Mack Attack: August 21, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008

Just days after Mel Karmazin revealed staff cuts will help the newly-merged Sirius XM save about $400 million, he announces a five-year, $15 million deal with sports personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. Considering what satellite radio has paid other talent like Howard Stern, RBC Capital analyst David Bank tells CNBC “This is not all that expensive of a deal.” He thinks it could work as a catalyst to help Sirius XM jumpstart its sales at retailers - InsideRadio

The Mets are 27-13 in their last 40 games. They are 35-22 under Jerry Manuel.

The Mets went over the 3,000,000 attendance mark Wednesday night.

As we head into the final 35 games of the season, questions still remain about the Mets and their ability to put last season behind them. They are questions that all of us as fans ask each other, and hope that the Mets front office provides an answer. First off, when will the bullpen woes end? With another wonderful performance by the guys who are supposed to protect the lead, the Mets lost another game in the latter innings they should have won. The simple fact is that the Mets are missing a key ingredient of their bullpen. Fans can get upset all they want when Brian Stokes, or Duaner Sanchez gives up the lead after Maine or Pedro goes five innings. When you miss Billy Wagner, and force your set up man (whoever it is this week) to be your closer, and your sixth and seventh inning relievers to become setup men, you are going to have issues. As long as Billy Wagner is sidelined, close or tied games late are going to give Mets fans heart palpitations. Next, just when will we see Billy Wagner back? If I had to guess, more later than sooner. He was put on the shelf at the beginning of the month, and then the soap opera began. He played long toss and felt alright. Then Minaya said “everything is right on track”, which we know when a GM says something like that, it’s the polar opposite. After a stop at Binghamton in which “everything was ok”, and a fifteen pitch performance in front of the Mets brass, Wagner didn’t feel ready, and now has elbow stiffness. Why do I get the feeling that a bomb is about to be dropped on the Mets? Can you say Dr. Andrews? - NYBaseballDigest

For his part, Omar Minaya has to hope Billy Wagner's loss can be filled from within because, as he said, "there are few other options" on the outside. Although no closers were dealt at the trading deadline, only Oakland's Huston Street is believed to have cleared waivers. And even though Street is having a subpar season, A's GM Billy Beane is going to want premium prospects back for him. Same thing for Colorado's Brian Fuentes, a free agent after the season who may also have cleared, but is probably not going to be moved. The Rockies have said all along they would have to be overwhelmed rather than just take the two No.1 draft picks as compensation for Fuentes. That's Minaya's dilemma. The price for a closer from outside is prohibitive and, besides, he has pretty much tapped the Mets' system of the kind of prospects it would take to land one. -- NY Daily News

Word in baseball circles is that ex-Twins pitcher Carlos Silva, left, placed on the disabled list by the Seattle Mariners, has been lost without pal Johan Santana, traded to the New York Mets. Silva has won just once in his past 21 starts. Don't think the Mariners wouldn't love to unload the right-hander, who has a $48 million, four-year guaranteed contract, on the Mets so he could rejoin Santana. -- Pioneer Press

Zephyr News:

The Albuquerque Isotopes scored six runs in the sixth inning to overcome an early deficit and defeat the Zephyrs 7-5 on Wednesday night in
Albuquerque. The Zephyrs opened the contest with back to back home runs. Jesus Feliciano and Andy Green each drilled solo home runs to left field and New Orleans jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Green smoked a two run home run in the second inning to push the Zephyrs out-front 4-1. The Z’s added another run on Feliciano RBI single in the third. The six run sixth inning started with a walk and single from the Z’s starter Ruddy Lugo. The Z’s called on Eude Brito from the bullpen and he walked Jason Wood and the allowed a grand slam home run to Andrew Beattie to tie the game. Brett Hayes followed the grand slam with a line drive home run to left to give the Topes the lead. Albuquerque’s bullpen delivered six scoreless innings and Steve Woodard earned the win. Brandon Villafuerte struck out four of the
final five batters to earn his fifth save.

B-Mets:

The Binghamton Mets' final homestand of the regular season is about to get even more intriguing. The B-Mets are expected to start two rehabbing major leaguers in their lineup tonight, as they continue to chase the Portland Sea Dogs for the final playoff spot in the Eastern League's Northern Division. On the heels of Tuesday night's 3-2 win over New Hampshire -- one that featured a standout performance by starter Jose Sanchez, and one that cut Portland's lead to two games -- B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras said outfielder Ryan Church will join second baseman Luis Castillo in the Binghamton lineup tonight for another 7:05 matchup with the Fisher Cats. "He'll be here (today), one more game," Oliveras said of Castillo, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI in front of 4,234 fans at NYSEG Stadium on Tuesday. "And then ... Ryan Church is going to be here (today)." Church has been out of the New York Mets' lineup since July 5 with post-concussion symptoms. Castillo, on the Mets' disabled list since July 3, has spent the past four games with the B-Mets while working his way back from a strained left hip flexor. Statistically, Tuesday night was Castillo's best showing with the B-Mets, as he lifted an RBI single to left-center field in the fifth, then singled through the right side in the eighth before being lifted for a pinch-runner. - PressConnects

Dylan Owen tossed six strong innings in his Double-A debut for the Binghamton Mets in their 4-2 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at NYSEG Stadium Wednesday. The B-Mets have won three straight and six of seven.

Binghamton (69-62) did most of their damage with two out in the second. Salvador Paniagua and Jose Coronado began the rally with back-to-back singles off Brandon Magee before both scored on Fernando Martinez’s double to center. Martinez scored on Luis Castillo’s base hit to center, putting Binghamton up 3-0.

New Hampshire (55-76) got a run back off Owen (1-0) in the fourth, thanks to David Smith’s RBI single. Owen allowed six hits and struck out five.

The B-Mets tallied their final run off Magee (6-13) in the fifth. Castillo and Mike Carp drew walks before Caleb Stewart singled in Castillo for a 4-1 Binghamton advantage.

Andrew Pinckney drove in a run on a fielder’s choice off Eric Brown in the eighth. Casey Hoorelbeke followed Brown and got the final five outs for his first save.

Clones:

With a league-leading 2.98 ERA and 584 strikeouts in only 531 innings pitched, it’s fair to say that every member of the Brooklyn Cyclones pitching staff had an opportunity to make the New York Penn-League All-Star team this season. By the time the eventual selections were made however, only Brad Holt, Chris Schwinden and Yury Santana managed to garner All-Star honors. That doesn’t mean anyone in Brooklyn is upset though. “They all deserve it,” said Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo in reference to his entire pitching staff. “But those guys in particular have worked really hard this season. As far as I’m concerned, we have the best pitching staff in the league and they’re a very big reason why.” The Mets first pitcher selected in the 2008 draft, Holt had some mighty expectations put upon him before the season began and hasn’t let anyone down yet, going 4-3 with a microscopic 1.98 ERA and a league-leading 69 K’s. Humble and modest throughout the season, the likable Holt tried to not make too much of his appearance in the game, but couldn’t seem to wipe the smile of his face. “I figured maybe, but it was wait and see,” said Holt. “I’m having a decent season, but I wasn’t expecting to be anywhere.”

Right-hander Brad Holt (Brooklyn) was impressive in the third inning of the NY-Penn All-Star game, striking out two batters and fronting a fastball that touched the mid-90s along with a hard-breaking curve he threw to catch Brandon Douglas (Oneonta) looking. – MiLB.com

From Thursday through Saturday, there are three great games at KeySpan Park, featuring the Cyclones' push for the pennant, a fireworks show, and lots of great entertainment and giveaways!

Thursday, 8/21 -- The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a free T-Shirt, presented by Midwood Ambulance, as part of EMS night.

Friday, 8/22 -- Fans are invited to stay in their seats for the best view of a spectacular postgame fireworks show over Coney Island.

Saturday, 8/23 -- Italian Heritage Night at KeySpan Park will feature a free T-Shirt giveaway to the first 2,500 fans, and a pre-game bocce tournament.

K-Port:

Wilmer Flores was the top International Free Agent signed by Omar Minaya in the 2007 season. He was signed for roughly $800,000 in comparison to some other “top level” talent that got bonuses in excess of a million dollars, or like Michel Inoa who received over $4 million. Flores is quickly emerging as a premium talent, even being mentioned by Minaya in an article about the importance of Pedro Martinez and how his signing led to guys like Flores and Fernando Martinez signing. Flores just turned 17 years of age at the beginning of August. He was expected to be brought to the US for this season, but it was widely expected he’d play in the Gulf Coast League where he’d still be young, as the average age of a player in the GCL is roughly 18-19. But instead, the Mets decided to push Flores and see what he could do in Kingsport against competition with an average age of 21-22. Flores has responded. He has played in 53 games thus far, and is sporting a .332 batting average to go with 8 home runs and 40 RBI. His on-base percentage is at .374, while his OPS(on base+slugging) is hovering near .900 at .897. He also has 12 doubles, and 3 triples to go with his 8 home runs to make 23 extra base hits in 53 games. He will need to work on his plate discipline, as he only has 11 walks, with 25 strike outs. Flores gets a lot of comparisons to Miguel Cabrera by scouts. Cabrera also was signed as a 16 year old out of the International Free Agent market for what was at the time the biggest bonus given to an international free agent at roughly $1.6 million. Cabrera came state side for his 16 year old/17 year old season, and played in the aforementioned Gulf Coast League with the average age of 18-19. Comparatively speaking he played against younger, and more raw talent than Flores has experienced in the Appalachian League. Cabrera played in 57 games, hitting .260 with a .344 on base percentage, and had an OPS of .696. He hit 2 home runs, and drove in 22 runs with 10 doubles, and 2 triples. He struck out 46 times, while walking 23. It’s early to deem Flores the next superstar, or the next Miguel Cabrera, but statistically speaking based on age/level, he’s more than comparable. They both played the shorstop position at the 16/17 age. Flores is expected to outgrow short, and possibly be a third baseman, or a first baseman, or even a left fielder long term. Ironically those are the three positions Cabrera has played. To compare, Flores has hit for a higher average, hit more home runs, drove in more runs, reach base at a higher clip, and OPS significantly higher. He has more doubles, more triples, struck out almost half as many times as Cabrera, but also has walked less. Flores ranked 10th on my Mets Top 10 prospect list back in July, I imagine end of the season list he will be much higher. Flores is very much a prospect to keep an eye on for the long term. - nYBaseballDigest

Ex-Mets:

All-time St. Louis Cardinals saves leader Jason Isringhausen walked away from the club Tuesday with what is believed to be a career-threatening torn flexor muscle near his right elbow

Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to throw off a mound Saturday, but not as the Yankees' starter. That spot in the rotation is still up for grabs. In fact, Victor Zambrano is being considered along with Phil Hughes and Carl Pavano. "There's still internal discussions about what we're going to do," manager Joe Girardi said yesterday. "There's some other people (aside from Hughes and Pavano) that's possible. We have to see how some things come out." Girardi said a decision would be made by tomorrow. He downplayed reports that Pavano had a stiff neck ("normal soreness") and said Pavano is scheduled to throw a side session today. If Hughes is deemed not quite ready and Pavano's karma is a concern, Zambrano could be the choice for Saturday at Baltimore. Zambrano -- whom the Yankees signed late last month after a series of workouts at their complex in Tampa, Fla. -- pitched five scoreless innings for Double-A Trenton on Monday. The 33-year-old right-hander has not pitched in the majors this year. He spent last season with Toronto and Baltimore and before that was with Tampa Bay and the Mets (who traded Scott Kazmir to get him in 2004). -- Newark Star-Ledger

__________________
Mack
www.hardeevilletoday.com
www.blufftontoday.com
www.scout.com