Mets release Connor Robertson and Bobby Kielty

It must be “Trim The Fat Day” for the Mets.

Today, they designated Wilson Valdez for assignment, and cut four players from Triple-A Buffalo.  Two of those players, Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin, were discussed earlier today. 

In a press release about the other moves, the Mets announced they also released Connor Robertson and Bobby Kielty from the Buffalo Bisons.

Robertson came over from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Scott Schoeneweis trade and the Mets signed Kielty to a minor league contract before spring training begin.

Happy trails, Pena, Valentin, Kielty and Robertson.

Game Chat: STL @ NYM [Game 1]

The slumping Mets welcome the red-hot Cardinals to Citi Field.

Join in for some barstool banter with your fellow Mets fans.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Carlos Beltran to DL; Flurry of roster moves

Carlos Beltran is officially heading to the disabled list.

Beltran was found to have a bone bruise, as he suspected, and could be out through the All Star Break.

Taking Beltran’s place on the roster is Fernando Martinez.  Martinez, sent down just days ago, is allowed to come back to the Mets without waiting the required 10 days due to a player going on the DL.

Ken Takahashi has been sent down and Wilson Valdez was designated for assignment with two relievers coming up to take their place.  Pat Misch, a lefty, and Elmer Dessens, a righty, will join the Mets bullpen tonight.

Misch, picked off of waivers from the Giants back on June 5, was sporting a 6.43 ERA and 1.571 WHIP in 7 1-3 innings pitched for Triple-A Buffalo.

Dessens was 3-2 in 27 relief appearances with Buffalo.  He had a 2.31 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in 35 against the International League.

This means the Mets will be playing slightly short on the bench, opting for more arms in the bullpen.

OUT	IN
Carlos Beltran - OF	Fernando Martinez - OF
Wilson Valdez - IF	Pat Misch - RP
Ken Takahashi - RP	Elmer Dessens - RP

Lineup for game one against STL

With Carlos Beltran likely heading for the disabled list, the Mets are starting to wear thinner and thinner.  Just take a look at the 4, 5 and 6 in the Mets order…

1. Alex Cora – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 1B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Fernando Tatis – LF
5. Ryan Church – RF
6. Omir Santos – C
7. Jeremy Reed – CF
8. Luis Castillo – 2B
9. Tim Redding – RHP

Yikes.

Rubin: Beltran to DL, Misch, F-Mart up; Takahashi optioned

Update – 4:14 p.m.: Carlos Beltran must be heading to the disabled list, according to Adam Rubin.

That’s because Fernando Martinez is heading back to the Mets, he reports.

Also coming up is Pat Misch to replace Takahashi.

Original Post: According to various tweets, the Mets have optioned Ken Takahashi back to Triple-A Buffalo.

Does this mean that Lance Broadway is coming?  Maybe.

THE GREAT T-SHIRT POST

Here’s the collection of designs I’ve made.  Click the image to be taken to the CafePress store to purchase assorted items emblazoned with the design.

I don’t agree with all of them (guess which?), but some fans might, so enjoy…

K-Rod and the fainting fan

Check out the interview of Francisco Rodriguez from FOX5 New York where he talks about a fan that fainted when they met.

Is Lance Broadway New York City-bound?

The depth chart on Mets.com is probably the last place I’d be looking for roster news, but as I was glancing at it while working on another story a new name caught my eye.

On the bottom of the bullpen depth chart, Lance Broadway’s name is listed.  No longer on the list is Jon Switzer.

Broadway, as you may remember, was the player the Mets landed when they traded away Ramon Castro.

Broadway is 1-3 in six starts with the Bisons.  He has a 5.97 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in 31 2-3 innings.

It seems the people over at Hot Foot spotted this too.

Haven’t heard anything about this possible move yet, so who knows what is up here.  I wouldn’t be against the move if it did come to fruition.

Mets release Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin from Triple-A

Via Bisons.com:

New York also announced that INF/OF Wily Mo Pena and INF Javier Valentin have been released.
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Pena hit .276 (40-145) with five home runs and 21 RBI in 41 games with the Bisons.

Valentin, who had been on the disabled list since June 15 with a strained right shoulder, hit .260 (20-77) with three home runs and 10RBI in 23 games with the Herd.

Valentin I can understand due to his shoulder issues.

Why release Pena?  Not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but Pena was second on the team with five home runs.  His 21 RBI was good for third.  His OBP was pretty poor, standing at .296 , but not low enough to warrant a release.

Again, not that huge in the grand scheme of the Mets, but something that might come back to bite them, especially with all these injuries.

Bullpen burnout

Much has been made of the workload of the bullpen lately.  Even Jerry Manuel has admitted to overuse.

“I've probably, to a fault, used them too much,” Manuel told David Lennon.  “What I have to do is probably trust the other people I have down there. If I'm not trusting them, then I should find someone else.”

Selecting the six main members of the bullpen, I took a look at games pitched in, innings pitched and pitches thrown.  No surprise Pedro Feliciano leads the way in games pitched in, but look who has thrown the most innings and pitches.

So Francisco Rodriguez, the closer and most highly paid pitcher in the pen, has thrown the most pitches, with 583 through June 21.  That’s great news.

K-Rod is sitting at 4.19 pitches/plate appearance through 139 plate appearances.  His highest in his career is 4.20 P/PA, when he faced 285 batters and threw 1,198 pitches in 2007.  He’s faced as many as 335 batters and thrown 1,352 pitches, both coming in 2004.  At least he’s somewhat used to it.

We’ve also seen Bobby Parnell’s season hit the skids lately.  He’s allowed six earned runs in his last four innings pitched, sporting a 13.50 ERA over those six games.

The answer to all of this bullpen usage is simple.  The Mets need to get longer outings out of their starters.  For that to actually happen, isn’t so simple.

We, as fans, don’t want to see repeats of 2007 and 2008 with the bullpen falling apart late in the game and late in the season.  Hopefully something changes before 2009 gets added to the list.