smg58

Muniz gets out Feliz and now faces Ruiz.

Carlos Muniz is in. He got called up when they put Wise on the DL this morning.

Is Feliciano OK? This is two innings in a row where he should have been brought in.

metirish wrote: Schoeneweis didn't need that right there, nor did we but this guy needed a good outing. Yes, but the situation called for Feliciano, not him.

And he promptly plunks Utley to load the bases. I don't think anybody's warming up, either.

Show faces three straight righties and gets one out. Now he faces Utley and Howard with one out and two on.

It's So against The Show.

OK, I'll leave the Nats to the locals. I'll take the Angels instead.

Nationals

Aren't Carp and Evans both first basemen? Are they moving one to the outfield?

Yeah, the pitching matchups appear to favor us I think.

Better than I thought it would be, but I wasn't expecting much. A few less songs would have made a better movie, as some of the songs just seemed really forced. But it had the makings of a workable story, and I didn't cringe for the full two hours.

I'm surprised, and disappointed, that they couldn't work something out for Register. I wasn't sure he was major-league ready, but I did think that he looked promising, and he was a better bet than their other pen options until Sanchez is ready. I've been saying all along that Gotay was a waiver claim waiting to happen, and that they should have gotten something for him when they could. Handing him to the Braves for $25,000 was not a good thing. Hernandez was out of options, so the fact that he arrived safely in AAA speaks mouthfuls about his current value. And honestly, given what I saw of spring training, he didn't make plays on a couple of grounders that Reyes would have gotten to. And it's not like his bat is going to carry him to the bigs.

OlerudOwned wrote: ="smg58"]The Indians opted to demote Francisco Cordero rather than cut Jason Michaels. I have to think one of those two could be had.Y'mean Ben Francisco? 'Cuz I'd like the Mets to kick the tires on acquiring him. Wow, I'm just full of typos today. Yes, Ben Francisco was demoted. Francisco Cordero plays for the other Ohio team and, given his salary, would most likely not be demoted under any circumstances.

The Indians opted to demote Francisco Cordero rather than cut Jason Michaels. I have to think one of those two could be had.

The Indians opted to demote Francisco Cordero rather than cut Jason Michaels. I have to think one of those two could be had. On edit: Somehow this wound up in the wrong thread. Sorry.

A couple of news items, courtesy of rotoworld: Register has cleared waivers. This is encouraging, as it shouldn't be too hard to work out a deal with the Rockies for somebody they couldn't have wanted that badly in the first place. Plus I'm guessing that since he was off the 40 when the Mets drafted him and I don't think he'd ever been on it, he'd have his full options. Gotay is on waivers as we speak. I can't see a switch-hitting infielder who hit .290 last year surviving waivers, unless his health is a bigger issue than I was aware. It wouldn't surprise me if he winds up in Colorado, actually, completing the deal for Register. But I think he's done as a Met.

Not only is Sosa the only reliever besides Heilman who can give you more than 70 innings (much less 80), but he might be the best in-house option for fifth starter right now. And he's got an 0.75 ERA this spring. Of course he's coming north with the team. While he may not be that good, he may also not be expendable right now. Casanova's fine as a #2 catcher. My only concern with him is that he won't survive a waiver claim when Castro comes back. Gotay shouldn't survive waivers, and other guys on the team can do what he does. He should have been dealt by now. Claudio Vargas was cut by the Brewers despite a decent spring. He's no All-Star, but he might be viable as a fifth starter. Duaner's not ready, so there's at least one (two if Sosa starts) opening in the pen. Cutting Register now makes no sense, unless the Mets think he can clear waivers and then they can trade something nominal to the Rockies to get the rights to him back (along with three years of options). Otherwise, they just gave up somebody they can use right now, because the alternatives aren't good. Stokes' ERA was 7.07 for Tampa last year and 7.88 this spring. Why exactly is he getting more of a shot than Carlos Muniz did? I'd still like to see a righty bat, but the Mets don't appear to be eager to get one. The Royals just traded Justin Huber to San Diego for a player to be named. He was certain to be waived. I'll be annoyed if the price turns out to be a non-consequential minor leaguer. Matt Murton might be available for a song now. We've gone over other options, too, but I don't see anything happening.

I wouldn't have waived Register unless I was confident Sanchez is ready. I'm not 100% convinced of his major-league readiness, but he was outperforming Smith and Stokes. Plus there's a very real chance that the Mets best option for fifth starter is Jorge Sosa, which would create an opening in the pen. I've got no problem with giving an extended look to Figueroa, though; he's looked capable so far.

Both closers sucked today, but Papelbon gets bailed out by some horrible baserunning and the Sox win 6-5.

As long as Granderson is out then Inge isn't going anywhere. And I think there are better options than Inge anyway. Church is a perfectly good hitter against righthanded pitching. I think we'd all like a righty bat with some pop, but I do not see Church as a major cause for concern, his spring notwithstanding. Raul Casanova is actually a decent hitter for a catcher. It would be nice if one of our two main catchers had a clean bill of health, of course, but it might be hard to find an upgrade over Casanova that another team would readily (or at least cheaply) part with. Delgado? I make no promises there, although I'm more concerned about the lack of depth at the position than I am about Delgado specifically.

Dice-K looked really sharp in the fourth, but threw 60 pitches in the first two innings and is down 2-0. Blanton is methodically and unspectacularly shutting the Sox out to this point.

I thought Pelfrey's first inning wasn't as bad as it looks at face value -- a seeing-eye grounder, a hard hit ball that an experienced outfielder probably catches, a bloop, another seeing-eye grounder, then the hardest hit ball of the inning was actually caught. The last inning was not in any way redeemable, however. He was batting practice in his fifth inning of work, and really showed no ability to handle adversity. He's also not making enough bats miss. I didn't catch El Duque's portion of the game, but that doesn't sound encouraging either.

Nymr83 wrote: Most definitely, but is he willing to go to New Orleans instead of seeking more immediate opportunity in say Pittsburgh or Cincinatti? A perfectly fair question. He could easily get a more immediate opportunity elsewhere than we'd give him. Then again, maybe the Nationals' demand for immediate results is what got him released, and his ideal spot is with a team that would be patient with him for a couple of months and then, if things work out, give him the opportunity to pitch in meaningful mid or late season games. There's no harm in asking, at any rate.

I definitely had doubts going in about whether he was ready for AAA -- he didn't exactly light things up in Binghamton last year -- but right now I think he belongs there. If his power develops he'll be an excellent player.