The New York Mets have pulled the plug on Gary Matthews Jr. and will recall Catcher Omir Santos from AA Binghamton. Matthews Jr., or GMJ for short, came over from the Los Angeles Angels for Brian Stokes, shortly after Carlos Beltran hit the DL. GMJ has an unremarkable .190/.266/.241 line in 65 plate appearances, following a good Spring Training. Omir Santos has been horrific since moving to the minors after the signing of Rod Barajas forced [...]

Okay so it’s almost afternoon, but Afternoon Grind doesn’t have that same ring to it… Making The Grade According to Adam Rubin, Bobby Parnell and/or Sean Green could be in at least a little trouble in making the club. Or at least in a competition. If Jenrry Mejia and/or Hisanori Takahashi sneaks into the bullpen, one or two reliever incumbents could find themselves in the minors … or traded. This is the best part of [...]

Adam Rubin of the Daily News writes that the Mets could deal one of their surplus catchers and that teams are calling the Mets to inquire. I’m asked a lot how the Mets plan to fit six catchers with major-league experience in their system. Answer: They can’t. Barajas and Blanco clearly will be the big-league catchers, barring injury. Josh Thole is the primary catcher at Triple-A Buffalo. I’m told the Mets probably can fit three [...]

As the countdown towards Spring Training continues, it is becoming more and more likely that the Mets are going with Omir Santos as their #1 catcher, with Henry Blanco and Chris Coste vying for the backup spot. The Mets spent their winter signing Coste and Blanco and let other catchers (most notably Bengie Molina) sign with other teams.  As a result, Santos will now be expected to handle the pitching staff of Johan Santana and [...]

This morning I was genuinely touched by the sheer thoughtfulness and care exhibited by Buster Olney of ESPN.com, who took it upon himself to seek out not one, but two talent evaluators to give us an assessment of our catcher Omir Santos. For those of you who don’t subscribe to ESPN Insider, here is what the two evaluators concluded, “I think Santos is more like an up/down guy for a good club… Santos is decent emergency [...]

Occasionally, all of us become downtrodden, pessimistic, and critical of the Mets. Even the most faithful and patient Met fans have problems with this. We vacillate between positive and negative storylines and opinions in our comments, our radio calls, our blog writing and reporting.  I’d like to take a positive look at what the Mets have done and give hope to all of us for 2010… The need for good health takes precedent over all [...]

I have just finished reading a very good article by our friend Bart Hubbuch of the NY Post. While everyone seems to be scratching their heads and wondering what the deal is with the Mets fondness for catchers in recent days, Hubbuch actually does a fantastic job of filling in the blanks and explaining the reasoning behind some of the recent moves. It looks like both Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen were very unhappy with the [...]

During the infancy of the 2009 free agency campaign, Mets General Omar Minaya has fired off salvo’s to the rest of the National League East about as damaging as a mouse passing wind. The hysteria you are hearing is coming from the rival GM’s in Philly, Miami, Atlanta, and be careful, Washington too. Minaya has his priorities twisted. You fill in the blanks after you land the Great White, not aspire to bag a school [...]

Last week Topps released its All-Star Rookie team for 2009 and while there were some justified selections and some questionable ones, the player that has the most intrigue for me is the Mets’ Omir Santos. He beat out phenom Matt Wieters, who most thought would be in contention to take home the Rookie of the Year award in the American League. Did Santos’ season really justify the award? First let’s take a look at his [...]

It looks like the Mets didn’t get completely shutout as far as awards go for the 2009 season. After missing out on any off season hardware including any Gold Glove or Silver Slugger awards, the Mets manged to pull one out of the hat when catcher Omir Santos was named to the Topps All Star Rookie Team. Omir Santos hit .260 in 96 games for the Mets last season with 7 homers and 40 RBIs, beating [...]