," Lo Duca said in the statement. He played for the New York Mets the past two years, then moved to the Nationals as a free agent. Lo Duca, who turns 36 during the first month of the 2008 season, had left knee surgery last month and is expected to miss most of spring training. In 10 major league seasons with the Dodgers, Marlins and Mets, Lo Duca has batted .288 with 80 homers and 466 RBIs.

[MFS62]

Happened to see the promo for the tv show "Joes VS Pros".

The "pro" baseball player who will be competing looked like John Franco.
Anyone know if that is really him?

Later

[stevejrogers]

Yeah, it is. Also Al Leiter is among the Season 3 roster.

The impressive roster for Season 3 includes a list of sports heroes ranging from Heisman trophy winners to World Series heroes to hockey and boxing hall-of-famers to an Olympic gold medalist. They include: Brady Anderson, Jamal Anderson, Kenny Anderson, Kurt Angle, Jessie Armstead, Joe Carter, Derrick Coleman, Paul Coffey, Sean Elliott, Nick Van Exel, John Franco, Arturo Gatti, Jeff George, Allan Houston, Rocket Ismail, Al Leiter, Charles Oakley, Christian Okoye, Dan Majerle, Marty McSorley, Warren Moon, John Randle, Mitch Richmond, Bob Sapp, Jimmy Smith, Pernell Whitaker, Ricky Williams, and Rod Woodson.

[Guest AG/DC]

Faith has been broken. Tears must be cried.
Bret Boone trying to do some living after he died.

Signed a mnor league dealio with the Nats.

"There's something still in there,'' Boone said Monday. "I look at it as I've got nothing to lose.''

Somebody's been renting Rocky Balboa.

[Farmer Ted]

I must have been hybernating. Kaz is an Astro?

[Guest AG/DC]

Yup.

Also, the (Devil) Rays have called up Mike DiFelice to help in their streak past the Yankees.

Meanwhile, Adam Rubin catches up with Tom Glavine:

Say what you want about Tom Glavine�s last performance as a Met, but he�s a first-class guy who never wanted to leave Atlanta in the first place. The Braves� last-minute, final offer to Glavine before he left for the Mets was for roughly $10 million a year for three years. But that�s misleading, because the entire third-year salary was deferred without interest, making the average annual value much less.

What was it like putting on a Braves uniform again?

�It was an adjustment, just like when I put on the Mets jersey for the first time. It obviously wasn�t as severe because I have a familiarity here, with this ballpark and Bobby (Cox) and John (Smoltz) and Chipper (Jones). But it still felt different. I think in my mind, I knew, �All right, you�re making a change.� And there�s a little bit of uneasiness that comes with that. Obviously it�s a little bit easier to settle in because I do have history here and I have familiarity here.�

Had you been looking ahead to Saturday�s start against the Mets?

�Yeah, I have. � It will be different pitching against those guys, just like pitching against Atlanta was always different than any other team I pitched against when I was with New York. Pitching against the Mets is going to be the same way.�

Really, the same way? You can�t have the same emotional attachment to New York.

�It�s probably not as much, simply because I spent 16 years here. But I think it�s more than people give it credit for. Even though I was only there for five years, I made some good friends there. And those five years had a good impact on me as a person and on me as a player. The emotional ties that I had there are much greater, I think, than people give it credit for. Because of that, it�s going to be different, but it�s not going to be like that first time I faced the Braves after being here for 16 years and felt like everybody on the team and in the ballpark knew everything I was doing. It won�t be that extreme, but it�ll be close.�

What about the treatment from Atlanta fans, many of whom were upset with you?

�Like I�ve said, I�m not na�ve enough to sit here and say everybody in Atlanta is going to be thrilled that I�m back. I know that there are some people that aren�t, and will continue to not be. Those people that are set in their ways like that, you can�t change their minds. But I think that the overwhelming majority of people will feel good and feel positive about me being back, especially if I pitch well and help this team get back to the postseason.�

Did former GM John Schuerholz�s book, where he revealed that you met with him on the eve of the press conference in Flushing because of reservations, make you a sympathetic figure to some extent to Atlantans?

�I don�t know. Maybe, maybe not. I don�t know why people needed to hear that from John or read it in a book, because I made no bones about that fact that when I was facing free agency, my goal was to stay in Atlanta. It just didn�t work. Maybe his explanation in the book gives people different insight on it, more so than, �Oh, he�s just a greedy player and it was all about the money.� I still think there are people that feel that way, but maybe there are people who were on the fence who are a little bit more understanding. I don�t know.�

If Frank Wren hadn�t replaced Schuerholz as GM, would you be here?

�I think so. I think at the end of the day, regardless of what happened between me and John, I don�t think it remained or continued to be a personal thing. I think in the end me coming here obviously made sense for me personally, and I think it makes sense for them business-wise. I don�t see that that would have been too hard to overcome.�

How good can the Braves be?

�I like our team. I think offensively we�ve got a really good lineup. We obviously have some questions with our pitching with John (Smoltz) being a little bit banged up now. Obviously with Mike (Hampton) being hurt the last couple of years, people are keeping their fingers crossed with him. There�s some uncertainty, maybe a little bit, in the bullpen. But I think most teams are the same way. Most teams probably have their fingers crossed with one or two of their starting pitchers and have some uncertainty in the bullpen, so I don�t think we�re any different in that regard. But I like our team. We�ve got a nice mix of young superstars like (Brian) McCann and (Jeff) Francoeur and some veteran guys like myself, and Chipper and (Mark) Teixeira and John. It�s a good mix. Obviously everybody is talking about Philly and New York, and rightfully so. The Phillies are the defending champs and the Mets added the best pitcher in baseball, so they deserve the talk that they�re getting. But I think our division is going to be extremely competitive and it�s going to come down to the same thing it seems to come down to for the last 130 years - whoever stays healthy and pitches the best is going to win.�

You feel slighted not being part of a self-proclaimed team to beat?

�No, that�s okay. They can declare that and we can lay in the weeds. That�ll be fine.�

So what about that word?

�The �devastation� word?�

Yeah. Do you think you were trying to be too intellectual with your answer at a moment when fans were emotional?

�Perhaps. The easy thing to do would be say, �Oh, gee, of course I�m devastated.� I guess that�s not where I�m at in my life, you know, whether it�s maturity or being a dad or just everyday life where you see tragic things happen. It bothered me more than any other game I�ve ever pitched. Look, I�m pretty good about leaving things at the ballpark. But I didn�t leave that at the ballpark. That got on the plane with me and went home with me and was with me for a good week after the season. There aren�t too many games that I lose sleep over three or four nights later. I might lose sleep that night, but that bothered me. It bothered me because of what it meant to that team. It bothered me because of what it meant to me individually. It bothered me knowing that was going to be the last image of the end of that season. It was all of those things. It couldn�t have bothered me any more than it did. It�s just that word, the way I look at it, you get a phone call that tells you, �Hey, your son is terminally ill.� That�s a heck of a lot different feeling than I�m going to have over a baseball game. That�s just where I was trying to come from.�

Was your time in New York a success? After all, there was only one postseason appearance in five years, and your coming to Flushing was supposed to be when the Mets passed the Braves.

�It depends on what you judge success by. Obviously we didn�t win a World Series, so from that standpoint it wasn�t as successful as I would have liked. It�s like so many things in life that you take on. You want to leave something better than it was than when you got there. And there�s no question in my mind the Mets organization is a better organization than when I got there. Was I a part of that? Absolutely. How much of a part? Well, people can argue that. But it was a change of regime over there and they were doing a change in direction. Much like this organization here, when they turned things around, they started by bringing in guys who were winners, who were good character guys, to try to change the image of the organization. I was a part of the start of that. And then a lot of guys followed and made us a better team while I was there. Now they�re one of the premier organizations in baseball. I view it a success in that regard. It�s a much better organization than it was five years ago.�

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Adam Rubin -"Say what you want about Tom Glavine�s last performance as a Met, but he�s a first-class guy who never wanted to leave Atlanta in the first place."

I believe that Glavine gave the Mets his best effort during his time with them. Unfortunately, down the stretch last year, when it mattered most, he just couldn't come through. He was far from alone in that regard. His last outing was horrible and it was the Mets last gasp hope, so people tended to take it very hard. Had the team played a little better and not completely collapsed down the stretch they would have never found themselves in such a dire situation in the first place.


Edited to properly attribute the quote.

[Guest AG/DC]

Not that I particularly disagree with him, but that's Adam Rubin talking and not me.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Sorry, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

I will edit the quote to attribute to Rubin rather than you.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Guillermoid Mota has a 0.90 ERA after 10 ip, this season.

Guess the banned substance he'll test postive to within the next month.

[DocTee]

Mike Cameron, fresh off a 25 game ban for PEDs, debuts in CF for the Brewers tonight. I always liked him, and hope he does well in Milwaukee.

[metirish]

Even with his ban and all that came with it I still could not dislike him , apart form his play in the field I will remember when he went of top of the dugout and hung with the fans signing stuff.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

After going 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his first three starts of the season, Brian Bannister is 0-4 with a 8.02 ERA in his last four giving up 33 hits and 19 runs in 21 1/3 innings.

[MFS62]

Last night I was listening to my car radio and heard Jayson Tyner give the basic player intro to the Buffalo Bisons' post game radio show. (For some weird reason, I can get the station in Buffalo but can't get ESPN radio NYC after dark.)
You know, it went something like "This is Jayson Tyner, and you're listening to the post game show on 1520 radio, Buffalo".

Not a great voice.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Shawn Estes activated by the Pods.

[DocTee]

Armando Benitez, purchased by Toronto.