Minors Stuff

New Met:

Signed: OF Matt Watson

Acquired: SS Wilson Valdez from Indians for future considerations

Added to 40-man roster: SS Wilson Valdez, OF Fernando Martinez

Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Lance Broadway

Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Carlos Muniz, RHP Dillon Gee, 3B Eric Campbell, SS Juan Lagares, SS Mark Kiger

Activated player signed for 2009: RHP Daniel Carela

Watson, who had spent time in Japan’s Pacific League in ’06 and ’07, returned from a stint with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization. An injury to Ryan Church (not to mention a lack of other options) encouraged the Mets to call up the 20-year-old Martinez, who was just beginning to find his stroke with Triple-A Buffalo. He batted .291/.337/.552 with eight home runs in 165 at-bats for the Bisons, and then went 0-for-his-first-8 in the big leagues before connecting for two hits against the Marlins’ Josh Johnson on May 30.

The Mets acquired Broadway, 25, from the White Sox in the deal that shipped catcher Ramon Castro (and cash) to the South Side. Though the righthander’s downer curveball can be overwhelming when it’s on, very little about his performance in Triple-A can be described as such. In 55 games (53 of them starts) at that level (mostly for Charlotte), Broadway compiled a 4.66 ERA to go with a pedestrian 1.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 322 innings. The 15th overall pick in ’05, Broadway will continue on his path as a reliever, a course he first began charting this year in Chicago’s big league bullpen. The hope is that he can emphasize his breaking ball more in relief, where he won’t have to expose his high-80s sinker and sinking changeup quite as frequently.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=4589


The Herd:

The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, put up three runs in the eighth inning, but it wasn't enough to beat Norfolk Wednesday. The Tides were victorious 5-3. The Tides, Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, got on the board first, plating three runs in the fourth inning against Bisons starter Fernando Nieve. Jeff Fiorentino began the offense with a one-out single. Oscar Salazar then used a seven pitch at bat to double to left. Jolbert Cabrera then grounded out for the first run. Justin Turner singled as the next batter to plate Salazar. The second baseman then scored himself when Steve Torrealba singled. Buffalo responded with three runs in the eighth. The Herd got it done with four singles by Luis Rivera, Jesus Feliciano, Michel Abreu and Wily Mo Pena. Cory Sullivan reached on a fielders choice and scored on a wild pitch. Feliciano and Abreu scored on Pena's hit. The game was tied at 3-3 and Pena's hit streak was also extended to 10 games. The tie was broken in the bottom of the inning, however. Melvin Dorta and Jeff Fiorentino hit back-to-back singles. Both scored on a Salazar double. The score was at its final, 5-3. Nieve went six innings in the outing, allowing only three runs on five hits while striking out five. It was Nieve's fourth quality start in four outings with Buffalo. He received a no decision. Also of note, Rivera went 2-3 in his first game with the Bisons. The infielder was called up from A-Advanced St. Lucie prior to Wednesday's game.

http://buffalo.bisons.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090603&content_id=5131610&vkey=news_t422&fext=.jsp&sid=t422


B-Mets:

Portland overcame a two-run deficit in the ninth inning plating three runs off relievers Julio De La Cruz and Roy Merritt to stun the B-Mets 5-4 at Hadlock Field Wednesday night. Emmanuel Garcia smacked a season-high four hits and drove in two runs as Binghamton’s leadoff hitter. The B-Mets led 4-2 heading into the home half of the ninth, when De La Cruz came on to spell to close the contest. However, he walked Bubba Bell to start the inning ominously. After striking out Ryan Khoury, he allowed a bloop single to left off the bat of Jorge Jimenez and a walk to Aaron Bates to load the bases. Merritt was summoned from the bullpen to put out the fire. However, Lars Anderson lined a broken-bat single through the right side to score Bell and Jimenez to tie the score at four. Then with two outs, Ryan Kalish smashed a single down the line at first to win it, allowing Bates to score the winning run. Binghamton (22-28) was first to score in the third inning when Jose Coronado led off the frame with a single and was followed by a Ruben Tejada double. Garcia then grounded out to second to score Coronado and put the B-Mets in front 1-0. Portland (26-26) tied things in the fourth on a Lars Anderson double, which score Aaron Bates. In the fifth, the B-Mets took the lead when Tejada roped his second double of the game down the left field line and was followed by a Garcia double hit in the same place scoring him from second. Then with two outs, Josh Thole smacked a triple off the wall in right, that appeared to leave the park, which scored Garcia from second to give Binghamton a 3-1 lead. The Sea Dogs got within a run in the sixth inning on an RBI bloop single from Kalish to score Bates, who had singled to start the frame against the starter Ryan Coultas. This got Portland within one at 3-2. An RBI double from Josh Thole gave the B-Mets a two-run cushion going into bottom of the ninth, but it was not nearly enough.


Lucy:

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Mets won just two of five games with two rainouts throw in. The result put St. Lucie into a third-place tie with Charlotte, 7.5 games behind Fort Myers in the South.

WHO'S HOT, WHO'S NOT: RHP Bradley Holt has been pitching lights-out lately. The native of Albemarle, N.C., has given up just one run in his last 12 innings over two starts, fanning 16 and walking two. ... SS Reese Havens is having trouble at the plate, picking up only three hits in 25 at-bats for a .120 average.

PLAYER TO WATCH: RHP Edgar Ramirez has been strong in relief for the Mets. The Miami native has not allowed a run through 6 1/3 innings over three games, racking up eight strikeouts and walking only two.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: LHP Eric Niesen was a hard puzzle for Brevard County to solve as the Mets topped the Manatees, 5-0, on the road. The Wake Forest product struck out six and scattered five hits through six innings. A native of Wyandotte, Mich., Niesen walked just two en route to his third win of the season

Gnats:

A throwing error from Gnats centerfielder Rafael Fernandez allowed Jose Pirela to score the winning run in the 12th inning of the Charleston RiverDogs, 4-3, win over Savannah (25-27) Wednesday night at Historic Grayson Stadium. Dan Brewer’s single in front of a diving Fernandez set up the miscue as Fernandez overthrew the cutoff man Wilmer Flores at short. Pirela then darted down the line to score after initially holding up on the play. The run allowed spoiled six innings of shutout ball from the Savannah bullpen in relief of Robert Carson. Chris Schwinden and Josh Stinson each threw three scoreless frames allowing just two baserunners while striking out eight. Rhiner Cruz (1-2) takes the loss in one inning of work with Brad Rulon (3-0) earning a win after three scoreless innings for Charleston (30-22). Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte picked up his league-leading 16th save, closing out the Gnats in the final frame for the second straight night. A sacrifice fly from Sean Ratliff cut a, 3-1, Charleston lead to one in the eighth inning. Jefry Marte then tied the score by coming down the line on a wild pitch by Cory Arbiso. The Gnats got on the board with a first inning run off Brett Marshall when a leadoff walk to Rafael Fernandez turned into a Josh Satin sacrifice fly to make the score, 1-0. Marshall settled in to allow just two hits for the remainder of his seven-inning outing. The Highlands, Texas product set down 10 Gnats in a row at one point in the evening and did not permit a Savannah hit from the third through sixth innings.



THE SEASON SO FAR: The Sand Gnats are 25-25 after a 2-5 week. They are fifth in the Southern Division, three games behind Charleston and Rome.

WHO'S HOT: RHP Jeff Kaplan (4-1, 1.05) is the SAL ERA leader, yielding only six earned runs over 51 1/3 innings while boasting a strikeout/walk ratio of 42-13. ... OF Josh Satin is seventh in the league with a .320 average (55-for-172). ... LHP Robert Carson (3-3, 2/09) is fifth in ERA. ... IF Jordany Valdespin's .417 roll (15-for-36) over his last 10 games vaulted him into eighth in the league in batting at .318 (48-for-151). ... OF Sean Ratliff recovered his stroke and is at .312 (62-for-199).

WHO'S NOT: C Jean-Luc Blaquiere is battling at .225 (18-for-80). ... 3B Jefry Marte is scuffling at .203 (40-for-197) with 53 strikeouts.

NEWS & NOTES: The Sand Gnats lost a bit of punch when 1B Eric Campbell and OF Juan Lagares were placed on the disabled list. Campbell was diagnosed with left rotator cuff tendinitis, while Lagares has a right wrist injury. OF Daniel Stegall and IF Matt Gaski have been added to the roster. Campbell was hitting .417 in his last four games, was tied for the team lead with four homers and led the squad with 29 RBIs. Lagares had brought his average up to .290 over the past two weeks. Stegall joins the Sand Gnats for the third time after opening the 2007 and 2008 campaigns with them.

DID YOU KNOW?: Valdespin, a native of the Dominican Republic, has hit well since joining the Sand Gnats. He performed well last season in the Gulf Coast League in his first taste of baseball in the United States after signing as a free agent in 2007. He batted .245 (34-for-139) with the Dominican Summer League Mets but improved to .284 (38-for-134) in the GCL in 2008.


Queens:

The Mets rebuilt their bullpen in the offseason after losing closer Billy Wagner to Tommy John surgery last year when they had a second straight September meltdown and again blew a lead to the Phillies in the NL East. They signed Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez, who set a major league record with 62 saves last season, to a three-year, $36 million contract as a free agent, and they traded for Mariners closer J.J. Putz, the American League saves leader with 40 in 2007, to serve as the set-up man. Rodriguez has been exceptional, with a 2.505 WXRL that leads the major leagues, while Putz has been a disappointment with a 0.400 mark. Pedro Feliciano is among the majors' best left-handed relievers with a 1.146 WXRL. Pick a different poison, and their Fair Runs Allowed marks tell the same story: K-Rod's at 1.96, Feliciano at 2.96, but Puts trails far behind with a 4.71 mark.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8992