Casanova on Bereavement Leave; Cancel Called Up

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Casanova's dad passed away, according to the snooze.

Robinson Cancel last played MLB nine years ago and only recently returned from the DL at AAA. We bought him out of the Northern League.

[metirish]

Robonson Cancel might take up two roster spots he's so big from what I remember of him.

[Gwreck]

If it wasn't puzzling enough as to why we have 3 catchers on the major league roster -- when we desperately could use another outfielder -- we have a roster spot, and Omar calls up....ANOTHER CATCHER!

Omar, WTF?

[Guest sharpie]

With Casanova unavailable we needed another former Milwaukee catcher. Couldn't Damian Miller be had?

[Guest AG/DC]

Funny. We've also had ex-Brewer backstop Jesse Levis bouncing around.

If we need a former Brewer back there, I say we go for Dave Nilsson, "The Thunder from Down Under."

Robby is a big fella:

[Frayed Knot]

These recent moves are sure to be temporary - Casanova's outage will be short and Alou will be back soon (at least according to him) - and therefore are probably more guided by 40-man roster contraints than any particular desire to have a 3rd catcher around.

Both Cancel and Evans will likely be gone by the end of the weekend.

[Gwreck]

That's a fair point, although I suppose 40-man room could be created by moving Jason Vargas or Ambiorix Burgos to the 60-day DL.

And even when Casanova comes back, we'll still be (foolishly?) carrying 3 catchers.

[Theoldmole]

What was the roster move to activate Pedro? I missed that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

TheOldMole wrote: What was the roster move to activate Pedro? I missed that.

I think Muniz was sent down.

[Fman99]

sharpie wrote: With Casanova unavailable we needed another former Milwaukee catcher. Couldn't Damian Miller be had?

He was profiled, among others, in a recent EPSN.com article. He said that he doesn't want to have to live on the road, so he's only going to play if the Brewers come calling.

[Willets Point]

Cancel is a headline-writers dream name.

[seawolf17]

You can never have too many fat catchers, I say. Bring me Spanky LaValliere!

[Guest AG/DC]

Screw Spanky. Bring me Engleberg.

[Theoldmole]

That's a great interview.

[stevejrogers]

If Cancel makes it to a game, and then is sent back down before the Mets play the Snakes on Tuesday at Shea, I wonder what number he would be among Mets since 1964 never to have played a single game at Shea?

Wouldn't be that hard to research now that game logs and such are available though, safe to assume that we are talking about players to only have gotten in less than 10 games or so.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I haven't checked, but it 's likely already tabulated on UMDB. I swear Ben has stats for virtually everything Mets related on his site. It's amazing.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mets players who never appeared in a home game. (Either Shea or Polo Grounds)

May, Jerry
Scarce, Mac
Medich, Doc
Sweet, Rick
Hernandez, Manny
Liddell, Dave
Castillo, Juan
Clontz, Brad
Haney, Todd
Hinchliffe, Brett
Bennett, Gary
DePastino, Joe
Baldwin, James
Heredia, Felix
Urdaneta, Lino
Ambres, Chip

[Guest AG/DC]

I wonder how many Mets have one hit, but it's a game-winner. I know Ambres isn't the only.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Mets,com lists Cancel as wearing #4. Anyone see otherwise?

[Guest vtmet]

The one thing that I like about carrying 3 catchers is that, IMO, Willie is using Ramon Castro more often than he normally would...and I'd rather see Ramon enter the game than either being stuck on the bench because "what if Schneider got hurt", and I'd rather see Castro bat than see some AAAA player playing the OF...

While neither Casanova or Cancel are the ideal bench players, it might not be a bad thing to see how each handle the Mets pitchers and hit mlb pitching before Castro goes down for his semi-regular injury....

It's probably only a temporary thing until Alou comes back or until things start to heat up in the summer and players will need rest more often...

I know it goes against the norm, but I'd rather see a full season 27 man roster with a slight increase in September (maybe a 30 man cap in September) than having a 25 man roster with carrying 12 pitchers and virtually no bench during the majority of the season like the Mets do...

[Elster88]

vtmet wrote: The one thing that I like about carrying 3 catchers is that, IMO, Willie is using Ramon Castro more often than he normally would

Good point. This could be why we're carrying 3. Castro is a nice pinch-hitter.

[Guest AG/DC]

Good point.

On the other hand, we could get a good pinch hitter. And maybe one that not so limited in position.

[Fman99]

Elster88 wrote: ="vtmet"]The one thing that I like about carrying 3 catchers is that, IMO, Willie is using Ramon Castro more often than he normally would Good point. This could be why we're carrying 3. Castro is a nice pinch-hitter.

I'd like to see Castro be the first pinch hit righty off the bench with ducks on the pond. He's got good pop and has good at-bats up there.

Given the suckliciousness of Schneider's recent work it would also please me to see Castro get more starts against lefties (and even righties). Make it a 50/50 platoon.

[stevejrogers]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Mets,com lists Cancel as wearing #4. Anyone see otherwise?

I will be armed with my Kodak Friday, hopefully I can get something. Though I'll be with someone who hates it when I walk around the ballpark and take photos of things and people who aren't myself.

I will purchase a program.

[Elster88]

AG/DC wrote: Good point. On the other hand, we could get a good pinch hitter. And maybe one that not so limited in position.

Are these people that easy to come by?

[Elster88]

]I walk around the ballpark and take photos of things and people who aren't myself.

[stevejrogers]

The hell is your problem? I don't like taking pictures of myself, I like taking photos of inanimate objects, ballplayers on the field, other people, etc. I don't feel that comfortable seeing my image. Especially if I'm then going to plaster said images on places such as here.

[stevejrogers]

I.e.

[Elster88]

I don't have a problem.

[stevejrogers]