New York Mets

With Ike Davis all, but assured of a trip to Triple-A Las Vegas, the easy part is done. The difficult part will deciding on how to replace him, in body only, at first base. On the current roster, we already discussed some of the options available and they range from moving Lucas Duda from left field to first base, moving Daniel Murphy over to first, or giving Justin Turner significant playing time at first as well. None of those options sound very appealing and each one opens up a new set of problems. Instead, the solution should come from the minors. The simpleton’s choice would be to turn to Zach Lutz. However, he has struggled of late after getting off to a torrid start and is now batting just .271/.354/.421 in 140 at-bats. Only 12 of his 38 hits were for extra-bases. Scarier still, is the 42 strikeouts. How well do you think those metrics will translate at Citi Field? Not very well I can assure you. The smart money would be on Josh Satin. Already the starting first baseman for Las Vegas, he is having a very solid 2013 season, batting .299 with six home runs and 24 RBI. His on-base is at .410 and he boasts a .470 slugging percentage. What I love about Satin and why I feel he would be the ideal choice is this… In 164 at-bats he’s struck out just 37 times, but he has also drawn 30 walks. This is someone who is obviously ready for the next challenge. Additionally, Satin has regularly played first base (198 games) while the position is still relatively new to Lutz who has logged just 42 games at first base in his entire pro career. Back on May 1, I wrote the following about Josh Satin: Satin has always been a great and disciplined hitter and one look at his career .397 on-base in six minor league seasons should have the suits in the front office with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, as would his .466 slugging percentage. I don’t know about you, but I’m growing tired of watching Ike Davis suffocate this offense and have been calling for a reduced role for him since the season began. He’s not suddenly going to magically begin teeing off against lefty pitching as a few lingering fans still believe. That’s a wooden bat he has in his hands, not a magic wand. Ike Davis is nothing more than the long end of a platoon player at best. I’ve said that before and continue to stand on that position. Josh Satin deserves a chance to prove he belongs. He’s paid his dues and has nothing left to prove in the minors. Let’s get this done and right a wrong that has gone on for far too long. Let’s give this kid his well-deserved shot. The worst thing that a team as bad as the Mets could do, is to keep trotting out the same undeserving and underperforming ballplayers while some hidden gems waste away at Triple-A when they should be here instead helping the team score runs. Before that on April 17, in a post entitled, “Time To Promote Josh Satin and Platoon Ike Davis“, I said: Satin has been hitting the ground running from the moment he signed his first professional contract and has posted an.865 OPS during his minor league career with the Mets, and has made the Minor League All Star Team as the starting third baseman, first baseman or second baseman every season since 2009. Wow… I think it’s time to call this and tell it like it is… Ike Davis is nothing more than the long end of a platoon player at best. Enter Josh Satin, who despite the gaudy stats I already posted, is even better against left-handed pitching. He torches southpaws unmercifully like a demon from Hell. Let’s get this done and right a wrong that has gone on for far too long and give Josh Satin his well-deserved shot. The fact that it’s taking this long is a cardinal sin. I was called nuts when I wrote that, but who’s nuts now? Some guy from Bayonne who knows baseball and can see things with his eyes, told me I lost my baseball mind and that Ike was fine and I should shut up about this. Anyway… The choice is pretty clear as to what th

Any East Coast fans who tuned in to watch/hear the Mets take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles on May 24, 1973 likely figured they'd be asleep by a reasonable hour, what with the relatively punchless away team sending Tom Seaver to the mound against Tommy John in one of the league's best pitchers parks. For the first six innings, the expected hurler's duel went more or less to script. Seaver held the Dodgers to three runs, while John did him one better, allowing just two and pitching into the seventh. In the top of the eight, outfielder George "The Stork" Theodore singled to tie the game. That would prove to be the last offense outburst of any kind until well past four a.m. EDT. A consortium of five relievers (two for the Mets, three for L.A.) limited both teams to a mere 14 singles in the ensuing eleven frames. The Mets finally broke the game open in the 19th, scoring four thanks to extra base hits off the bats of Rusty Staub and Ed Kranepool. Jim McAndrew came on tossed an efficient bottom half for the save, his final pitch coming five hours and 42 minutes after the game's first delivery. Final score: Mets 7, Dodgers 3. Birthdays Former Mets reliever and current Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto is 45. Over the course of his two seasons in New York, Dipoto made $275,000. In the two years he's helmed the Los Angeles née Anaheim front office, he's shelled out roughly half a billion dollars of owner Arte Moreno's money. Justin Hampson turns 33. The left-hander pitched in 13 Mets games last year and is presently plying his trade for Triple-A Las Vegas. Hampson would be a candidate to help ease some of the burden on Scott Rice, who apparently has to work on all days ending in Y, save for two things. First, he's not on the 40-man roster. Second, he wasn't all that effective in his 2012 cameo. In the summer of 2005, Jae Weong Seo, 37, reeled off four straight starts that rated as 70 or higher according to game score. Small sample size? Yes. Arbitrary start and endpoints? Yes. Impressive nonetheless? Also yes. Only eleven pitchers in franchise history have gone on similar such streaks and all but Seo and Jim McAndrew were All-Stars. Assuming Matt Harvey gets the nod in a month or so, that is... The entire big league career of Bill Wakefield, 72 today, consists of 62 pitching appearances for the '64 Mets. On the evening of May 6, Bill started the first-ever night game at Shea Stadium, though he got the hook before the stars were fully out in the sky. His final line: 4 IP, 5 R, 3 BB, 1 HR. Wakefield did make one more appearance in a Mets uniform, post-64, however. It came 45 years later when the team honored his small place in franchise history by inviting him to throw out a ceremonial first pitch during Citi Field's inaugural season. TransactionsIn retrospect, it's amazing that the 2006 Mets were ten games over .500 by Memorial Day weekend considering that Brian Bannister, Geremi Gonzalez, Jose Lima, Alay Soler, and Victor Zambrano all took turns in team's rotation at some point. That parade of awfulness prompted Omar Minaya to make arguably his savviest in-season trade on this date seven years ago, sending spare bullpen arm Jorge Julio to Arizona for Orlando Hernandez. Incredibly hit-unlucky in 45-plus innings for the Diamondbacks, Hernandez reverted to his career norms upon escaping the Valley of the Sun and turned in 12 quality starts in 20 chances to stabilize the back end of the rotation. Amazin'-ly Tenuous ConnectionThe Brooklyn Bridge, still standing strong after over a century of foot, horse, streetcar, and automobile traffic (not to mention countless purchases by gullible parties), celebrates its birthday today. The venerable span, which has connected Manhattan and its namesake borough for 130 years now, has served as a greater New York City icon since the day it opened. It's also been a part of New York Mets iconography since the franchise's beginning. Ray Gatto, the cartoonist who designed the Mets team

The post Dwight Gooden and Mariano Rivera? Sure! appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:Dwight Gooden and Miss America? Sure!Dwight Gooden — Removed From Home After Threatening Estranged Wife | TMZ.com

As is the case with many of baseball's most important innovations, the origins of the rally cap remain murky. What we can say for sure is the popularity of the rally cap soared alongside the fortunes of the Mets of the 1980s. The Mets' 1985 campaign is often pointed to as the tipping point for rally cap mania, and their use of it during that season spread the practice around baseball. When the rally cap first emerged, it was met with skepticism and derision by non-believers, but the power of the rally cap was so potent that infidels could be converted at the mere sight of their favorite team sporting them. Such powers were on full display during the epic Rick Camp Game between the Mets and Braves on July 4-5, 1985. During the wee hours of that insane contest, Mets players in the dugout wore caps turned inside-out and placed in strange positions, hoping this would somehow grant them victory in a game that seemed it might never end. Atlanta's announcer John Sterling (yes, that John Sterling) had never seen such a thing before, and his first impulse was to mock the Mets' fashion statement. A few innings later, however, the Braves mimicked the look, hoping to counter the Mets' mojo. Sterling professed to find this sight delightful, and thus a heathen was brought over to the cause. In the national consciousness, the rally cap ritual was forever endowed with special powers once Mets players were seen wearing them during the NBC broadcast of game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Rally caps caught on with the public quickly because they were manifestations of an idea fans had long held: They could will their team to victory through the execution of some simple action. Rally caps also blew up because they were spiritual cousins to the-lampshade-on-the-head, a practice whose enjoyment is directly proportional to how hammered everyone in the room is. The Mets dedicated themselves to the cause of Rally Cap Evangelism by scheduling a Rally Cap Day on July 26, 1987. It was an idea whose time had come, as the team proudly announced it was "one of the greatest give-a-way days in Mets history" that was "sold out farther in advance than any other game" that season. By making an official Rally Cap Day, the Mets were attempting to transform a folk ritual into an organized religion. Prior to this, there were no formal rules about what constituted a rally cap. One would simply shape a cap into whatever their mood (or level of alcohol consumption) dictated. The undercurrent of Rally Cap Day, on the other hand, insisted that a true talisman must be worn in the right manner and at the right time to make full use of its magic. The point of the event was not to celebrate an organic cultural expression, but to force orthodoxy on a polyglot congregation. And so, fans who arrived at Shea that Sunday afternoon were not simply given Official Rally Caps. They were also given a thorough catechism for this sacred rite. The rally caps came with a little velcro baseball, and a set of instructions as to exactly where to place the ball, and when, and why. It's important to note that because this was 1987, the giveaway was sponsored by Crazy Eddie, the electronics store whose aggressive commercials ran nonstop on television, and whose signature yellow t-shirts were a staple in the wardrobe of every self-respecting mook in the tri-state area. As a business, though, Crazy Eddie was also little more than a shell game, and while this event was taking place, they were in the midst of executing one of the biggest securities frauds of the 1980s. It wasn't easy to stand out as a huge securities fraud in the 1980s, but Crazy Eddie did it. I can't say for sure if Crazy Eddie had any input for this event, but the litany of rules listed (as reproduced in a page from an official Mets program scanned below) seem to be the product of a not entirely sane mind. Or at least one gripped by a crippling case of OCD. "Put ball in left-top side of hat in fifth and eighth innings TO MAKE

Mejia looked sharp last night, hitting 96 MPH. Last Night’s Quick Scores Las Vegas got blanked by Iowa, 4-0. Binghamton was shutout by New Britain, 1-0. Savannah slid by Augusta, 3-1. St. Lucie defeated Dunedin, 8-5. Prospect Pipeline Jenrry Mejia made his second rehab start last night in St. Lucie and impressed with eight strikeouts over five innings. We were all curious as to how he would come back in terms of velocity, command, and the break on his pitches. Six of his eight strikeouts were swinging, he walked merely one batter, and he touched 96 MPH in the first inning when he struck out two batters. I think it’s safe to say he’s definitely on his way back. He’s expected to get a chance to start either in AA or AAA later this season. Speaking of getting a chance to start, Rainy Lara found himself promoted to St. Lucie yesterday. The right-hander posted a glistening 1.42 ERA over 50.2 innings (eight starts) with the Sand Gnats. He also continued to showcase sterling command, recording 51 strikeouts to just six walks, and now owns a 0.97 WHIP during his brief professional career. The Mets have yet to determine when he makes his first start with them. (Bill P.) A high-ranking team official told the NY Post on Thursday that barring a setback, Zack Wheeler is expected to make 2-3 more starts for Triple-A Las Vegas and then join the Mets. If Wheeler remains on normal rest, that would put his Mets debut somewhere in the June 6-11 range. (Joe D.) Domingo Tapia returns from the DL after his hand burning incident to make a start for St. Lucie today. Cory Mazzoni Mark Cohoon pitched brilliantly in defeat yesterday – going eight innings and allowing just one earned run. Robert Gsellman had a stellar performance in victory – where he allowed just one earned run over seven innings. Kevin Plawecki hit double # 20 last night for Savannah. #Promotethismannow Baseball America’s most recent mock has the Mets taking Ryne Stanek after they suggested D.J. Peterson in the first one. I’ll have a post up on MetsMinors.Net in a little while about that. Stat Line of the Day Mark Cohoon: 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 ER, 7 K Transactions RHP Rainy Lara was promoted to St. Lucie from Savannah. RHP Hansel Robles was placed on the 7-Day DL. RHP Marcos Camarena was demoted to Savannah from St. Lucie.

Run Time: 2:52:27 Agenda: 0:00- 9:12: Intro / Feelin' kind of blue / Bill Pulsiper or Kevin Elster? / Agenda 9:12- 39:14: What to do with Ike Davis? / Is 2013 for competition or evaluation now? / It's gotten so bad, Rob thinks Eric Campbell might get called up / Jeffrey does not have lobby / Is Davis the long term answer at first base? / The problem with moving Duda to first / Buying very, very low / Projecting Ruben Tejada / When does Ike go down? 39:14- 1:07:53: Adventures in Prospectsitting / Lessons learned in New Britain / Always pay for premium parking when you are running late to the stadium / Logan Verrett and what is possible / Jack Leathersich and major league stuff / Cesar Puello and who are you facing / Jacob deGrom and scouting the box score / Chase Huchingson and the prospect grind / Rob and Jeffrey get sappy 1:07:53- 1:48:10: PitchFx talk with Josh Smolow / Matt Harvey: How does he work / ICYMI, Matt Harvey has a really good fastball / Matt Harvey shoves it against lefties / Jeffrey and Josh argue about Harvey's change-up / Three problems with Jon Niese / Josh is not the biggest Dan Warthen fan 1:48:10- 2:52:27 Housekeeping and e-mails / Jeffrey immeditely sidedrains the segment by talking about his search for a Korean Jae Weong Seo jersey and a Yusmeiro Petit bobblehead / Prospect injury updates / So where is Luis Mateo anyway? / More from Rob on Wilmer Flores / Wilmer Flores is Danny Valencia? / Randy's report from Omaha / Apologies to Meredith / If you are wondering where the podcast goes off the rails, it's right about here / Jeffrey goes on a looooong Josh Satin monologue / TRAIDing for Carlos Gonzalez / We don't get the Rockies / Jeffrey's not sold on Shin Soo Choo / TRAIDing John Buck / "Uh, this is becoming an utter train wreck" / We got jokes / Cat Latos / Who does Zack Wheeler replace in the Mets rotation / Rob's power goes out so Jeffrey just wraps up the show As always, you can listen or subscribe to the podcast through iTUNES, listen through the embedded player below, or download the podcast at amazinavenueaudio.com Next week is our Rule 4 draft preview, so feel free to e-mail us draft questions at podcast@amazinavenueaudio.com and tune in to see if we can break the three hour mark.

Face it: Inaccuracies, errors and typos are a product of this high-speed information world we currently inhabit. You may have even seen a few right here on Big League Stew from time to time. But this mistake-riddle graphic that popped up during the Kansas City Royals’ broadcast on Thursday night is really the Mark Reynolds-at-third base of television graphics. Just when you think it can’t get any worse … it somehow does. Before you dive into our list of all the errors we spotted, see how many you can find on your own. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – New York Mets News

“Hefner is the Anti-Harvey.” I caught that in Adam Rubin’s Morning Briefing today on ESPN New York. I guess if you go by their won-loss records you could certainly make that claim, but it’s not that simple. With all the latest reports now confirming what we’ve all been waiting for since Carlos Beltran was shipped off almost two years ago, the question now is: If Zack Wheeler is in, then who’s out? Obviously, Jon Niese is safe so the choice will come down to either Jeremy Hefner (5.00 ERA), Dillon Gee (6.04 ERA) and Shaun Marcum (6.59 ERA). The early consensus has the one with the lowest ERA as the odd man out, Hefner’s 0-5 record I’m sure will weigh heavily in the decision, but he also has a lot less experience than the other two and we all know how Terry loves his veterans… Right, Ike? Jared Diamond of The Journal calls Hefner “unlucky,” and to a point he’s right. “Jeremy Hefner pitches for the Mets on Friday,” he writes. “Therefore, the Mets probably won’t win. “Baseball isn’t always fair, especially when you play for the Mets. All eight of Hefner’s starts this season have ended in a Mets loss, putting him in an unfortunate and lonely club: He is the only regular starter in the majors whose team has lost all of his starts.” Honestly, Hefner hasn’t been nearly as bad as his record would indicate, and as Diamond points out, after a tough first couple of games his ERA has been just a tick above league average which is exactly what one would expect or hope for from their fifth starter. The right-hander has has a 4.06 ERA over his last five starts, while the National League average comes in at 3.77. The Mets’ offense hasn’t exactly had Hefner’s back whenever he takes the mound, averaging about three runs a game whenever he pitches. He could just as easily be 3-2 instead of 0-5 when you examine a few of his last five starts, especially his April 30 start when he took a shutout into the ninth inning against the Marlins. In his start before that, he tossed seven solid innings against the Dodgers and allowed just one run. Of course the Mets lost both of those superbly pitched games. I do agree with the majority opinion and that Hefner will indeed be the one that Wheeler ultimately replaces, but it might not be a bad thing either for Hefner or even the Mets. Hefner seems to have trouble once the opposition gets that third look at him as do most pitchers. The problem with Hefner is that he doesn’t have those plus-pitches that could help him navigate through a lineup late in games. He doesn’t possess any electric stuff and eventually the other guys can figure him out. That’s a problem for a starting pitcher, but not so much for a long reliever. Hefner could be what the Mets have lacked ever since Darren Oliver bolted for the Angels after the 2006 season. Zack Wheeler may not spell the end for Jeremy Hefner, but it might mark the beginning of something new and possibly better.

by Will Overton Sometimes there is no experience more frustrating and somewhat vomit inducing than sifting through the waiver wire of your fantasy baseball deep league. It’s rare that anyone useful comes along on the wire and when they do the race is on to get him and with 14 or more teams in the running the odds aren’t always in your favor. So yeah, I wouldn’t describe working the deep league wire to be a fun time, but it can be necessary. Maybe you’re like me and you just got blindsided by a Josh Rutledge demotion. Or there is the constant stream of injuries fantasy owners have to deal with as well. It can be hard to predict who might be available in a deeper league because they’re all so different. However the guys I am talking about in this post are all guys available in at least one, typically multiple deep leagues that I compete in. Here are some potential deep league targets and my take on each: D.J. LeMahieu – 2B, Colorado Rockies: I mentioned above how caught off guard I was by the demotion of Josh Rutledge. If you were a fellow owner who lost out on that move you might want to start your replacement search by looking at Rutledge’s replacement in Colorado. LeMahieu was hitting .364 at Triple-A before being called up and so far he is 7 for 17 since hitting the big leagues. LeMahieu doesn’t really have pop in his bat , but he’s a solid contact hitter who keeps his strikeouts down. He’s not the fastest guy on the field, but he’s quick and he’s a good base runner. He stole 14 bases last season and he already had eight this season at Triple-A with another one already in the bigs. LeMahieu has a knack for getting on base and right now the Rockies are looking at him in the two spot in the lineup. If he’s getting on base regularly in front of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki good things should come from it. Chris Denorfia – OF, San Diego Padres: There is a chance that Chris Denorfia, the journeyman outfielder, may get 400 AB’s for the first time in his career this season. Denorfia has found a regular job in the Padres outfield and he’s performing better than most people realize with the playing time. Denorfia really isn’t bad as his career trajectory might assume. Denorfia is a career .283 hitter who has a little bit of power, certainly capable of hitting double digit HR’s in a 400 AB season. He also has some sneaky speed with double digit steals the last two seasons and a perfect five for five on SB’s so far this season. Denorfia isn’t the most attractive name out there, but in a deep league using five outfielders, he should be owned as long as he’s playing every day. Yan Gomes – C, Cleveland Indians: There is no position more difficult to field than catcher in deep two catcher leagues. Chances are if you’re in a league like that Gomes is off the board, but he’s creeping up into the single catcher deep league range now. Gomes is on a seven game hit streak right now and is 12 for his last 28. Gomes also has 7 R, 3 HR and 8 RBI in those last seven games. Gomes isn’t playing every day, but the more he hits the more likely the Indians are to find room for him, especially since they like the idea of not having to play Santana every day behind the plate. Certainly in two catcher leagues you have to own Gomes, single catcher league players should be interested too though. Rick Ankiel – OF, New York Mets: It seems almost funny that Ankiel is hitting near the top or middle of the Mets lineup, but all joking aside it gives him value. Ankiel clearly has his flaws, the guy is a career .244 hitter and that’s actually somewhat generous. So while Ankiel is hitting .323 in nine games since joining the Mets team that probably won’t last for too long. What Ankiel does have is legit power and now Citi Field doesn’t sap that. Ankiel has 7 HR’s in 93 AB’s so far this season between Houston and NY and he has 17 RBI. Power isn’t always easy to come by on the waivers, it’s even harder in the deeper leagues. For all of Ankiel’s shortcomings, he d

Batter up! Join the MLB and NYRR in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for the All-Star 5K & Fun Run Benefiting Sandy Relief, presented by Nike. This event features a fast 5K (3.1-mile) race, a 1.5-mile fun run, and All-Star festivities. It’s the perfect start to a summer weekend for the whole family! MLB will contribute 100% of the race’s net proceeds to Sandy relief. Want to run for charity and have a chance to win big? Build your team—the top fundraisers, and the race winners, will receive exclusive MLB prizes!This can’t-miss All-Star experience will feature mascots, celebrities, and baseball legends. Registrants will receive an exclusive All-Star 5K & Fun Run T-shirt for both adult and children participants.Don’t miss the game’s best sluggers take the stage at the Home Run Derby, July 15 at 8:00pm on ESPN. Watch the 2013 MLB All-Star Game July 16 on FOX at 8:00 pm to see baseball’s biggest stars decide home-field advantage for the World Series. Go to AllStarGame.com to learn more.via All-Star 5K & Fun Run Benefiting Sandy Relief | NYRR.The post All-Star 5K & Fun Run Benefiting Sandy Relief | NYRR appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:The Crazy Mets Fan: Mets & David Wright Launch The Wright Thing Community Program To Honor Sandy Relief VolunteersTranscript Of Sandy Alderson’s Conference Call With Mets Bloggers — February 27, 2013 – Amazin’ AvenueMETS TO HONOR HURRICANE SANDY HEROES OPENING DAY