Opening day is still more than two months away, but with each passing NFL playoff game, we inch another step closer to the start of baseball season.

Latest Mets News 

MLB Network ranked Brandon Nimmo as the ninth-best outfielder in the Majors, just ahead of fellow New Yorker Brett Gardner.

MetsMerizedOnline’s own Michael Mayer tweeted out that the Mets have come to terms with Yefry Ramirez on a minor-league deal.

Latest MLB News

The Dodgers re-signed Alex Wood to a one-year deal with a base of four million dollars. He’ll have the chance to earn up to ten million in incentives. The veteran lefty made seven starts last season with the Reds and pitched to a 5.80 ERA.

The ToddFather a.k.a. Todd Frazier inked a one-year, five million dollar deal with the Rangers. Thanks for the memories, Todd.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com hears that the Cardinals are emerging as a serious suitor for Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network thinks that an agreement between the Royals and Alex Gordon is likely.

Dan Shaughnessy’s latest column on the Boston Globe details the Red Sox’s latest spending projections.

Latest on MMO

Kyle Newman looks at some prospects the Mets could target in the 2020 MLB draft.

Rob Piersall wonders if the Mets offseason is done.

Birthdays: Kevin Mitchell (59), Elmer Dessens (50)

Let’s Go Mets!

The post Morning Briefing: Dodgers Bring Back Alex Wood appeared first on Metsmerized.

Right off the bat, 21 players also played for the Mets in 2010, who I covered covered in my previous article. If you wish to learn about what happened to Luis Castillo, Alex Cora, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jeff Francoeur, Fernando Tatis, Angel Pagan, Jose Reyes, Nick Evans, Josh Thole, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green, Fernando Nieve, Elmer Dessens, Jon Niese, and Tobi Stoner, check out The 2010 Mets: Where Are They Now?

Only one player (who hasn’t already been covered) that played for the Mets in 2009 is still playing for the Mets, Daniel Murphy who is now one of the top hitters in the Mets lineup. Murphy currently ranks second on the team in batting average and third highest with a 2.7 WAR. Not only does Murphy provide a presence in the top of the lineup, but he may give the Mets strong trade bait going forward.

Only two other players from the 2009 are still in the majors albeit with another franchise: J.J. Putz and Darren O’Day.

Putz, who amazingly only played in 29 games with the Mets, played with the Chicago White Sox in 2010, before heading to Arizona where he played for the Diamondbacks in 2011. He still plays for them now. Side-armer Darren O’Day was claimed off waivers by the Rangers in April of 2009 and played in Arlington until 2011. After that season, the Baltimore Orioles claimed him off waivers. He is currently in his second year with them.

Five players from that team are currently in the Minor Leagues with other organizations and include Omir Santos, Jeremy Reed, Fernando Martinez, Argenis Reyes, and Nelson Figueroa.

Omir Santos did the bulk of the catching for the 2009 Mets, and he now sits behind the plate for the Rockies’ Triple A affiliate in Colorado Springs. He also played for the Toledo Mud Hens in the Detroit Tigers system in 2011, before spending some time with the big league team for the Tigers in  2010. He’s also played with the Indians Triple-A team this season.

Jeremy Reed signed with the Blue Jays in January of 2010 and was called up on April 12th. On July 12th he was sent down, released, and signed with the White Sox. He played the rest of the season with their Triple A team, the Charlotte Knights. The Brewers signed him in 2011 and he made the opening day roster. He was sent down to make room for Jonathan Lucroy, which led to him being traded to the Twins, where he finished the year. He is now in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, but is not currently assigned to a team.

Fernando Martinez was claimed off waivers by the Astros in January of 2012 and played in Houston until he was traded to the Yankees this past June, knowing there was a chance that he could be suspended for steroids. He was among those named in the Biogenesis scandal and is currently serving a 50-game suspension.

Argenis Reyes played in the Red Sox system in 2010 and was then traded to the Cleveland Indians where he played the rest of the season. He spent time with the New Jersey Jackals of the Independent Leagues in 2011 before returning to the Indians system. He is currently not playing with an Indians team although he unassigned.

Nelson Figueroa saw time in the Phillies and Astros systems in 2010, and played in the majors with the Astros in 2011. He also played in the Pirates system that year. 2012 saw him spend time with the Yankees and Red Sox minor league systems, and now plays for the Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate.

One 2009 Met is officially a free agent and that is Casey Fossum who played all of three games for the Amazins that season. Fossum was released at the end of April in 2009 and soon after signed with the Yankees. He played the rest of the year with their Triple A affiliate and then moved onto the Chicago Cubs system. His 2010 season was spent with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan, where he went 2-5 with a 5.72 ERA. Fossum signed with the Mets again in January of 2011 and played nine games, before being released a year later. He eventually signed with the Orioles but was soon released and has not resurfaced ever since.

13 players have retired. They are Gary Sheffield, Ryan Church, Brian Schneider, Cory Sullivan, Carlos Delgado, Ramon Martinez, Emil Brown, Marlon Anderson, Brian Stokes, Ken Takahashi, Lance Broadway, Jon Switzer, and Billy Wagner.

Gary Sheffield couldn’t find a team to play with in 2010, so he retired in the spring of 2011. Ryan Church was traded to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur and finished the year in Atlanta. 2010 was spent in Pittsburgh until the Pirates traded him to the Diamondbacks along with future Met D.J. Carrasco. He was non-tendered after the year and retired.

Brian Schneider played with the Phillies from 2010 to 2012 and retired officially on January 29th this year. Cory Sullivan, who is most remembered for being the last player to hit two triples in one inning, played with the Houston Astros for half of 2010. He played with the Phillies for half of 2011, and retired after failing to make the Dodgers opening day roster in 2012.

After being injured for most of the 2009 season, the Mets released Carlos Delgado when the season was over. The Boston Red Sox signed the future Hall of Famer to a Minor League contract. He went 3-for-13, was released and retired on April 13th 2011. He was most recently the hitting coach for the 2013 Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic. Current Mets pitching coach Ricky Bones was the pitching coach for that team (and if you ask me, Delgado and Bones look extremely like each other).

Not much to say about Ramon Martinez here. The infielder who played only 12 games with the 2009 Mets was released after the season and immediately retired. Emil Brown retired after being released on June 22, 2009.

Super utility man Marlon Anderson was released in April and signed with the Newark Bears of the Independent Leagues. He played the rest of the season there and retired when the season was done. He was last seen in professional baseball as the hitting coach for the Potomac Nationals in 2012.

Brian Stokes was traded to the Angels for Gary Matthews Jr. prior to the the 2010 season and made 16 appearances for the Halos that year. In 2011 he played in the Arizona D-Back’s system, and then moved onto the Camden RIversharks of the Independent League. Ken Takahashi became the third oldest player to make his Major League debut at the age of 40 on May 2nd 2009. He was released by the Mets in October of that year and went back to his homeland of Japan and played with the Hiroshima Carp in 2010. He retired after that year.

Lance “Best Name in Baseball” Broadway has not played in the Majors since his time with the Mets. He spent time with the Blue Jays organization in 2010 and played with their Triple A team, the Las Vegas 51’s. He has since retired and done what I believe no other Met has done in their lifetime. Lance played Agent O’Neil in the 2013 movie, Olympus Has Fallen. We should keep an eye out for other movies that feature Mr. Broadway.

Jon Switzer only got into four games as a New York Met, which led to a 8.10 ERA. He signed with the Astros and played in their Minor League system in 2010. He retired after 2010 and went back to school. He is now a business manager.

Billy Wagner, who is probably the greatest Mets closer of the last 10 years, was traded at the end of the year to the Red Sox for Chris Carter and minor leaguer Eddie Lora. Wagner played two games for Boston and then signed with the Atlanta Braves for the 2010 season. He was injured in the NLDS, but instead of going on the disabled list, he retired. Billy is currently the Head Coach for Miller High School in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Two players are currently in the Independent Leagues. Wilson Valdez played for the Phillies in 2010 and 2011 and was then traded to the Cincinnati Reds before the 2012 season. The Reds traded Valdez to the Giants in December of 2012 but he was released this past March. He signed with the Miami Marlins the next day and was released on May 19th. He is now with the Camden River Sharks. Longtime Mets backup catcher Ramon Castro was traded to the White Sox for Lance Broadway in 2009, but I don’t think it mattered to Ramon, because later in the season he was behind the plate when Mark Buehrle tossed a perfect game. He was released by Chicago after 2011, and did not play baseball in 2012. He signed a Minor League contract with the Dodgers this March but was released after failing to make the roster. He now plays for the Long Island Ducks.

Three players are playing in foreign countries, and they all play in Mexico. They are Anderson Hernandez, Angel Berroa, and Robinson Cancel. Hernandez, who was traded from the Tigers to the Mets back in 2004 for Vance Wilson, was claimed off waivers by the Indians in 2010 but was claimed by the Astros in July. 2011 was spent in Triple A with the Astros franchise. In 2012, Hernandez played with the Pirates Triple A team. This year he has been playing with the Piratas de Campeche, where he is hitting five points south of .300 with 11 home runs.

The 2003 American League Rookie of the Year (I still think Rocco Baldelli should have won) Angel Berroa, who before LaTroy Hawkins and David Aardsma was the last player to play for both the Mets and Yankees, played in the San Francisco Giants organization in 2010. In 2011 he played with the Arizona Diamondbacks Triple A team and the Bridgeport BlueFish of the Independent Leagues. 2012 saw Berroa play with the New Jersey Jackals. He now plays for Leones de Yucantan in Mexico. He is hitting .293 with 12 homers.

Robinson Cancel made his first big league appearance since 1999 in 2008 with the Mets. He spent 2010 with the Long Island Ducks, 2011 with the Astros Triple A team (and a few games in the Majors), 2012 with Monterrey in Mexico, and is still playing in Mexico with Minatilan.

One player is coaching. Andy Green went 1-4 with the Mets in 2009. He spent 2010 in Buffalo playing for the Bisons at the Mets Triple A level. He is now managing the Diamondbacks Double A team, the Mobile Bay Bears. He is managing former Met Nick Evans.

So there are your 2009 New York Mets. What were some of your best and worst memories of that season? Next week we’ll take a look at the 2008 team and the last year of Mets baseball at Shea Stadium.

The post The 2009 Mets: Where Are They Now? appeared first on Metsmerized.

If you are a Mets fan, you know that David Wright is still with team, or that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are in Toronto and St. Louis, respectively. But what happened to guys like Nick Evans or Rod Barajas? We have the answers.

11 Players who made it into a game in 2010 with the Mets, are still employed by the team. That would be the aforementioned David Wright, Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada (Although he is currently with Triple-A Las Vegas, he is still on the Mets payroll), Lucas Duda, Justin Turner, Jon Niese, Pedro Feliciano (Although he made another stop in the Bronx, he is with the Mets once again), Bobby Parnell, Dillon Gee, Johan Santana, and Jenrry Mejia.

10 players are employed by another Major League team. That would be Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, Beltran, Josh Thole, Henry Blanco, Joaquin Arias, Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, Francisco Rodriguez, and Oliver Perez.

As you may know, Jose Reyes was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Toronto Blue Jays this past offseason in a blockbuster deal involving Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and now former Met, John Buck. Reyes now puts on his uniform in the same locker room as R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole, who were traded together this past offseason from the Mets for Travis d’Arnaud, Buck, and Noah Syndergaard (don’t forget Wuilmer Beccera!). Angel Pagan was traded to the San Francisco Giants prior to the 2012 season for outfielder Andres Torres and pitcher Ramon Ramirez who have both since played again for the team they were traded from.

Carlos Beltran was traded at the deadline in 2011 to the Giants for Zack Wheeler, but has since made his home in St. Louis playing for the Cardinals, where he has enjoyed a couple of very nice seasons, including an All Star appearance this summer. Henry Blanco, who served as the Mets backup catcher in 2010, beat out Josh Thole for the same position on this year’s Toronto Blue Jays team, but was released and then signed by the Seattle Mariners who made the corresponding move by releasing 2012 Met alumni, Kelly Shoppach. Blanco played in Arizona for the Diamondbacks in 2011 and 2012.

Joaquin Arias, of whom the Mets received for Jeff Francoeur late in the 2010 season, played for the Kansas City Royals in 2011, and was then given a championship ring after serving as Pablo Sandoval‘s ninth inning defensive replacement in 2012 for the San Francisco Giants. He has been a key hitter off the bench for the Giants in 2013. Mike Pelfrey, after failing to play a month in the 2012 season, was signed by the Minnesota Twins, where his 5-10 record and 5.06 ERA is good enough to keep him in the starting rotation.

Francisco Rodriguez was traded to the Brewers in 2011 for Daniel Herrera (yes the 5-6 guy) and a minor leaguer, but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles at the deadline this year, downgrading from a closer to a setup man. Finally, Oliver Perez signed a two-year deal with the Seattle Mariners in 2012 and is proving to be an effective arm out of their bullpen. You would think that Perez’s ERA of 9.72 with Henry Blanco behind the plate would be the highest among catchers who have caught the Mexican native, but no. That award goes to Josh Thole, who provides Ollie with a sparkling 16.20 ERA.

Eight players are in the minor leagues with another organization. They are Mike Nickeas, Mike Hessman, Luis Hernandez, Mike Jacobs, Nick Evans, Hisanori Takahashi, Fernando Nieve, and Pat Misch.

Mike Nickeas, who was in the same deal that sent R.A. Dickey north of the border, is currently with the Blue Jays Triple-A team, the Buffalo Bisons, a team Nickeas has played for many times when they were the Mets affiliate. Nickeas has failed to make the Majors this season, playing 55 games in Buffalo. Mike Hessman, who is seven home runs shy of 400 for his minor league career and one shy of 15 for his Major League career, is currently a member of the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A team of the Cincinnati Reds, where he is teammates with base stealing extraordinaire, Billy Hamilton. Hessman played in Japan in 2011 for the Orix Buffaloes, and was with the Astros Triple A team in 2012.

Luis Hernandez, who played all of 17 games for the Mets, is with the Indians Triple-A team, after playing in the Texas Rangers organization in 2012. Nick Evans is the only 2010 Met alumni playing in Double-A. Evans, who is a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliated Mobile Baybears, was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 2012. Mike Jacobs was the placeholder at first base until Ike Davis came up in 2010 but he is now with the Diamondbacks Triple-A team. Jacobs also stopped in Colorado Springs, Toronto, and Mexico. Hisanori Takahashi, who has 12 games started and 21 games finished as a Met, has played in the Majors with the Angels, Pirates, and Cubs. He is now a member of the Colorado Rockies Triple-A team. Fernando Nieve hasn’t played in the Majors since 2010, but he has played with the Astros, Dodgers, Indians, and currently the Athletics, all in Triple-A. Finally, Pat MIsch has seen time with the Phillies and Tigers Triple-A teams.

Five players are not currently with a Major League organization. The names are Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas, Jason Bay, John Maine, and Sean Green.

Francoeur was traded to the Rangers for Joaquin Arias in August of 2010. He spent the rest of the year there. Frenchy played in Kansas City during 2011 and 2012, but was released midway through the 2013 season. The Giants picked him up, where he played 22 games. Francouer was designated for assignment of August 20th, and released two days later. Barajas played with the Pirates in 2011 and 2012, before being signed by the Diamondbacks. He ultimately lost the bid to be Miguel Montero‘s backup, as the DBacks went with Wil Nieves instead.

Jason Bay, who was released after the 2012 season much to the delight of Mets fans, was signed by the Mariners for the 2013 season. He hit a home run in his first spring training at bat, but after a disapointing season, was released of August 6th to make room for Mike Morse. John Maine spent 2011 in the Colorado Rockies minor league system, and pitched for the Scranton/Wilkes-Bare Yankees for all of 2012. He played for the Miami Marlins in April of this year, but was released on April 22. The sidearmer, Sean Green pitched with the Brewers in 2011, before playing with the Texas Rangers’ Triple A team in 2012. He also pitched with the Somerset Patriots in 2012 of the Independent Leagues but has not found a team since.

Six players have officially retired. They are Luis Castillo, Alex Cora, Fernando Tatis, Gary Matthews Jr., Frank Catalanotto, and Tobi Stoner.

Luis Castillo was released by the Mets at the same time they released Oliver Perez. Castillo signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, but after a disappointing spring training, he was released, at which time he retired. Alex Cora was released by the Mets in August of 2010, and he played the rest of the year with the Rangers. He played with the Washington Nationals in 2011, and was signed by the Cardinals in the spring of 2012, which didn’t work out. He is now a baseball analyst for ESPN (his brother Joey does the same work for MLB Network). Fernando Tatis was injured of July 4th of 2010. He was placed on the DL the next day and was transferred to the 60-day DL 10 days later. That turned out to be his last major league game as he retired after the season.

The “Son of the Sarge”, Gary Matthews Jr., was released by the Mets on June 15th, 2010. He signed with the Reds on June 24th and played the rest of the year with their Triple-A team, before retiring. Frank Catalanotto was designated for assignment of May 10th, when the Mets brought up Chris Carter. After failing to sign with another team, he retired in March of 2011. Finally, the German-born Tobi Stoner was released by the Mets in March of 2012. During that season, he played in the Independent Leagues with the Bridgeport Blue Fish and the Somerset Patriots. He retired before the 2013 season.

Four players are currently playing in foreign countries. Chris Carter, Manny Acosta, and Ryota Igarashi are playing in Japan, and Jesus Feliciano is playing in Mexico.

Carter (no not the former A’s prospect) played in the Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves Minor League system in 2011 before moving to Japan to play with the Seibu Lions in 2012 and 2013. Carter is 3-26 (.115) with three RBI in nine games this year. He is teammates with Kazuhisa Ishii. Manny Acosta pitched for the Mets through 2012 but signed with the Yomuri Giants in 2013 after being released. In 14 games he has an ERA of 5.54. His teammates include former major leaguers Scott Mathieson and John Bowker.

Ryota Igarashi played with the Mets until 2011. He then played in the minor leagues with the Yankees and the Blue Jays in 2012 though he pitched in the majors with both teams. He is now pitching with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks where he sports a 2.15 ERA in 36 games. He is teammates with with Vicente Padilla and former Mets minor leaguer Wily Mo Pena. Jesus Feliciano, who has signed with the Mets four different times in his career, played in all of his 54 career games with the Mets in 2010. He played with the Buffalo Bisons in 2011, the Durham Bulls in 2012, and he is now playing in Mexico with the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz. He has only played in three games with one hit.

One player is currently a coach. Elmer Dessens is the assistant pitching coach for the AZL Reds in the Arizona League (The Arizona equivalent to Florida’s Gulf Coast League). And here’s a fun piece of information. The manager of that AZL Reds team is former Met, Eli Marrero who the Mets received in 2006 when they traded Kazuo Matsui to the Rockies.

Well, now you know what happened to the 2010 Mets. Next week we’ll look at the players from Citi Field’s inaugural year, 2009.

LGM

The post The 2010 Mets: Where Are They Now? appeared first on Metsmerized.

Game Summary

Hisanori Takahashi started for the Mets and got roughed up by the Tigers early in his worst start of the season. Takahashi, who has had a great string of great starts, had trouble getting outs against Detroit. Some noticeable tactics that he was going for in the game that could have cost him are that he was trying too hard to pitch backwards and was trying to get his fastball up to 97 instead of hitting his spots like he normally does. Takahashi only recorded enough outs for 4 innings pitched, giving up six earned runs on eight hits and two homeruns. He walked four and struck out four as well. The lefty imported arm needs to bounce back in his next start or it could be back to the bullpen for him. Takahashi receives his third loss of the season.

Elmer Dessens enter the game in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and no outs. He starts it off immediately by walking in a run. He would allow two runs to cross the plate (both charged to Takahashi) before getting out of the fifth inning. He would stay in to pitch another inning only giving up one hit, one walk and struck out one batter in his two innings of work.

Parnell and Igarashi, both throwing some high heat, combined for two shutout innings. They had one hit, five strikeouts and one walk between them. Nice work boys! Nieve and Feliciano rounded out the ninth inning with two hits combined and one walk. This could have been a night the Mets would have used Valdes, if he hadn’t been sent down and replaced by Josh Thole who has yet to make an appearance in a game despite being called up twice already this season.

The offense started off slowly but fought their hardest to get back in the game. Mets were down 3-0 before getting anything going. This is not like the Mets of late. They usually score first in the early innings. The Mets did make a nice run for the lead in the sixth inning, scoring three runs and then another run in the seventh.

Angel Pagan was out of the game and his fill in for the night, Jesus Feliciano, had a nice three hit game. Two singles, a double, and two runs scored. Also made some nice plays in center that would make it on the Top 10 Plays list tomorrow.

David Wright would be the only other player to get a multi-hit night, but not where it counted most. He had many opportunities to either make the game closer or to tie the game up. He ended the night with two hits, a double, one RBI, one run scored to go with his two big strikeouts.

Reyes, Bay, Blanco, Tejada, and Carter all contributed with one hit each. Blanco started tonight with Barajas having woken up to a sore back.

Francoeur and Davis both had 0-fers along with a pair of pinch hitters, Cora & Tatis, both going 0-1.

Turning Point

Takahashi did not have his A-game tonight and the two homeruns really proved that.

Game Ball

Jesus Feliciano did a great job filling in center with Pagan healing. I still think Feliciano missed out on a big scoring opportunity, but can’t complain with a three hit night.

Up Next

Mike Pelfrey takes the mound for the Mets as he looks to be the first Met pitcher with ten wins. Mets will match up with the Twins who throw out Kevin Slowey who has recorded seven wins, but has a tendency to give up a lot of runs. Game time is 7:10 PM. Let’s Go Mets!

The post Tigers Claw Mets For 6 Runs In Loss To Detroit appeared first on Metsmerized.

In his 3rd straight solid outing, Jonathon Niese pitched a solid 7 innings and the offense gave him all the support he would need in the 8-4 victory

Game Notes

Jonathon Niese went to the mound today, and pitched a gem against the team he used to root for as a kid. Niese gave up 3 runs on 8 hits walking 2 and striking out 3 in 7 innings. Despite struggling to find his footing on the mound, the same mound that gave Stephen Strasburg trouble this past Saturday, Jonathon Niese worked his way out of major trouble every inning he got into it. The only major blemish was a 2 run HR that Shelley Duncan barely deposited over the left field wall. If this is Jonathon Niese maturing into what he can became, the Mets will have seen two of their homegrown talents finding their way in the MLB.

The bullpen came out, and was out of control. Jenrry Mejia didn’t manage to record an out in his trip to the mound, walking 2. Jenrry couldn’t find the zone throughout his outing, relying on Rod Barajas’ blocking to prevent runners from advancing. Elmer Dessens would come in to stop the bleeding, but not after allowing 1 of Mejia’s runners to score. Elmer Dessens final line was 2 innings pitched, 1 hit allowed, with 1 strikeout and 1 walk. The bullpen hasn’t allowed Raul Valdes, Fernando Nieve or Ryota Igarashi much work, and hopefully they can all find their grooves in the near future

The offense put together another major inning, putting up 5 runs in the 3rd inning thanks to a barrage of doubles from the 2 thru 5 hitters. Angel Pagan kicked it off, scoring Ruben Tejada. Then David Wright hit his double, scoring Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan. Ike Davis kept the doubles rolling, knocking in David Wright. Jason Bay would do the last of the damage, knocking Ike Davis in. Jason Bay would leave the game in the 6th due to a collision at 1st base in the 1st inning. The final 3 runs would be scored in the 6th inning off of a Jeff Francoeur single, scoring Chris Carter and an Angel Pagan single that scored both Rod Barajas and Francoeur. The Mets bats have really come alive in the last 5 or 6 games, unleashing pent-up run scoring on the weaker teams of the AL.

Jeff Francoeur continues his torrid hitting, going 2-4 with an RBI and a run. All a Mets fan can hope for is to ride this hot streak until it ends.

Ruben Tejada brought his average to an even .200 with his 1-3 outing today.

Turning Point

Elmer Dessens pitching out of a bases loaded jam – this may be underscored and lauded as a bad decision – but if the bleeding would’ve kept going the Mets bullpen would’ve been further taxed. Elmer induced the double play and that saved the game and the win for Jonathon Niese

Game Ball

Angel Pagan takes the game ball today. 3-5 with 3 RBI and an SB. Every day that Angel is in the outfield (horrible pun, forgive me) it makes the absence of Carlos Beltran slightly more tolerable.

On Deck

The Mets will look to sweep the series with the Indians, sending outstanding knuckleballer R.A Dickey to face off against (possible future Met?) Jake Westbrook. Game time is 7:05 PM.

The post Angel Answers, Mets Beat Indians 8-4 appeared first on Metsmerized.

Hisanori Takahashi, making his first MLB start, delivered a solid outing but the Mets offense couldn’t buy a hit off of Yankees starter Javier Vazquez and took the loss 2-1.

Game Notes

Hisanori Takahashi couldn’t have done anything more impressive even if he tried today, stretching himself 6 innings, throwing 101 pitches with an absurd level of control. Takahashi struck out 5, gave up 5 hits and walked 1. The Yankees couldn’t put together multiple hits against Takahashi, and in the one situation when they did Takahashi pushed them back never giving an inch while mixing his pitches. Hopefully Takahashi can get more stretched out and stay effective, because the irony is in the fact that the long reliever out of the Mets bullpen has the ability to be a starter who can go out and give you a solid 7 innings.

The bullpen was steady and Mets fans were greeted with their first sighting this year of Elmer Dessens. He promptly decided to give up hits to the first 3 batters he faced, allowing the only 2 runs of the game. Oliver Perez came out for 1/3 of an inning and walked one, showing that he hasn’t forgotten what he is all about. Fernando Nieve made an appearance, but it was literally that as he walked one and was pulled. Pedro Feliciano came out for the 8th and looked the best he has all season, striking out 2 and keeping the Mets in the game. Manny Acosta pitched the 9th, and gave up 1 hit. Acosta has been a good surprise out of the pen.

The bats were not informed the goal of baseball is to make contact where players aren’t, or so it seems as they only mustered 4 hits the whole game. 2 of those hits came in the 9th inning on doubles by Jason Bay and Ike Davis with the Davis double scoring Bay. Everyone’s favorite Met of the moment, David Wright ended the possible rally off of Mariano Rivera by grounding out to 2nd base to end the game. Can blame be placed on David? He struck out twice…once looking on a questionable 3rd strike call.

Wright, Pagan and Barajas went 1-10 with 6 K’s and 1 GIDP. Although most of the lineup struggled, this is just the sign of the ineptitude.

Jason Bay just missed a home run off of the high right-center wall.

Ike Davis is still mashing the ball, looking more and more comfortable every day.

Game Ball

Hisanori Takahashi, you provided the Mets fan base with a 2nd straight pleasant surprise of pitching efficiency and durability.

Up Next

The Mets will look to even the series, sending Mike Pelfrey and his 5-1 record to the mound to face off against Yankees starter Phil Hughes. Game time is 7:10 PM

The post Offense Stifled, Mets Lose 2-1 To Yankees appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets will welcome Elmer Dessens back to the fold as they signed him to a minor league contract today. He’ll be eligible to compete in Spring Training.

They also inked a deal with right-handed pitcher Clint Everts to a Major League contract. His numbers in the minors are quite impressive.

Last week Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Mets had signed Everts to a minor league deal, but with today’s move he immediately gets added to the Mets 40 man roster.

Everts, 25, was highly sought after and was being pursued by 15 teams at the Winter Meetings.

Last season, he was 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 44 relief appearances while pitching at three levels in the Washington Nationals farm system including Class-AAA Syracuse. In 60 innings pitched, he allowed 49 hits and walked 26 while striking out 68 batters.

Everts was originally drafted by Omar Minaya, then with the Expos, with the fifth overall pick in the 2002 Amateur Draft. He could prove to be a solid sleeper for the Mets down the road.

Dessens returns to the Mets after a decent effort last season during a short stint in which he made 28 appearances and posted a 3.31 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP in 32 innings pitched.

Dessens is clearly an insurance policy who will do most of his toiling in Buffalo, While Everts has a good chance of making the bullpen with a solid spring.

The post Mets Sign Relievers Clint Everts and Elmer Dessens appeared first on Metsmerized.

In 2009, Dessens was quite the bargain for the Mets as he had his best year in the big leagues since 2005, posting a 3.31 ERA in 32.2 innings.

His K:BB ratio wasn’t the best (14:10), but he was still able to manage to get hitters out.

The 13 year veteran has compiled a lifetime record of 48-62 throughout his career and has an ERA of 4.53.

According to Bill James’s projections for next year, Dessens should expect to see his ERA inflate a bit to 4.11.

I have no problem with the Mets trying to bring back the 38 year old, however I think that offering anything above a minor league deal would be a huge mistake as the team should work on building around younger players, especially in the bullpen.

To me, the ideal role for Dessens would be a spot in the Buffalo Bisons bullpen. and only be used in the event that one of the relievers on the big league team get injured.

The post Elmer Dessens To Return Next Season? appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets jumped out to an early lead against Cubs’ starter Rich Harden.  Cory Sullivan hit his second home run in as many days to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the second inning.  The game remained 1-0 until the fourth inning when Lee and Ramirez combined to give the Cubs the lead.  Lee started the inning with a base hit off Figueroa, bringing up Aramis Ramirez.

Ramirez entered the game with a career batting average of .417 (5 for 12) and a home run against Figueroa.  His second career home run off Figueroa came in the fourth inning after Lee’s single.  The blast gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

The lead was short-lived as the Mets struck back in the bottom of the fourth.  Cory Sullivan drew a one-out walk from Rich Harden and went to second on Harden’s errant pickoff throw.  After recent call-up Josh Thole’s single put runners at the corners, Anderson Hernandez tied the game at 2 when he reached on an infield single.  However, the Mets left the potential go-ahead run in scoring position when Nelson Figueroa and Angel Pagan struck out to end the threat and the inning.  The two strikeouts gave Harden nine strikeouts through the first four innings of the game.

The Cubs half of the fifth inning was the time for Derrek Lee to shine.  After handing out his “it’s a boy” cigars to his teammates in the dugout while Kosuke Fukudome singled to left, he promptly launched the first of his two proud poppa blasts into the left field landing at Citi Field, giving the Cubs a 4-2 lead.

Speaking of poppas, with apologies to Big Poppa (the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.), these altered song lyrics should best describe what happened Saturday at Citi Field.

Figgy, Figgy, Figgy, can’t you see?

Sometimes your pitches just hypnotize me.

Unless your name is Derrek Lee.

Then they end up in the left field landing.

The Mets were able to cut the Cubs’ lead in half in the seventh inning when Aaron Heilman made his Citi Field debut for the Cubs.  Yadier Molina’s BFF continued to show why he was so reviled in the minds of the Flushing Faithful.  Sole surviving member of the Three Fernandos (seems like ages ago when they had their heyday), Fernando Tatis led off the inning with a single.  He later advanced to second on a wild pitch by Heilman.  Tatis reached third on a base hit by Angel Pagan and scored on a sacrifice fly by the smaller-helmeted David Wright.  The fly ball cut the Cubs lead to 4-3, leading to an early trip to the showers for Heilman, who exited to a growing crescendo of boos. (or were they Cubs fans saying Lou Piniella’s first name as he took Heilman out of the game?)  The Mets were not able to tie the game as John Grabow was able to get Daniel Murphy to ground out to second base to end the inning.

The failure to pile it on when Aaron Heilman was in the game came back to haunt the Mets just one pitch into the next inning.  Elmer Dessens was called upon to pitch to Derrek Lee, who responded by claiming the left field landing in the name of Lee.  So prodigious was the blast that a man attempting to catch the hot potato literally fell head over heels down the stairs while making the play.  Despite the inability to remove the “wow” from his lips after Lee’s homer, Dessens settled down and retired the next three batters to get out of the inning.

The Mets had one more good scoring opportunity in their half of the eighth but could not replicate the five-run eighth inning of the previous night.  They loaded the bases against Grabow and closer Carlos Marmol with two outs in the inning.  Angel Pagan was able to work the count to 3-2, but popped up to center to end the threat and for all intents and purposes, the game as well, as Marmol was able to retire the Mets in order in the ninth inning.

Nelson Figueroa did not pitch badly in his six innings of work, giving up seven hits and two walks to go along with eight more strikeouts (18 Ks in his last two games).  However, the four runs he gave up on the two-run homers by Ramirez and Lee were sufficient for the Cubs to end the Mets’ winning streak at two.  Still, Figueroa showed that his recent success at Triple-A Buffalo was not a fluke, as he has been very good since his call-up from the Bisons.

Tomorrow is the rubber game of the series, as the Mets hope to finally win a series for the first time since late July.  Mike Pelfrey will try to reverse his recent stretch of poor performances against Randy Wells.  Game time is at 1:10 PM.  The Cubs have had difficulty scoring in this series if not for the long ball.  If Pelfrey’s sinker is working on Sunday, the Mets might finally have that long-denied series victory.

The post There Goes The Streak! Mets Fall To Cubs 5-3 appeared first on Metsmerized.

But as the season wore on, and the bullpen innings continued to mount, we began to see some cracks as May came to an end.

Jerry Manuel was quick to take the blame for his ineffective bullpen lately, but there’s more to it than that.

“What I need to do is really refresh the bullpen,” Manuel said. “I probably, to a fault, use them too much. I have to do all I can to refresh them and that will help. “What I have to do is trust the other people I have down there.”

I can hardly blame Jerry Manuel for his reluctance to use Takahashi and Switzer. I can hardly blame Jerry Manuel for his starting pitchers failing to give him the innings he desperately needs. Blaming Manuel for the state of the bullpen is a bit short-sighted as the problems lie much deeper than Manuel. 

To begin, we lost J.J. Putz for a long stretch thanks to a bone spur that Omar was aware of when he made the trade. We also survived a big scare when severe muscle cramps sent A-Rod to the ground crying in pain. Luckily, Rodriguez came out of it intact and was back on the mound days later.

Once Putz was put on the DL, Bobby Parnell was expected to take over as the setup man. It seemed like a well deserved promotion at the time for the young right hander who had been performing well as the first line of defense in the seventh inning. However, things started to unravel almost immediately. Parnell’s ERA by month tells the story: April 1.74, May 2.46, June 15.88.

Parnell has appeared in 36 games so far this season, and that ranks him 2nd in the National League. Lefthanded hitters have tagged him for  a .357 average and an .884 OPS. His numbers against righthanded hitters are only slightly better at .338/.815. This train looks like it has left the station. Some say that it’s a case of overuse, but I think the lack of effective secondary pitches have more to do with it. When you throw mostly fastballs, eventually hitters will just wait for one, and that’s exactly what they are now doing.

Pedro Feliciano has gone from untouchable to very hittable, and he leads the league in appearances after leading the league last season. Feliciano is clearly a case of overuse, and the Mets must find a way to reduce the workload before he goes completely into the tank like he did last season. Feliciano has become too valuable to be treated so carelessly. He has pitched in 40 games and is on pace to make over 100 appearances. His ERA jumped from 1.40 in May to 3.60 so far in June. In his last six appearances he has an 8.15 ERA and that doesn’t even include inherited runners scored.

Sean Green has gone from bad to terrific to bad again after last nights performance. The real Sean Green lies somewhere in between which still would make him an important cog in our bullpen. Again, yesterday’s poor outing might also be a case of overuse. He allowed three hits and two earned runs, and wasn’t able to register an out. It was his second consecutive poor performance, but before that he had not allowed a run in 15 straight appearance. Green is probably the most valuable piece we have to show for that J.J. Putz trade, and if used effectively he has proven just how valuable he could be to this team.

Ken Takahashi and Jon Switzer are so bad and so ineffective, they are not even worth mentioning. Both of their spots will probably be taken up once John Maine and Oliver Perez are activated from the DL.

I believe the Mets have someone very serviceable languishing in the minors in righthander Elmer Dessens. The 38-year old veteran has put together a solid season in Class-AAA Buffalo and I was very surprised when the Mets tapped Jon Switzer for a promotion and bypassed Dessens ten days ago.

Dessens has pitched 35 innings and allowed just 29 hits and 6 walks for a 1.00 WHIP. His strikeout to walk ratio of 28/6 is rather impressive even if it was compiled in AAA. He has racked up 11 saves and owns a 2.40 ERA. He seems to be a crossover type pitcher as lefthanders are hitting just .160 against him.

The Mets bullpen is in dire need of some fresh arms. They must find away to get their starters to go longer into the game, but that continues to be a big problem for the rotation. Until they get that figured out, they need to get Jerry Manuel some arms he can trust.

Clearly, Manuel has over relied on Parnell, Feliciano and Green. He avoids Stokes, Takahashi and Switzer like they have the plague, although his reluctance to use Stokes is puzzling.

Dessens may give Manuel another option he can trust. He is a veteran reliever who has been around the league and knows the ropes. Dessens is by no means a savior, but he can be a serviceable arm right now, and with no days off until July 6th, the Mets would be smart to give him a callup.

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