9/20/11

Cutnpaste: Jeff Diehl. 2012 Rotation, Ruben Tejada, Bobby Parnell, The Kid



9-19-11: - link  - Jeff Diehl, C: Drafted in the 23rd round from high school in Rhode Island, Diehl signed too late to play so we have no stats to look at, but he qualifies as someone to watch in '12. He's considered raw but promising, with a strong arm, plenty of bat speed, and good power potential. His $135,000 bonus could be a real bargain if he reaches his maximum potential.


Given the organization's limited financial flexibility this winter, there's not a whole lot the Mets can do to revamp their rotation. They expect Santana to be healthy and hope he can again be an ace -- short of that, they are rooting for him at least to give them some consistent innings. Though rumors of the Mets non-tendering Mike Pelfrey may swirl this winter, I suspect the team will offer Pelfrey a contract simply because he is their best bet to deliver 200 innings. Jon Niese will be back and I'd expect more of the same from him. Dillon Gee will also be back and, the team hopes, more consistent. And I expect the Mets to sign a relatively cheap starter to fill out their rotation, a la Chris Capuano and Chris Young. Perhaps even Capuano himself will return on a less incentive-laden deal, if the money is right. - http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110919&content_id=24917188&vkey=news_nym&c_id=nym&partnerId=rss_nym

9-20-11: - http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-hope-reyes-tejada-combo-is-a-keeper-1.3183457 - Tejada is listed at 5-11, 185 pounds, but in reality, he's well under in both cases. That doesn't mean he won't generate the power Collins speaks of at some point. Dustin Pedroia, after all, is officially 5-9, 180 pounds -- again, an exaggeration -- and he has 20 homers through 150 games this season. Tejada's learning curve, however, won't be measured by how far he hits the ball. What the Mets have noticed most from him this season has been his selectivity at the plate and an ability to hit with two strikes, a fear that young players must overcome. Tejada has a .335 on-base percentage with two strikes; a year ago, it was .272.

It’s one thing to throw 96 to 100 miles per hour. It’s another to do it along with a killer slider or nasty hook. Parnell gets hitters to swing-and-miss at his slider 41 percent of the time. That sounds good and it does rank well. But the really good relievers do better. Kimbrel, League, Walden, Hanrahan, and Bard all get hitters to miss on at least half of their sliders. How many times did it seem like Parnell was about to finish off a hitter, only to give up a hit? More than a few. He’s given up 28, twice as many as last season, but hasn’t gotten twice as many outs to go with it. - http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/35051/in-depth-whats-kept-parnell-down

Gary Carter's battle with cancerous brain tumors has taken much of his energy, but the Hall of Fame catcher was able to briefly help coach his Palm Beach Atlantic University baseball team this past week. Carter was due to begin taking a second, higher-dosage round of chemotherapy pills Monday night, but his white-blood-cell count was too low, his daughter Kimmy Bloemers wrote in an online family journal to which ESPNNewYork.com has been granted access. "There is no doubt that dad is fighting an extremely difficult battle," Bloemers wrote. "He is exhausted, sad at times, unmotivated and frustrated that his body won't move like it used to. However, there are moments where we will see dad laugh, smile and show that determined attitude to win. - http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/6995672/gary-carter-attends-practice-palm-beach-atlantic-university-team

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