Hudson to Twins, Kennedy to Nationals
Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson has signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins, prompting the Nationals to sign Adam Kennedy as their second sacker.
Thus, it appears that Mets fans will endure another year of Luis Castillo at second base.
Yes, there are delusional fans still clinging to the fantasy that the Reds will trade Brandon Phillips for Omir Santos, but I wouldn’t count on it. Castillo is most likely Jose Reyes’ partner at the keystone come Opening Day.
Is it such a terrible thing? Read more
DeRosa, Guardado Off the Table
According to several reports, superutilityman Mark DeRosa has agreed to a two-year, $12M contract with the San Francisco Giants. Seems like a lot for a 35-year-old coming off wrist surgery, doesn’t it?
Additionally, those pesty Washington Nationals have made another acquisition, signing veteran lefty reliever Eddie Guardado to a one-year, minor-league contract. “Steady” Eddie appeared in 48 games for the Rangers last season, posting a 4.46 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. The 39-year-old has spent most of his career in the AL. No word on the terms, only that it is a minor league, non-guaranteed deal. That said, a good move by the Nats to add a possible LOOGY without much risk.
The suddenly shrewd Nats also signed former Phillies utilityman Eric Bruntlett to a minor league contract. Again, not a bad deal, in that they get a versatile bench man on a non-guaranteed deal. He’s no Alex Cora but he’s not nearly as expensive, either.
Out on the Left Coast, the Mariners have signed catcher Josh Bard and reliever Chad Cordero to minor league contracts. I’ve always liked Bard for his switch-hitting ability, good discipline at the plate, occasional pop, excellent defense, and good reputation for handling pitchers. But, he’s not friendly with Johan Santana so Henry Blanco was a better choice on a guaranteed deal. Cordero is still recovering from shoulder surgery on his labrum — he hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2008, and threw only 14 minor-league innings last season. Ironically, the Mets latest signee Kelvim Escobar is coming back from similar surgery, and threw 15 minor-league innings last season (as well as another 5 in MLB before being shut down for the year).
A healthy reliever — Bob Howry — has been signed to a one-year deal by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Terms were not disclosed, but most are guessing it is in the $2M – $3M range. Howry appeared in 63 games, posting a 3.34 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Luckily the Mets aren’t in need of relief help, having already filled the ‘pen with Escobar and Ryota Igarashi.
Mets Game 159: Loss to Nationals
Nationals 7 Mets 4
The season cannot end soon enough.
The Mets had a two-zip lead early, the Nats fought back with a run, the Met answered with an insurance run, the Nats got another run, and the Mets answered yet again with an insurance run. So in the bottom of the ninth, Francisco Rodriguez stepped on the mound to protect a 4-2 lead.
Fifteen minutes and 37 pitches later, Justin Maxwell was mobbed by his teammates at home plate, in celebration of his two-out, full-count, game-winning, walk-off grand slam and the Nationals’ 7-4 victory.
The most horrifying part of it all? I was not one bit surprised. In fact, I almost expected Maxwell to bang one over the wall.
Notes
Tim Redding pitched well yet again, tossing 6 innings of one-run, four-hit ball. He’s gone 6+ innings in six of his last seven starts, allowing 16 earned runs. But how do you measure this late-season streak against a contract for next year, when he looked so inadequate in the ten starts previous? Tough call.
In contrast, K-Rod has been performing poorly as the season wears on. He’s now 1-4 with 19 earned runs allowed in 25 innings since the All-Star Break. Ouch.
Jeff Francoeur, Fernando Tatis, and Omir Santos accounted for six of the Mets’ seven hits.
In the top of the ninth, the Mets had three hits and the Nats made an error but only one run scored.
The Nationals’ Josh Bard had only one official plate appearance yet saw 27 pitches (he walked 3 times).
Next Mets Game
Thankfully for us fans, there will not be another game until Friday night at 7:10 PM in Flushing. John Maine heads to the mound against Wandy Rodriguez.
Mets Game 158: Loss to Nationals
Nationals 4 Mets 3
With their 91st loss, the Mets may have sunk to a position lower than their opponent.
The Nationals may be twelve games worse overall, but right now, the teams are all too similar — and the Nats may be slightly better.
Mike Pelfrey pitched a strong seven innings, allowing only three runs on eight hits and a walk. As usual, he pitched well while cruising, and lost his composure when runners reached base. He was able to limit his yips enough to accomplish a “quality start”, but it was not quite good enough to earn a “win”.
That’s because DC starter J.D. Martin matched Mike pitch for pitch, allowing the same three runs over a nearly similar six innings. In the end the difference was decided between the bullpens, and the Mets came up short.
Pedro Feliciano did his job of retiring lefthanded-hitting Adam Dunn, but as we all know he can’t do anything else and was relieved by Sean Green — who you may remember was tabbed as the replacement for Aaron Heilman. Green walked the first batter he faced, then was the victim of a throwing error by Anderson Hernandez that put runners on first and second. Green induced a potential double play ball from the next batter, but Luis Castillo threw away the relay to first and the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run scored.
Notes
The Mets had a prime chance to take the lead in the top of the eighth when they loaded the bases with no outs, but Brian Schneider fouled out to Ryan Zimmerman and pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed hit a liner to Pete Orr that resulted in a double play to end the inning.
They had another shot to score in their final at-bat, when, with a runner on first and two out, David Wright blasted a line drive to the right field wall. However, Elijah Dukes made an impressive and athletic, running, jumping snare of the ball — and held onto it after eating the chain link fence in front of the scoreboard — to end the ballgame.
Mike MacDougal throws a nasty, evil, sinking fastball. I am amazed at the velocity and force of his lithe right arm whipping from launch point through the release. His arm is like a tungsten-carbide spaghetti whip slashing through mile-high thin air — and helped by the gravity and extension of his 6′4″ height. His issue has always been control, but when he finds the plate, he’s nearly unhittable.
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Nats complete their series on Wednesday afternoon at 4:35 PM. Perhaps the schedule-maker had the foresight to know that no one would want to see this game way back when. Rochester, NY native Tim Redding faces Long Beach, NY native John Lannan.
Mets Game 157: Loss to Nationals
Nationals 2 Mets 1
The Mets lose their 90th game of the season, to a team who has already hurdled triple digits in losses.
In addition, rookie stringbean Ross Detwiler earned his first MLB win — in his lucky 13th start. The 6′5″, 180-lb. Detwiler scattered seven hits in six innings and disappeared at one point of the game — then magically reappeared when he turned his shoulders square to the TV camera.
Another tough loss for Nelson Figueroa, who spun six innings of six-hit ball, striking out five but allowing two runs to cross the plate.
Notes
The Mets had runners in scoring position in six different innings, but never drove one in. They left 10 on base during the game.
Some guy named Mike Morse went 3-for-4 with a solo homer. He’s a 6′5″, 235-lb. infielder / outfielder plucked from the Seattle organization in late June. He was also a teammate of Jeremy Reed both in the ChiSox and Mariners organizations. The Mets couldn’t get this guy in the J.J. Putz deal?
At one point in the telecast, Kevin Burkhardt suggested that Pedro Feliciano wouldn’t mind expanding his role from LOOGY to setup man. I don’t know if Perpetual Pedro could handle the role, but it certainly would’ve made sense to give him the chance this September. Everyone is in agreement that Feliciano can retire lefthanded hitters with acceptable consistency, and Mets manager Jerry Manuel has bemoaned many times the lack of a “crossover guy”. It’s too late now, but it might have made sense to give Feliciano a shot to pitch against both lefties AND righties, to learn whether he could be that guy, rather than continuing to set up “matchups” in these meaningless games.
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Nationals play again on Tuesday night at 7:05 PM. Mike Pelfrey faces J.D. Martin.
Mets Game 150: Win Over Nationals
Mets 6 Nationals 2
NO ONE sweeps the Mets in THEIR HOUSE!
Those bad-boy gangstas from Flushing weren’t about to let some chumps from DC put them on blast …
John Maine won his first game since Custer’s Last Stand and the Mets offense exploded for four runs in the first three innings to hand the Nationals their 98th loss.
Maine went a full five frames, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk in an encouraging 75-pitch outing.
Daniel Murphy drove in two runs for the second straight game and six different Mets crossed the plate — four against starter and loser Garret Mock.
Notes
Angel Pagan went 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot but didn’t hit a triple. He did hit a double, though.
Wilson Valdez and Murphy DID hit triples though. Murphy also hit a double.
Maine’s fastball hung around 89-91 most of the time, and touched 92 a handful of times. His command wasn’t great but the Nats hitters were fairly aggressive. Lucky for John, the one spot he hits by default — up and in to righties / up and away to LH — is difficult to lay off and even harder to hit cleanly.
Next Mets Game
The Mets remain home to host the Braves for a three-game set beginning on Monday night at 7:10 PM. Pat Misch faces Derek Lowe.
Mets Game 149: Nationals
Mets 3 Nationals 2
Some days you have it, some days you don’t.
On this particular afternoon, Tim Redding had it — he brought his “A” game.
Spotting his sinker at the knees, on both corners of the plate, and mixing in a sharp slider and occasionally well-behaving curveball, Redding stymied the Nats bats through seven frames, allowing just one unearned run on four hits and two walks — easily his best outing of the season.
However, it nearly wasn’t enough, because Sean Green did not have “it”.
Green was wild from the moment he entered the game, but Jerry Manuel left him on the mound long enough to let the Nationals score a run to tighten the score to 3-2. Luckily, Everyday Pedro Feliciano came on the save the day, however, and Frankie Fantastik finished up for his 32nd save.
Notes
John Lannan nearly matched Redding’s effort, holding the Mets to 3 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings.
Dan Murphy drove in two of the Mets runs and Jeff Francoeur drove in the other. The big “hits” of the game came in the bottom of the seventh, and were actually errors. David Wright led off with a liner to right field that was grossly misplayed by Ian Desmond, a shortstop who was making his first-ever appearance in the outfield. The official ruling was a double, since Desmond didn’t even get a glove on the ball. A few minutes later, Murphy bounced a grounder that Adam Dunn ole’d to score Francoeur with the Mets’ third run of the game. That’s why the coaches say, “just put the ball in play, you never know what might happen”.
Next Mets Game
The final game of the series occurs on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 PM. John Maine faces Garret Mock.
Mets Game 148: Loss to Nationals
Nationals 6 Mets 5
Nationals closer Mike MacDougal did everything in his power to give the Mets an exciting, come-from-behind victory in the ninth inning, but eventually stumbled into his 16th save in Inspector Clouseau style.
Mike Pelfrey pitched seven innings, which was a positive. He allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and no walks, which was neither positive nor negative. Nice outing in terms of innings-eating, but not much else.
On the other side, J.D. Martin held the Mets to two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 frames. The Mets best chance to score runs came after MacDougal entered the game. The fireballing righthander nailed down the final out of the 8th but walked two in the ninth with a four-run lead to set up a three-run rally that ended with a comebacker off the bat of Jeff Francoeur with the winning run on second base. Oh well.
Notes
Francoeur had three hits, using a nice inside-out swing to dump base hits into right-center. He might’ve had four if MacDougal didn’t knock down the ball in his last at-bat. The ball, by the way, knocked off MacDougal’s glove — it was a hard smash.
Pelfrey’s efficiency was good — he threw only 90 pitches in his seven frames, walking no one. His curveball looked pretty good, and he threw it at a nice change of pace velocity — around 76-78 MPH. If he would throw that instead of the slider early in the count, and learn to mix in a change-up, he’d turn into the frontline starting pitcher we’ve been waiting to see. His biggest issue — other than lack of a reliable offspeed pitch — is that batters can tee off on the fastball when he falls behind in the count. A good changeup and/or curveball would counteract that problem.
This is the Mets’ first six-game losing streak since 2005
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Nats do it again at 1:10 PM on Saturday afternoon. Rochester’s Tim Redding faces Long Beach’s John Lannan in a matchup of New York natives. I’ll be here participating in a golf outing for this former teammate and will watch the replay on DVR, so don’t expect a post until late tomorrow night.
This Time Last Year
On September 18th, 2008 — exactly one year ago — the Mets had a record of 85-67, and were a half-game behind the league-leading Phillies (86-67).
What a difference a year makes.
The Mets were also at the top of the Wild Card standings, a game and a half ahead of the Brewers and a full five over the Astros.
Despite being armed with deadline pickup C.C. Sabathia, the Brewers were in a tailspin and fading fast. Things were so desperate in Milwaukee that they fired manager Ned Yost two days earlier, with only a dozen games left in the season, as a last-ditch effort to spark the team. The move shocked the baseball world, and despite some issues with the bullpen, things were looking good for the Mets.
In fact, the very next day — September 19th, 2008 — the Mets and Phillies flip-flopped in the standings, with the Mets in the lead of the NL East once again. The Mets in first place, the Brewers were dead, and eleven games to play. You could taste the Champagne.
Ah … but for the second straight year, that cork would not be popped. We had no idea.
So what’s worse? Being over 20 games out of first place right now, with the postseason an impossibility and next year looking similarly dismal? Or sitting on a rollercoaster that’s about to go off the tracks?
(Interesting coincidence … today, the Mets play the Nationals. Last year on this day, they played the Nationals. 40 years ago today, they played the Expos – as the Nats used to be called. Do the Mets always play the Nats/Expos on September 18th?)
Mets Sign Steven Matz
The Nationals signed their Stephen, and the Mets got their Matz.
In one of the few “feel good” stories of 2009 for the Mets, local pitcher Steven Matz signed a pro contract with the team just minutes before the midnight deadline.
No word yet on whether he’ll be assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones or elsewhere. Since the Cyclones have less than 20 games left on the schedule, I’d imagine Matz will take a trip down to Port St. Lucie and work out there until further notice. Reportedly, Matz was given an $895,000 signing bonus — slightly short of his $1M demand, but still more than $450K over “slot”.
There haven’t been any announcements concerning other previously unsigned Mets draft picks, though we may hear of them in the coming days. (** UPDATE ** – TheRopolitans has an update on other signings made just before the stroke of midnight last night ***)
In other news, the Nationals signed uber-prospect Stephen Strasburg to a record $15.67M bonus. That figure is short of the $20M – $40M figures thrown out by Scott Boras, but it’s a pretty penny nonetheless for a kid who has yet to throw a professional pitch.
Good luck to both Steves … maybe we’ll see them pitching head-to-head on a big-league diamond some day in the near future.
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