Extended Camp:.
Fred Wilpon may have offered a vote of confidence to Omar Minaya, but the GM’s inner circle quietly is being dismantled.
The Mets have fired Ramon Pena, the organization’s top official in charge of signing Latin American talent, the Daily News has learned. In addition, vice president of scouting Sandy Johnson intends to retire, and minor-league field coordinator Luis Aguayo has been let go, sources said.
Tony Bernazard, who was fired on July 27 after a series of over-the-top clubhouse antics, and Johnson were Minaya’s two top lieutenants. More turnover could be coming since only Rudy Terrasas, who oversees the amateur draft, is believed to be under contract beyond this season.
Pena’s dismissal signals displeasure with the performance of a number of high-caliber Latin American prospects signed as teenagers.
Infielder Reese Havens has been added to the Mets’ Arizona Fall League contingent. Havens is on the taxi squad for the Surprise Rafters, so he’ll only be eligible to play twice a week. Havens, the 22nd overall pick in the 2008 draft, hit .247 with 14 homers and 52 RBI in 360 at-bats with St. Lucie this season.
Queens:
(Nelson) Figueroa, by the way, was supposed to represent the Mets in an MLB All-Star tour of South Korea and Taiwan in November because of his popularity pitching in previous seasons in Asia. However, that tour is on life support, a source said. South Korea apparently objects to the age its players are allowed to join MLB and pulled out in protest. Taiwan wanted to have the serious anyway, entirely in that country, but the financial guarantee wasn’t enough. The last time MLB played in Asia was after the 2006 season, when David Wright, Jose Reyes and John Maine were part of a contingent that toured JapanRead more:
That player is Daniel Murphy, the Mets' very own Mr. Doubles. Murphy has 36 doubles, eight shy of Bernard Gilkey's team record set in 1996. Although that may be hard to achieve, there is another doubles record within Murphy's reach. All but four of his two-base hits have come as a first baseman, so if he hits seven more, he will tie John Olerud's club record of 39 doubles by a first baseman in a season. What makes that doubly impressive, so to speak, is that Olerud hit his 39 doubles in 160 games at first base. Murphy had hit his 32 in 94 games. After Olerud, the next two Mets first basemen on the doubles list are Eddie Murray, with 37 in 1992, and Todd Zeile, who had 36 in 2000. -- NY Times
Jason Marquis, coming off a terrific year with the Rockies, is sure to be in demand. But if you look at his history, you see that, more often than not, he has been more of a back-of-the-rotation innings-eater than a frontline starter. The Mets could use an innings-eater, unquestionably. Just not at the price of a number two starter. They're already paying someone at a "number two starter" price, and Perez hasn't quite lived up to that figure. – Newsday
Fighting crime paid for Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, a die-hard Mets fan (is there any other kind?). In March, after Skyler tackled a would-be mugger trying to rob a woman of her BlackBerry in Midtown, the Wilpons asked the stork-like bureaucrat to throw out the ceremonial opening pitch at Citi Field at Monday night's game against the Braves. Skyler threw a strike from the pitcher's mound right over the plate and received a high-five from actor Luis Guzman. -- NY Post
http://msn.foxsports.com/rumors/mlb
World Cup:
Brett Lawrie (Brewers) broke a scoreless tie in the ninth inning with a leadoff solo home run, and Rene Tosoni (Twins) gave the Canadians a cushion with a two-run double later in the inning as Canada beat Puerto Rico 3-0. Nick Bucci (Brewers) pitched five no-hit innings as Canada’s pitchers held Puerto Rico to one hit. Trystan Magnuson (Blue Jays) gave up the hit (to Jose Valentin in the seventh) in two scoreless innings, while Dustin Molleken (Pirates) got the win with a scoreless eighth. Jimmy Henderson (Brewers) finished up for the save in the ninth inning. Former Mets farmhand Orlando Roman got the loss for Puerto Rico
It appears that BOBBY Valentine won't be unemployed for long.
Television industry and baseball sources say Valentine, completing his final season as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League, is on the verge of signing a lucrative multi-year deal with ESPN.
Valentine, no doubt carrying his bag of disguises, will likely make his debut at the network working in its "Baseball Tonight" studio during next month's playoffs.
"It's a done deal," one source said. "And it should be announced soon."
This would mark Valentine's second tour of duty in Bristol. In 2003, he replaced Buck Showalter in ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" studio.
Valentine, who took over the Mets during the 1996 season and managed them through 2002, also once worked as an analyst on NBC's Saturday afternoon "Game of the Week."
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