Logo Background

» Jose Reyes

  • Mets & Their Needs (c;1b;2b;lf;sp)
    By DSchwartz on November 10, 2009 | No Comments  Comments

    I wrote on facebook: “Congratulations to the most spoiled fans in the world, however… Thank you…Becasue I hate the Phillies with a Passion” to which a Yankee friend replied, “But Dan, they’re are 3rd graders who haven’t seen this yet” to which I replied but there are 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th and 12th graders that have.

    Oh and I forgot to congratulate the Phillies and their fans 2 seasons ago – for their desire to have us hate them and take them seriously… Well done. Seriously though. Well done.

    The Mets have a sundry of needs that Omar Minaya or whomever else assumes GM needs to attend to: mainly c, 1b, 2b, lf, and sp. I say 2b because it seems they are attempting to trade Luis Castillo and then potentially offer a deal to Orlando Hudson, which scares me if the Mets have to provide another multi year deal to an aging 2nd baseman who was benched for Ronnie Belliard during the (p)lay-offs. I’ll stop assuming our prospects pan out and offer a scenario that lands the Mets a 1b,2b,lf,and sp. I also won’t propose trading 15 tier 3 prospects for 4 mlb all stars.

    Trade 1) NYM-Jankees: Carlos Beltran(cf), Wilmer Flores/Reese Havens/Ruben Tejada (preferably the later middle infield prospect), Urbina/Moviel/Familia(sp prospect) for Robinson Cano(2b) and Phil Hughes(sp).

    * I know the Yankees could have had Beltran for just cash prior to him signing with the Mets, but this provides the Yankees with an every day (when healthy) offensive centerfielder and then they can sign Chone Figgins or Orlando Hudson for 2b and use Flores/Havens/Tejada at ss or 2b when that contract or Jeter’s career is over.

    Trade 2) NYM-Brewers: Ike Davis(1b prospect), Fernando Martinez (of prospect), Mike Pelfrey(sp), Brad Holt (sp prospect) for Prince Fielder(1b).Maybe Angel Pagan(of) &/or Daniel Murphy(if-of) can also be involved in the deal for Carlos Gomez (cf) otherwise the Mets CF will come by way of free agency…

    Trade 3) NYM-Cubs: The already infinitely proposed deal (except straight up with cash consideration coming the Mets way), Luis Castillo(2b) for Milton Bradley(lf)

    Mets 2010 Free Agent signings: Mike Cameron(cf) if Carlos Gomez isn’t involved in the Brewers deal, Randy Wolf(sp), and Erik Bedard or Ben Sheets(sp) contingent on health reports and monetary demands.

    *I haven’t added monetary figures to this scenario but if you include the salary subtractions of Delgado, Wagner, Putz, Schneider, Sheffield, Tatis, and Cora the Mets would have a payroll at 10-15 million less than last year ( and that takes into account salary and arbitration raises). The Mets Lineup and Rotation (depth) would look as follows:

    1-Jose Reyes/ss

    2-David Wright/3b

    3-Robinson Cano/2b

    4-Prince Fielder/1b

    5-Milton Bradley/lf

    6-Jeff Franceour/rf

    7-Mike Cameron/cf

    8-Santos/Thole/Free Agent Catcher

    1-Johan Santana

    2-Randy Wolf

    3-Erik Bedard/Ben Sheets/John Maine

    4-Phil Hughes

    5-Oliver Perez/Jon Niese

    6-Misch/Stoner/Nieve/Figueroa/Mejia

    That’s an AL East competitor even, but so are the Phillies. The Mets must match up to them lineup spot by lineup spot and rotation slot by rotation slot.

    You're a MLB Pro..Thanks For Coming Back!

  • Mets & The Offseason (Realistically)
    By DSchwartz on September 23, 2009 | 3 Comments3 Comments  Comments

    I’ve been slightly unprofessional offering a sundry of random trade offers the Mets should at least attend to (all of them being interesting but completely unrealistic). Some could realistically happen if it were proposed by the actual GM’s, such as Beltran + SP prospect for Matt Cain or the Farm for Nick Markakis or Prince Fielder, however I don’t think any big trades will occur this season, because as you’ve already been hearing, many of the Mets prospects are seasons away from the majors (Jenrry Mejia/sp; Brad Holt/sp; Wilmer Flores/if; Reese Havens/Ruben Tejada/mi; Jefry Marte/3b). I think all 6 are MLB talent, but all 6 are under or well under 23 years of age. The most interesting unrealistic trade I’ve recently thought about is: Matt Cain & Pablo Sandoval for Carlos Beltran, Fernando Martinez, Daniel Murphy, Tejada/Havens/Flores-mi or Marte/Lutz-3b, and Niese/Mejia/Holt-sp. The Mets would have to use Angel Pagan every day at CF so this is somewhat unrealistic, but maybe we could trade back for Carlos Gomez to man CF at CITI Field along with Pagan. He shouldn’t cost too much (maybe a MI/3b prospect not in the Cain & Sandoval deal). Again, this is highly unlikely because both Cain and Sandoval are fantastic and cheap.

    A possible trade that does make some sense: Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/09/discussion-milton-bradley-for-oliver-perez.html) discusses a Cubs-Mets swap of Milton Bradley and Oliver Perez – both disappointing and costly. As per Tim Dierkes post, Joel Sherman of the New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/hardball/up_yanks_postseason_al_mvp_bradley_OGXQ3Gwj8DrsvfRTrOZGXN) also wonders if Carlos Zambrano & Luis Castillo could switch sides. It’s an interesting idea. The Mets could get their #2 starter they need in Zambrano and an OF in Bradley if they don’t think Angel Pagan & Prospect Ike Davis (who has mainly played 1b) could play every day. If the Mets are willing to take on all the money, I don’t see why the Cubs wouldn’t trade Zambrano & Bradley straight up for Perez & Castillo, but maybe the Mets would have to offer up a 2nd/3rd tier prospect in addition. Zambrano’s a good quality SP, but if we take on Bradley’s entire salary that’s 28ish million per year coming the Mets way and only 18 million per year going the Cubs way. This gives the Cubs lee-way to resign Rich Harden/sp & Reed Johnson/of.  If the Mets were to pull the trigger on this, they would then need a 2b (Chone Figgins preferably – I’d rather sign him to 3-4 years at 11-12mm per than Orlando Hudson for 8-9mm per year for 2 years I think). The Mets would use Anderson Hernandez at MI to back up Reyes and Castillo/Figgins/Hudson then. Our rotation after this would look like Santana; Zambrano; Pelfrey; Maine/Parnell; Niese/Figueroa/Nieve. I still think we need one more consistent starter for the rotation. According to Rotoworld (http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=3044), Jeff Francoeur says Jason Marquis would love to pitch for the Mets. To me, he does epitomize a consistent #3 starter.

    So if the Mets pulled the Cubs trade, signed Figgins, and Marquis that’s about 30-34mm in additions to the team. Carlos Delgado, Billy Wanger, JJ Putz, Gary Sheffield, Fernando Tatis, Alex Cora, and Brian Schneider ‘leaving’ for free agency takes about 33mm off the books, so I think it’s only fair with a new stadium, that the Mets allow for such additions.

    This provides a 2010 lineup of:

    1-      Chone Figgins; Anderson Hernandez/mi

    2-      Jose Reyes; Anderson Hernandez/mi

    3-      David Wright/3b

    4-      Carlos Beltran; Angel Pagan/cf

    5-      Jeff Francoeur; Milton Bradley; Pagan/rf

    6-      Milton Bradley; Angel Pagan; Murphy/Davis/lf

    7-      Daniel Murphy; Ike Davis/1b

    8-      Josh Thole; Omir Santos/c

    & a 2010 Rotation of:

    1-      Johan Santana

    2-      Carlos Zambrano

    3-      Jason Marquis

    4-      Mike Pelfrey

    5-      John Maine; Bobby Parnell; Jon Niese

    6-      Fernando Nieve; Nelson Figueroa

    A Decent 2010 Bench of:

    c- Omir Santos; Josh Thole

    1b/of- Nick Evans; Ike Davis; Daniel Murphy

    mi- Anderson Hernandez

    of – Angel Pagan; Milton Bradley

    of – Jeremy Reed; Cory Sullivan

    & a 2010 Bullpen of:

    K-rod

    Bobby Parnell; John Maine

    Pedro Feliciano

    Brian Stokes

    Carlos Muniz

    Sean Green

    Takahashi/RP Prospect/FA LHP

    *Roster Notes: Figgins-Reyes-Wright is pretty good infield obp and speed for Beltran-Francoeur-Bradley to drive in, and I think Daniel Murphy & Ike Davis can man 1b while Josh Thole and Omir Santos can man C well enough for the 2010 Mets to more than compete with a deeper 5 man rotation with Zambrano & Marquis while a hopefully healthier John Maine and a hopefully better Mike Pelfrey depict a better number 4&5 starter than a 2&3 starter.

  • Halladay and the Mets
    By DSchwartz on July 20, 2009 | 1 Comment1 Comment  Comments

    I read the Mets Rejection of a Roy Halladay trade first via MetsBlog.com: According to Matthew Cerrone, ‘Jon Heyman of SI.com believes the Mets rejected a deal from the Jays for RHP Roy Halladay, in return for OF Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and 17–year-old SS Ruben Tejada.’

    Honestly, that’s a lot. Then, a poll asked if you would do this trade or not and at the time I voted (no), 75% of the people said yes they would do it and only 25% said no (on the dot). I’m surprised. This is a lot to give up. I think most of the same people said not to give up the farm in any trade in an earlier poll on the site. And like Cerrone goes on to say, the Mets would keep Brad Holt and Jenrry Mejia, which are probably the Mets top two pitching prospects now so that is attractive, but again, I personally think this is way too much.

    Ruben Tejada may be ahead of Wilmer Flores as our top middle infield/ss prospect, however that said, we do have another very young, very talented ss prospect in Flores. We do have 2 better sp prospects than Jon Niese. I think this was the Blue Jays thinking too. The Mets are giving up their top OF prospect in Fernando Martinez and top RP prospect in Bobby Parnell, but not even their top sp or ss prospect, however, with both Billy Wagner and JJ Putz gone via free agency next year (obviously assuming the inevitable), I think Bobby Parnell is too important – maybe the most important immediate provider in the deal.

    So should Omar Minaya be fired (I mean counter)? I think we can attempt to counter with Fernando Martinez/of, Jon Niese/sp, Brad Holt/sp and Jefry Marte/3b for Roy Halladay/sp + Alex Rios/of. I think Marte is more expendable at 3b behind David Wright than Ruben Tejada or Wilmer Flores at ss behind Jose Reyes. And if we lose Fernando Martinez we’d need Rios plus we would take his salary off the Jays’ back.

    *In my crazy idealland, I thought maybe Jon Niese, Brad Holt, John Maine, and Jefry Marte/Ruben Tejada/Wilmer Flores could land Halladay & Rios, and the Mets can then trade Fernando Martinez & Mike Pelfrey/Brad Holt/Jenrry Mejia & Santos/Thole/Pena/c for Victor Martinez yielding:

    a 2010 rotation of: Roy Halladay; Johan Santana; Oliver Perez; 2 of Pelfrey/Holt/Mejia/League-worse-than-averages like Livan/Redding/&Nieve this year.

    and a 2010 lineup of: Jose Reyes/ss; David Wright/3b; Victor Martinez/c; Carlos Beltran/cf; Alex Rios/lf; Jeff Francoeur/rf; Daniel Murphy/1b; Castillo/Cora/Flores/Tejada/Havens/2b.

    and then in lala land, I thought maybe (a healthy) Jose Reyes/ss (maybe in the off season) can go to the Red Sox for Michael Bowden/sp and (Clay Buchholz/sp or Justin Masterson/sp & Daniel Bard/rp). If they want Oliver Perez/sp and 1/2 his salary, that would be fantastic. The Mets could than use Tejada/Flores/Havens/Cora at SS and sign Orlando Hudson for 2b allowing a 2010 lineup of: Hudson-Wright-VMartinez-Beltran-Rios-Francoeur-Murphy-Tejada/Flores/Havens/Cora and a 2010 Rotation of Halladay-Santana-Buchholz-Bowden-Nieve/Mejia/Holt/Pelfrey. And fire-bucket!

  • Mets-Braves Francoeur-Church Swap
    By DSchwartz on July 10, 2009 | 1 Comment1 Comment  Comments

    Wowzer. 3-4 years ago, I thought the Braves and Mets would never trade with each other again in the history of baseball. I thought only the Red Sox and Yankees were less likely to make a deal – a now it’s Phillies and Mets of course. Interesting deal! The potential out of Jeff Francoeur I like a lot more than the injury potential of Ryan Church. Jeff Francoeur is a great right-fielder, fairly healthy, and young enough where he can improve – ten-fold from how he’s performing now. He’s only 25 and went back to back years with 100+ rbis in 2006 and 2007. He hit for average in 2007, but I don’t know if he’ll ever really do that again, and if its his mind making him perform bad in Atlanta…well, I don’t think that will get much better in New York, but again, I still like the deal. It’s a small shakeup. The Mets need to do a lot more, but they won’t with the market and asking prices. So lets hope this and JJ Putz, Billy Wanger (I mean Wagner, but I figured i’d leave the mispelling), and Carlos Delgado can help the team enough in August and the same for Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes when they get healthy (as well as John Maine & Oliver Perez who already had the epitomic Oliver Perez-like start). And most importantly, the Mets need the help of the Phillies, that they have somewhat received early season until now, but may not any longer.

  • Why not Wright & Reys to the Sawx?
    By DSchwartz on July 7, 2009 | 4 Comments4 Comments  Comments

    In my prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/trade-david-wright-to-the-red-sox/), I referenced a potential trade from Joseph Delgrippo of Bleacher Report where David Wright and Fernando Martinez would go to the Red Sox for Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Lars Anderson, and 2 of Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard, or Justin Masterson. This is a lot, and I’d be surprised to see that much going the Mets way. The Mets obviously and blatantly need to be shaken up from the core-on-down – and then some. If this bullpen went with the team last year, maybe we’d have won the penant. Maybe we’d be 10 games up this year, but neither is the case, and although eventually the Mets will have John Maine, Oliver Perez, Billy Wagner, JJ Putz, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran coming off the DL at random, unknown times, and although my David Wright Passion Bucket has always been full, that trade scenario from Delgrippo of Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/213365-new-york-mets-need-to-make-a-trade-for-the-future) sounds very intriguing. To assure such a trade and a top-down shake-up why not send both Wright & Reyes to the Sawx?

    So, here – naturally, are more crazy trade scenarios. Let’s play Mets GM:

    1) David Wright/3b; Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp (& his salary) for Jacoby Ellsbury/of; Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Daniel Bard/sp; and Lars Anderson/1b. The Mets could send a 3rd tier pitching prospect  (Scott Shaw/Mike Antonini/Scott Moviel) or young cf prospect their way in addition. This provides the Red Sox with their future ss & 3b and one dominant lineup.

    2) After the Mets acquire 3 top-notch pitching prospects, their others (Jon Niese/Brad Holt/Jenrry Mejia) become a little more expendable. Jenrry Mejia is catching eyes finally. So the Mets could then trade Jon Niese/sp; Brad Holt/sp; Wilmer Flores/Robinson Tejada/or Reese Havens/ss for Roy Halladay. If not Flores/Tejada/Havens then Maybe Ryan Church/of + John Maine/sp, but it seems the Blue Jays will want a ss prospect along with sp prospects for Doc Halladay. The Mets could potentially offer Church + Maine in addition to the deal for Alex Rios/of, if the Jays would like not to pay his contract.

    3) Finally, contingent on the above deal, the Mets could offer Fernando Martinez and Ryan Church/of or Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans/of-1b in addition to Mike Pelfrey or John Maine for Victor Martinez/c from the Cleveland Indians.

    So for an easy view:

    1-Wright, Reyes, Oliver & Salary for Ellsbury, Lars, Buchholz, Bowden, Bard

    2-Niese, Holt, Tejada/Flores/Havens or Maine & Church for Halladay

    3-F.Martinez & Church or Dan Murphy & Evans + Pelfrey or Maine for V.Martinez

    There are some potential 2010 Free Agents the Mets could look at for their infield as rentals before the other 2 ss that don’t get traded (Tejada/Flores/Havens) and Jefry Marte/3b are ready for the infield (Adrian Beltre and Orlando Hudson included). So the 2010-2012 Mets Lineup could look as follows: Jacoby Ellsbury/cf-Robinson Tejada/2b-Victor Martinez/c-Carlos Beltran/rf-Lars Anderson/1b-Fernando Martinez or Daniel Murphy/lf-Jefry Marte/3b-Reese Havens/2b

    Even better, the 2010-2012 Mets Rotation could look as follows: Roy Halladay-Johan Santana-Mike Pelfrey/John Maine-Clay Buchholz-Michael Bowden/Daniel Bard/Jenrry Mejia/Fernando Nieve(why not).

    Not only is this team quite talented but very young – it does create a nice payroll with only 5 players with expensive contracts (Beltran,VMartinez,Santana,Halladay,Krod).

    Guys like Halladay and Vmart can more than keep the team in contention right now with such a rotation, while the young Sawx pitching prospects can dominate with Santana and a resigned Halladay there-after.

    Scold away.

  • Trade David Wright to the Red Sox?
    By DSchwartz on July 7, 2009 | 5 Comments5 Comments  Comments

    I’ve been scolded lately for saying the Mets should potentially at least look into trading Jose Reyes to the Red Sox for 2 of their top young pitching prospect and Jed Lowrie as well. In a post from Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/213365-new-york-mets-need-to-make-a-trade-for-the-future), Joseph Delgrippo says the Mets should potentially look to trade David Wright/3b + Fernando Martinez/of to the Red Sox for Clay Buchholz/sp, Lars Anderson/1b, Jacoby Elsbury/of, and 2 from Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden, and Daniel Bard/p. He goes on to say the Mets could sign a 1 or 2 year free agent 3rd baseman until Wilmer Flores/ss is ready to play 3b in the Majors.

    Honestly, it’s very, very intriguing. As a Mets fan i’d have to say it’s…fair – maybe better than fair. The Mets rotation would look amazing for years to come. The one thing I will say is… I already like the Red Sox, and this deal will allow me to stop watching the Mets for at least this year and become a full-time Red Sox fan. Sorry, but honestly, it’s been rough. I’ve been watching Wright since his short days in Binghamton, and he’s about the only bright spot this year (and not (w)right now).

    I’ll root for both teams deep down.

    If they make this deal, why not trade Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran as well? Stack the team for years to come. Fellow Mets fans…It’s been hard. It’s been devestating. The Phillies are better. The Marlins probably will be next year. The Braves could be as well. Let’s just enjoy baseball and hope.

  • To the Mets-Red Sox Trade Naysayers
    By DSchwartz on June 30, 2009 | 4 Comments4 Comments  Comments

    This is just in response to the nay-sayers and scolders of my last post:

    Mets Hurting;Red Sox-Mets Potential Trade

    (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/mets-hurtingred-sox-mets-potential-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-1100).

    There were a few scolding comments, however, the idea was again brought up via MetsBlog.com (probably the top Mets Blog). Matthew Cerrone (author and site creator) had this to say:

    …lastly, i’d have to think long and hard about what can be had for Jose Reyes, whose ultimate potential i am starting to lose faith in… last month, Boston talk-radio host Danny Picard suggested on his blog I’m Just Sayin, that, in the off season, the Red Sox should offer RHP Clay Buchholz, top prospect RHP Michael Bowden, OF Jacoby Ellsbury and SS Jed Lowrie to the Mets for reyes… this would be super tempting, to say the least

    Obviously, this is A LOT to give up for Reyes and that good of an offer won’t happen, but Buchholz, Bowden, and Lowrie for Reyes+… I don’t see how that couldn’t happen (before Reyes’ injury). Hopefully his injury isn’t catastrophic and if he’s back in time healthy by the deadline, I can see such a deal being at least talked about, and I want credit.

  • Mets Hurting;Red Sox-Mets Potential Trade
    By DSchwartz on June 12, 2009 | 7 Comments7 Comments  Comments

    After the first loss to the Phillies this past series, MetsBlog.com writer, Regis Courtemanche wrote, “Win or lose, I love the way the Mets are playing right now.  They seem completely focused on the task at hand, and Citi Field seems to have finally come alive. Still disappointing to let this one get away though.” FYI, MetsBlog is one of the best (Mets) Blogs out there. To be honest, I disagree with the statement, however the Mets are without their starting SS, 1b, 2 SP’s and both our set-up men. That’s right – “both.” Eventually this season, the Mets will have Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Billy Wagner, Oliver Perez (and John Maine now) all coming off the DL. The Phillies are only 4 games ahead, but with a bullpen of K-rod, and potentially healthy and effective relievers, such as Wagner and Putz, the Mets rotation will only have to pitch 6 effective innings each night (for the most part). And that’s great because it seems Redding , Maine , and Oliver (and often times Santana and Pelfrey) can never pass that plateau. The offense will have to come out romping, however – something they couldn’t do last year and something they haven’t been able to do this season even prior to Reyes and Delgado going down. With that said, I’m still very willing to “wait and see” how the Mets perform after Reyes, Delgado, Maine, Oliver, Putz, and Wagner come back, however, the question is and will be – is it too late?

    Do the Mets need to do something to shake the team up? In a prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/lets-play-gm-mets-crazy-trade-scenarios/), I talked about the potential need to shake up the team, and I threw out some crazy trade scenarios. The reality is, people, reporters, and teams are catching on that the Red Sox have 9 at least effective or ready major league starters. It’s also fairly clear they could use an effective shortstop, which is where, to me, the Mets should come in to play. I love Reyes, but could he land us both Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden? I think he could. I think that’s worth it – for both teams. We could potentially add a catching prospect to the deal (Francisco Pena or Josh Thole) – they’re young, but the Red Sox have and may have a need for a catcher in the future if they don’t trade for/sign Joe Mauer/Twins (after or during) next year. Another potential aspect I would add to to the deal (if I were Omar Minaya) is Oliver Perez. This is only to free up salaray to trade for and sign another need (Matt Holliday)? That’s not essential, but if the Red Sox were willing to take on Perez’s salary in addition to losing their top 2 pitching prospects in the deal, then I would do that. I’d then, however, ask for a more than effective reliever: Manny Delcarmen/Takashi Saito. So i’d potentially like to see:

    Mets Receive: Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Takashi Saito/rp; Jed Lowrie/ss

    Red Sox Receive: Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp; Josh Thole or Francisco Pena/c

    I guess there’s a contingency – Jose Reyes’ health. Would this prevent such a trade? The Sox do still have Nick Green and Julio Lugo to hold down the ss job while Reyes is out. Again this would then allow us to potentially go for Matt Holliday, Mark Derosa, or other outfielders via trade this season or free agency after, so Daniel Murphy could stay at first next year with the assumption that Carlos Delgado will be gone. Our lineup would obviously hurt without Reyes for the rest of the year, but if we trade for another bat for the lineup, the Rotation with Buchholz and or Bowden would be much more effective than Tim Redding.

    Agreed?

  • This Week in Fantasy Baseball
    By gamdizzle on May 8, 2009 | 1 Comment1 Comment  Comments

    I Saw this and had to include it.

    So the obvious thing that happened this week was Manny Ramirez being suspended for 50 games for using a woman’s fertility drug. Everyone on this site has been all over this story, so I really don’t have much to say. But if you’ve been living under a rock for the last 24 hours you can check out the original breaking new article from the LA Times here. For the Dodgers, it could not have come at a worse time. They were riding a 13 game home winning streak and firing on all cylinders. The best move to make here is to go pick up Juan Pierre. Pierre guarantee you cheap source of steals, as well as a high avg and on base percentage. Go get him in all formats, he will help your team and might even be trade worthy in deeper leagues.

    In the last 7 days we have had a Matt LaPorta sighting among the leagues. And he has barely cracked a line up with a 2-13 showing with 2 runs, a HR, and 2 RBI. Don’t panic yet Fantasy owners you should expect big things from LaPorta this season. In deeper leagues where LaPorta has been snatched up, you might want to think about grabbing Mat Gamel (Mil-3B). If you weren’t paying attention you can read my notes about Gamel here.

    Overrated Prized prospect of the last couple of seasons Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Or the Sultan of Sodium as others refer to him) has started to show why he was an A+ prospect. In his last 3 games he’s got 4 hits, 1 HR, and 5 RBI’s. His season line is just an Ok, .276/.313/.447 with 10R/21H/3HR/13RBI, I think he deserves your attention in deeper leagues. Especially leagues where you drafted Soto, Doumit, or McCann early to bolster the C position. I believe he posses the ability to hit 20HRs this year, but I don’t know if we’ll see that .300 avg we all hoped for.

    Can someone please tell Carlos Pena to come back down to earth? The man has been crushing the ball as of late. Over the last seven days Pena is batting .304 with 4HR’s, 6RBI’s, and slugging an other worldly .913. Pena is a definite threat to hit 40HR’s and 100+ RBI’s, but expect the K’s to creep back up on his line and he should finish the year hitting about .255. Its a great time to sell high on Pena owners if you are in a keeper leagues and buy low on someone who is underperforming or injured (Jose Reyes, Russell Martin, Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb).

    There will be lots more to talk about this weekend. And if something good happens check back here and I’ll have written a post about it (I promise  hope).

  • Castillo Walkoff Gives Mets The Win In The 9′th!
    By Jeffrey Gross on April 17, 2009 | 1 Comment1 Comment  Comments

    Wow….on a night where we saw Gary Sheffield’s 500′th Home Run (Congrats Mr. Sheffield!) we also saw some more exciting fireworks from the bat of…..Luis Castillo.

    Bottom of the 9′th….two outs, Runners on Second and Third…and Boom, Luis comes through with slap infield single to the left side of the infield. It was a glorious win for the Mets…they had to have this win after coming from behind (again) after giving up a 3-0 lead gotten in the first inning. 

    To make a long story short, in the 9′th, we saw (another) clutch hit from Carlos Delgado to lead of the all important bottom half of this inning. Bobby Parnell also looked excellent (again), Putz looked strong, and David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Luis Castillo all did well at the plate (along with Delgado of course). 

    So the Mets are 5-5 now…but what is more than the record is the ever growing confidence in Castillo, and the BUllpen as a whole. Confidence will lead to wins, and this is something the Mets are gaining each day. The only true issue so far….starting pitching. My gut feeling tells me that this will get better over the next month.

    Let’s Go Mets!

Advertisement