It’s a sore spot, that’s why — and O’Day’s brief tenure as a New York Met is a symbol of the organization’s shortsighted, knee-jerk “strategies” of building and maintaining the 25-man roster.

What this post should have been was a congratulatory note to Omar Minaya and his scouting staff for having the boldness and acuity to pluck Darren O’Day in the Rule 5 Draft. The acquisition could have been a soothing bright spot amidst a dark year of disappointment. But even when the Mets did something right, they found a way to undo it.

O’Day earned a bullpen spot on the strength of a sparkling 2.57 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 14 spring training innings. His submarine delivery had a nice “funk” that would’ve pleased Willie Randolph and gave Keith Hernandez a reason to use the term “laredo”. More importantly, O’Day threw strikes and got ground balls, giving the Mets reason to believe they found an efficient replacement for Joe Smith.

Through 4 games as a Met in the regular season, Darren O’Day posted a 0.00 ERA but allowed a hefty two baserunners per inning. In his debut appearance against the Reds he came into 5th-inning mess started by Oliver Perez. With men already on first and second, O’Day hit the first batter he faced to load the bases, but got a short fly out from the next. He then gave up a ground ball single to Paul Janish that bounced beyond the reach of Jose Reyes and scored two runs before getting another short fly to end the inning. Not a great way to begin.

O’Day made his next appearance the very next evening, entering the ninth inning of a 4-4 tie with the Marlins. Pedro Feliciano had allowed a single and retired two batters, but this was the beginning of Jerry Manuel’s season-long obsession with “matchups”, so Feliciano exited when the righthanded-hitting Hanley Ramirez came to the plate. O’Day walked the eventual batting champion and gave up a single to Jorge Cantu to make Feliciano the losing pitcher. Thus far, O’Day was not warming the hearts of Mets fans.

But he was right back on the horse the very next day, throwing 33 pitches in 1 1/3 innings to help preserve an 8-4 win — though, he did allow two unearned runs. In three days he threw 53 pitches and was not yet impressing anyone.

Four days later he threw his final game as a Met, hurling a 1-2-3 sixth inning in a loss against the Padres that was significant in that Heath Bell earned the save and Duaner Sanchez a hold.

On April 18th the Mets began an inexplicable flurry of moves that began with O’Day being placed on waivers and ultimately resulted in the promotion of Ken Takahashi. In the process they ticked off Nelson Figueroa (which resulted in them being ticked off by Figgy) and subjected Mets fans to four innings of Casey Fossum. And all this was done because the Mets didn’t want Mike Pelfrey to miss more than one start. Pelfrey, you see, had elbow tendinitis, (you forgot about that, didn’t you?) but the Mets didn’t want to put him on the 15-day DL. DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING? Mind you, this was long before the rash of “bad luck” hit the Mets and sent half the team to the infirmary. So really, were the Mets “unlucky” to have lost so many players to injury, or is it a wee bit possible that their aggressive, prehistoric treatment of injuries had something to do with all the games missed by key players?

Fittingly, less than a week after O’Day was DFA’d (and Figueroa demoted), Jerry Manuel was talking about adding an eighth reliever to the bullpen, which he felt was being overworked.

Even more fittingly, Darren O’Day was picked up by the Rangers and appeared in 64 games for Texas, posting a stingy 1.94 ERA and microscopic 0.94 WHIP. Yes, his first three games as a Met were bad — but it was only three games. Moreover, at the time of his DFA, Sean Green and Brian Stokes were just as ineffective, and the right move at the time was to put Mike Pelfrey on the DL.

Would O’Day have pitched as well as a Met — and in Jerry Manuel’s head-scratching system of situational matchups? We’ll never know, but you tell me: right now would you rather have a 26-year-old sinkerballer with a 1.19 career WHIP or a 40-year-old LOOGY against whom lefties hit .302 AVG / .859 OPS ? Not that it matters, because right now, the Mets have neither.

(by the way, Metstradamus is doing a similar player-by-player analysis — see his “What Have You Learned? Darren O’Day”)

Casey Fossum pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees

Anywho, as you may also remember, Fossum was DFA’d to make room for Ken Takahashi. We assumed he’d simply report back to Buffalo and return to orange and blue when needed.

Instead, Fossum elected free agency, and is now in pinstripes. The Yankee kind. The Yanks signed him and sent him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take the injured Ian Kennedy’s place on the roster.

Last night, Fossum started against the Norfolk Tides and, on a limited pitch count, tossed 3 2/3 “sharp” innings, helping the AAA Yankees to a 5-1 win.

Also, as mentioned earlier this morning, Jason Vargas picked up the win for the Mariners in a 15-inning affair last night. Vargas threw 2 1/3, striking out 4. And in other news, Darren O’Day — who is developing his own “Six Degrees of Separation” — threw another perfect inning in relief for the Rangers last night, striking out two. He’s now appeared in 6 games, pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, and struck out 4. Who says the American League has better hitters?

O’Day was so new they didn’t have a uniform for him, so he wore Kason Gabbard’s jersey. Yes, O’Day went into the game with the name “Gabbard” stitched across his back.

“I got off the plane in the eighth inning and had to go through customs and all that jazz,” O’Day said. “The traveling secretary was texting me back and forth. We originally planned to go to the hotel and he said ‘Go to the field, we might need you.’ I got here, got on a uniform and went out there.”

O’Day shook hands and introduced himself to his new teammates in the bullpen, immediately prior to warming up.

Unfortunately for Darren, Millar ripped a game-winning single off of him to deliver a victory for the Jays.

“Gabbard I thought was a left-handed pitcher and he came in throwing sinkerballs, side-armed right-handed, so I was a little confused at first,” Millar joked.

The Rule 5 requirements now apply to the Rangers, meaning, if they choose not to keep O’Day on the 25-man roster, they must waive him and then offer him back to the Angels of Los Angeles / Anaheim / California / Disneyland.

Read on to decipher and debate the mysterious moves that brought Casey Fossum to New York and sent Darren O’Day and Nelson Figueroa packing.

It’s been a few days, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the series of moves that, in the end, resulted in a “trade” of Darren O’Day and Nelson Figueroa for Casey Fossum.

O’Day was a decent, if hittable, situational reliever who might one day evolve into a reliable 7th inning “crossover” guy. He was especially valuable in the Jerry Manuel “matchup” strategy employed in the late innings (which better resembles musical chairs). Offering O’Day back to the Angels and/or waiving him down to AAA to make room for Nelson Figueroa made a lot of sense, though, for several reasons.

First, the Mets needed a spot starter on Sunday to fill in for the ailing Mike Pelfrey. When the team arrives at a logical explanation for NOT sending Big Pelf to the 15-day DL, please let me know. Second, Figgy is ideal insurance as both a starter and long man behind the question marks known as John Maine and Oliver Perez (and now Pelfrey, for that matter). Further, Figueroa performed exceptionally well in the WBC. It was slightly stunning he didn’t make the team out of spring training, but hey, better late than never.

So Nelson Figueroa goes out and pitches six solid innings against an MLB team — something Maine and Pelfrey have yet to do, and Perez and Livan Hernandez have done only once each. The next day he’s DFA’d to make room for Casey Fossum. Hmmm …

One MetsToday reader (Upson) suggested that the move made sense from the standpoint that Figgy was redundant as long as Brian Stokes is around, and that Pedro Feliciano could use a southpaw sidekick. Regarding the former, if Stokes and Figueroa are essentially the same, then why didn’t Stokes make the start on Sunday? Further, if Stokes is the “long man”, how does he have only 3 IP in 4 appearances?

Then there’s the issue of Fossum as the second “LOOGY”. Fossum did get off to a hot start in Buffalo, starting two games and allowing only 5 hits and striking out 12 in 11 innings. He also, however, was hit hard — very hard — facing A and AA hitters at the tail end of ballgames in spring training. Despite great stuff, Fossum has a career MLB ERA of 5.47 and a 1.51 WHIP. Over the last two seasons (2007-2008), lefthanded hitters have torched him for a .319 AVG and 6 HRs in 185 ABs. Despite the fact he’s been “stretched out” as a starter in Buffalo, we know his main role is to face LH hitters (yikes!) and is unlikely to ever get a start or pitch more than one full inning at a time.

I have nothing against Casey Fossum — in fact, I’m rooting hard for “The Blade”, partially because he’s a NJ native and partially because he’s an underdog. But wouldn’t it have made a lot more sense to simply put Pelfrey on the DL, have him miss two starts instead of one, and keep Figueroa — who flatly earned a spot this spring — for at least another week?

O'Day and Morrissey, courtesy of Angels blog Halos Heaven

Rotoworld is reporting that the Mets have designated reliever Darren O’Day for assignment. O’Day – a Rule 5 pick – will be placed on Rule 5 waivers. If he clears waivers, he will be offered back to the Angels.

O’Day’s departure will make room for Nelson Figueroa, who will start in place of Mike Pelfrey in Sunday’s series finale against Milwaukee.

I’m surprised Omar Minaya is so quick to scrap a piece of the bullpen that has been dominant so far this season. In four games with the Mets, O’Day had not allowed an earned run.

Given Pelfrey’s youth and his workload last season, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t put him  on the DL, retroactive to his last start. He’d only end up missing one extra start and the bullpen could remain intact.

Then again, maybe the Mets weren’t high on O’Day in the first place and/or maybe they have a late inning reliever in mind to replace him once Pelfrey gets back.

Though the Mets lost this one, they did show a lot of fight in the later innings, which is something we didn’t see enough of in 2008.

John Maine pitched well enough for his first outing since shoulder surgery, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk in five innings, striking out five. Both runs came on solo homers, on the same high fastballs that Keith Hernandez “likes to see”. Yes, those high fastballs can be strikeouts, but they can also be gopher balls, unfortunately. At one point, Maine retired seven Fish in a row, and he began the game with two consecutive strikeouts. His velocity was up to around 93 MPH, but his command was nonexistent. It appears he’s healthy, and on the way back, but will take some time.

Spoiling Maine’s encouraging performance was the Mets bullpen, which allowed three runs over the final four innings. If this were 1978, we might have seen J.J. Putz enter in the sixth and K-Rod record a two-inning save, but this is 2008 and pitchers don’t do that anymore. So instead, we watched Sean Green, Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano, and Darren O’Day show us that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

On a positive note, Carlos Beltran belted his first homer of the year, with three hits on the day. Ryan Church also had three hits, as did Danny Murphy, though two of Murphy’s “hits” easily could have been scored errors. We’ll take them, though.

On a negative note, the Mets stranded 14 runners on base. Fourteen. Ouch. Well, at least they’re getting guys on base, right?

Back to the positive: Jeremy Reed came through HUGE with his hit as a New York Met, blistering an RBI single in the ninth inning off Matt Lindstrom to tie the game at four. He was the Mets’ best hitter in spring training, and it’s a wonder it took this long for him to get an at-bat in a regular-season game.

However, Feliciano and O’Day couldn’t hold the tie, and the blur known as Emilio Bonifacio won the game with his legs, reaching base on an infield single and racing home on a hit by Jorge Cantu. It was the second time in three innings that Bonifacio changed the game with his speed — he’d earlier reached base on a two-out bunt off Parnell, eventually scoring the Fish’s fourth run.

Game Notes

John Maine’s stats belied his performance. He gave up only two runs and walked one, but many of his strikeouts had more to do with undisciplined Marlins hitters chasing balls out of the strike zone than Maine throwing great pitches. Further, Maine was consistently missing spots, even when he was throwing strikes. This may not make sense, or it may sound like nitpicking, but the truth is, Brian Schneider was doing a lot of reaching to catch Maine’s pitches, because Maine was missing the intended target by a foot or more — that’s too much for an MLB pitcher.

Luis Castillo came to bat with runners in scoring position about fifteen times in this game, and failed in each one. We’ll still try to hammer that square peg into the round eighth hole of the lineup.

Speaking of, did anyone notice Castillo’s strike-three looking in the top of the seventh? It was a darn close pitch on the inside black of home plate. Maybe you also noticed Marlins catcher John Baker “stick” that pitch — he held it exactly where it crossed the plate, and was awarded with strike three. Maybe I’m harping too much on the art of catching lately, but the concept of “framing” is one of those universally taught, yet completely illogical, baseball skills that needs to called out and buried. (That “thump” was the sound of me hopping off the soap box.)

Ryan Church remains red-hot, against righties and lefties. He must like the month of April, because he started out similarly last season.

A little strange to see Gary Sheffield, instead of Ramon Castro, come in to pinch-hit for Brian Schneider. Seems like a waste to burn two players in one shot like that, especially in a close game where you might be going into extra innings.

Sean Green appeared in yet another ballgame. For those unaware, Green pitched very well for Seattle for the first half of 2008, then had a poor second half, and most people felt it was because of overuse. His arm action and mechanics certainly do not make him look durable. Green, Parnell, Feliciano, and Putz are on pace to appear in 121 games each this season.

The young Marlins look like they are finally starting to “get it”. If they can find one more solid bullpen guy — or a legit closer — they will be a serious playoff contender.

People love to bash Jorge Cantu for his poor fielding, but the guy made some really nice snares on hot smashes in the late innings. That man has no fear of the ball, that’s for certain.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Marlins do it again, serving as the opening act to Flo Rida. You won’t see the first hour of the game, but can listen to it on WFAN or XM Radio. SNY coverage begins at 7:00 PM. Livan Hernandez makes his Mets debut against Ricky Nolasco, though there’s no guarantee that either pitcher will still be in the game by the time it is broadcast on your TV set.

You can’t win ‘em all …

Not a good day for Oliver Perez, who was charged with 8 runs in less than five innings of work — though he wasn’t helped by Darren O’Day, who allowed two inherited runners to score.

Ollie cruised through the first two innings, then allowed four runs in the third and fell apart in the fifth. Other than O’Day, the bullpen did its job in holding the Reds scoreless, and the offense tried to chip away, but fell short.

If nothing else, it was interesting to see that the Mets would in fact play all nine innings when behind. There was some speculation that they would concede the contest after the seventh, since JJ Putz and K-Rod were acquired with the intention of shortening the game by two innings.

Sure, you don’t like to see the Mets lose, but look at it this way — they took two out of three, and won their first series.

Mets Game Notes

Prior to Opening Day, the Reds were my sleeper pick for the Cinderella team of 2009. If these first three games are any indication, I’m WAY off. Their pitching is thinner than it appears on paper, and their young hitters may still be a year away. Mostly, though, they look sloppy in the field, reminiscent of the Marlins of the past few seasons. If they don’t find another quality starting pitcher and tighten up the defense, they’re headed for another dismal season.

Before the game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that “if you can get six good innings out of Ollie, that’ll be great”. No kidding. That’s pretty much the hope for every starting pitcher, isn’t it? For example, wouldn’t it have been “great” if Johan Santana could have given the Mets six good innings on Opening Day? I can’t believe they cut away from the game action to show us that pearl of wisdom.

Ryan Church is starting out similarly to last April, mashing line drives to all fields.

I seem to remember the Mets having a hard time winning the final game of a series when it was a weekday, day game. I can’t find the numbers anywhere to support that assumption, but it sure felt that way.

Keith Hernandez likes the new SNY graphics. I don’t, since they remove about one-fifth of my TV screen real estate. Andrew Vazzano of TheRopolitans agrees.

Keith and I do agree on one thing though — Joey Votto is the real deal. I’m sticking by my outrageous MVP prediction.

A number of missed hit-and-runs from both sides in this series, yet nearly all of them resulted in a stolen base.

Gary Sheffield made his Mets debut in this game, appearing as a pinch-hitter to lead off the ninth (he struck out looking). Strange move, since high-OBP man Luis Castillo was available on the bench. Maybe Jerry Manuel promised Castillo a full day off — I’m sure he was absolutely exhausted after playing two full games over the previous three days.

Ramon Castro remains a sloppy catcher, who drives me crazy with his annoying habit of jerking (I’m sure he calls it “framing”) every pitch. I spotted at least five occasions where Castro lost a legit strike because he jerked his glove toward the middle of the plate instead of catching the ball when it was a strike (a.k.a., “beating the ball to the spot”). One of those pitches came in the fifth and would’ve been strike three to Votto, and on the next pitch Votto hit an RBI single. Think about that. Votto’s single would’ve been an out, which means there would not have been a man on third so Brandon Phillips’ fly ball would not have been a sac fly driving in a run, and Ryan Hanigan’s fly ball would’ve been out number three, and Paul Janish would not have come to bat and singled in two. Do the math, and you tell me whether I’m nitpicking.

No, Paul Janish is not related to me. People in my family can hit, and have much larger feet. And my name is not pronounced “Yahn-ish” — it’s “Jan-ish”.

Next Mets Game

The Mets travel to Miami to play the first-place Marlins in a three-game set, beginning with a Friday night game at 7:10 PM. John Maine is scheduled to face Anibal Sanchez.

The key to the Mets’ success this year will be tied to health and the production of Carlos Delgado.

Jose Reyes will hit 25 triples, 17 of which will come at home in Citi Field.

Johan Santana will win 21 games, and take the Cy Young.

John Maine will struggle so mightily in the first half that he will be sent to the minors to work out issues with his mechanics and command.

Livan Hernandez will be the tortoise and Oliver Perez the hare, and Livan will quietly emerge as the Mets #3 starter by year’s end, posting 13 victories.

Maine and Perez will combine for less than 20 wins.

Darren O’Day and Sean Green will combine for 20 decisions in middle relief.

Mike Pelfrey will take a no-hitter into the 9th inning, but settle for a one-hit shutout.

Tim Redding will throw less than 50 innings all season.

Luis Castillo will receive consideration for the All-Star Game, and finish the year with a .295 AVG., .375 OBP, and 28 SB.

Danny Murphy will have trouble keeping his average above .250 in the first six weeks of the season, and Gary Sheffield will take over as the starting leftfielder.

Sheffield will be a key run producer for the Mets, and finish fourth on the team in RBI.

Very few “Putz” jerseys will be sold by the Mets, for obvious reasons.

Not one “Shawn Green” jersey will be sold to a patron thinking it’s a “Sean Green” jersey.

Jeremy Reed will substitute for a disabled starter at some point in the season and go on a tear, making fans almost forget Endy Chavez.

Reese Havens will rocket through the Mets’ minor league system, and be considered for a September call-up.

Ryan Church will be traded to the Rockies.

Aaron Heilman will struggle against the Mets, but will otherwise succeed in Chicago. He’ll get a few starts when Rich Harden goes down and prompt the Cubs to move Sean Marshall back to the bullpen.

The Mets’ lack of a second LOOGY will be a major point of concern, and trade rumors will swirl around the names Eddie Guardado, Matt Thornton, and Alan Embree. The Mets will wind up with Bobby Seay, against whom lefties hit .303 lifetime.

The Mets will have a strong record aoutside the division, but will be only a few games above .500 against NL East teams.

Jose Valentin will make it back to the 25-man roster before the end of the season.

Bobby Ojeda will start doing commercials for the Hair Club for Men.

J.J. Putz

Putz, of course, did not play for the Mets but rather for Team USA in the WBC. Putz was called on to close out a 6-5 ballgame against Canada, and notched his first save in a nail-biter of a ninth inning. The good news for Mets fans is that Putz was humming his fastball at 94 MPH. So, the worries about velocity which we pointed out previously can be put to rest.

Dillon Gee

Gee looked much more comfortable and relaxed in comparison to his ST debut a few days ago. He exuded confidence, and though he definitely was not picking around the plate in the same way he was against the Cardinals, he also wasn’t throwing as many strikes as expected, going full count to several hitters in his two-inning stint.

Daniel Murphy

Murphy has been an on-base machine, is driving the ball to the outfield gaps, is heady on the bases, and is improving in the field. Ron Darling compared him to Dave Magadan, which to me is a very astute comparison. However I’m not sure I agree with Darling’s assumption that Murphy will hit with more power, since I’m not seeing the bat speed necessary for 40 doubles and 20+ HRs. I still like my own comparison of Murphy to Mike Hargrove — and if Murphy can equal Hargrove’s career, he’ll have a very nice MLB career.

Bobby Kielty

Kielty blistered the ball in his first two at-bats, and hustled all over the place. He has a long, tough road toward a spot on the 25-man roster, but he won’t fail due to lack of effort.

Nick Evans

I love Nick Evans, I really do. He reminds me of a guy I’d expect to see on the ’69 Mets, with his short-cropped haircut and “regular joe” looks. He’s been hitting to the opposite field like its his job, which is good and bad. It’s good because any hitter who hits the other way is a good hitter. It’s bad because Nick’s ticket to the big leagues is hitting for power, meaning homeruns, and generally speaking, that requires pulling the ball. If Evans had above-average MLB speed, and played a position other than first base, I might not be so concerned. But right now he projects as a guy who will hit around .275 with about 15 HR and 25-30 doubles. Those would be strong numbers for a first baseman in 1969, but not quite enough for an everyday job 40 years later.

Wilmer Flores

For 17 years old, he looks impressive. He’s a tall, lanky kid with a remarkably short stroke. In his first frew at-bats, he was too aggressive to make any kind of judgment, but he torched a double down the line in the 7th inning — which surprised me, because his open stance and excessive distance from home plate made me guess that he didn’t like inside pitches. The general consensus of the Mets’ staff is that he compares to fellow Venezuelan Miquel Cabrera, which is an astounding statement. Who knows? Seventeen is young, so there’s a lot of projection. If it’s any help, Cabrera received MVP votes after half a year in the bigs as a 20-year-old — so we may find out quickly whether those comparisons hold water.

The Sidewinders

Darren O’Day was brought in to face Ryan Zimmerman in a pseudo-regular season situation, and he walked Zimmerman on four pitches. However, he seemed to pitch better as he continued along in his two-inning outing, which suggests that maybe he wasn’t properly warmed up when he came into the game. In any case, I’m not yet sold on O’Day, who seems to have issues spotting the ball around the strike zone. I think his head moves around too much during his motion; if he could keep his head still, he’d probably throw more strikes.

Sean Green still doesn’t strike me as being an upgrade over Joe Smith, and I’m not even sure he’s Smith’s equal. His sinker starts at a high spot in the strike zone — about belly-button-high — and doesn’t drop much. And, I’ve yet to see a “punch-out” pitch from him, which means he’ll have to exclusively rely on ground balls for outs.

The LOOGYs

Roydrick Merritt reminds me of a lefthanded Cecilio Guante. His sidearm delivery may fool lefty hitters some day — IF he can generate just a few more MPH on that fastball, which currently sits around 88. However, it’s very tough for a sidewinder to increase velocity, because they are fighting gravity.

Casey Fossum may be the ultimate enigma. He throws nasty breaking curveballs at three different speeds — 63, 73, and 83 MPH — and he can get his fastball as high as 91. Yet, he’s incredibly hittable. His fastball is fairly straight and flat, and he rides it a little too high in the zone. He tries to make up for that by cutting it, but the result is usually a ball far out of the zone. If this guy can ever figure out what to do with his stuff, he should be successful. But it doesn’t look like that’s happening this spring.

Valerio de los Santos does not look particularly special. His lefthandedness is the only thing keeping him in camp.

Rene Rivera

Is it me, or is every backup catcher in camp hefty ? Not that there’s anything wrong with being hefty, it just seems like there’s a specific type in mind. Personally, and from experience, I’ve always preferred catchers who were lean, nimble, and athletic, with quick feet. But what do I know?

No not THAT John Madden …. rather, a 6’4″ righthander out of the San Diego Padres’ system. He’s a nice pick, actually, though his numbers are a little skewed as he’s been old for the levels he’s pitched at. However, he has a herky jerky delivery and a 92-93 MPH sinker, drawing comparisons to Jeff Nelson.

Madden, however, was only one of several intriguing picks by the Mets.

In the first round of the Major League Phase — this is the one where you have to keep the guy on your roster all year — the Mets plucked righthander Darren O’Day from the Angels. O’Day just turned 25, and pitched in 30 big league games last year before suffering shoulder issues. Turns out he has a torn labrum and could be out of action for 6-8 months. So why draft him? Because he’s young, he’s talented, and the Mets can start him out on the 60-day DL while he rehabs (he’s reportedly not having surgery). To keep him in the organization, the Mets will have to put him on the 25-man for at least 90 days during 2009 — or for 90 days in 2010.

If you’ve never seen him pitch, O’Day is a lot like, well, the aforementioned Madden — a tall (6’4″) and lanky sidearmer with a deceptive delivery and a sinker-slider repertoire, a la Jeff Nelson, Ryan Madson, etc. Considering his age and his success at Florida U and in the minors, this is a smart, calculated gamble. I like it.

In the second round of the Major League Phase, the Mets took pitcher Rocky Cherry. Cherry has not shown much in 40 MLB games over the last two seasons, and will be 30 next August. He throws a really hard slider and once threw a fastball that once touched 95 but it’s straight and I don’t think he gets it up there anymore. For someone with that kind of velocity, he gets hit harder than he should — in 92 innings over the last two years in the minors, he’s allowed 86 hits. What’s strange is his walk totals are remarkably low in the minors, but abysmal in the bigs (35 BB in 48 MLB IP). Sounds to me like a confidence issue — but can it be overcome? For $50,000, it’s worth the gamble. In my mind he’s another Brian Stokes, but with one good secondary pitch rather than three inadequate ones.

In addition to Madden, the Mets also took outfielder Carl Loadenthal, out of the Braves’ system. I’ve never seen him play, but from his stats he appears to be a Jeff Duncan – type: a LH-hitting outfielder who is fleet of foot, strong in the field, no power whatsoever, decent potential to put the bat on the ball and get on base. He turns 27 at the end of this month and has played only 68 games above AA. In other words, he’s filler material for AAA Buffalo. Since the Mets have been stocking their AAA rosters with ancient hasbeens such as Benito Santiago and Ricky Ledee in recent years, the addition of Loadenthal is somewhat refreshing.

Perhaps the best pick of the draft was the one that wasn’t — no one was plucked from the Mets’ system. This surprised me, since Omar Minaya keeps insisting that their minor leagues are much better than everyone else claims. In all seriousness, I thought for sure the Pirates were going to nab Shawn Bowman, but I suppose his back issues scared them away.

Bottom line is this: Cherry, O’Day, and Madden are EXACTLY the type of minor league relievers the Mets have needed in their farm system for several years. In other words, guys who can be shuttled up and down from AAA and to take some of the load off the “main” relievers. Madden’s a minor league draftee, so he doesn’t have to stay on the 25-man all year — he can ride the Heath Bell shuttle. Cherry can make the team out of spring training, and pitch until he’s ineffective, then pave the way for O’Day, who might be ready by late June. I don’t think any of the three will be a significant contributor, but together they could eat up some garbage innings that would otherwise have to be handled by Pedro Feliciano, etc.