9/27/09

Minors Stuff





New Met:


The New York Mets today announced that they claimed righthanded pitcher Jack Egbert off waivers from Chicago-AL. The White Sox placed the righthander on waivers on September 23rd. To make room for Egbert on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred outfielder Fernando Martinez to the 60-Day Disabled List as he continues to recover from surgery on his right knee.
Egbert, 26, spent the majority of the 2009 season with Charlotte (AAA) of the International League and posted a 6-11 record with a 5.05 ERA in 30 games, 18 starts, with the Knights. In 108.2 innings, he allowed 73 runs, 61 earned, with 132 hits, 33 walks and 78 strikeouts. The 6-3, 220-pound hurler also made two appearances out of the White Sox bullpen during a stint with Chicago from April 21st – 24th, allowing eight runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings of relief.
The Rutherford, NJ resident, who was born in Staten Island, NY, was selected in the 13th round of the June 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Rutgers University where he won 18 games and posted a 3.90 ERA in his three years with the Scarlet Knights. He also recorded 163 career strikeouts, which ranks fourth in Rutgers history.


Queens:


John Maine, who deals with some asthma issues, had difficulty breathing on the muggy Miami night early. His shoulder felt fine, although his fastball velocity continues to lag. Maine was charged with seven runs and was knocked out in the fifth inning.


Lance Broadway had a line drive ricochet off his shoulder to first base for an out. Broadway said the area should be sore tomorrow, but his relatively okay.Read more:



Two years after Team USA ended Cuba's string of nine consecutive baseball World Cup golds, a rematch for that title is set for today in Nettuno, Italy.
With a first pitch at 9 a.m. ET and streaming live on MLB.com via the MLB Network, the United States (13-1 in the tournament) will bring a 13-game winning streak into the 2009 gold-medal game with perennial power Cuba, which has gone 12-2, including a 5-3 loss to the U.S. on Thursday.
The game will feature the same two teams from the 2007 final in Chinese Taipei, which the U.S. won, 6-3, over Cuba to claim its third World Cup. However, Cuba has won 25 of the first 29 World Cup titles.
Team USA heads into the final on a roll that started after it lost its tourney opener, 13-9, in 11 innings to Venezuela on Sept. 10. Featuring a number of Minor League stars, Team USA has used a balanced attack to march to the finals.



Elias has finished designating each free agent:
Brian Schneider: B
Carlos Delgado: B
Fernando Tatis B
Pedro Feliciano A



International

Aroldis Chapman has been declared a free agent by major league baseball so let the bidding begin. Aroldis was one of my favorite players in Cuba, but after talking to some people who are quite familiar with Cuban baseball Aroldis can be an enigma. Whoever pays out big dough because they are attracted to his 100 mile an hour fastball may get someone that more resembles Daniel Cabrera than Tim Lincecum. He regressed a little in the Cuban league last year, struggling with his command and seeing his ERA rise above 4. The discussion is that he may not be coachable and his ability to adapt to the big money and the U.S. lifestyle could be a challenge.


However, if he can be coached to improve his other three pitches (and perhaps one pitch will be dropped) and enhance the command he has on the fastball he would be someone you want in your starting rotation. It is probably a risk only those teams in large markets can take. Smaller market teams would have trouble swallowing a $10 million a year contract for a player that has to be sent down to AAA to find his stuff. It will be interesting to see where the bidding goes

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