A Few More Stuff

The Herd:

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Bisons went 3-4 last week and are 9-25 overall. They still own the league's worst record and are sixth in the North Division.

WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT: The Bisons have struggled at the plate recently, hitting .209 and scoring 29 runs in the last 10 contests. The highest batting average on the team in that span belongs to OF Angel Pagan at .286. ... Among those of note struggling at the plate recently are OF Fernando Martinez (.237), 3B Mike Lamb (.222) and OF Cory Sullivan (.179).

ELMER'S THE GLUE: RHP Elmer Dessens has been a key component in the Bisons bullpen, posting two wins and a save in 14 appearances. He has allowed 13 hits and six walks over 21 innings, fanning 14 along the way. He begins the week with a 0.86 ERA and has made six consecutive appearances without allowing a run, having yielded only two earned runs all season.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "They battled back and (Tim) Redding shut them down after that two-run homer. That was nice, really nice to see that. It's fun to win. I want to see that on a more consistent basis." -- Bisons manager Ken Oberkfell to the Buffalo News on May 11 after the Herd, who had lost 18 of 19 games when the opposition scored first, overcame an early two-run homer to beat Norfolk, 5-3.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090518&content_id=586813&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp


Queens:

New York Mets placed 1B Carlos Delgado on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 11, 2009. Right hip impingement.

The only way Delgado can fix his injury is to have surgery, and it doesn't seem to be one he wants to have. This is going to plague him for the rest of his career if he doesn't undergo the knife, and I would have to think he wouldn't be looked at a starting option at first base in the offseason, when he's a free agent. It's too much of a risk.

There's no word on Delgado's plans yet, but the club wants him to undergo surgery. He would be back sometime in August, allowing the Mets to fill the position internally without having to make a move: Fernando Tatis and David Murphy (my prediction to be the first baseman of the Mets for the next five years) would see the bulk of at-bats with Gary Sheffield playing left field. In the short-term, this is actually good news: get Delgado healthy and see if Sheffield still has a pulse. If he does, great. If not, cut him and find another player.

If Delgado delays surgery until the offseason or until after his career is over, however, he runs the risk of the Mets deciding they can't trust him for the remainder of the year and making an acquisition (Nick Johnson?) to be able to count on someone. (Never thought I'd intimate Nick Johnson could be counted on, but there you go.) For both the Mets and Delgado's sake, I hope he undergoes the surgery. The Mets' season and Delgado's short-term career depends on it.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/lost-in-transactions-5-11-5-17-09-demotions-waivers-and-releases-oh-my


International:

It appears the Pirates have taken notice of the Netherlands accomplishments in the WBC and realize they play a pretty good brand of baseball there. http://www.mister-baseball.com/pittsburgh-pirates-sign-daan-cornelissen/ reports that the Pirates have signed 17 year old Daan Corneilissen. He will report to Brisbane Australia to start his major league career. Australia appears to be used as an alternative by some teams over the Dominican summer league to train players. You don’t have to use up your visa requirements by sending them to a third country and you give them an English environment to work in, which a player from the Netherlands may be more comfortable dealing with than the Spanish in the Domincan summer league.

http://myworldofbaseball.com/wordpress/?m=200905