Live Blog: NYM @ STL

Join in for another Mets baseball live chat as Oliver Perez takes on the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium.  The chat will start at 8 p.m.

Swapping Figueroa and O’Day for Fossum

The Mets called up Nelson Figueroa for a spot start in place of Mike Pelfrey on Sunday.  To make room for Figueroa, the Mets put Darren O’Day on Rule 5 waivers.

Only hours after Figueroa turned in a quality start, the Mets designated him for assignment to make room for Casey Fossum.

Essentially, the Mets had traded O’Day for a quality start out of Figueroa, then traded Figueroa for Fossum.  Both O’Day and Figueroa both have a chance to stick with the Mets organization if no other team claims them.  (O’Day would also have to be turned down by the Angels organization with his $25,000 price tag.)

Fossum, who is 0-0 with a 0.82 ERA with the Buffalo Bisons this year, will be available in the bullpen and could possibly make a start this week.

What I don’t understand about this move is why the Mets didn’t just call up Fossum for the start on Sunday.  Would he have really been that bad against the Milwaukee Brewers?  Calling up Figueroa, watching him turn in a decent performance and then promptly waving goodbye to him is not a way to treat any player.

The Mets may very well have thrown away a good player with this roster move.  Hopefully they can retain both players, as they both are effective in their own capacity.

Just poor roster handling by the Mets on this one.

Do the Mets hate Ryan Church?

In the past two weeks, the Mets have signed Gary Sheffield to a major league contract and added Willy Mo Peña to the minor league roster.  This past off-season, they also signed Cory Sullivan to a major league deal, added Jeremy Reed via trade, re-signed Angel Pagan and entertained the notion of Nick Evans and Marlon Anderson in the outfield.

Obviously, with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis set in left field, there is a worry about if either of them is a capable enough fielder and if their bats would outweigh their shoddy gloves.

But over the last few games, Sheffield is starting to see more time in right field and the addition of Peña cannot be overlooked. 

Do the Mets trust Ryan Church?  Do they think he can rebound to 2008 PC (pre-concussions)?

So far, Church has given the Mets little inclination that he would be slipping back into the second half of 2008.  He’s currently batting .378/.477/.541.  Of his 14 hits, six are doubles.

He has only driven in two runs so far, and has only scored four times, but that is a problem that is greater than Church.  The whole team is struggling with runners in scoring position, so it would be unfair to to peg that against him.

The latest moves the Mets have been making are somewhat beneficial to the team, I just wonder if it will come at any cost to Ryan Church.

Twitter Poll: What to do with Doc’s signature?

Yesterday, the firestorm that was the Doc Gooden Signature Scandal broke and was “resolved” by the New York Mets.

If you happened to be living under a rock yesterday, the story goes that Gooden took out a Sharpie and signed a section of the wall in the Ebbets Club.  It reads “Doc Gooden 84 R.O.Y., 85 Cy Young, 86 W.S. Champs.”  Pretty cool if you ask me.  Not so much if you ask the Mets.

A report came out that the Mets were going to cover up the signature, because the building is “brand new.”

Well, after an outpouring of criticism from both the media and the fans, the Mets have “decided” to keep the signature, just move it elsewhere.  (Anyone know how they’re going to move an entire section of a wall?)

"We've listened to our fans on this," Mets PR chief Jay Horwitz said. "The last thing we want is for them or Doc to be upset. We just didn't want everyone to think it was OK to start writing on walls all over the stadium.”

So last night, I asked my Twitter followers if the Mets should remove the signature.  I also asked them who else they would like to see sign the wall.  Here are their responses…

• susi__ said: Every Met...EVER..or legend if there isn't enough room.
• Retire31 said: No, move it if anything. / I want my fellow Filipino comrade, Benny Agbayani to sign it!
• metschick said: NO! I'd love to see Kiner (among others) sign the wall.
• Section518 said: Next up has to be Mex. Keith would eat that up...and he wouldn't even have to travel.
• fscker said: that signature was epic, they should have put glass around it.
• d_kris said: Doc did too much for the team to diss him by painting over it! Seaver, Piazza, '86 & '69 teams, Bobby V, etc, all should sign
• metgirl4ever said: No!! Piazza & Keith
• DonCheech said: No, move it like they said they would. also, every Met alive should sign the wall.
• supermannino said: I would rather have anything from Doc Gooden over Mike Piazza. What Doc did in his extracurricular time only hurt himself...
• kerelcoop said: for starters, everyone from the 86 team should sign
• darknova306 said: I'd want the infield from 99 and the 86 championship team to sign it.
• MetsNY81 said: Definitely keep it! I think any true Mets fan would agree. Would be cool if other members of the ‘86 team signed as well.

And from the peanut gallery / jokesters…

• kierankelly said: They should actually make it a feature and get all different Mets to sign the wall. It would be a cool feature.
• ProctorsArm said: No. Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Roy Campanella. Oh wait.
• PerpetualMemory said: Steve Philips and Victor Zambrano hah

Not on Twitter?  Hit the comments to toss in your 2¢ about Doc’s signature and who else should sign the wall.

Follow me on Twitter to participate
in the next Twitter Poll!

Report: Mets sign Willy Mo Peña [Updated]

According to the Web site almemento.net, the Mets have signed Willy Mo Peña to a minor league deal (via Retire31).

UPDATE – 7:40 p.m.: SNY has corroborated this report.

It’s a good signing because you can never have enough players.  The Mets seem hell-bent on signing outfielders with attitude problems.  It will help Buffalo, that’s for sure.  He’ll be up with the Mets sometime in 2009.

The translated version of the report reads…

SANTO DOMINGO. - The Dominican gardener Wily Mo Rock reached an agreement of smaller league with the set of the Meters of New York that will report about $400 to him thousands dollars reason why he remains of the season.

According to a source informed into whole credit, the Dominican one accepted the pact with the New York troops with the condition of which it would not remain in the minority circuits by more than two months.

It will not be until this Sunday or Monday when one hopes that the Mets makes the company/signature with Rock public.

Obviously, I’m skeptical of this report.  Take it with a large grain of salt.

The article claims it’s a minor league deal, worth $400,000.

Peña refused to his assignment to minor league camp with the Washington Nationals and was granted his unconditional release from the organization on March 31.

The Mets had originally signed Peña as a free agent in 1998.  Over seven seasons in the major leagues, Peña has played for three different teams, compiling a .253 AVG / .307 OBP / .447 SLG.  He’s driven in 225 runs, with his best year coming in 2004 with Cincinnati when he drove in 66 runs.

With the Buffalo Bisons off to a 1-10 start, I guess they need a bit of a kick-start.  Maybe Peña’s attitude will rustle some feathers.

Would you root for the New York Burros?

I was browsing one of my favorite sites today, mental_floss, and I came across an article entitled “What Your Favorite Team Was Almost Called.”

Obviously, this deals with the Mets, otherwise it wouldn’t be here.  Here’s what mental_floss had to say…

11. The New York Skyliners
Before the New York Mets started play in 1962, they considered a list of names that included the Skyliners, the Skyscrapers, the Bees, the Burros, the Continentals, and the Jets.

The New York Burros.  Interesting.  I get what they were trying to do with the “boroughs” = “burros” thing, but that name would backfire in the team’s face as soon as they performed poorly.

And since we all know a little Mets history, that 1962 season would have been quite interesting if they were in fact called the Burros.

And that makes two animal images on the blog today.

Twitter Poll: What’s the biggest problem facing the Mets so far?

The Mets dropped the series finale to Milwaukee by a score of 4-2 yesterday.  Though they won the series, they are 6-7 6-6 on the season heading into a three game series with St. Louis starting on Tuesday.

Last night, I asked my Twitter followers what is the biggest problem facing the Mets so far?  Here are their responses…

• lvadgal said: biggest problem is not a new one - too many runners left on base.
• jessicarubin said: Definitely leaving way too many runners on base. We get a good hit or 2 but then can't get them home.
• susi__ said: NO CLUTCH HITTING!! Too many ducks left in the pond.
• fscker said: same problem as last year, the bats go to sleep after the 3rd inning.
• metschick said: Inconsistent offense.
• d_kris said: Clutch hitting. Too many LOB as today displayed.
• zim1021 said: Lack of run support.
• PerpetualMemory said: Much like last year the Mets have the uncanny ability to not get hits with RISP time after time. It's like their super power
• JTKrycek said: getting on base is great, but what's it really worth if those runners don't score? MORE RUNS PER GAME PLEASE!!
• supermannino said: The biggest problem with the Mets so far is the inconsistent starting pitching from 2-4. Johan and Livan are a-ok...
• fullnelson said: Mets biggest problem so far this season is: RISP - LOB = too many ducks left on the pond
• thebrowncoat said: Lack of production with RISP.
• darknova306 said: Our biggest problem is the vast quantity of runners stranded. Games are out of reach when we get 2 or more behind.
• gmo418 said: Too many runners left on base
• MetsNY81 said: I'm going to have to say their offense. It seems almost non-existent lately.

And from the peanut gallery…

• ProctorsArm said: Gary Sheffield isn't getting enough at-bats.

It seems everyone is in agreement on this one.  The offense seems to be sputtering,  especially with runners on base and even more so when they’re in scoring position.

Not on Twitter?  Hit the comments to toss in your 2¢ about the biggest problem facing the Mets in ‘09…

Follow me on Twitter to participate
in the next Twitter Poll!

Nelson Figueroa DFA’d; Casey Fossum promoted

Mere hours after Nelson Figueroa went out and pitched six innings, surredering three runs to the Brewers, the New York Mets designated the journeyman and Brooklyn native for assignment.

The Mets have pruchased the contract of Casey Fossum from Triple-A Buffalo, according to Brendan Prunty of NJ.com.

Fossum, a lefty, will likely enter the bullpen to give the team another southpaw as they’re set to face a lefthanded dominant St. Louis club in the coming days.

I feel bad for Figueroa, who spun some magic last season with the Mets before coming back down to earth.  He put together a very nice spring training and World Baseball Classic, and I was slightly surprised he didn’t make the team when they came north.

I figured Figueroa would stick in the bullpen after making the spot start for Mike Pelfrey, giving the Mets a versatile arm for long relief or multiple innings.

Game Recap: Brewers 4 – Mets 2

Too many runners left on base dooms the Mets.

The Mini Recap

Nelson Figueroa had a decent outing, and kept the Mets in the game.  Jeff Suppan scattered eight hits over six plus innings, allowing only two runs.  The offense just couldn’t click, as they left 10 runners on base.

Carlos Delgado drove in one with an RBI double in the first and Jose Reyes drove in Omir Santos in the seventh.  The Mets hit two triples and three doubles.  Reyes and Daniel Murphy each had three hits, while Carlos Beltran and Santos had two.  Santos hit a double and a triple in his first Mets start.

It was a problem of leaving too many ducks on the pond and not coming through with runners in scoring position, a problem that plagued them all last year.

For the full recap, head over to Baseball Digest.

Johan Santana’s 2009 season so far

Johan Santana is 2-1 in 2009, with each game he’s pitched so far ending by a one run margin.  He, and the Mets, won the first game by a score of 2-1 over Cincinnati. 

Santana was then outdueled by Josh Johnson and the Marlins 1-0 thanks to a Daniel Murphy error. 

Yesterday, he allowed five singles and no Brewer ever touched second base.  The Mets won 1-0 and Santana earned his second win of the season.

So far, Santana has been nothing short of dominant.  In three starts, he’s allowed only one earned run.  That means in 19 2-3 innings, he has a 0.46 ERA.

Zero point four six.

Santana had made it through seven  innings twice and has only allowed 11 hits, only two of which were doubles.  The rest were singles.  He’s walked five, meaning he’s only allowed 16 runners to reach base.  Only two of those runners have touched third base.

He’s also struck out 27.  Through three games, he’s faced 76 batters and Santana has struck out 35.6 percent of them.

What else can be said about Santana?  He’s undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best pitcher in the league.  So far, he’s the Mets MVP.

With a much stronger bullpen behind him, Santana seems on pace for a spectacular season.