A blog dedicated to the New York Mets with some other baseball thrown in.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

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."

* * *

  • 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.

  • 20 Comments:

    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Does anyone know if this is true?
    http://www.baseballrubbingmud.com/main.htm

    12:29 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    Looks tasty. I'm sure it was true back then. But now? Those things are shiny and new.

    12:32 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I won't be at Geeks in the Bleachers per se...I'll be at the game, just not with the Geeks unfortunately (gonna make it there just before first pitch, you guys will be sitting, sipping your first beers)

    If you guys are anything like Milledge People (judging by what you are wearing Mr Met, I would say YES LOL), it should be easy to find ya. I'll come by to introduce myself.

    12:38 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Milledge People? Mike was the Navajo, hahahaha.

    1:23 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I believe the magic number is now at 39, but i could be wrong. I also believe the more important magic number to be at 46. That's the magic number that would get the Mets home field advantage for the playoffs. I think the NL East is pretty much locked up, now let's lock up Shea! While the Mets post relatively the same win percentage at home and on the road, the team that is in second for home field advantage the St. Louis Cardinals is equally as good at home, but only a .500 team on the road. SD is the only other NL team that is above .500 on the road (Cinnci and Philly too, but not by much). The reason why they are so much better is because SD is a pitcher's park and they play most of their away games in hitter's parks (LA, Arizona, Colorado, and SF). Cinnci the other team favored to make the playoffs plays in a tinny park as well. Home field advantage is extremely important to the Mets playoff success this year, especially because of their suspect starting rotation (whom for the most part post better eras and win/loss records at home). This is a big series in my eyes... what does everyone else think? I would say 31 more wins all but guarantees the Mets homefield, but I think they could probablly squeeze by with 26 or a .500 record the rest of the way.

    2:01 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    Coop, if you and your boyfriend should feel adventurous....you can climb up to the upper decks and locate us. I'm sure we'll be off to one of the two sides in no man's land. I'll be the one holding on tightly to railings for fear of falling.

    Maybe I will dress like an Indian. I'll probably be easier to spot and that is the goal here. If anyone sees a headdress made of feathers, that's me.

    Mets NEED homefield advantage. I'm still incredibly mad at Hoffman for screwing up the Mets chances at homefield. With such a big spot on the line, they should have called Dirty up, put him on the team, and into the game and the Wilpon's private jet should have flew him out. The Mets could have had homefield the entire way through.

    Every series from now on out is a big series. 66 wins right now is five better than the Cards. 104 would easily take homefield and 101 should still take it. That's their goal. Net 35 more wins in the next 62 games, which should be easy in my eyes for them. Make it happen.

    2:36 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    For more info on guys in the Dominican and all over the world there's this guy with a blog traveling and takign notes on some of the "big names" in the international scene.
    I think its good, so if anyone wants to read his stuff, check it out.
    Global Baseball

    I fucking hate Wayne Lydon.

    So now Lo Duca is a GAMBLER!!!??? AHHHH. That's like calling all people who play the lotto, gamblers.
    Calm the fuck down newspaper guys, just because ou do somethign doens't mean your obscessed with it.

    he 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.

    Yeah... I think that'd be a good idea no matter who you are.

    And I'm going to Metsgeek night. EVERYBODY FUCKING GO!

    3:03 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Magic number for post season is actually 40. Home field advantage is 47. Don't fget you need to add 1 to the max wins of St Louis or Philly. The other gives a tie.

    I watched the Cyclones game on SNY last night. I know its short season A ball but Brooklyn pitcher I never heard of Jake Ruckle threw a gem. 8IP, OER, 4H, 0BB 10K. He had great control, no one came close to him, had a great delivery, they did not have a gun but seemed to throw relatively hard. Wierd delivery, he leaned way back and then had a real high leg kick looked like old movies of Orlando Cepeda. Must be tough to pick up the ball. Mike, you know more about Mets prospects than any man alive (including Omar Minaya). Whats the word on this kid?

    Adam

    3:06 PM

     
    Blogger BookieD said...

    I don't know that the NEED home field advantage, except that if the don't get it, either something will have gone horribly wrong with the season or some other team will have gotten ridiculously hot during August/September (never a good sign for such team's opponents). I obviously want to have home field advantage, but our Mets team seems to like playing on the road.

    Though I hate beginning a point with the phrase "if you throw out____, then" I will say it anyway--if you throw out the interleague series vs. AL opponents, then they're 31-16 on the road vs. National League opponents. Throw in Beltran's and Delgado's road/home splits, and you could argue the team would fare better on the road.

    3:10 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    Good shit Benny.

    Ha, I hate Lydon too. He's all speed and nothing else. He took up a 40-man roster spot for way too long if I remember correctly?

    I love gambling. If you can't police yourself and blow it all, that's not my fault. People need to be more responsible or deal with it. Either way, it's LoDuca's problem. Besides, if he lost everything today, he'll make plenty to retire off of anyway.

    Cyclones is on SNY? Fucking swell. I had no idea. Do they always have them/

    Ruckle is making some noise. Seems like a solid prospect, but he won't move up quickly through the ranks. He did well in St. Lucie before being demoted. Really silly stuff again with this crap and good players being demoted to Brooklyn. He was a draft and follow from last year. He's a good one to follow.

    3:13 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Am I missing something? Aren't there only 52 games remaining? Where do you get 104/101 and 35 more from? I'm not knocking you're theory, I'm just curious where it comes from. I figure that even if every team in the national league played .700 ball (the best any team has played this seaon, see detroit win pct.) the rest of the way. Even though that isn't possible, that would give the best of them 96 wins. Meaning the Mets would need 31 for home field. You're number of 101 would require St Louis to almost play .800 ball, I guess that's not out of the question, but that would be a hell of a tear. Even if the Mets play .500 ball the rest of the way they will finish with 92 wins. In order to loose home field a NL team would have to post a .588 win percentage, something none has done thus far.

    3:15 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    Bookied, I love throwing stuff out. Throw out El Duque's bad two starts and he's probably under 3.00 as a Met...chew on that.

    It works sometimes when it's relevant. It tells me Duque will give me 2 stinkers for 10 good games.

    Joe, you are right...you get the picture. i was over shooting 10 games.

    3:15 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    and yeah, my 101 wins is high, but that pretty much wraps it up at this stage. The Mets need to top 100 games for a number of reasons as I posted the other day.

    3:17 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I see now... and I'd love to see 100, but I don't think it's going to happen. That's what got me to playing with the numbers.

    3:27 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Actually, I will be there with my "wingman," my cousin J-Dawg who is going in lieu of Lazy Boy. Lazy Boy is going tonight with me :-)

    3:33 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    While the Cyclones are nice and all, i'd much rather see games from Binghamton, Norfolk and even St. Lucie. C'mon, SNY. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

    Emad

    3:49 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    Yes, EMAD, I'm with you 110%. But we haven't seen anything. They should be playing those games all day in replay. However, I'll take what I can get and Junior Contreras goes there next season with Maldonado and Garcia, it should be fun to watch.

    Ah, going with your wingman. We'll you should stop by regardless and watch me play the 'see how drunk i can get by the 7th inning' game and making outlandish statements about all things baseball.

    Joe, 100 will be tough, but I think that should be their goal. Set their eyes there and don't let up.

    3:53 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    This was the first time that I saw a Cyclones game on SNY. I don't know how often they will be on. I checked the SNY schedule for the next time the Mets have a day off on 8/21 and there is a Cyclone game that day. maybe this will be on whenever a Mets game is not on SNY.

    What does draft and follow mean?

    If you want to see Ruckle's delivery, go to brooklyncyclones.com check out the multimedia bos on right he is the pitcher in the start of the video. They also have a catcehr named jacobs who hit a HR, any relation to our old friend Mike?

    Adam

    4:22 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    A draft and follow could be any high school player or junior college player. Basically, the team holds their rights (as they do with any draft pick that is unsigned) until a few days prior to the draft. This player can attend junior college and play baseball whereas if they went to a four year college, they would have to re-enter the draft.

    It just is a way for a team to follow a player between drafts as they play in junior college.

    I could be slightly off, but that's the gist.

    4:56 PM

     
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    9:01 PM

     

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