I know there are rumors flying around like crazy about pending free agent signings, and that the Mets are interested in the likes of Ben Sheets, Joel Pineiro and John Smoltz.  And while any of those guys are capable of stepping in and being, at the very least, our #4 starter, we should be prepared for the worst.  And that “worst” is the depth chart in our starting rotation as it stands today—Johan Santana, Mike [...]

You know, I can accept the fact that the injury bug has bitten our Mets hard this season, and that freak accidents have hurt, as has being beaned in the head by opposing pitchers.  We’ve learned to accept that we have average to below-average replacements and that the season was basically over before the all-star break.  Now we’re biding our time and waiting until next year, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t [...]

The Mets have placed starting pitcher Fernando Nieve on the disabled list with a strained right quadricep muscle. Nieve hurt himself while running to first base in Sunday’s game against the Braves, and he pulled up lame. He had to be carted off the field.  I’m a little surprised that the Mets opted to replace him with outfielder Cory Sullivan who was promored from AAA-Buffalo. Sullivan was batting .290 with 2 homers and 24 RBIs. [...]

One long weekend into the second half of the season, and with still no relief in sight, the Mets dropped three out of four games to the Braves, after a 7-1 shelling on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Fernando Nieve started, but his appearance would be cut short when he was carted off the field in the second inning after straining his right quadriceps running out a ground ball. No word on the severity of the strain. He was [...]

Alright, so I was going to say “I hope everyone’s having a good day”, but watching K-rod walk Mariano last night has sucked the life out of me. I wasn’t favoring the umpire’s strike zone last night, or the ESPN announcers…but that’s not what I’m writing about. I do hope everyone’s having a good day, and I hope you’ll enjoy keeping track of this. The MetsMerized Player of the Week is an old feature that [...]

In our last episode, the Three Fernandos appeared to have disbanded.  Fernando Nieve was fighting for his life to stay in the rotation and was given one more shot to remain a core member of the Three Fernandos.  Fernando Tatis was in the process of having the villagers sew him a new uniform.  Rumor had it that his new number was going to be 6-4-3.  Fernando Martinez had been sent down to Triple-A Buffalo after [...]

When we last left the Three Fernandos, they were defeating the evil forces of El Guapo (Derek Jeter), his right-hand man Jefe (Alex Rodriguez) and his left-hand man Castillo (Mark Teixeira).  The Fernandos were able to thwart the Yankee bandits by confusing them into thinking they were everywhere.  Dressed in matching Mets jerseys, the firepower provided by the bats of Gary Sheffield and Omir Santos and the cleanup crew of Sean Green and Francisco Rodriguez [...]

Two starts in and Fernando Nieve is looking like a solid waiver wire pickup, although we’ve been down this road before with guys like Alay Soler, Jorge Sosa and most recently Nelson Figueroa. Lets just temper our expectations a little before we start getting a little bit too giddy. Nieve had a 4.91 ERA at Class-AA Binghamton and a 3.70 ERA at Class-AAA Buffalo before he was called up. In his last three games, first baseman [...]

Game Summary The Mets took the series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays and beat them 5-3 thanks to another solid performance from Fernando Nieve and a three run homer from catcher Brian Schneider. Game Recap Some of the other starters in the rotation can learn a thing or two from newcomer Fernando Nieve who continues to impress. Nieve did an excellent job of throwing strikes and keeping the Ray’s hitters off balance. He allowed [...]