Mack Attack - 5-17-8

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008

May 17, 2008

Mets News:

This weekend’s pitchers: Saturday – Johan Santana (4-2, 3.10); Sunday – Oliver Perez (3-3, 4.61)

Mets manager Willie Randolph needs such instantaneous transformation now. Because it does not feel as if coaches are next in the firing line. The Mets dismissed a hitting coach (Rick Down) last year and the pitching coach Rick Peterson seems encased in Teflon. No, this is about Randolph and his dream job slip, slip, slipping away. He has become a target - perhaps an easy target - for the disenchantment with this lifeless, inconsistent club. -- NY Post

Mack’s Facts:

On the surface, B-Met’s closer Eddie Kunz looks great… 8 saves out of 8 opportunities… however, take a closer look at his facing left-hand hitters… 18 runners in 5.2 IP… translates as a 3.18 WHIP

The N.L. is averaging more runs per game than the A.L., 9.25 to 8.69, and also has more home runs per game, 1.88 to 1.68 through Wednesday (nytimes)

Mets pitching is now 9th in the league, and 4th in the NL in ERA (3.85).

Mets Contracts:

Pedro Martinez rhp - 4 years/$53M (2005-08) - $3.5M signing bonus (paid 05-08) - 05:$10M, 06:$14M, 07:$14M, 08:$11M - $10M of 06-08 salaries deferred at 5% interest - no-trade clause - signed as a free agent 12/04 - 6 years/$75M (1998-2003), plus $17.5M 2004 club option - $3M signing bonus (paid $0.5M/year, 98-03) - 98:$7M, 99:$10.5M, 00:$11M, 01:$12.5M, 02:$13.5M, 03:$15M club option (picked up 3/01) 04:$17.5M club option ($2.5M buyout) (picked up 4/03) - Cy Young award bonus - agent: Fern Cuza, SFX - ML service: 15.026

Zephyrs:

Russell Branyan drilled three home runs to lead the Nashville
Sounds to a 10-8 win on Friday night. Branyan drilled his third of the game
in the bottom of the 8th inning to break a tie game. The Sounds third
baseman drove home six runs, had four hits and scored three runs. Nashville
jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the second Branyan home run in the fourth
inning. New Orleans rallied scoring five times in the fifth inning to tie
the contest at seven. The Z’s were led by newcomer Raul Cassanova who had
three hits and a RBI. Valentino Pascucci drilled a solo home run for the
Z’s in the game. Derek Turnbow threw a wild pitch in the eighth inning to
give the Z’s the lead but earned the win after the Nashville heroics in the
bottom of the inning. Nate Field suffered the loss.

Nelson Figueroa has cleared waivers and is expected to report to Triple-A New Orleans.

P Tony Armas is ranked 5th in the league in the lowest WHIP (1.11) Ruddy Lugo and Willie Collazo are both tied for 7th (1.15)

P Ruddy Lugo is ranked 3rd in the league in lowest ERA (2.70)

P Brian Stokes is ranked 3rd in the league in strikeouts (45 in 44.0)

B-Mets:

Friday night’s game was postponed due to rain.

1B Mike Carp (.328) and 3B Dan Murphy (.325) are ranked 4th and 5th, respectfully, in the league, in batting average.

1B Nick Evans is tied for 4th (7) in home runs, 3rd in slugging (.563), and 4th in OPS (.923).

Lucy:

Roster moves today included the release of OF Jamar Hill, and the addition of C Chris Fournier and B.J. Hubbert.

-very interesting moves after a series of other interesting moves lately… the Mets have obviously put a new plan together for the development of the minor league teams and talent. This seemed to start when 3 teams reached out a few weeks ago and signed new players that weren’t part of the organization, rather than call up someone from the team ranked directly below them in the pecking order. 2 of those moves were here in Savannah and the 2 seasoned minor league vets that joined the team have helped turn around a season that seemed destined to be as bad as last year. Now, we are seeing things like last night’s ‘retirement’ of Brandon Nall, the release of John Wesley, and today’s release of Jamar Hill. Even more enlightening was that fact that the 2 open slots on the Lucy squad were not filled with Savannah players. The Mets obviously want to keep the ‘positive waves’ going on in Savannah, so they went straight to the extended camps. I like the new direction.

In Memory:

Jamar Hill OF R R 6-3 200 9-20-82 Santa Ana College

Hill played his college ball at Santa Ana College, and was drafted first by the Mets in the 50th round of the 2000 draft, and then the 48th pick in the 2001 draft. He started his Mets career in 2002, playing 56 games for Kingsport, and turning out tremendous stats (.295/.374/.505), leading the team in runs, slugging percentage, and total bases.

He returned to K-Port in 2003 (.241/.280/.414) and played the entire 2004 season for Capital City (.272/.334/.492). He was 5th in the South Atlantic League in home runs and in home runs per at-bat.

Hill followed this in 2005 with a disappointing season for St. Lucie (.252/.326/.414, striking out 1/3 of the time) and had similar “un” success for the same team in 2006 (.239/.301/.394). Hill was born and raised in Alaska.

In 2007, Hill started the season on the injured reserve list, but then played for a 3rd time for St. Lucie (.258/.295/.337 in 163 at bats) before finally being promoted to Binghamton (.300/.343/.459 in 170 at bats).

A May 2008 scouting report from Andy Braunstein: JAMAR HILL - RF - He has all the ability in the world. For some reason the NYM have frowned on him. He would have to fight for playing time and if he has a game he doesn't get a hit, find himself watching the game from the bench. It isn't to perform well day after day when one doesn't feel any love from the organization, even more so when one has to hit himself into more playing time from the sidelines. It doesn't help he is a notarious slow starter. His 2nd halves have been always over .300 but by then all it does is give him another year. Will be a 6YFA so this year he is fighting for his baseball future, hoping to iimpress the 29 other team's scouts he is worthy of being picked up. He has bat speed 6-6.5, 25 HR potential, 4.1 speed, a plus RF arm and usually flawless OF defense. That's a 5-tool prospect and that is something worth keeping.

3B Leivi Ventura is tied for 5th in the league in home runs (6)

P Dillon Gee is ranked 8th in the league in strike outs (40 in 44.2)

Gnats:

C Jordan Abruzzo is ranked 5th in the league in hitting (.339).

P Angel Calero is ranked 6th in the league in lowest WHIP (0.98)

Mike Jones went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and the Greenville Drive scored three runs in the seventh inning to defeat the Sand Gnats 5-4 on Friday night.

Savannah (18-23) carried a 4-2 lead into the seventh when the Drive rallied for three runs on four hits. A single from Jones scored the eventual winning run.

Savannah took a 4-2 lead in the third when they tagged Jose Alvarez for four runs. With one out, Greg Veloz, who was 2-for-4, singled before Richard Pena and Casey Craig each walked to load the bases. Jordan Abruzzo then reached on a error that scored Veloz for Savannah’s first run.

Pena singled home a pair to give Savannah its first lead. Jose Jimenez capped the rally with a sacrifice fly that scored Abruzzo to hand the Gnats a 4-2 lead.

Alvarez (2-5) earned the win, permitting 4 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits in 6.0 innings. Felix Ventura struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Brant Rustich (0-1) took the loss in relief, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits in 2 innings of work.

VSL

LF Adrian Pirela is ranked 6th in the league in hitting (.455)

C Luis Hernandez is ranked 7th in the league in OBP (.538)

C Quinton De Cuba leads the league in slugging (1.100). 2B Wilfredo Tovar is ranked 3rd (.938)

The VSL Mets went to 5-0, beating the Cardinals 9-7. Hector Alvarez homered and Wilfredo Tovar had 3 hits.

Potential Free Agents for 2009:

Second Basemen: Jamey Carroll CLE - Ray Durham SF - Mark Ellis OAK - Marcus Giles COL - Mark Grudzielanek KC - Orlando Hudson ARZ - Jeff Kent LAD - Felipe Lopez WAS - D’Angelo Jimenez STL - Pablo Ozuna CWS - Nick Punto MIN - Jose Valentin NYM - Jose Vidro SEA

Minor League Bios:

Tobi Stoner P S R 6-2 185 12-3-84 Davis & Elkins College

Stoner played for at Southern, and the Rams went 43-3 in Stoner’s two years as a starter. They were 22-2 and region and WMIL champs in his junior year and 21-1 and Area and WMIL champs in his senior season. He was 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 20 innings as a junior, and 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings as a senior. A first-team All-Area second baseman, Stoner batted .337 with 8 doubles and 27 RBI as a senior. He had batted .388 with 6 doubles and 18 RBI as a junior. Stoner finished his college career at Davis & Elkins. He batted .465 with 8 homers and 29 RBIs at Davis & Elkins in his last year there, and his .465 mark was ninth best in the nation in NCAA Division II.

Stoner was picked in the 16th round of the 2006 draft. Before thant, he played SS and 2B for David & Elkins college and was a transfer from Garrett Community College. He posted 15 wins and 5 saves in the 2 years he pitched for D&E. Also, a career .406 hitter, he hit .465 in his senior year, with 8 HRs, 28 RBIs 4 steals and 3 triples. At the same time, his pitching record was 8-6, with 10 complete games and a 2.90 ERA. Stoner won Male Athlete of the Year in his senior year.

Stoner’s first year (2006) in the Mets organization was quite impressive, posting a 6-2, 2.15 record for Brooklyn. He allowed only 5 E in is final 8 starts. Opposing hitters managed just a .219 batting average against him.

Baseball America posted their draft review in October 2006 and tagged Stoner (tied with P Joe Smith) as the ‘best pro debut’ of all Mets draftees. Stoner is ranked as the 19th top 2007 Mets prospect by John Sickles, with a C rating, and the comment “control artist dominated New York-Penn League.”

Stoner throws a fast ball, curve, slider and change-up and has good command of all four.

In February 2007, Stoner got his first ‘taste’ of prospect ranking by Scout.com, putting him at #16. In May 2007, Top Prospect Alert updated their 2007 New York Mets Top 10 Prospects and Stoner was ranked 9th (previously unranked). He started the 2007 season with Savannah, where he was impressive, even though he had little team support when he pitched (3-3, 4.58). He was the 1st player from the Sand Gnats to get a bump up to St. Lucie and progressed throughout the year (4-5, 4.90, 1.39 in 16 starts). In November 2007 Scouts.com named Stoner the 16th top Mets prospect.

Ex-Mets

Doug Mientkiewicz went 3-for-3 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored

Scott Kazmir tossed 6 scoreless innings against the Yankees

The Cardinals placed Jason Isringhausen on the disabled list Friday

Dustin Martin is ranked 6th in the league in batting average (.315) in the Eastern League

This Day In Mets History

1985 - The Rangers fire manger Doug Rader and replace him with Mets' third base coach Bobby Valentine

2000 - Recently released by the Mets, Rickey Henderson reaches an agreement to play with Mariners.

And lastly:

Yorvit Torrealba's agent Melvin Roman has filed a grievance against the New York Mets over the collapse of Torrealba's negotiations last November. Roman insisted last winter that Torrealba signed a term sheet on a three-year, $14.4 million deal when the Mets backed out over concerns about Torrealba's right shoulder. The Mets never publicly said that Torrealba failed his physical. Torrealba returned to the Rockies on a two-year, $7.25 million deal, with a mutual option for $4 million. The grievance will center on Torrealba's potential lost income. Even if the Rockies exercise his option, Torrealba stands to lose $3.15 million. Both Torrealba and Roman acknowledged the grievance Thursday, but declined further comment.