On the Mets beat
Mets beat writer David Lennon offers breaking news, commentary, and musings from his perch at Citi Field.
search this blog
bloggers
Recent posts
- Potential free agents for your hot-stove perusal
- Shawn Bowman added to 40-man roster
- Ike Davis named to AFL's Rising Stars Game
- Francoeur has successful thumb surgery
- Mets now likely to meet with Chapman, agent
- Takahashi owned Howard; now he's gone
- Howling about Wolf and the Mets
- Reyes' hamstring tendon surgery goes as planned
- My predictions: Three-out-of-four ain't bad.
-
Potential free agents for your hot-stove perusal
Here's the list of potential free agents, fresh from the MLBPA offices in New York. Today is the first day of the 15-day period when players may file for free agency. Sorry it's in no particular order. You'll just have to poke around, kind of like the sales bins at Bloomingdales.
Anderson, Garret
Gonzalez, Mike
Hudson, Tim **
LaRoche, Adam
Norton, Greg
Soriano, Rafael
Davis, Doug
Schoeneweis, Scott D.
Tracy, Chad
Webb, Brandon **
Baez, Danys
Hendrickson, Mark
Moeller, Chad E.
Mora, Melvin
Baldelli, Rocco
Bay, Jay
Byrd, Paul
Gonzalez, Alex **
Martinez, Victor **
Varitek, Jason A. **
Wagner, Billy
Wakefield, Tim
Woodward, Chris
Fox, Chad D.
Grabow, John
Gregg, Kevin
Harden, Rich
Johnson, Reed
Hernandez, Ramon J. **
Wells, Kip
Carroll, Jamey
Ohka, Tomokazu
Beimel, Joe
Betancourt, Rafael **
Contreras, Jose
Embree, Alan
Fogg, Josh
Giambi, Jason
Herges, Matt
Marquis, Jason
Rincon, Juan
Torrealba, Yorvit **
Castro, Ramon Abraham
Dotel, Octavio E.
Dye, Jermaine **
Podsednik, Scott
Everett, Adam
Huff, Aubrey
Lyon, Brandon
Polanco, Placido
Rodney, Fernando
Washburn, Jarrod
Calero, Kiko
Donnelly, Brendan
Gload, Ross
Johnson, Nick
Boone, Aaron J.
Brocail, Doug **
Erstad, Darin
Hampton, Mike
Hawkins, LaTroy
Michaels, Jason
Tejada, Miguel O.
Valverde, Jose
Chen, Bruce
Crisp, Coco **
Olivo, Miguel **
Wright, Jamey
Abreu, Bob
Escobar, Kelvim J.
Figgins, Chone
Guerrero, Vladimir
Lackey, John
Oliver, Darren
Quinlan, Robb
Ausmus, Brad
Belliard, Ron
Castro, Juan G.
Garland, Jon
Hudson, Orlando
Loretta, Mark D.
Mientkiewicz, Doug A.
Milton, Eric R.
Mota, Guillermo
Ohman, Will **
Padilla, Vicente
Ramirez, Manny **
Schmidt, Jason
Thome, Jim
Weaver, Jeff C.
Wolf, Randy
Cameron, Michael
Catalanotto, Frank
Counsell, Craig J.
Kendall, Jason
Looper, Braden L. **
Lopez, Felipe
Patterson, Corey
Vargas, Claudio
Weathers, Dave **
Cabrera, Orlando L.
Crede, Joe
Mahay, Ron
Pavano, Carl
Redmond, Mike P.
Cora, Alex
Delgado, Carlos
Dessens, Elmer
Martinez, Ramon E.
Putz, J.J. **
Schneider, Brian
Sheffield, Gary
Tatis, Fernando
Damon, Johnny
Hairston Jr, Jerry
Hinske, Eric
Matsui, Hideki
Molina, Jose
Nady, Xavier
Pettitte, Andy
Crosby, Bobby
Duchscherer, Justin
Garciaparra, Nomar
Kennedy, Adam
Tomko, Brett D.
Bako, Paul
Cairo, Miguel J.
Eyre, Scott
Feliz, Pedro **
Lee, Cliff **
Martinez, Pedro
Myers, Brett
Park, Chan Ho
Stairs, Matt
Blanco, Henry
Giles, Brian S.
Batista, Miguel
Bedard, Erik
Beltre, Adrian
Branyan, Russ
Chavez, Endy
Griffey Jr, Ken
Sweeney, Mike
Wilson, Jack **
Aurilia, Rich
Howry, Bob
Johnson, Randy
Molina, Bengie
Penny, Brad
Uribe, Juan
Winn, Randy
Ankiel, Rick
De Rosa, Mark
Glaus, Troy
Greene, Khalil
Holliday, Matt
LaRue, Jason
Pineiro, Joel
Smoltz, John
Wellemeyer, Todd
Bradford, Chad
Crawford, Carl **
Isringhausen, Jason
Percival, Troy
Shouse, Brian **
Springer, Russ
Zaun, Gregg **
Benoit, Joaquin
Blalock, Hank
Byrd, Marlon
Guardado, Eddie A.
Jones, Andruw
Rodriguez, Ivan T.
Vizquel, Omar
Barajas, Rod
McDonald, John
Millar, Kevin
Scutaro, Marco
Bard, Josh
Hernandez, Livan
Kearns, Austin **
Villone, Ron
Young, Dmitri
-
Shawn Bowman added to 40-man roster
Here's the announcement:
The New York Mets today announced Shawn Bowman, a 24-year-old third baseman who hit .294 with Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League this year, was added to the team’s 40-man roster, which now stands at 36.
Bowman, who was the Mets’ 12th selection in the June, 2002 First Year Player Draft, had 24 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 44 RBI in 91 games.
Bowman, a native of New Westminster, BC, Canada, compiled a .275 batting average with three home runs and 15 RBI to help Canada win a Bronze Medal at last September’s World Cup. He also was named the third baseman on the All-World Cup squad.
Tags: Shawn Bowman
-
Ike Davis named to AFL's Rising Stars Game
First baseman Ike Davis was named to the 2009 Arizona Fall League Rising Star Game. Davis is batting .340 (17-50) with six doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI with a .370 on-base percentage and a .640 slugging percentage in 12 games with the Surprise Rafters. The Rising Stars Game will be Saturday, November 7.
Tags: Ike Davis
-
Francoeur has successful thumb surgery
Looks like Jeff Francoeur should be as good as new for 2010. Here's the pertinent info from the Mets:
New York Mets rightfielder Jeff Francoeur today underwent successful surgery to repair a tear of the collateral ligament in his left thumb. The surgery was performed in Atlanta by Dr. Gary Lourie. Following the surgery, Dr. Lourie and Mets Medical Director Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York discussed that the surgery went according to their plan. Francoeur is expected to be ready for Spring Training.
Francoeur, who was acquired July 10 by the Mets from the Atlanta Braves, suffered the injury August 23 while making a diving catch against Philadelphia. He hit .311 with 20 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 41 RBI in 75 games with the Mets. He batted .280 with 32 doubles, 15 home runs, and 76 RBI in 157 games during the 2009 season.
Tags: Jeff Francoeur
-
Mets now likely to meet with Chapman, agent
The Mets now expect to meet with Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman and his agent later this week after initially saying they had no plans to do so, according to a person familiar with the situation. Chapman already is in New York, and has set up meetings with the Yankees, as well as a sitdown with Red Sox officials in Boston.
Chapman, a 21-year-old lefthander that throws in the high 90s, could be be one of the most coveted free agents this winter. But teams are uncertain just how ready he will be for the major leagues and that should affect his asking price.
Tags: Aroldis Chapman
-
Takahashi owned Howard; now he's gone
As you wait for the Phillies to wrap up their second straight World Series berth, the Mets have announced that Ken Takahashi -- their secret weapon against Ryan Howard -- has been released. Actually, I'm not joking about the Howard thing. Takahashi struck out Howard four times in five at-bats against him.
Anyway, here's the team's official release on the, um, release:
The New York Mets today announced that they released lefthanded pitcher Ken Takahashi. In 28 games out of the bullpen this season, Takahashi was 0-1 with a 2.96 ERA.
The 40-year-old also appeared in 18 games for Buffalo (AAA) of the International League. He made seven starts and finished 1-3 with a 2.38 ERA for the Bisons.
Tags: Ken Takahashi, Ryan Howard
-
Howling about Wolf and the Mets
Listening to Randy Wolf recall his Philly days and talk about tonight's Game 4 start made me think how different things might be if the Mets had just signed him rather than Oliver Perez last winter. I guess we can put an asterisk next to Perez's lousy 2009 season because of his recurring knee issues, which now supposedly have been fixed by surgery.
But In Wolf's case, there's something to be said for spending $5 million for a guy motivated by his next contract. That obviously wasn't the case for Perez, who got fat and happy before the ink was dry on his three-year, $36 million deal and turned out to be an unqualified disaster in 2009. Anyway, here's today's story on Wolf as you eagerly count the minutes until Perez's first spring training start in 2010.
Tags: Randy Wolf, Oliver Perez
-
Reyes' hamstring tendon surgery goes as planned
Here's the latest medical update from the Mets on Jose Reyes:
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes this morning underwent successful surgery to clean up scar tissue remaining from his torn accessory hamstring tendon behind the right knee (semi tendinosis tendon). The operation was performed by Dr. Daniel E. Cooper at North Central Surgical Center in Dallas.
Following the surgery, Dr. Cooper and Mets Medical Director Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York discussed that the surgery went well and according to their plan.
Reyes will begin his rehab shortly and resume baseball activities soon after the New Year. He is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for 2010 Spring Training.
Tags: Jose Reyes
-
My predictions: Three-out-of-four ain't bad.
Got burned by the Cards, but otherwise not a bad first round. Even got the games right for Yankees and Phillies. A good tuneup for the NCAA tourney. And my Final Two are still alive. That's big.
ALDS: Yankees over Twins in 3ALDS: Angels over Red Sox in 4
ALCS: Yankees over Angels in 7
NLDS: Cardinals over Dodgers in 5
NLDS: Phillies over Rockies in 4
NLCS: Phillies over Cardinals in 7
World Series: Yankees over Phillies in 6
-
The House That Holliday Built?
The Mets already have said publicly -- both Jeff Wilpon and manager Jerry Manuel -- that the dimensions of Citi Field would not be altered for the 2010 season. I'm betting those statements, however, are not written in concrete, especially if the Mets are seriously considering Matt Holliday for leftfield next year, as SI's Jon Heyman mentions here.
For one, I spoke to a few team officials about the ballpark dimensions toward the end of this season, and while they said the fences would likely remain the same for 2010, they also reserved the right to change their mind -- depending on the how the Mets are assembled this winter. One hypothetical name they mentioned was Holliday, who not only could be enticed to sign with closer walls, but it would also cut down the amount of space he would need to cover in left. Makes sense.
As much as the Mets insist they want to build a team on pitching, speed and defense, adding Holliday would provide a much-needed threat in the middle of a suspect lineup. It also is an easy fix because it won't involve giving up young talent to get him.
