MLB – NY Mets:From Troy Renck: - If the Washington Nationals hadn’t balked at a trade for Willy Taveras a month ago, Tim Redding might be a Rockie today. But once he was non-tendered, becoming a free agent, the chance to chase a childhood dream trumped everything else. Redding, who grew up in New York, has agreed in principle on a one-year, $2.25-million deal with the New York Mets, according to a major league source.
From Rotoworld: - Free agent Freddy Garcia is being pursued by the Mets, White Sox and Rangers, says SI.com's Jon Heyman. Garcia wouldn't be guaranteed a rotation spot in New York, so he may prefer one of the other destinations. A return to the White Sox has always made sense. Source: SI.com
From Troy Renck: - If the Washington Nationals hadn’t balked at a trade for Willy Taveras a month ago, Tim Redding might be a Rockie today. But once he was non-tendered, becoming a free agent, the chance to chase a childhood dream trumped everything else. Redding, who grew up in New York, has agreed in principle on a one-year, $2.25-million deal with the New York Mets, according to a major league source.
From Rotoworld: - Free agent Freddy Garcia is being pursued by the Mets, White Sox and Rangers, says SI.com's Jon Heyman. Garcia wouldn't be guaranteed a rotation spot in New York, so he may prefer one of the other destinations. A return to the White Sox has always made sense. Source: SI.com
From Yahoo Sports: - This is his team. Over the last four years, Omar Minaya has turned the Mets into his personal chop shop, and all that remains are a few wheels. Of the 53 players who were on the 2004 Mets, three are left: Reyes and Wright, who were 21-year-old rookies, and Pedro Feliciano, who as a left-handed reliever is the baseball equivalent of a Twinkie in nuclear winter. Fifty players, chewed up and spat out by Minaya, and what does he have to show for it? More folds than a poker room, hundreds of millions of dollars spent on “the New Mets” who happened to be much like the Old Mets, the bungling of Willie Randolph’s dismissal and a single, solitary playoff appearance. The four-year extension handed to Minaya in September, amid the Mets blowing another final-month lead, came off as hasty, if not short-sighted. Yes, Minaya has made good moves: the Johan Santana trade, the club-friendly contracts for Reyes and Wright, plucking Fernando Tatis off the garbage heap and loading the Mets’ minor league system with high-talent, big-reward prospects from Latin America. The other side of the Minaya referendum is equally jarring: $53 million for a broken-down Pedro Martinez, another $25 million for a breaking-down Luis Castillo, the $19 million closer (Billy Wagner, out for the year, will make $10.5 million along with K-Rod’s $8.5 million) and nary a player worth a hoot developed by the organization since Reyes and Wright joined the team. New York’s results are Minaya’s, and by giving him another four years, the Wilpon family said the last two years were aberrations or the playoffs once every four years is acceptable. Neither is the case, which puts an even heavier onus on Minaya. This is his team, remember, his players, his manager, his farm system – and on paper, it looks great. Then again, it did in 2007 and 2008, too.
From MLBTR: - Suitors for lefty reliever Dennys Reyes: the A's, Mets, and Dodgers.From Pat Andriola: - Has Omar Minaya done a good job as General Manager of the Mets? I think so, as I do not blame him for the past two years (despite the fact that I have blamed everyone from Sarah Palin to Greg Dobb’s parents to Tim McCarver for the past two years). The collapses were more circumstantial than anything, and I am impressed with the J.J. Putz deal and assembling of some amazing players around the core of Wright and Reyes. I just hope that he is able to handle the economic situation properly and, if constrained by the possible empty pockets of the Wilpons, is able to be wise in his decisions (which he was not able to do with a nothing payroll in Montreal).
AAA – Buffalo:
From Christopher Guy: - For those keeping track, OF Fernando Martinez has struggled at the plate since his 2-for-4 debut with Caracas last Saturday. After going 0-for-3 last night in a 11-6 loss, he is in a 0-for-12 funk with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks.
AA – B-Mets:
Binghamton Mets’ Director of Stadium Operations, Richard Tylicki, returned to his job at NYSEG Stadium on Thursday, January 8, 2008 after a one-year tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Egypt. Tylicki, a fourteen year veteran of the B-Mets’ front office staff, deployed to the Sinai Peninsula with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 1-104th Cavalry. Working as part of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), the Cavalry worked with 10 other participating nations to enforce the 1979 Treaty for Peace between Israel and Egypt. The MFO is an international and independent peace keeping organization created in 1981 and stood up in 1982 to ensure continued peace between the two former adversaries. Richard served as a liaison officer between the MFO Headquarters in the Northern Sinai and the Cavalry’s Headquarters in the southern Sinai city of Sharm El Shiekh. He also investigated potential treaty violations and supported front line troops who monitored land and maritime borders between the two countries. The deployment marked Tylicki’s third since his arrival in Binghamton. He served in Bosnia (2002-2003) with Stabilization Force (SFOR) 12 and in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom II (2004-2005). He was promoted to the rank of Major this past June and remains an active member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The B-Mets begin the 2009 campaign on the road and return to NYSEG Stadium, on Thursday, April 16th at 6:35 to take on the Portland Sea Dogs, the Boston Red Sox Double-A affiliate.
Fantasy:
From Waiver Wire: - John Maine 2009 - John Maine had arthrscopic surgery at the end of last season, but is expected to be fully recovered by the start of Spring Training in 2009. His 2008 season was slightly disappointing as he only managed 140 innings pitched, and took a small step backwards from his 2007 performance. He struck out 7.8 per nine innings and walked 4.3 per nine innings, both worse than the previous year, although his groundball rate did rise slightly to 40.6%. I would expect something like a K/9 of 8.0 and a BB/9 of 4.0 from Maine this year. He does have one thing going for him though, as do all of the Mets pitchers. I had previously talked about Citi Field and speculated that it is likely to play as a slight to moderate pitchers' park. An interview of Greg Rybarczyk of Hit Tracker by Eric Simon of Amazin Avenue has convinced me that it will be an extreme pitchers' park, possibily the worst home run park in baseball. The corresponding increase in other hits (especially triples) will not come close to compensating for the lost home runs, except possibly for a triples machine like Jose Reyes. Be very wary of Mets hitters in 2009 and look for reasons to use Mets pitchers on your team.
Also from WW: - Jose Reyes 2009 - Last season Jose Reyes rebounded from a somewhat subpar 2007 to post excellent numbers, more or less matching his 2006 performance. In traditional formats, he is considered a top five draft pick by most people. I mentioned in the John Maine post this morning that Citi Field is likely to play as an extreme pitcher's park. In particular it is almost certainly going to depress home runs by a substantial amount. It may partially compensate for that by increasing the number of triples hit, due to the large playing field, the odd configuration of the outfield wall, and the outfield deck overhang. So the one Mets hitter who I would not necessarily avoid in 2009 is Jose Reyes. The key to what the park is likely to do to his value is in how your league scoring works. In most daily contest leagues (and also in Rotohog), a triple is worth only slightly less than a home run, so Reyes won't be hurt at all by the park. However, in traditional 5X5 and especially 4X4 leagues, he's going to take a slight hit in value...although still far less than the other Mets' stars.
Alumni:
Licey 16, Aguilas 2 - Former Major Leaguer Timo Perez hit for the cycle as the Tigres improved to 6-4 in round-robin play. Perez homered to left field in the fourth inning, singled in the sixth, tripled in the seventh and doubled in the eighth. Perez hit .302 with 30 doubles, 13 homers and 63 RBIs for Detroit's Triple-A affiliate Toledo in 2008. The Dominican native has a .269 career average with 26 homers and 185 RBIs in 603 Major League games
General Baseball News:
From the Astros: - Former left-handed pitcher Dave Roberts, who played for eight teams during his 13-year Major League career, has died of lung cancer at the age of 64. Roberts broke into the Majors with the Padres in 1969, and he played with San Diego for three seasons before being traded to the Astros -- with whom the southpaw spent four years. Roberts also pitched with the Tigers, Cubs, Giants, Pirates, Mariners and Mets before retiring in '81. Roberts finished with a 103-125 record, 15 saves and a 3.78 ERA spanning a career in which he spent time as both a starter and a reliever. Of his 445 big league appearances, Roberts made 227 starts.
Mack
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