Cuban Imports

Though Yulieski Gourriel is not one of them, five Cuban defectors are in the Dominican Republic and attracting attention.

In other words, while he's an agent, not a scout, he does know talent. And he believes he has some future big leaguers among the five Cuban defectors working out in the Dominican Republic.

All five players have been certified by Major League Baseball as free agents, according to Torres. Three of the players--catcher Alexis Fonseca, righthander Serguey Linares and infielder Yunesky Sanchez--can sign at any time, having cleared the bureaucratic process known as unblocking. Two others, righthander Yuslan Herrera and shortstop Yohannis Sanchez, have not yet been "unblocked" but should complete the process sooner rather than later.

Linares has had an unspectacular career, but throws hard and has been clocked at 97-98 mph before. I would figure Omar to be in on Linares and Herrera for some more pitching depth.

"Herrera, I had one organization put an offer on the table to see if he could help their major league team this year. I say he is ready right now, but he is not unblocked yet, so that is not going to happen. But he was ahead of (Mets righthander) Alay Soler in the rotation at Pinar Del Rio three years ago, and he is a professional, very mature, and he is ready to pitch."

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Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet is out and Deolis Guerra is in the top ten and Carlos Gomez is an honorable mention.

7. Deolis Guerra, rhp, Mets (Low Class A Hagerstown)
As the season goes on, it becomes harder to believe that this guy was born in 1989. After an 11-strikeout gem Sunday night, Guerra has allowed just two earned runs over his last three starts. Since June 1, he has a 2.06 ERA in 66 innings with a 51-19 strikeout-walk ratio.

As for Gomez, he is making progress and that is all we can ask for. Hopefully he starts flashing the big time power that he is supposed to posses soon.

Carlos Gomez, of, Mets (Double-A Binghamton): Prior to this season, Gomez was known more for his raw tools than his production on the field. Since returning in June from a back injury that sidelined him for a few weeks, he has been doing his best to reverse his rep. The 20-year-old is hitting .363 in that span and hit .406 in July and is hitting .435 in August. It is still mostly singles and he still strikes out too much, but it is still progress.

As an interesting note, Wayne Lydon got ink as a blast from the past.

Wayne Lydon, of, Blue Jays (Triple-A Syracuse)
A ninth-round pick of the Mets in 1999 from a Pennsylvania high school, Lydon emerged as a nominal prospect in 2002 when he posted a .368 OBP with 87 stolen bases for low Class A Capital City. The 25-year-old still has some wheels and after swiping four last night, he now has 22 on the season and 351 for his minor league career.

The one that got away....

Pedro Beato, rhp, Orioles (Short-season Aberdeen): The righthander Mets fans were dreaming of a couple of months ago has proved himself over his last four starts in Aberdeen. Since moving into the IronBirds’ rotation, he’s gotten better with each start, tossing seven two-hit frames last Wednesday and going 1-0, 1.09 over 24 2/3 innings as a starter.

When it rains it pours for Paul LoDuca.

One day you are in the middle of what has been a dream season, for you and for your baseball team. The next you are on the front page of the newspaper because of a divorce and answering questions later about online betting and whether or not you have a gambling problem.

"I love horse racing," Lo Duca said on the telephone about six o'clock last night. "I grew up with it and I want to be a part of it after I retire from baseball. I have a legal online betting account, and I use it to bet on the horses. That's it. I don't have a gambling problem and I've never had a gambling problem and that's it."

LoDuca made that statement in regards to allegations that he has accumulated some serious debt. He also said the he gets along with his soon to be ex-wife great though his wife's petition seems to state the contrary.

The petition filed by Lo Duca's wife specifically asks the court to prevent Lo Duca from incurring any indebtedness, making withdrawals from accounts or entering safe deposit boxes.

The document also seeks to prevent him from "consuming alcohol" within 24 hours before seeing his 21-month-old daughter or having "intimate" overnight guests when the child is present.

Looks like an ugly situation on his hands because even if he is 100% innocent, all this negative press is out there about him and I'm sure he will hear it on the road.

Despite some off the field issues, John Harper found some time to ignore those allegations and wrote a nice piece on LoDuca.

I thought Wright's contract might be a record and it turns out it was the largest contract received by a non arbitration eligible player.

At the beginning of the season, a few jackasses were booing Beltran. Now? He gets MVP chants. Really and unbelievable turn of events.

With his 97 runs batted in, Beltrán has 33 homers — more than twice as many as last season — 14 stolen bases, 84 runs scored and a combined on-base and slugging percentage of 1.003, the third highest in the National League. In their 44-year history, the Mets have never had a player win the Most Valuable Player award, but Beltrán has a real shot.

“God already knows who’s going to be the M.V.P.,” Beltrán said in a recent interview. Asked if he thought God would give him a sign that it would be him, he shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I wouldn’t work as hard if I already knew the result.”

Ricky Ledee is back in the Big Apple, but this time he is a member of the good guys.

For those of you who are interested, I will be going to the Metsgeek.com bleacher night. Just so I'm easy to find, I will be be the only guy wearing a sundress and pigtails.