Home » Mets 2010 Games » Mets Demote Feliciano, Release Light-Hitting 2B
4
August 7, 2010 Mets 2010 Games loge mezzanine

Mets Demote Feliciano, Release Light-Hitting 2B

In order to free up room for the recently promoted Fernando Martinez and Ruben Tejada, the Mets have demoted Jesus Feliciano and released a light-hitting second baseman.

No, not Luis Castillo! Castillo is still owed $12 million over the next two years. Cutting ties with Castillo would be like cutting ties with Oliver Perez! Ridiculous!

Think again… Here’s a hint, the Mets are trying to save money.

The answer is Alex Cora! The de facto leader of the team was only 18 games away from reaching a vested option, so the Mets will save $2 million by sending him packing. Sweet!

So to recap… F-Mart and Tejada are likely to sit on the bench behind Francoeur and Castillo. Ollie Perez is still here. And the light-hitting second baseman who was the only semblance of a leader on this team is gone.

To be fair, the Mets may be working on a deal to ship Castillo and Francoeur out of town (possibly to Seattle?), and that would actually make this a good move because it would free up playing time for F-Mart. Let’s hope so, because as it stands now, it seems like the Wilpons are pinching pennies with no clear direction. Again.

Tags: , ,

Related Articles
  1. Seth August 7, 2010 at 1:30 pm
    It seems a bit presumptuous to call Cora “the only semblance of a leader on this team.” I’m assuming this is based on his having snapped at some players in the clubhouse a couple of weeks ago. Even if that is a leaderly thing to do, their play since then shows how little difference it actually makes.

    More to the point, is there any evidence that David Wright is not a “leader?” Or Johan Santana? People talk a lot about what a great clubhouse presence Jeff Francoeur is. Like Cora, I’d still rather get rid of him because, nice as he is, he isn’t very good at baseball. Saving $2M next year helps a bit too, because for that price you can get at least two players who are better than Alex Cora.

    No doubt it would be nice to see Castillo and Perez follow Cora out the door, although with this season pretty much sunk it’s not the worst thing to see if either of them can gain some trade value.

    Either way, there’s no way this is anything other than a smart move for the Mets, even if it took too long to happen.

    • loge mezzanine August 7, 2010 at 3:15 pm
      Whoops. I totally forgot Wright and Santana were on this team. Thanks for reminding me.
      • Seth August 7, 2010 at 6:01 pm
        I was just trying to point out that your criticism of this move strikes me as being based on a lot of hearsay and speculation about Alex Cora’s intangibles, but if you’d rather be a schmuck than back up your argument, I understand that. Kind of does a disservice to an otherwise excellent blog, but whatever.
  2. hernandezhof August 7, 2010 at 1:48 pm
    Tejada and Martinez will play – I don’t think there is any way they would be called up to ride the pine. Tejada will at least share 2B with Castillo, and Martinez will platoon with Frenchy.

    With Jerry consistently pinch hitting for Luis late in games, he has no confidence in Luis anymore – his days as a Met are numbered. If he doesn’t get dealt in a waiver deal, he will go this offseason.

    Finally.