Mets: Elvin Ramirez, Syracuse Radio, Carlos Beltran, 2012 ERAs

Elvin Ramirez (RHP) Ramirez was the player taken from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft in December 2010, by the Washington Nationals. The 6’3″ righty from the Dominican Republic was throwing up to 97-98 mph last winter in the DWL, and despite a marginal breaking ball, the Nats had every intention of keeping Ramirez in their bullpen for the whole year, until he got hurt that is. A shoulder injury suffered in spring training required surgery on his throwing shoulder, and he was returned to the Mets late in the season. The word circulating about him now is that he is feeling good and could be ready to start the season on time. The Mets will use Ramirez out of the AAA Buffalo bullpen this season, and if he recovers without incidence and regains his velocity, he could be a valuable bullpen arm for the Mets down the road.

Does the Syracuse area have more Boston Red Sox fans or more New York Mets fans?  After carrying Sox baseball last season, ESPN Radio 97.7/100.1 (WTLA/WSGO) is now hedging its bets with Mets fans.  The station announced on Friday that it’ll be Syracuse’s radio home for the New York Mets this coming season. ESPN Radio CNY program director Chris McManus tells CNYRadio.com, “we’re thrilled to add New York baseball to our lineup. We know Mets fans in Central New York have been dying to hear their team for a long time.”  Even if one isn’t a Mets fan, McManus adds, “Howie Rose is as good as it gets in baseball play by play, so any baseball fan should enjoy this summer.” http://www.cnyradio.com/2012/01/15/espn-radio-cny-trades-red-sox-for-mets/

Two weeks later, he had a two-year, $26 million deal, a move that looks to be an ideal fit for the Cardinals and Carlos Beltran. The Cardinals are adding an impact bat to help recover from Pujols' departure and Beltran is getting his wish to play for a contender. He is expected to bat second and play right field, though he could move into the fourth or fifth spot in the order and see time in center. Such details don't matter that much to him. "I have hit second in the past," Beltran said Monday when he was introduced to St. Louis on the final day of the team's Winter Warmup. "I don't mind, honestly. I am just going to come to the ballpark every day prepared to play, and then wherever he needs me, I'll be there." http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2012-01-16/new-cardinal-beltran-happy-to-be-playing-for-a-contender#ixzz1jf9vbQex

Of course, there's give and take with any fence-line alteration. ERAs could definitely be on the rise, especially for fly-ball heavy pitchers. Jonathan Niese, a strong breakout candidate (3.14 K/BB, 3.77 tERA in '11), Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey and Dillon Gee shouldn't be too negatively impacted by the change. Each did a commendable job keeping balls in the park posting groundball rates well above 45.0 percent last year. However, Johan Santana, assuming he's healthy, could come down with a nasty case of gopheritis. During his last healthy season, 2010, the two-time Cy Young winner allowed 1.12 HR/9 at Citi Field. He also notched a skyward 0.75 GB/FB ratio with the Mets from '09-'10. If Johan doesn't regain his mystifying form, he could become a punching bag, even at home  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fantasy-roto-arcade/pressing-questions-york-mets-212418500.html

Cutnpaste: - Stefan Welsh, Elvin Ramirez, Hale on Tejada, Zack Wheeler, Harry Parker

10-10-11: - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132edccbf718965f - Another consistent performer, the Australian Stefan Welch played 124 of St. Lucie’s 140 games at first hitting .271/.361/.438 with a career-high 16 home runs. The wiry Welch was repeating the level at age 22 and looks like a fine organizational piece.

The Nationals announced this afternoon that they have returned right-hander Elvin Ramirez - a hard-throwing reliever they took in the first round of the Rule 5 draft last December - to the New York Mets. Ramirez came into spring training with a chance to make the team, as the Nationals tried to build a bullpen full of pitchers whose fastballs could approach 100 mph. But he was delayed by visa issues, and missed the entire season after shoulder surgery. The Nationals would have had to keep Ramirez on their 25-man roster for the first 90 days of the 2012 season to avoid offering him back to the Mets. - http://www.masnsports.com/the_goessling_game/2011/10/nationals-return-ramirez-to-mets.html

"His physical presence has improved. He's gotten bigger. He's gotten stronger. And I think he will continue to. And that's enabled him to make all the plays he needs to. He's shown he can make the play deep in the hole. The one play he struggled with -- that slow-hit ball in the hole where he has to get around it and backhand it -- he had been going at it at a funny angle. He showed a couple of times toward the end he could make that play. "I think he definitely can be an everyday shortstop. The thing we always worried about was, a guy gets up there and hits .200, you can't have that in the major leagues anymore. You can't have the guy who fields everything but only hits .200, .210. I think he can hit at .250 in a bad year and maybe hit .270, .280. We know he can occupy the eight hole, which is a tough place to hit. And he was really doing the job in the two hole behind Jose." - http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7116773/new-york-mets-ready-turn-ruben-tejada-jose-reyes-bolts

10-19-11: - Zack Wheeler, dealt straight up for Carlos Beltran at the 2011 Trade Deadline, is the New York Mets’ top prospect according to mlb.com.  The New York Mets’ top prospect ended the season with 129 strikeouts and a 3.52 ERA in 115 innings.  Even more encouraging is that Zack Wheeler finished the year on fire after earning a promotion to High-A.  I was a little bit surprised that Matt Harvey did not receive the New York Mets’ No. 1 spot after advancing to Double-A in his first professional season, but he was No. 2 on the list so its not like he got shafted or anything.  According to the mlb.com article, Zack Wheeler is working with a four-pitch arsenal – your basic fastball, change-up, slider and curve quartet.  Its still a work in progress, but if he can find consistency with his secondary offerings his repertoire will take a step forward from the fastball, change-up, slurve trio he was previously working with.  Not only is he adding more pitches to his arsenal, but according to Paul DePodesta, the New York Mets’ director of player development, Wheeler was up to 99 mph with his heater.  The high octane combined with the improved secondary stuff and improved command (only five walks in 27 High-A innings) has me excited and I’m sure I can say the same for New York Mets fans everywhere.  This won’t be the last I say about Zack Wheeler this offseason - http://www.rantsports.com/new-york-mets/2011/10/18/zack-wheeler-ends-2011-as-the-new-york-mets-top-prospect

Harry Parker played a pretty significant role on the Mets ’73 pennant-winning team. He went 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA and saved 5 games as a reliever and spot starter.  He was the losing pitcher in game 4 of the NLCS, giving up a game-winning HR to Pete Rose in the top of the 12th, and was also the losing pitcher in game 3 of the WS, another extra-inning affair. Harry returned to the Mets in ’74, and saw the most work of his career, accumulating over 130 innings for that 71-91 squad. Unfortunately, he went 4-12 in the process, and was waived by the summer of ’75. - http://mets360.com/?p=8240&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mets360%2Ffeed+%28Mets360+Feed%29