Ultimately, Strawberry chose to depart the Mets, heading across the country to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991. It's a career move he wishes he could have back and one he hopes Reyes can learn from with his impending free agency. "It looks good on the other side, but it's not always as good as the place that you're used to," Strawberry said about leaving the Mets in free agency. "When you're young you don't realize that, and for me, I was young and didn't realize what New York meant to me. "Tell Jose I said New York is a great place. A great place no matter what, it's a great place to play. No matter what you have to go through, how difficult it gets, this is the place that you want to play." - http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7012415/darryl-strawberry-jose-reyes-stay-new-york-mets
Signing pitchers with bum arms wasn't a concept published in the "Moneyball," but it seemed to be a "market inefficiency" identified by the new Mets front office. Sometimes a team will take a chance on one or maybe two pitchers whose health is a major question mark, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. The Mets, however, signed six of these guys: Chris Young, Chris Capuano, Boof Bonser, Taylor Buchholz, Taylor Tankersley and Jason Isringhausen. The logic was that all of these pitchers were undervalued because of their injury histories and their recent appearances on surgeon’s tables. How did it turn out? The good news: Capuano wound up giving the Mets 30 starts and Jason Isringhausen came out of the bullpen 53 times. Young was spectacular through his first four starts, then reinjured his shoulder and was done for the year. Buchholz lasted until June, when shoulder fatigue and other issues ended his season. Bonser and Tankersley never made it out of spring training. - http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/16614/mets-brand-moneyball-not-so-successful
According to reports, Jason Isringhausen is working with Bobby Parnell on a knuckle-curve. Parnell threw a combined 2 scoreless innings in the double-header sweep of the Phillies yesterday. Pitch F/x data, however, hasn’t picked it up so I am not sure he is actually using it in the game. Parnell hasn’t given up an earned run since September 6th, and hasn’t given up any runs since blowing a save to the Cubs on September 10th. If he can master some sort of secondary pitch, then you might be on to something here. Parnell also has to learn to relax on the mound. He appears much calmer the last few times out. It seems once Terry Collins said “you’re the closer,” his level of anxiety on the mound increased. - http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=40249
Few would understand as well as Pelfrey (7-12, 4.58 ERA), who has spent nearly half his life trying to develop a secondary pitch to complement a fastball that made him both a major-leaguer and a millionaire. In five major-league seasons, he has attempted to utilize a curveball, a changeup, a slider and a splitter. None have proved useful. In the process, through a mechanical quirk, he believes he has downgraded the quality of his sinker, the pitch that carried him to the big leagues in the first place. - http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2011/09/mets_mike_pelfrey_still_search.html
Paulino ($1.35M 2011 salary), Pagan ($3.5M), Pelfrey ($3.925M), Acosta (~$415K), and Buchholz ($600K) are eligible for arbitration. I expect the Mets to retain Paulino, Pagan, Pelfrey, and Acosta. Pagan and Pelfrey have become lightning rods for the ire of a vocal portion of the Mets’ fanbase this season, but my bet is that both survive the winter. Buchholz, on the other hand, has spent the bulk of the season dealing with physical and psychological issues. If the Mets believe he’s worked through them, I could see them bringing him back. However, I’d expect it to be on a minor league incentive-laden contract, rather than an arbitration offer. Buchholz is the only Met I believe will be non-tendered this December. - http://mets360.com/?p=8036&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mets360%2Ffeed+%28Mets360+Feed%29
Anthony Young:
1991-1996 (Mets/Cubs/Astros) - Anthony Young is the definitive New York Met. He is tragic. He is largely forgettable. And his epic run of failure between May of 1992 and July of 1993 was almost certainly the result of a celestial force far more powerful than any either of his managers, Jeff Torborg and Dallas Green, could conjure. Young—with the help of some truly awful teammates—broke a generations-old record by losing 27 consecutive decisions ,despite a respectable, if not quite solid 4.36 ERA during the span. - http://deadspin.com/5820622/the-100-worst-baseball-players-of-all-time-a-celebration-part-2
Jeurys Familia:
7-14-11: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/11/2270752/mets-minors-road-report-binghamton-7-9-brooklyn-7-10 - His general game plan seemed to be first pitch fastball for a strike. Period. He usually got it, too. When he got in a bit of a one-out jam in the first, he actually tripled up on his slider, which he had only thrown once to that point. It got him to 1-2 and he got the strikeout looking on the next pitch with his fastball. Also, after struggling to put away hitters in the fourth, he worked backwards more in the fifth, twice leading with his change-up to get ahead. It worked as the fifth was a seven pitch inning for Familia. As mentioned, the change-up was his out pitch, though he oddly got away from it in the back half of the fourth inning, throwing almost all fastballs and sliders.
Edgar Ramirez:
7-15-11: - http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20110714/SPORTS/107140412/0/SPORTS02/B-Mets-reliever-returns-after-2-month-hiatus - Ramirez, a right-hander who is 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, said he didn't use any supplements or performance-enhancing drugs. The 27-year-old in his sixth minor league season insists the only pills he'd been taking were multivitamins to prevent cardiac disease. According to Ramirez, there is a history of high cholesterol in his family. His only goal in taking the multivitamin was to make sure he stayed healthy enough to watch his 6-year-old daughter, Emily, grow up.
Mackey Sasser:
Former New York Mets catcher Mackey Sasser of the “Mackey Sasser Syndrome” fame is being inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall Of Fame which honors athletes who are from the Wiregrass region of Southern Georgia and Southeastern Alabama. Sasser who has been the baseball coach at Wallace Community College in Dothan for the past 14 years talks about his induction as well as his big league career and what he’s been up to lately - http://topprospectalert.com/2011/07/15/former-new-york-mets-catcher-mackey-sasser-talks-about-his-induction-into-the-wiregrass-sports-hall-of-fame
Taylor Buchholz:
“I really didn’t know what was going on,” said Buchholz, a five-year Major Leaguer, originally drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round in 2000. “But when I think back on it, maybe it was a sign that the team psychologist [Ron Svetich] was there in Modesto when I broke down. I saw Svetich the day before in the clubhouse and I remember him asking me how I felt. I told him I was great. I lied to him. Then the next morning, I was showering, and I broke out into this crying fit. When I went back to the clubhouse later that day, I pulled Svetich aside.” - http://springfield-pa.patch.com/articles/dealing-with-depression-on-a-major-league-level
Matt Harvey:
“I was able to keep the ball down, and I was getting ahead,” Harvey said. “That was the biggest thing, I was keeping the ball down and getting ahead of guys. The other outing I left some pitches up and anyone is going to hit that, so tonight I tried to get ahead of guys with my fastball especially and use the off-speed later.“I went fastball a lot tonight, whereas the outing before I was going off-speed early and getting behind with that and I’d have to go fastball. It was easy to read (in the last outing). Tonight, I got ahead with the fastball and I was able to throw some good off-speed pitchers either earlier or late as the game went on.” - http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=009c2bd267f346edad76d7184d9fd4ef&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=009c2bd267f346edad76d7184d9fd4ef&plckPostId=Blog:009c2bd267f346edad76d7184d9fd4efPost:c2f449c5-3523-473c-a133-2133ea4b6731&plckBlogItemsPerPage=5
Jason Vargas:
Jason Vargas turned in his third shutout of the season Friday in the Mariners' 6-0 win over the Padres. Half of Vargas' six wins this year have been shutouts, and they've all come in his last six starts. He beat the Rays 7-0 on June 3 and the Phillies 2-0 on June 19. Prior to the outing against the Rays, he had thrown just one complete game in 76 major league starts. - http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/331029/baseball-headlines?r=1
Lastings Milledge:
A top prospect for the Mets, Milledge made his major league debut May 30, 2006. Milledge hit .257 for the Mets in 157 games over a 2 year span. On November 30, 2007, GM Omar Minaya traded the 22 year old to the Washington Nationals in exchange for RF Ryan Church and C Brian Schneider. In June of ’09, the Nationals traded Milledge to the Pirates for LHP Sean Burnett and OF Nyjer Morgan. In February of 2011, Milledge signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox worth $500,000. Milledge appeared in 2 games for the White Sox before being DFA on April 7. He was sent outright to AAA Charlotte, where he is batting .281 in 61 games for the Knights. - http://www.dailystache.net/archives/12183
Carlos Beltran:
Mets manager Terry Collins said he believes Beltran is okay with the designated hitter role, but Beltran insisted that even now, don’t mistake his willingness to do it for a day rather than take a complete day off for a willingness to retreat to that role on a more permanent basis. “I just don’t like it,” Beltran said. “It’s kind of like a half day off because all you do is go hit, but you have to stretch a lot. You get stiff, you get tired. I don’t feel as loose. It’s lack of experiences. Maybe the guys that have DH’ed for a long time, for example, David Ortiz, maybe he has a routine to keep himself loose. Maybe you get used to it. Right now I can take a day, but it’s not like it’s my favorite thing to do - http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/amazinstories/beltran_not_ready_for_a_dh_future/?utm_term=My+latest+Mets+blog+post&utm_content=%23Mets&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Taylor Buchholz:
Taylor Buchholz, the 29-year-old Mets middle reliever, has had depression and anxiety since before he was placed on the disabled list a month ago with what the team had previously described as right shoulder fatigue. Buchholz did have some problems with his shoulder, but the real reason for his lengthy absence has been his efforts to find the right medication to treat the depression and anxiety - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/sports/baseball/mets-taylor-buchholz-dealing-with-depression-and-anxiety.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
