Game Recap: Mets 2 – Marlins 1

This one was all about Omir.

The New York Mets (27-20) beat the Florida Marlins (22-27) by a score of 2-1 in 11 innings.

Mike Pelfrey was brilliant again.  7 2-3 innings for Pelfrey, with only five hits and one walk.  He struck out six and lowered his ERA to 3.88 by allowing only one earned run.  The one run came in the fourth after Chris Coghlan hit a leadoff triple.  Dan Uggla drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Bobby Parnell finished out the 8th inning with runners on first and second by getting Uggla to groundout to second base.  Francisco Rodriguez logged a 1-2-3 scoreless inning.  J.J. Putz turned in 1 2-3 innings, walking one and striking out one.  Pedro Feliciano came on and finished out the 11th.

Omir Santos, threatened by demotion with the imminent return of Brian Schneider, did it all for the Mets.

With the team down one run in the fifth inning, Santos knocked a solo home run down the left field line to tie up the game.

In the bottom of the 11th, Gary Sheffield led off with a single to left field.  With Fernando Tatis batting, Sheffield kept getting checked at first base.  Marlins pitcher Brian Sanches kept throwing over to first to keep Sheffield close.  After a few throw-overs, Sheffield took off for second.  The throw from Ronnie Paulino went wide and nicked some leather before heading into centerfield.  Sheffield trotted to third.

Tatis was hit by a pitch on the very next pitch, bringing Santos to the plate.  Again, on the next pitch, a single to left field off the bat of Santos chased home Sheffield and brought home the win for the Mets.

That was something special.  No way can the Mets send down Santos after tonight’s performance.  I think Mets fans will be bidding adieu to Ramon Castro.

Mets Game Chat: FLA @ NYM [Game 1]

The Mets square off against the Florida Marlins as Mike Pelfrey takes the mound.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Mets shopping Castro

Adam Rubin is exclusively reporting that the Mets are working the phones trying to trade Ramon Castro before Saturday’s 1:10 p.m. game.

With Brian Schneider already at Citi Field and waiting to come off the DL, the Mets have a move to make to avoid carrying three catchers. Omir Santos may be too valuable to send to the minor leagues.

What I don’t understand about this situation is the Mets knew Schneider was coming back.  They knew there would be a tough decision coming down the pipeline – it was only a matter of time.

But they waited until they had mere hours to make a move to start fielding calls on a catcher?  Because that makes sense.

Hopefully Omar Minaya & Co. have been actively shopping one of the catchers quietly to other teams. 

They know they don’t want to eat Castro’s contract.  They want to keep Santos on the team and avoid sending him to Triple-A.  They want to bring Schneider back as soon as possible.

They just don’t how to pull it all off.

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Nymrod27, over in the chat box, suggested an interesting trade package: Castro and Ryan Church.

Church seems on the outs with the organization as rookie Fernando Martinez is likely up for the long haul.  With Castro being shopped and Church with no place to play, this seems like something that could happen.

Nice idea, Nymrod27.  It just might happen…if Church wasn’t on the DL.

Twitter user Patrick Boegel reminded me that no one on the DL can be traded. 

Good idea, but can’t happen.

Bad news for catchers named Omir: Brian Schneider close to returning

The Mets have a tough choice to make and they won’t be able to put it off much longer.

Brian Schneider, you know – the Opening Day catcher, is close to returning to the Mets after back and calf injuries.  (I’ve added a photo of Schneider to help jog your memory.)

Schneider was expected back as soon as early May, but the injuries piled up and he continued rehabbing in Florida.

Update – 4:11 p.m.: Schneider is at Citi Field, but has not been activated.  Adam Rubin reports he will be activated before tomorrow’s game.

Update – 5:09 p.m.: Via Rubin again:

The Mets are working the phones, trying to trade Ramon Castro before Saturday's 1:10 p.m. game, according to sources.

Via Noble Thoughts:

The club has made no announcement or given any public indication of its intentions regarding its catching, fueling speculation that any one of the three catchers -- Schneider, his original backup Ramon Castro or Omir Santos, the revelation of Mets season -- could be the odd man out. But there was an indication two weeks ago and again Friday morning that Santos, who has gained favor with manager Jerry Manuel,  would be returned to the minor leagues.

Here are some likely options:

• Send Omir Santos back to the minors.  Though it would be an unpopular move in the fans eyes, Santos has options and would be returned to Triple-A Buffalo.
• Designate Ramon Castro for assignment.  The team would have to eat Castro’s contract, but they would be shedding the injury-prone catcher.
• Trade Brian Schneider.  Not many teams are in the market for a light-hitting catcher who just spent a month on the DL, so I doubt this goes down.

The Mets will likely send Santos back to the minors, even though he’s shown that he can hold his own at the major league level and has some penchant for a timely hit.

The fans will miss you if you go, Omir.

Because the Mets need another outfielder: Complete trade for Emil Brown

The Mets now have 2,302,884 outfielders in their organization with the addition of Emil Brown from the San Diego Padres.

No word on who went West for Brown, but I wouldn’t worry that your favorite player is no longer with the Mets.

Updated – 4:10 p.m.: It’s a “player to be named later.”

In 736 career games spanning nine seasons, Brown has a .258 batting average and .323 on-base percentage.

Last season, with Oakland, he hit .244 / .297 / .386 with 13 HR and 59 RBI.

Brown will report to Triple-A Buffalo.

Could this mean the Mets are planning to keep Fernando Martinez around long-term?  Seems it.  That would also likely spell the end of Ryan Church in New York.

Baseball Digest: Fan starts rally to ‘Vote for Manny’

Just had an interview with Jason Rosenberg, the man behind the Vote For Manny Web site.  A Yankees fan starting a grassroots campaign to get Manny into the All-Star Game.  Quite a story.

Head over to Baseball Digest to read the article.

Maybe the WBC isn’t such a good idea

• Carlos Beltran** – Puerto Rico
• Carlos Delgado* – Puerto Rico
• Pedro Feliciano – Puerto Rico
• Alex Cora* – Puerto Rico
• Oliver Perez* – Mexico
• Jose Reyes* – Dominican Republic
• Francisco Rodriguez** – Venezuela
• David Wright – USA
• J.J. Putz** – USA
  *player currently on DL
  **player suffering from injury of some degree

Above is a list of New York Mets that appeared in the World Baseball Classic.  Notice a trend?

Obviously, Cora’s injury cannot be linked to the WBC.  For the other players, though, something could be made of their injuries and their connection to the WBC.

The quick jump into competitive baseball after months off, to common logic, seems like a bad idea.  There needs to be more time for the players to condition themselves and shake the rust off.

I like the WBC.  It’s a good idea, just poorly implemented.  I don’t have an answer or solution, but teams might want to take a better look at which players they allow to participate.

Hat tip to The Mets Police for bringing this to my attention.

The replacements

Here are the players on the 25-man Opening Day roster who are currently active on the 25-man roster.

• Ramon Castro
• Luis Castillo
• David Wright
• Daniel Murphy
• Carlos Beltran
• Gary Sheffield
• Jeremy Reed
• Fernando Tatis
• Johan Santana
• Mike Pelfrey
• John Maine
• Francisco Rodriguez
• J.J. Putz
• Bobby Parnell
• Brian Stokes
• Sean Green
• Pedro Feliciano

And now the players who made the Opening Day roster who are on the DL:

• Jose Reyes
• Carlos Delgado
• Ryan Church
• Brian Schneider
• Alex Cora
• Oliver Perez

Those who were released that made the Opening Day roster:

• Marlon Anderson
• Darren O’Day

The replacement players currently with the team:

• Livan Hernandez
• Fernando Martinez
• Angel Pagan
• Wilson Valdez
• Ramon Martinez
• Wilson Valdez
• Ken Takahashi
• Tim Redding

And those who have come and gone:

• Nelson Figueroa
• Jon Niese

The Mets have used 35 different players so far in 2009.  It’s only May 29.  Yikes.

Manuel’s Musing for May 28

“Because he's a first baseman and doesn't have to be in a position that requires a lot of range, I don't think it will be an issue.”

-Jerry Manuel on Carlos Delgado returning from hip surgery

Mini sabbatical

Update – Thursday:  Hey, Mets fans! The Internet and TV are on.  Blogging will resume Friday!  Thanks for understanding.

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I’m all moved in, but the Internet is off until Thursday afternoon.  I’ll be taking a few days off from the site as the one-man aspect is quite heavy on the work.

I’ll be tweeting during this time, so check back here or my Twitter page for updates.

No game chat tonight or tomorrow, but feel free to either use the comments or the Mets Chat in the sidebar.

Talk to you on Twitter or on Thursday.