Izzy and Igarashi to the Mets, Boyer and Duda Off

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Blaine Boyer has not been very effective in almost all of his appearances, including his save against the Marlins, pitching to an 0-2 tune with a 10.80.  The last straw for Boyer was giving up all 4 runs in extra innings today against the Marlins.  He will have to clear waivers before he can wind up in Buffalo.

With the Mets purchasing Jason Isringhausen’s contract and adding him to the roster it will be the first time he pitches in a Mets uni since being traded for Bill Taylor on July 31st, 1999.

While Lucas Duda struggled both at the plate and in the field, this move is more about getting more pitchers on the roster to eat some innings.

Ryota Igarashi has pitched well so far for the Bisons striking out 4 in 3.1 innings and earning the save today.

Sandy Alderson told reporters the reason they went with Igarashi over Manny Acosta is unless a player was placed on the disabled list before the game they would need to wait ten days before he was eligible to be added back onto the roster. He also said making the move to thirteen pitchers is temporary until Jason Bay returns when Igarashi will be sent back down to AAA.

I am not a big fan of the move to thirteen leaving the bench crippled.  There are now just four three players on the bench Scott Hairston, Daniel Murphy, Chin-lung Hu, and Mike Nickeas.  Terry Collins is now going to have a difficult time pinch hitting a righty in for Josh Thole should a lefty come to the mound because that move alone would wipe out half of his bench, unless of course Nickeas is the pinch hitter but he is essentially an automatic out.

Sean Ratliff Needs Facial Surgery + More Minor League News

Adam Rubin brings us some prospecting news today….

  • The first tidbit is regarding top outfield prospect Sean Ratliff who was struck in the face with a foul ball while standing in the on deck circle during a minor league spring training game that will require facial surgery.  Ratliff broke six bones in the eye and sinus area that need repair.  He also needed fifteen stitches. It is still uncertain whether or not he will need a plate inserted although on a positive sign his vision has been unaffected.
  • Mets prospect Sean Ratliff in St. Lucie

  • In a bit of sad news the Mets officially released center fielder Manny Garcia.  I was a big fan of Garcia’s and thought he had a really bright future as a shortstop in the league who played good defense and caused havoc on the base paths.  It is pretty obvious things never really worked out for Garcia because of some on the field and off the field issues.  Wish him the best of luck in whatever he winds up doing.
  • The Mets seem prepared to be converting Brooklyn Cyclones closer Ryan Fraser to a starting role for the Savannah Sand Gnats this upcoming season.  Fraser saw time both in the rotation and in the pen in college and because of the great success he had after being drafted year with his plus fastball and slider it makes sense why the Mets would like to give him a shot in the rotation, but ultimately he probably winds back up in the pen.
  • A rare occurrence took place as Brad Holt fired five scoreless innings in his last spring training tune up start.  If there was ever a make or break year for a prospect it is this year for Holt.
  • In major league news Jason Isringhausen agreed to remain in extended spring training for a few more weeks.  The more arms the better.  In a way I hope the Mets will need him so I didn’t learn to spell his name for no reason.

Mets Expose Nick Evans to Waivers

Adam Rubin has a good source reporting the Mets have placed Nick Evans, Pat Misch, and Luis Hernandez on waivers.  All three players have 48 hours to either clear waivers or be claimed by another team.

The 29-year-old Pat Misch is likely to clear waivers after a mediocre, at best, spring training.  He did a great job filling in for the Mets at the end of last season and posted solid numbers all around in the minors.  Still a team is unlikely to waste a spot on the 40-man roster for Misch.

Misch also has the option to opt out of his contract if he clears waivers although  I don’t see him exercising this option for a few reason.  He already knows what to expect while pitching in Buffalo and he also knows there are a lot of question marks dealing with the health of the major league pitching staff and he could find himself up on the big club at some point.

The one team who expressed interest in Hernandez has already acquired a similar type of player in Alberto Gonzalez so who knows if he will be claimed, but I am not going to spend any time at all worrying if an easily replaceable defensive specialist is lost through waivers.

The player I am most anxious about potentially losing is 25-year-old firstbaseman/outfielder, Nick Evans.  Evans is a former top prospect who has almost faded into irrelevance in the Mets organization because of a combination of age, no true position, and other players in the organization overtaking him leaving no room for him. This fade to irrelevance was not Evans’s fault.  Last year Evans did nothing but hit. He combined to hit .300 with 23 home runs with 80 RBIs in just 125 games while putting up solid numbers in 26 at-bats in the majors.

This spring he received the most at-bats of any player on the Mets and hit well posting a .333 batting average and showing some modest power with a .420 slugging percentage.

The accumulation of his minor league career and a spring that was just good enough to open eyes is enough for me to believe a team is going to take a chance and claim him.  I understand he had to be placed on waivers at some point if he wasn’t going to make the opening day roster and that there just isn’t a place for him, but it will sting if he goes somewhere else because he has a chance to become a solid regular.

Lucas Duda/Scott Hairston will now be your starting right fielder if Carlos Beltran is unable to go opening day.

Mets Cut Ollie Perez! YAHOOO

The Mets finally made the decision today to cut Oliver Perez from the team and eat his $12 million dollar salary. The decision came this morning from Sandy Alderson who said it wasn’t a hard decision because Perez simply had not performed well at all during spring and pitched his way out of any chances he was to be given.

Would like to say you will be missed, but…… you won’t. It’s sad because I used to be a big Ollie P fan going back to his days in San Diego when he was dominant. He is just not the same pitcher anymore and this was the right decision.

Alderson has been making all the right, smart decisions so far and now the last decision he has left to make will be the starting second base job. So far through one winter though I have no complaints and commend what he has done for this team and organization as a whole.

P.S. How funny is it that Luis Castillo is now a member of the Phillies. Haha great day for the Mets. I really hope Castillo makes the team so he can drop a pop up and let the Mets win.

Mark Cohoon Goes to AA, Huge Roster Changes for Gnats

Mark Cohoon, who has dominated the SAL and whom I talked about before, has been promoted.  Instead of going to HiA St. Lucie the Mets decided to promote him straight to Double-A Binghamton.  I think this is a good call by the Mets.  He is an older, smarter pitcher who probably would have dominated the Florida State League just as he dominated the South Atlantic League so why not give him the biggest challenge for a minor leaguer which is the move to AA.

There was a plethora of other moves made to go along with this  including top prospect Wilmer Flores getting the bump from LoA Savannah to HiA St. Lucie.  There were 6 other Sand Gnats who became St. Lucie Mets today; Juan Lagares, Brandon Moore, Rafael Fernandez, Kai Gronauer, Erik Turgeron, and Michael Fisher.

To make room for all these players a lot of players had to be shifted around:

  • Wilfredo Tovar was transferred from the St. Lucie roster to the Savannah roster.
  • Brandon Sage was activated and placed in Savannah roster.
  • Juan Torres was transferred from the St. Lucie roster to the Savannah roster.
  • R.J. Harris was transferred from the Brooklyn roster to the Savannah roster.
  • Ryan Mollica was transferred from the St. Lucie roster to the Savannah roster.
  • Gabriel Zavalawas added to the Savannah roster.
  • Travis Ozga was transferred from the Kingsport roster to the Savannah roster.
  • Marcos Tabata was transferred from the St. Lucie roster to the Savannah roster.

Mets Finally Demote Mejia to Binghamton

After setting back Jenrry Mejia‘s development curve for almost no reason the Mets have finally decided to demote the 20-year-old to Double-A Binghamton in order to stretch him out as a starter and plan to call up Bobby Parnell from Triple-A Buffalo.  Parnell was 1-1 with 4 saves and a 4.24 ERA in 41.1 innings.  He had 41 strikeouts to go along with 17 walks.

I really do not know why the Mets kept Mejia up so long.  He wasn’t bad, but it was not like he was absolutely dominant.  If he was the primary set up man and pitching to a 1 ERA I can see them wanting to keep him up, but he was pitching mediocre, which is understandable considering he is 20 and raw, and he was being used in mop up duty.  At least they finally got it right.

Parnell was pitching much better then ERA.  He had a 3.52 FIP and had a 62% ground ball rate while lowering his walks from last season.  He should be able to fill Mejia’s role fine.  If he continues to strike guys out and get that many ground balls, with the Mets defense he could put up some pretty strong numbers and move into the set up role by the end of the season.

Struggling Holt Demoted, Maldonado Promoted


Coming into the season as the Mets 6th best prospect everything was looking good for Brad Holt.  He was moving through the system quicker then expected, but then things started to take a free fall for Holt.  He started the year off hurt and when he came back things just went as bad as they possibly could.  In 10 games he has gone 1-5 with a staggering 10.20 ERA.  He is giving up nearly a walk per inning and giving up well over resulting in his ugly 2.15 WHIP.  In his first two seasons in the minors Holt had displayed pretty good command and he is still getting his fair share of strikeouts so I’d have to think Holt is still feeling the effects of his injury whether it is causing him to alter his mechanics or what, but he is definitely not 100%.

Moves:

Brad Holt transferred from AA (Binghamton) to HiA (St. Lucie)

Brahiam Maldonado transferred from HiA (St. Lucie) to AA (Binghamton)

John Maine transferred from AA (Binghamton) to AAA (Buffalo)

Juan Centeno transferred from AA (Binghamton) to SSA (Brooklyn)