Mets:
Billy Wagner to J.J. Putz to Francisco Rodriguez. Talk about a nasty bullpen. Wagner, recovering from surgery on his left arm, has been cleared to throw off a mound on Tuesday in Port St. Lucie. "I'm going to break all the rules by getting back before they expect it," Wagner told Marty Noble of MLB.com. "I'm going to get back. I'm not going to get any saves. That could be some bullpen." Would it ever.
http://theropolitans.com/2009/04/mets-have-two-closers-now-what-if-they.html
Mike Pelfrey enjoyed a breakthrough season with the Mets in 2008, going 13-11 with a 3.72 ERA in 32 starts. Mike Pelfrey was ready for me in the Mets spring training clubhouse, as if he knew I was coming. "Look at me," the Mets right-hander said one day last month. "I'm a pretty big guy." Yes, sir. Pelfrey is 6-foot-7. Thankfully, he is a rather pleasant, mild-mannered guy. I didn't feel threatened, but my theory about young pitchers getting overworked was precisely in Pelfrey's crosshairs. Pelfrey was familiar with my rule of thumb that pitchers 25 and under are at risk of injury or significant regression in the year after their clubs boost their workload by 30 or more innings. The Mets pushed Pelfrey, then 24, 48 innings beyond his previous professional high in innings pitched last year. The club preferred not to do it. In fact, the Mets had mapped out a plan to get Pelfrey about 180 innings last year, but injuries on their staff and a tight pennant race forced the Mets to keep running him out there, rolling the odometer on his innings up to 200 2/3.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/tom_verducci/04/07/yearafter.effect/index.html?eref=T1
After years of offering bulk discounts and pregame parades on the field to local youth baseball groups, the Mets have so far benched the promotions at their new $800 million Citi Field stadium in Queens, according to youth baseball officials. “I’m getting a lot of feedback from parents — they’re upset,” said Bob Reid, president of the Bayside Little League, one of the groups affected. The Mets say they are continuing to offer youth days with regular-price seats as low as $11 that are closer to the field than at Shea Stadium. And the team said it was “working on the logistics” of resuming group access to the outfield warning track.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/sports/baseball/05little.html?_r=2
Bisons:
Jonathan Niese, 22, is coming off a spectacular 2008 season where he was given the Mets’ Sterling Organizational Pitcher of the Year Award, emblematic of the top pitcher on the minor league level. The southpaw went a combined 11-8 with a 3.13ERA in 29 starts at Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A New Orleans. His stellar campaign earned him a major league promotion to the Mets in just his fourth professional season. After having his contract purchased on September 1, Niese went 1-1 with a 7.07ERA in three starts with New York. He tossed eight shutout innings on September 13 vs. Atlanta to pick up his first big league win.
http://www.mlntherawfeed.com/minor-league-baseball/2009/4/8/jonathon-niese-will-take-mound-opening-day-for-il-buffalo-bi.html
When the Mets signed free-agent closer Francisco Rodriguez back in December to a three year (possible fourth year) deal there was one person, who probably expressed a little bit of disappointment. That person is Eddie Kunz. Kunz, selected by the Mets out of Oregon State in the 2007 MLB Draft, was envisioned to close games in Queens after Billy Wagner’s four year stay with the team was up. However, after a series of events including a potential career ending shoulder injury to Wagner, Kunz will have to wait a few years or so before the ninth inning is his.
http://www.ddmetsfanblog.com/2009/04/mets-prospects-to-watch-eddie-kunz.html
The move to the Mets is going to mean a lot more media exposure for the Bisons and the team hopes that translates to increased sales. Buczkowski said sales for merchandise on the team's Web site for the first three months of 2009 has already surpassed that of all of '08, largely because of the new logo as well as orders from the New York City area. Bisons souvenirs are expected to be sold at a stand inside Citi Field. All but 25 of the Mets games are available in Buffalo on SportsNet New York and SNY announcers will certainly talk about player movement on a daily basis; Buffalo fans could not see Indians games because the Tribe foolishly included Western New York in its blackout zone. SNY, in fact, will televise five Bisons games from Coca-Cola Field
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bisons/story/633189.html
B-Mets:
The following players have been assigned to Binghamton and placed on the DL:
RHP Salvador Aguilar
RHP Tobi Stoner
RHP Jake Ruckle
RHP German Marte
RHP Elvys Quezada
The following players were transferred to Brooklyn (SS-A):
LHP Edgar Alfonzo
C Salvador Paniagua
OF Frank Diaz
Clones:
FROM BROOKLYN TO QUEENS: Two former Cyclones -- OF Daniel Murphy and RHP Bobby Parnell -- made the Mets' 2009 Opening Day roster, as New York's season got underway on Monday afternoon. Murphy got the start on Monday as the number two hitter in a potent Mets lineup, and cracked the first home run of the season for the Amazin's with a solo shot in the fifth inning. Murphy played for the Cyclones at the end of the 2006 regular season and into the playoffs that year, and returned to Brooklyn for a brief rehab assignment in 2008. Parnell won a spot in the Mets' bullpen with a strong spring performance. He was an All-Star for the Cyclones in 2005, and started the first-ever NYPL All-Star Game that year, which took place at KeySpan Park. That season, Parnell was just 2-3 for Brooklyn, but led the league with a 1.73 ERA in 15 games. In 73 innings, he struck out 67 batters.
A total of eight players -- including Murphy and Parnell -- who played for the Cyclones before making their major league debuts are on the 2009 MLB Opening Day rosters:
Jesus Flores (2004) -- C -- Washington Nationals
Mike Jacobs (2001) -- 1B -- Kansas City Royals
Scott Kazmir (2002) -- LHP -- Tampa Bay Rays
Matt Lindstrom (2003) -- RHP -- Florida Marlins
Daniel Murphy (2006, 2008) -- OF -- New York Mets
Bobby Parnell (2005) -- RHP -- New York Mets
Yusmeiro Petit (2003) -- RHP -- Arizona Diamondbacks
Joe Smith (2006) -- RHP -- Cleveland Indians
Lucy:
Police are looking for a man who streaked naked across a baseball field Thursday night as a game was under way, according to a report released Friday. A park employee told investigators the naked man ran about 7:20 p.m. through a baseball field in Sportsman's Park near Prima Vista and Airoso boulevards.The streaker, described as an 18-year-old white man of slim build, reportedly was seen by about 40 people, the park employee said. The man is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall with long dark hair
-Mack: No… I wasn’t in town.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/apr/03/naked-man-streaks-ballgame-port-st-lucie/?feedback=1#comments
Fantasy:
Top 50 Fantasy Players:
1. Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA: Rare player with 40/40 potential at thin SS position
2. Albert Pujols, 1B, STL: Won NL MVP even with bum elbow; healthy to start ‘09
3. Jose Reyes, SS, NYM: Impact player in SBs, also respectable in HRs, RBIs
4. David Wright, 3B, NYM: Good and bad; run production went up, SBs went down in ‘08
5. Miguel Cabrera, 1B, DET: Slow out of the gates, but still finished as AL HR king
6. Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE: Only question mark in all-around game is .268 AVG
7. Jimmy Rollins, SS, PHI: Power outage in ‘08 is exception, not rule; will bounce back
8. Ryan Braun, OF, MIL: Free swinger a force in HRs, RBIs; still has room to grow
9. Evan Longoria, 3B, TB: Capable of producing Braun-esque line, but with 3B eligibility
10. Ryan Howard, 1B, PHI: MLB’s best power hitter; could still push AVG into .260 range
http://imaginarydiamond.com/2009/04/08/fantasy-top-50-player-rankings
General:
Eligibility: All are welcome, including existing writers, bloggers, etc., providing that they can accept the grand prize, which is $1,000 and a contract to write for us once per week at the rate of $75/article. To Enter: Send an email to idol@baseballprospectus.com with the following by the deadline of April 15th at 11:59 PM PT:
1.A one-paragraph introduction of yourself, and why you think you should win.
2.A piece about baseball, with a length of up to 1,500 words. It can be hard-core analysis, scouting, humor, or really just about anything that you think would work well as a column. Prospectus Entertainment Ventures has the right to reproduce anything you submit, but you do retain publishing rights to your initial entry.
3.A headshot. Don't worry about the quality, something along the lines of your Facebook profile picture will do just fine, we just want to put a face with the name.
Finalists will be given the rules for the second round prior to acceptance.
So, if your dream has been to write about baseball professionally, or to work in professional baseball, this could be your chance. Start writing, and give it a shot.
http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8720
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