Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Alex Rodriguez couldnāt help but gush about cross-towner shortstop Jose Reyes, according to ESPN NY.
"They have the world’s greatest player playing shortstop over there, and the most exciting. I turn on the TV every time I get a chance to watch him."
Well, I guess he can get away with saying that now that Jeterās on the DL.
Apparently, Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was subpoenaed in the case of Canadian Dr Anthony Galea. Galea, who is not licensed to practice in the U.S. is under investigation for smuggling HGH into the country.
Reyes isnāt the only one to be subpoenaed. The list is long and the athletes on it are quite high-profile. At this point though, Reyes is the only baseball player whose name has come to light:
The doctor’s client list is elite; it includes Tiger Woods, U.S. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, Broncos quarterback Chris Simms, former Browns running back Jamal Lewis, Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and Donovan Bailey of Canada, who won the 100 meters at the 1996 Olympics.
All the athletes, of course, deny using HGH or any performance enhancing substances provided by Galea.
What does this mean for Reyes? Assuming heās innocent (a prudent assumption until other evidence comes to light), it will be a distraction and depending how long this lasts, at a critical time in the pre-season. It can only delay his season development with the Mets.
Reyes has already met with the FBI who came to the Port St Lucie spring training grounds. And when federal officials start visiting ballparks, the media is right behind them. Not just the normal sports media but news media, too.
If youāre wondering, Reyes went on record denying any involvement with HGH:
"They asked me if he injected me with that. I say ‘No,’" Reyes said. "What we do there, basically, he took my blood out, put it in some machines, spin it out and put it back in my leg. So I explained to them that."
Now Tiger Woods, this is the kind of distraction he probably needs.
The Baltimore Orioles answered the question, who’s on 3rd, by signing free agent Garrett Atkins.Ā Garrett became a free agent when he lost his job to Ian Stewart, and the Rockies decided not to offer him a contract.Ā It seems like only yesterday the 30 year old looked to be a bright young star hitting his way onto the scene in Colorado.Ā In 2006 Atkins batted .329, with 29 homers, & 120 RBIs, following that with a .301 average, 25 long balls, and 111 knocked in, and in ’08 he drove in 99, with 21 big flies, and a .286 batting average.Ā But when he tailed off to .226, 9 HRs, & 48 ribbies, it was time for him to move on, and Baltimore is hoping he’ll regain his stroke in an Orioles uniform.
The O’s also locked up lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez.Ā Gonzalez appeared in nearly half of Atlanta’s game in 2009, 80 (which was 3rd in the majors), and with his funky delivery & nasty stuff Mike was able to strikeout 90 batters in 74′ innings pitched, he recorded a career high in saves, 24, with the Pirates in 2006.Ā His contract is loaded with bonuses if he does well as the closer in Baltimore.
Mr. OBP, Nick Johnson will take his act back to the Bronx, where it all started.Ā New York drafted Johnson in the third round of the 1996 amateur draft, he was a highly touted youngster in their organization, even batting over 700 times with the Yankees in 2002 & 2003 combined.Ā But Nick’s career has been filled with its share of injuries, still he has an outstanding career OBP of .402 in 770 big league games.Ā With Hideki Matsui signing with the Halos, it looks like the 31 year old lefthanded hitter will take over as the club’s designated hitter.
Across town Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi will pitch this upcoming season out of the Metropolitans bullpen.Ā Ryota missed all of 2007 with an arm injury, but appears fully recovered as he posted a 2.42 ERA this past year for the Swallows, which was his career best.Ā The 30 year old, Igarashi, a righthander, is said to have the best fastball in Japanese baseball.
Here it comesā¦ the inevitable dismissal of general managers who in the eyes of the powers-that-be, just couldnāt cut the mustard.
Kevin Towers, general manager of the Padres was let go Friday. He was in his 14th season with the team.
And in the American League, J.P. Ricciardi was dismissed by the Toronto Blue Jays after eight years as general manager.
Perhaps this is just the New York Post stirring the rumor kettle but reports are the New York Mets are interested in either Towers or Ricciardi to work in the organization. Omar Minaya has reportedly called both to schedule a meeting.
Last week, Jim Leyland took off his shirt and was called āsexyā.
In a totally different set of circumstances, Tony Bernazard took off his shirt and will be fired.
Bernazard, who was the Metsā VP of player of player development, was fired after he lost his temper more than once.Ā One incidence occurred in the Binghamton Mets clubhouse where he took his shirt off and challenged the players there to a fight.Ā Tony B also got into it with Metsā reliever Francisco Rodriguez.
I donāt think the Mets can take any more ādevelopmentā.
Bernazard, 52, has had the position with the Mets since late 2004.Ā He played in majors as an infielder from 1979-1991.
Yes, the Metsā are suffering from injury issues in a bad way but has it come to this?
Manager Jerry Manuel is considering using pitcher Livan Hernandez as a position player if other options donāt present themselves.
In the meantime, the Mets will have to get by with just three position players on their bench. They could release Tim Redding to make room for another position player, but if they don’t, Manuel said he could use Livan Hernandez as a pinch hitter or a corner infielder if he runs out of options on the bench.
Hernandez certainly can handle himself with the bat and has done so throughout his career. He has a career batting average of .229 with 9 homeruns. In 2004, the year he won the Silver Slugger award, he collected 10 rbis.
Livan is up to the task:
I want to do it," Hernandez said. "That’s my dream — to play one day at one position. I’ll play anywhere."
That said, injuries and all, I canāt imagine thereās not a better solution. I know one APBA manager in my APBA league whoās paying rapt attention, though.
“The Yankees’ David Cone, who could have played linebacker, is what I call a junkyard dog because he’ll knock you out of the box without blinking. He’s got a better-than-average fastball and a real hard slider. Those two pitches help set up one of the best change-ups in either league.”
Umpire Durwood Merrill in You’re Out and You’re Ugly Too
Despite not being a household name, David Brian Cone put together a pretty good career between the years of 1986-2003. Though he missed the 200 win mark at 194 victories, his .606 winning percentage ranks among the best (95th all-time).
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Cone won a Cy Young award in the shortened season of 1994 with a 16-5 record and a 2.94 ERA. Typical of his style, his K/BB ratio was excellent that year at 132 to 54.
One of Cone’s most outstanding seasons came in his first full year in the majors. In 1988 for the Mets, he went 20-3 with an ERA of only 2.22. He struck out 213 that year. Cone’s other 20-win season came ten years later in 1998 while pitching for the cross town rivals, the Yankees. Along with his 20-7 record, he struck out 209 while walking only 59 with an ERA of 3.55.
A hard thrower, Cone led the league in Ks in 1990-91 and K/9 1990-92. He has 2668 career strikeouts which is good for 22nd all-time.
Mostly by virtue of playing for the Yankees, Cone had the privilege of playing on World Champion teams. Five to be exact. What was his World Series record? 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA. Nice. His ALCS record? 5-1.
He probably won’t make it to the Hall but in my eyes it’ll be closer that people think. Let’s face it, the idea at least in my opinion, is to induct players who dominated in their eras. At least for a short while, Cone did that. And the postseason performance doesn’t hurt either. Let’s put him in the Hall of Very Good.
| Hall of Fame | |
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Hall of Very Good |
| Why is he even on the Ballot? |
While we wait for January 12 ballot results, The Baseball Zealot will be profiling those players who are on the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Read the rest the of the profiles.
The New York Mets, desperate for a closer, signed the best in the business, making KROD the highest paid relief pitcher in the game. The ink isn’t dry on the paper, but the deal is a reported three year, $37 million dollar deal, with a vesting option (dunno what that means) for a fourth year. I can still remember when starting pitchers were expected to & paid to complete games, it was an insult to the starting pitcher to pull him, not any more, not in this day of specialization. Francisco Rodriguez, won’t turn 27 until next month, he set a record last year with 62 saves with the Halos.
In 2008 the NY Mets converted only 43 saves out of 72 save opportunities. They were relying on Billy Wagner, who needed a ligament replaced in his pitching elbow last August. Even without a closer, NY finished the season with 89 wins, three games behind the Phillies in the East, and only one game behind the Brewers for the Wild Card. Aaron Heilman, Luis Ayala, and others in the Mets pen didn’t cut it, making getting a closer a top priority. There were some choices out there, Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes, and alltime saves leader Trevor Hoffman, but in the end NY went with the best.
It will be interesting to see how KROD makes out in the Big Apple, it’s a long way from the Los Angeles Anaheim Angels. There’s going to be alot of pressure on Rodriguez to perform, he’s got an electric fastball & a slider that breaks out of sight. Francisco needs to get ahead of hitters in order to get them to bite on his breaking ball, usually in the dirt, control is not his strong suit. Besides that, the Angels had a pretty deep bullpen (Jose Arredondo, Scot Shields, & Darren Oliver), getting to the closer, we’ll have to see how the Mets setup men will bridge that gap. Last year’s signing of Ace Johan Santana was supposed to put the Metropolitans over the top, let’s see if KROD can do it.
Mr Met, that is. The ORIGINAL Mr Met Dan Reilly, even.
Regis Courtemanche from Metsblog conducts the interview.
Regis Courtemanche of Metsblog posted a slideshow of the Mets’ last day at Shea Stadium including the post-game ceremony.