Mets release Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin from Triple-A

Via Bisons.com:

New York also announced that INF/OF Wily Mo Pena and INF Javier Valentin have been released.
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Pena hit .276 (40-145) with five home runs and 21 RBI in 41 games with the Bisons.

Valentin, who had been on the disabled list since June 15 with a strained right shoulder, hit .260 (20-77) with three home runs and 10RBI in 23 games with the Herd.

Valentin I can understand due to his shoulder issues.

Why release Pena?  Not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but Pena was second on the team with five home runs.  His 21 RBI was good for third.  His OBP was pretty poor, standing at .296 , but not low enough to warrant a release.

Again, not that huge in the grand scheme of the Mets, but something that might come back to bite them, especially with all these injuries.

Do the Mets hate Ryan Church?

In the past two weeks, the Mets have signed Gary Sheffield to a major league contract and added Willy Mo Peña to the minor league roster.  This past off-season, they also signed Cory Sullivan to a major league deal, added Jeremy Reed via trade, re-signed Angel Pagan and entertained the notion of Nick Evans and Marlon Anderson in the outfield.

Obviously, with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis set in left field, there is a worry about if either of them is a capable enough fielder and if their bats would outweigh their shoddy gloves.

But over the last few games, Sheffield is starting to see more time in right field and the addition of Peña cannot be overlooked. 

Do the Mets trust Ryan Church?  Do they think he can rebound to 2008 PC (pre-concussions)?

So far, Church has given the Mets little inclination that he would be slipping back into the second half of 2008.  He’s currently batting .378/.477/.541.  Of his 14 hits, six are doubles.

He has only driven in two runs so far, and has only scored four times, but that is a problem that is greater than Church.  The whole team is struggling with runners in scoring position, so it would be unfair to to peg that against him.

The latest moves the Mets have been making are somewhat beneficial to the team, I just wonder if it will come at any cost to Ryan Church.

Report: Mets sign Willy Mo Peña [Updated]

According to the Web site almemento.net, the Mets have signed Willy Mo Peña to a minor league deal (via Retire31).

UPDATE – 7:40 p.m.: SNY has corroborated this report.

It’s a good signing because you can never have enough players.  The Mets seem hell-bent on signing outfielders with attitude problems.  It will help Buffalo, that’s for sure.  He’ll be up with the Mets sometime in 2009.

The translated version of the report reads…

SANTO DOMINGO. - The Dominican gardener Wily Mo Rock reached an agreement of smaller league with the set of the Meters of New York that will report about $400 to him thousands dollars reason why he remains of the season.

According to a source informed into whole credit, the Dominican one accepted the pact with the New York troops with the condition of which it would not remain in the minority circuits by more than two months.

It will not be until this Sunday or Monday when one hopes that the Mets makes the company/signature with Rock public.

Obviously, I’m skeptical of this report.  Take it with a large grain of salt.

The article claims it’s a minor league deal, worth $400,000.

Peña refused to his assignment to minor league camp with the Washington Nationals and was granted his unconditional release from the organization on March 31.

The Mets had originally signed Peña as a free agent in 1998.  Over seven seasons in the major leagues, Peña has played for three different teams, compiling a .253 AVG / .307 OBP / .447 SLG.  He’s driven in 225 runs, with his best year coming in 2004 with Cincinnati when he drove in 66 runs.

With the Buffalo Bisons off to a 1-10 start, I guess they need a bit of a kick-start.  Maybe Peña’s attitude will rustle some feathers.