Mack Attack: May 24, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Saturday, May 24, 2008

May 24, 2008

Mets News

Pedro Martinez has made only 6 starts since Opening Day 2007 and he’s made a grand total of 60 starts in four years as a Met.

RP Billy Wagner lead the league in ERA with 0.00.

OF Angel Pagan is scheduled to come off the DL on 5-28.

From ‘TalkingChop (braves Blog):

If you're a true Braves fan, then a big smile should cover your face in the wake of the four-game sweep of the Mets. Like a major earthquake there's a knowledge that this latest magnitude four-game sweep quake will have untold aftershocks. The Mets were already on uneasy ground and seemed to be crumbling from the inside, but now that the fires have broken out all over the team there may be no way to contain the carnage. How long will Willie Randolph keep his job? There is apparently friction between ownership and the manager after some recent comments he made on the Mets TV channel; and he may be ultimately held responsible for the disarray the Mets clubhouse is in.

 

Mack’s Facts:

“The Future Mets – By Position: 3B

Similar to SS, do not expect anyone to come along and take the job away from David Wright, so frankly, anybody currently in the Mets organization playing 3B will never make it to CitiField. That being said, Fernando Tatis (.242 – currently with Mets) and Anderson Machado (.212) have played 3B at New Orleans and neither are thought of other than a backup role in the majors. At the B-Mets, Dan Murphy is young enough (23) and talented enough (.341) to play third in the Bigs, and is having an all-star season. Lucy’s Leivi Ventura (.259) is just filler, while the Gnats’ Richard Lucas (.185) busted out early and has since been replaced by Jacob Eigsti (.250). Still in Extended Camp are Nick Giarraputo, Zack Lutz, Jefry Marte, Juan Torres, Tyler Vaughn, and Stefan Welsh. Shawn Bowman remains permantly on the IR.

Observation: The Mets have themselves a legitimate 3B prospect in Murphy. Now, they just have to figure out where trade him, and what for. Wright’s contract goes through 2012, so don’t look for anyone currently in this organization to someday take his place. Lastly, keep an eye on 16-year old Marte.

Mets Top 10 Draft Picks:

1991:

Round 1 Al Shirley OF - poof
1s Bobby Jones RHP - 89-83 4.36 1.35
2 Bill Pulsipher LHP - 3-19 5.15 1.54
2s Marc Kroon RHP - 0-2 7.76 2.06
3 Jeff Kiraly 1B - poof
4 Erik Hiljus RHP - 8-3 4.72 1.47
5 Jared Osentowski 3B - poof
6 Eric Reichenbach RHP - poof
7 Frank Jacobs 1B - poof
8 Randy Curtis OF - poof
9 Dave Swanson RHP - poof
10 Dwight Robinson 3B - poof
(44th round: Jason Isringhausen)

 

2008 Draft:

Keith Law/ESPN’s top 20:

1. Tim Beckham SS
2. Buster Posey C
3. Justin Smoak 1B
4. Pedro Alvarez 3B
5. Eric Hosmer 1B
6. Aaron Crow RHP
7. Gordon Beckham SS
8. Brian Matusz RHP
9. Tanner Scheppers RHP
10. Gerrit Cole RHP
11. Kyle Skipworth C
12. Brett Wallace 3B
13. Christian Friedrich LHP
14. Aaron Hicks RF/RHP
15. Tim Melville RHP
16. Ethan Martin RHP/3B
17. Josh Fields RHP
18. Yonder Alonso 1B
19. Shooter Hunt RHP
20. Jason Cooper 1B

 

Zephyrs:

B-Mets:

 

Lucy

IF Jose Valentin was added to the roster and C Salvador Paniagua was put on Temporarily Inactive List

Manager Tim Tuefel and roving Pitching Coach Al Jackson will represent the Mets at the draft, held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on June 5th and 6th. It will also be covered live by ESPN 2. I will have an ongoing live thread those 2 days on FU.

A real pitchers duel Friday night. First, Lucy scores 7 runs in the top of the 2nd, highlighted by 1B Lucas Duda’s 3-run homer. Then, Sarasota tied it up with a 6-run 5th. Lucy eventually won it, 9-7.

 

Gnats:

The Gnats lost an away game to Augusta on Friday night, 7-2. Another sub-par outing by prospects Scott Moviel (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6.15) and John Holdzkom (1.0 IP, 4 ER, 9.92). The one pitching highlight was Jose Bierd’s one inning of scoreless ball, which lowered his ERA to an organizational leading 0.92. 2B Greg Veloz (.238) continues to crawl out of his year long slump, going 3-4, including his 9th double.

 

VSL/DSL:

The VSL Mets lost to the Pirates, 6-2. All 6 Pirates runs were scored in the 8th inning after starting pitcher Dennis Gutierrez (2 IP, 0.00) and Jose Brito (4IP, 0 ER) held them scoreless for 7. LF Adrian Pirela hit his first home run of the early season.

 

Potential Free Agents for 2009:

Relief Pitchers:

Tony Armas Jr. PIT - Luis Ayala WAS - Joe Beimel LAD - Joe Borowski CLE - Juan Cruz ARZ - Ryan Dempster CHC - Brendan Donnelly BOS - Scott Downs TOR - Alan Embree OAK - Scott Eyre CHC - Kyle Farnsworth NYY - Casey Fossum TB - Brian Fuentes COL - Aaron Fultz CLE - Tom Gordon PHI - LaTroy Hawkins NYY - Mark Hendrickson LAD - Trevor Hoffman SD - Bobby Howry CHC - Jason Isringhausen STL - Steve Kline SF - Brad Lidge PHI - Brandon Lyon ARZ - Damaso Marte PIT - Tom Martin COL - Julio Mateo PHI - Guillermo Mota MIL - Will Ohman CHC - Hideki Okajima BOS - Darren Oliver LAA - John Parrish SEA - Chris Reitsma SEA - Dennys Reyes MIN - Juan Rincon MIN - Francisco Rodriguez LAA - Brian Shouse MIL - Rafael Soriano ATL - Mike Stanton CIN - Salomon Torres MIL - Derrick Turnbow MIL - Oscar Villarreal ATL - David Weathers CIN - Dan Wheeler TB - Matt Wise NYM - Jay Witasick TB

Minor Mets Bios:

Marinus “Rein” Vernooij 3B 6-2 200 Holland

The Mets have signed 18–year-old international free-agent 3B Marinus Vernooij from Holland.

“The 6-2, 200-pounder played third base for the Dutch 1st division Door Tridents last year. Marinus led the team in RBI as they won their league championship. In addition, he played for the Dutch Junior National Team this year, winning the bronze medal at the European Championships.” Vernooij started the 2008 season with the DSL Mets.

Carlos Villalona P R R 6-1 177 8-19-85

Villalona played with the 2007 DSL Mets, going 2-1, 4.15 in 15 games (4 starts). He also had 37 Ks in 34.2 IP. Expect him back next year.

Ex-Mets:

The Los Angeles Dodgers released OF Bobby Malek