Cutnpaste: - Robert Parnell, Fernando Martinez, Turk Wendell, Havens’ Surgery, CNBC Sports Biz

Bobby Parnell, New York Mets – While most Mets pitchers could make this list, Parnell may have an integral role in the Mets success next season. Then again, if his inconsistency remains an issue, he also may not. It’s not that he doesn’t have the “stuff”. Parnell sports a mid-to-high 90′s fastball with some sink, as well as a nasty slider. However, that’s about all that’s nasty about the righty reliever. As the Mets try to figure out who their closer will be next season, they are looking in house at the young, talented and inexpensive Parnell. However, for Parnell to take advantage of this opportunity he will to improve his control, his command and his consistency. He will also have to develop the killer instinct that seems common to successful relievers. Otherwise he’ll just end up as another name on the list of great throwers who never figured out how to pitch - http://www.baseballdigest.com/2011/08/29/nl-east-five-pitchers-with-something-to-prove  

8-21-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/08/prospect-pulse-left-handed-hitters.html  - Fernando Martinez - You know this guy. They are going to rename the Disabled List after him. Not only has FMart, been on the DL like forty times for his career, (he’s already been on it three or four times this season alone), but he seems to have reached a plateau, at AAA, at age 22. This is his second injury plagued season at Buffalo, and at the time of his most recent DL stint, he was hitting a mere .260 with 8 HR’s and 30 RBI’s. The guy has chronic bad knees, and he has totally stalled in his development. I think it’s time for Sandy to either trade him, or if that isn’t possible, simply pull the plug on this ill-fated, sci-fi experiment.

While closers may get the most fame among relief pitchers, there is one middle reliever who stood out in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That would be Turk Wendell, who was one of the backbones of the Mets' bullpen during his time and probably the most superstitious player to ever wear a Mets uniform.Wendell was initially drafted by the Braves in 1988 but got traded to the Cubs in 1991. He made his major league debut with the Cubs in 1993. However, he only made 13 combined appearances on the major league club between 1993 and 1994. - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/822566-new-york-mets-top-10-relievers-of-all-time#/articles/822566-new-york-mets-top-10-relievers-of-all-time/page/3  

8-31-11: - http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/33468/farm-report-havens-delayed-not-deterred  - Havens has had setbacks this year. Irritation from suspected scar tissue forced a late start to the season. And he landed on the DL with back trouble this year, although Havens believes that may be related to the original issue, since his offseason was spent idle and then rehabbing without any baseball activity. Now, though, he has been back with Binghamton for more than a month and issue-free. “Dr. Andrews and Dr. Clancy did the surgery on me. I was real confident in their opinion and what they thought the problem was,” Havens said. “I was also confident that it fixed it because I could tell pretty immediate results once I got all the inflammation out of there and started working out again. Everybody knows that scar tissue is part of surgery. That’s what got me in spring training. I didn’t work out this past (offseason). All I did was rehab to get back to where I didn’t feel the side, and started doing some baseball stuff once I got down to Florida. So I definitely think it’s what it was. But I don’t feel it at all now. It’s gone.”

It has been in the works for months and in my mind for years. Today I can finally proudly announce that my new show "CNBC SportsBiz: Game On" is a reality. The show will air every Friday night at 7pm ET on Versus beginning next week, Sept. 9. Over the last 11 years, the sports business reporting niche has grown, the business has gotten bigger and fans have embraced the behind-the-scenes dollars and cents of this $200 billion industry. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44329179?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS