Trading Mike Jacobs for a player to be named later can only be a positive for the Mets. I spent some time with Mike at ST and no one wanted to me the Mets first baseman more than he did, but he had his chance and could not win the job. Daniel Murphy handed it to him when Murph went down and the old numbers just weren’t there for Mike. We all know how this story ends and the last think the Mets need now is Jacobs playing AAA and waiting for Ike Davis to be injured. Mike deserves another shot in the Bigs and we wish him well in Toronto.
link - - The D.R. is baseball's puppy mill. The buscones develop and sometimes feed and house these teenage players, with the intent of selling them to the highest bidder, a major league team willing to fork over thousands, if not millions, of dollars to secure a prospect. As a reward for their work, buscones typically pocket 25% to 50% of the prospect's signing bonus. Many folks in the Dominican Republic resent being labeled a buscón because of the term's other connotation: swindler.
link - "You didn't realize the presence of Darryl Strawberry from the outfield, until you played first base," said Kruk, an ESPN "Baseball Tonight" analyst, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. "He hit balls farther than anyone and harder than anyone. You were just praying that your pitcher would pitch him hard inside, or pitch him away and that he'd hit the ball the other way. "You didn't want Darryl Strawberry hitting the ball close to you, if there was a guy on first base that you were holding on. If the ball was hit near you, it would go by you. But if he hit it at you, it could kill you.
7-28 from: - link - It shouldn't affect him long term unless the Mets start jerking around him, shuttling him back and forth from the bullpen to the rotation and from the minors to Triple-A. He could wind up being a reliever in the long run, but it would be silly not to try to turn him into a quality starter.
link - He's fallen off somewhat from a year ago—what little power he had fell off a cliff and his average dropped to .258—but he moved up a level and he's still young for the league. And most importantly the patience has held up: his isolated discipline is .088, up .011 from his mark in Kingsport last season. With his speed, if he can make more consistent contact in the second half, he'll really improve his chances at making it as a leadoff hitter. What bothers me the most, however, is that he's been playing right chiefly; Zapata's a good defender in center, but Puello carries far less value in right, where his utter lack of power is big negative. Put a gun to my head and ask me right now, and I'll say Puello probably needs to repeat Savannah, but a big second half could change my mind.
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