MFS62

With the reported elevation of R.A. Dickey for a start this week, I checked here to see if he was on the 40 man roster. Is there room for him? I haven't seen whether Escobar is on the 15 day DL (where he counts against the 40 man roster) or the 60 day (where he doesn't). Later

Edgy DC wrote: I'm glad the monster agrees, because the blogosphere is frying the Mets for this. For letting him stretch out to be a starter? Or for delaying the move? Later

There goes the neighborhood. EDIT. Er, I guess as long as you're a Mets fan, welcome, big guy. Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: What if Omar is going to Atlanta to negotiate with John Smoltz? That would be as likely as a Muslim imigrant becoming Miss USA. Oh, wait. Later

Up to this year, if the Mets were looking to improve the team, fans were looking outside the organization. They were saying, and posting, things like "sign this guy(free agents)" or "trade for this guy". But this year, they have been saying "bring this guy up" and the minor league organization has provided Ike, Carter, Tejada and Mejia. It is very encouraging, an indication that the minor league system isn't as bad as some"experts" have written. Unfortunately, it appears the well has run dry of major league ready players who might help immediately. Most of the remaining good prospects are still 1 - 2 years away from being able to do that. Now it may be time to look outside the system again, if only on a short term basis to give the remaining prospects a chance to develop. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: (I'm guessing the P-I sports editorship is saving "caught napping" for a game with a lot of pickoffs, or a loss to the Royals.) That reminds me of when catcher Ray Kaat was picked off first base. The headline (IIRC in one of the defunct NY papers. The Mirror? ) was "Kaat Napped". Later

Frayed Knot wrote: ... unless Niese's leg is disconnected again in which case he may not even miss a start. I wonder how much Ollie (or his agent) paid the Miami groundskeepers. Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: What the CPF was saying when the Mets re-signed Perez Looking back at that thread, I guess we're now glad there was no 4th year. Later

Swan Swan H wrote: If he marched on St. Patrick's Day, if nothing else it proves he's not gay. I'm guessing that won't be the last thing folks say about him as long as he's with the Mets. Later

Reese Havens was just brought up to Binghamton as will be available starting tonight. I gather from that he is performing well at second base. Later

Reese Havens was just brought up to Binghamton as will be available starting tonight. I gather from that he is performing well at second base. Later

Reyes leading off. Good. Pagan hitting third? I guess. He's been consistent lately. Later

OlerudOwned wrote: Wasn't Trachsel hanging around the clubhouse with the team before one of the games last week? Maybe he can convince Ollie to accept a minor league assignment. Great idea. He could tell Ollie how much it helped him. (And it certainly did.) Later

The fact that they are saying they can't send him down without his consent means to me that he had an option left, but also has enough major league time so he'd have to agree to it. There's no DFA involved. Also, if they must DFA him (because he refused to shuffle) and someone claims him, they only have to pay him the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum salary and the Mets would have to pay the rest. (About $20-21 million remaining on his contract through 2011.) As an alternative way to help him, IIRC there used to be this wild lefthander with great stuff who came up with Brooklyn. How about Wilpon asking Sandy Koufax to join the team as a personal pitching guru for Perez? They did it this spring, although they said they did it for him to work with many pitchers, not specifically Perez. As they used to say in Brooklyn, "it couldn't hoit". Later

Much has been said over the years (including on the CPF) about how Dallas Green ruined an entire generation (K) of top pitching prospects by mis-use. And much has been posted here about Jerry's overwork of some pitchers. I'm more concerned about any strategic (long term) effect Jerry doing that may have on some of the current pitchers, rather than any particular tactical (in-game) decision. Not that I'm defending any particular in-game decision but stuff happens. As for when he gets fired? I don't do grisly predictions. Later

He has homered tonight in his debut with the Bisons. As for Kirk, here's the response I got: I'm confident Nieuwenhuis can play centerfield at the highest level. His athleticism is plenty strong enough. His reads off the bat are improving. His range is above average. A year ago I wasn't too sure about Nieuwenhuis in centerfield, but the way I saw him play center so far this year, I've come around to it. Later

joepet wrote: I'm in ! Finally! Thanks for inviting me! This is a great site! Welcome, Joe. Great work. Now, as a rookie, you're going to have to stand up on that virtual table in the middle of the room and sing your school fight song. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Has anyone seen him in center? (Another thread?) I've asked that to someone who has seen him play center. I'll post it here when I get a response. Later

Gotcha'. Later

I just saw a stat that may make me think that Kirk isn't that far away. He is 12-32 (.406) against lefthanded pitching. Better than I thought, and may make your 2010 ETA more possible. But I'd still prefer that he gets steady minor league work instead of part time work as a major league reserve. Later

Here's something I found about bone bruises: http://www.ehow.com/about_4586120_bone-bruising.html A few things I found interesting: It can be misdiagnosed as a fracture. It is very painful, "especially for an athlete". There is no harm to the bone itself. It can heal "relatively quickly". The fact that his recovery has taken so long is still a head-scratcher to me. But now that he's running, I'm optimistic that he can return, and be productive, this year. Later

Feliciano is more a corner outfielder, although I guess he could play center. Martinez hasn't been playing for a while with a lower hamstring problem. ("not considered serious") Don't know if is is on the DL. Nieuwenhuis has been doing well, but is starting to strike out again. He may be the CF answer in the future, but I feel he's still 1 year+ away. Pridie is a CF, is a lefty batter, and might perform better than GMJ. Jury is still out on my assessment on him. He doesn't knock my socks off when I listen to the games. Another CF prospect I've started to follow is Sean Ratliff at StL. Later

Anudder Philly voice heard from: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Manuel suspicious of Mets' home mark -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPNNewYork.com Rod Barajas doesn't mind stealing signs, as long as it's done the old-fashioned way. So the Mets catcher didn't hold back when asked to comment on the controversy surrounding Philadelphia Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer, who was caught on camera peering through binoculars at Coors Field earlier in the week. "I've never heard [of] anything like that happening before," Barajas said after Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Nationals. "I know that they're good at stealing signs, [because] I played there -- the old-fashioned way, which is fine. I'm not going to sit here and say it's wrong that they're doing that. Hey, if they're able to do it, by relaying a sign with a runner on second base, why wouldn't you, why wouldn't you do that? It's gonna be a big advantage." Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told The Associated Press that Billmeyer was simply watching Philadelphia catcher Carlos Ruiz set up defensively Monday night. FSN Rocky Mountain, the flagship broadcaster of the Colorado Rockies who revealed the incident, also showed a quick image of Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino in the dugout on the bullpen phone in the top of the second. "When you have coaches in the bullpen who are relaying signs -- like you said, I'm not saying that he did it, I don't know what's going on -- but in general, if that's what was happening, I think it's something that shouldn't happen, and it's not part of this game," said Barajas, who caught 48 games for the Phillies in 2007. "We were not trying to steal signs," Manuel said of the allegations. "Would we try to steal somebody's signs? Yeah, if we can. But we don't do that. We're not going to let a guy stand up there in the bullpen with binoculars looking in. We're smarter than that." But Manuel was not done. The Phillies' chief later turned his attention to the Mets, hinting in a CSNPhilly.com report their home record has a suspicious undercurrent. "Somebody maybe ought to check the Mets if they did that," Manuel said. "Their [bleeping] home record is out of this world and they're losing on the road. Sometimes that's a good indicator of getting signs and [crap]. I see somebody setting there at (14-7) at home and (4-8) on the road, I'd get concerned about that. That kind of crosses my mind. "I'm not accusing them, but you look at that and -- damn. We're about the same home and road. I'm just saying their record is much better at home and they hit better." This week was not the first time the Phillies have been accused by other teams of stealing signs. In 2007, the Mets alleged the the club was using a center-field camera to gain an advantage. The Boston Red Sox also levied charges in 2008. But Mets pitcher Johan Santana wasn't ready to take the bait Wednesday -- even after being shelled by the Phils in his most recent appearance against the NL champs. "We won the first game," he said. "And then I just didn't have a good game the day that I pitched ... But I'm not gonna comment on something I don't really know." ESPNNewYork.com staff writer Kieran Darcy and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Later

Gwreck wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Mercy sakes. Wow. Is there a maximum IQ requirement to comment on that site? There's obviously no minimum. Later