As expected, Wilson Valdez has officially taken Alex Cora’s spot on the 25-man roster, reports Adam Rubin.
Cora, who will have surgery on both thumbs due to torn ligaments in each, will miss the remainder of the season.
Valdez was pulled from the Bisons game last night in anticipation of a call-up. Valdez was 12-for-his-last-27 with Triple-A Buffalo.
He hit .208 / .269 / .333 with three RBI in 26 plate appearances with the Mets in 11 games earlier this year.
Does anyone realize that starting in 2011, the New York Mets will pay Bobby Bonilla $1.2 mil / year for 25 years? What an organization!
That’s right. Starting July 1, 2011, and on every July 1 until 2035, the Mets will send a check to Bobby Bonilla worth $1,193,248.20.
When the Mets released Bonilla in January of 2000, instead of picking up the $5.9 million owed to him for that year, they agreed to pay him nearly $1.2 million over the course of 25 years. That’s almost $30 million.
Yikes.
Might as well bring him back as a coach somewhere for that much money. Or have him cut the grass at Citi Field.
Or maybe he can play left field.
My cousin Andrea sent this picture that one of her friends took at last night’s game. It’s great.
According to Baseball America, the Mets signed 35 of their of their 49 draft picks.
Noteable signings: Steven Matz (2nd round / 72nd overall), Robbie Shields (3rd round, 103rd overall), Darrell Ceciliani (4th round, 134th overall), Darin Gorski (7th round, 224th overall), Taylor Freeman (8th round, 254th overall) and Jeff Glenn (9th round, 284th overall).
Noteable non-signings: Damien Magnifico (5th round, 164th overall), David Buchanan (6th round, 194th overall)
For the full list of draft picks that signed with the Mets, head over to Baseball America.
Last night may have been one of the more boring games of the 2009 campaign. Unless you were a Giants fan.
From Livan Hernandez hemorrhaging hits to a lineup that was beyond putrid, the game was an all-around disaster. My record at Citi Field fell from the perfect 3-0, to a less cool 3-1 because of last night’s mess of a game.
Do you want to know, in one very simple explanation, why last night was one of the worst games all year? Because when Andy Green, the 32-year-old who was called up to replace David Wright on the roster, came to the plate in the 9th inning down nine runs with the stadium almost completely empty, he garnered the loudest cheer of the night.
Of course, he was snuffed out on the very next play as Cory Sullivan grounded into an inning-ending double play, but it was fun while it lasted.
Again, a terrible game on a beautiful night. I now own a .750 winning percentage at Citi Field, which I will take over my sub-.500 winning percentage from Shea Stadium any day of the week.
Check out MetsGrrl.com for a much more awesome photo of the savior we call “Andy Green.”
SI’s Jon Heyman backs up the report, and puts a figure on the bonus: $895,000.
Update – 8:41 a.m.: The Mets are yet to confirm the deal, even though many outlets have reported that the deal was completed before the deadline.
The Mets selected Matz with their first pick of the 2009 draft, in the second round, 72nd overall.
Matz was 6-1 with an ERA of 0.47 in his first seven starts for Ward Melville during his senior year of high school. He struck out 81 batters in 44 innings last year as well.
Alex Cora will miss the remainder of the year as he will have surgery to repair torn ligaments in both his thumbs.
Yeah, Cora had been playing with torn ligaments in not just one, but both his thumbs.
Crazy.
First up for surgery, his right thumb. Followed five weeks later by his left thumb.
Wilson Valdez was pulled from the Triple-A Bisons game in anticipation of a call-up.
Cora was a good bench signing who was forced into a major role due to the Mets injuries this season. I wouldn’t mind seeing him back with the Mets, purely as a guy off the bench.
I’ll be at the game tonight, and of course I’ll be updating with insights and musings from Citi Field. Tune in to converse with me at the stadium.
Steven Matz, the 18-year-old out of East Setauket, NY, was the Mets 72nd pick in this year’s amateur draft. The deadline to sign draft picks is rapidly approaching, midnight tonight, and the Mets and Matz have not come to terms on a deal.
At least not yet.
On Wednesday, Adam Rubin reported that the Mets and Matz were closing in on a deal. But yesterday, Jim Callis of Baseball America reported that the “deal isn’t close to done and isn’t going as smoothly as you might think.”
So we’ve got conflicting reports on where the Mets are with Matz. He could be close to a deal, or it could be a bumpy ride.
Either or, the clock is ticking on the Mets highest pick.
Matz is a 6-3 lefthander who struck out 74 in 54 innings with Ward Melville in his senior year. He is committed to Costal Carolina University.
“We're going to stay where we are.”