The Herd:
Buffalo Bisons (New York Mets)THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Bisons lost their final game before the All-Star break, then dropped their first game following the break before sweeping a doubleheader from Toledo. They are 34-55 overall, still own the worst record in the IL and are sixth in the North Division.
WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT: OF Jesus Feliciano hit .378 with two RBIs and three runs scored in his last 10 games. ... The Bisons have hit .244 and scored 21 runs over the last 10 contests. ... OF Emil Brown has batted .152 in his last nine games. ... OF Chip Ambres has hit .217 over his last eight games.
NIESE IS NICE: LHP Jon Niese has continued his recovery from a rough start with an impressive July that includes a 2-0 record and 0.41 ERA. In three starts this month, he's allowed 15 hits and one earned run over 22 innings, fanning 17 along the way. After going 0-4 with a 7.96 ERA in the first two months of the season, Niese is 5-2 with a 1.72 ERA over the last two months.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It's puzzling. It seems like we're a different team on the road. Our fans are passionate and it's frustrating not to play better for them." -- Bisons manager Ken Oberkfell to the Buffalo News when asked about his team's 15-33 home record, easily the worst in the IL. No other team is more than four games under .500 at home.
B-Mets:
Binghamton Mets (New York Mets)THE SEASON SO FAR: The Mets are 35-57 and in last place in the Northern Division, 18.5 games behind front-running Connecticut.
WHO'S HOT: 1B Lucas Duda is batting .395 (15-for-38) with eight RBIs, six runs scored and two homers over his last 10 games. ... 2B Jose Coronado is hitting .294 (10-for-34) with eight RBIs and six runs scored.
WHO'S NOT: CF Emmanuel Garcia is batting at a .233 clip (10-for-43) over his last 10 games.
DID YOU KNOW: The B-Mets went into the All-Star break on a high note July 13 with a 14-1 drubbing of host New Britain. The 14 runs and seven doubles marked season highs for the B-Mets.
STREAKING: RHP Dylan Owen had not allowed an earned run in 21 2/3 innings entering Thursday's game, but the streak came to an abrupt end in the first inning of a 10-5 loss to Erie as the SeaWolves struck for three runs. Owen went on allow a season-high eight runs in five innings. ... Binghamton held on for an 8-7 win Friday night thanks in large part to Duda's grand slam that put the B-Mets up, 4-3, and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
ALL-STAR RECAP: OF D.J. Wabick shined in his first professional All-Star Game, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI as the starting left fielder for the Northern Division. ... LHP Roy Merritt took the loss in the game, allowing a run in the eighth despite striking out two batters.
Last week, Kingsport Mets manager Mike DiFelice was wondering if the stars would align for his struggling team to win consecutive games.
On Sunday he got his wish.
The the K-Mets put double-digit runs on the scoreboard for the second night in a row in a 13-4 win over the Greeneville Astros, who dropped their fifth straight in Appalachian League play.
Kingsport second baseman Alonzo Harris got the scoring started with his seventh home run, a three-run shot to left field that plated Kurt Steinhauer and Darrell Ceciliani.
Steinhauer, who pushed his batting average to .471, hit a solo shot in the fifth inning before going deep again in the sixth with a three-run homer to give Kingsport (9-16) a seven-run cushion.
Whenever I think of teams selling to rebuild, I think of the Mets dealing David Cone in 1992 at age 29. What organizational plan exactly calls for dumping an ace pitcher at age 29? Did they think they wouldn’t be competitive for another 7-10 years? Was that really the idea?
My larger point, aside from the fact that Ryan Thompson really disappointed me, is that not all selloffs are created equal. Should the Mets deal that way in 2009, it wouldn’t be with a 2012 time horizon. It should be a 2010 time horizon. In other words, players who can help the Mets in 2010 should not be on the table. That would be a foolish way to approach the trade deadline.
So among roster members, I can see dealing Livan Hernandez. I don’t expect Livan will be one of the best 6-7 options for starting in 2010, between Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Perez, Niese, Nieve and even Brad Holt possibilities, not to mention Nelson Figueroa, who probably would pitch better for the Mets than Hernandez has.
My larger point, aside from the fact that Ryan Thompson really disappointed me, is that not all selloffs are created equal. Should the Mets deal that way in 2009, it wouldn’t be with a 2012 time horizon. It should be a 2010 time horizon. In other words, players who can help the Mets in 2010 should not be on the table. That would be a foolish way to approach the trade deadline.
So among roster members, I can see dealing Livan Hernandez. I don’t expect Livan will be one of the best 6-7 options for starting in 2010, between Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Perez, Niese, Nieve and even Brad Holt possibilities, not to mention Nelson Figueroa, who probably would pitch better for the Mets than Hernandez has.
3. Johan Santana (Mets) - Santana was born in Venezuela and signed by the Astros when they were the only team to mine players from that country. Santana was originally a centerfielder but was converted by the Astros at the Venezuelan academy to pitch. The Astros left him exposed in the Rule V draft and the Twins took advantage making him one of the most referenced names every time the Rule V draft comes up. The Marlins actually picked Santana for the Twins and then gave him plus $500,000 to the Twins because they were hot for Jared Camp who the Twins agreed to take with the first pick.
13. David Wright (Mets) - Born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was drafted by the Mets in the first round as a supplemental first round pick. While growing up in that area he played with Ryan Zimmerman and the Uptons, B.J. and Justin. No wonder he got so good.
22. Jose Reyes SS - Born in the Dominican Republic, he didn’t begin playing until he was 12 or 13 years old. In 1999 he walked into the Mets Dominican camp 6′0″ 130 pounds. The Mets recognized his talent and signed him for $22,000. His parents used the money to open a small bodega. He was promoted quickly, had to move briefly to second base with the Mets signing of Kaz Matsui and had problems staying healthy because of leg injuries. One has to hope that the leg injuries will not be a permanent problem for him as he gets older.
23. Carlos Beltran OF - Born in Puerto Rico, Carlos was drafted by the Royals in the second round in 1995. Carlos was called up by the Royals in September 1998 and took the centerfield job in 1999, sharing the outfield with Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye. That outfield led all big league outfields in offensive production, but a lack of pitching doomed the Royals to failure. Rather than signing him to a long term contract the Royals traded Beltran to the Astros, where he led the Astros to the playoffs. Beltran signed with the Mets as a free agent after the Astros couldn’t compete with the Yankees and Mets for his salary demands.
No comments:
Post a Comment