This morning, Steve Popper from The Record, shed some light on the shaky status of Mets outfielder Gary Matthews Jr..
He believes it might be a while before GMJ gets another start after an 0-for-4 night on Sunday that extended his struggles to 3-for-33 since opening day, and 3-for-34 after a pinch-hit groundout on Monday.
It looks like Jerry Manuel could be growing weary of his lack of production. He alluded to the possibility that if something isn’t working that maybe we should try something different when asked to comment about Matthews’ prolonged slump.
However, Andy Martino of the Daily News, paints a different picture and writes that the Mets have no immediate plans to shake up the roster, according to several people familiar with the team’s thinking.
Matthews, who was acquired in the offseason from the Angels for reliever Brian Stokes, is now batting .135 this season.
The Mets are responsible for $2 million of his $11.4 million salary in 2010, and that might be why the Mets will allow Matthews more time to improve. Big mistake in my opinion.
Obviously, Matthews is no longer serviceable even in a reduced bench role. The Angels knew that and were willing to eat some very significant cash so they can fill his roster spot with someone who could help the team.
If Fernando Martinez could stay healthy for more than a minute straight, I’d say to bring him up and immediately upgrade the bench, but F-Mart always seems to spend to much time ailing including missing five of his last seven games with back spasms.
How great does that Andruw Jones (.288/.405/.697) signing for $400 thousand dollars look now? Now there was someone we should have rolled the dice on, although it’s easy to say that now.
What do we do with Matthews Jr now, any suggestions?
