Ex-Mets: Padres DFA Duaner

The San Diego Padres have designated Duaner Sanchez for assignment, according to Corey Brock of MLB.

Sanchez allowed 18 hits in 11 innings.  He had walked eight and had an ERA of 9.00.  Sanchez had only struck out two batters.

Tom Martin breaks wrist

Tom Martin, a possible bullpen candidate, broke his wrist in a fall in his rented home on Thursday. Martin fell down the stairs at his home.

Ron Villone's signing becomes bigger and bigger with each passing day. First Duaner Sanchez gets cut, now Martin is out.

If you're competing for a Mets bullpen spot, I'd watch your back.

Upgrading the spectacles

Maybe there is a "One Bespectacled Relief Pitcher Limit." Someone check the rule book.

Mets release Duaner Sanchez

The New York Mets have released struggling reliever Duaner Sanchez.

A major hat tip has to go to Joel Sherman, who rumored this back on Feb. 26. He wrote:

Sanchez has something at stake, as well, namely a job with the Mets. He has to make a positive impression or else the Mets will seriously consider releasing him by 2 p.m. on April 1 and owing the righty just one-quarter of his $1,687,500 contract ($421,875).

And that is exactly what the Mets did.

Omar Minaya had this to say:

We looked at it, really his overall performance based upon last year to where he is now, we really didn't see the improvement that we felt was needed to be effective in the major leagues.

Pretty telling, if you ask me.

Sanchez was struggling through spring, and seemed to never recover from his taxi accident back in 2006. Sanchez came to the Mets from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization on Jan. 4, 2006 in a trade that sent Jae Weong Seo and Tim Hamulack out west and brought Sanchez and Steve Schmoll to the Mets.

Appearing in only 49 games in 2006, due to the accident, he posted a 2.60 ERA. You may remember his 18 scoreless innings to begin the season that year.

On July 30, Sanchez was in a taxi heading to a restaurant in Miami, when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Sanchez suffered a separated shoulder, and would miss the rest of the season. This forced Omar Minaya's hand, as he then dealt Xavier Nady to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez. (My father still claims this cost the Mets the championship.)

In 2007, attempting to come back from the shoulder injury and surgery, he injured himself again. At the end of spring training, he suffered a hairline fracture in his shoulder, which forced him out for all of the '07 season.

In 2008, Sanchez was healthy enough to pitch, but not very effectively. He had lost a lot of power off his fastball, and he just couldn't control at bats the way he used to. He ended up throwing just over 58 innings in 66 games, putting up a 4.32 ERA.

Though I think the Mets should have given him a little more time, it's obvious this was bound to happen eventually and they might as well cut him now and save some money. The Mets must now rely on some younger pitchers and possibly the Rule V draft picks to fill the vacated role.

Sherman: Duaner on the bubble

Duaner Sanchez allowed two runs on one hit and two walks in yesterday's first spring training game. Before that game even began, Joel Sherman was reporting that Sanchez's days with the Mets might be numbered.

From Sherman:

Sanchez has something at stake, as well, namely a job with the Mets. He has to make a positive impression or else the Mets will seriously consider releasing him by 2 p.m. on April 1 and owing the righty just one-quarter of his $1,687,500 contract ($421,875).

Interesting thought. It's obvious he's not the same pitcher he was before the taxi accident.

The Mets seem to be very high on the players they selected in the rule V draft in Rocky Cherry and Darren O'Day, so one of them might be able to step into the role vacated if they move Sanchez.

I think it's something that is entirely plausible. I give it a 30 percent chance of happening.

Game Recap: Mets 9 -- Orioles 3

Today, the Mets took on the Baltimore Orioles in the first spring training game of the year. Luis Castillo and Ryan Church shone for the Mets, picking up seven RBIs between them.

On The Mound

Sean Green, who made the start for the Mets, only pitched 2-3 of an inning, as he has to leave the game with what turned out to be a cut on his middle finger nail. He expects to miss no time. Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez followed Green, with Sanchez allowing two runs on one hit and two walks.

Valerio De Los Santos and Matt DeSalvo combined for three innings. De Los Santos let in one run in his inning of duty.

Brian Stokes and Darren O'Day, a rule V pick, each threw one shut out inning. Elmer Dessens finished out the game with a rough inning, loading the bases, before inducing a double play ball to end the game.

At The Plate

As noted above, Church and Castillo stole the show.

Castillo went 2-4 with a double, driving in two RBIs per hit. Church has two doubles, driving in three RBIs.

Angel Pagan began his spring with a bang, going 3-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Young guns Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy each has very good games as well. Evans went 3-4 and scored three runs. Murphy went 2-3 with a walk, scoring twice and also making a nice play in the field, according to reports.

In The Field

Muprhy and Pagan each had an outfield assist. Ramon Castro also picked off Luke Scott at first base.

The Mets will take on the Florida Marlins in Port St. Lucie tomorrow at 1 p.m. The game will be available on SNY.

It's photo day

It's photo day for the Mets down in Port St. Lucie. Here's a shot of John Maine and Duaner Sanchez goofing off.

AP Photo / Jeff Roberson

Omar Minaya should not be done -- the bullpen needs work

Via Adam Rubin:

Omar Minaya has ruled out bringing in Manny Ramirez or any other major expenditure. The lone pieces still being sought are a lefty reliever on a minor-league deal and a righty bat for the bench, perhaps via a spring-training trade.

Fine. I understand no Manny, and I had been OK with that from the start. The problem I have is with the lefty reliever on a minor league deal.

Guys like Will Ohman and Juan Cruz are still on the market, and would be excellent additions to the Mets weak middle relief portion of the bullpen. If Omar is going to short change them with a minor league deal, I think they're going to be shut out.

There is no reason they shouldn't pay a guy like Ohman or Cruz enough money to come to the team. I think Minaya is completely overvaluing guys like Duaner Sanchez, Sean Green and Brian Stokes. Heck, I want them all to do well, but I really don't think they're good enough to bridge the gap from starter to J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez.

Those two guys at the end of the bullpen are completely worthless if the team can't hand them a lead. Without a solid set of pitchers for middle relief, I'm not very confident in the outlook for 2009.

The depth chart has the Mets bullpen as follows (without K-Rod and Putz):

• D. Sanchez
• P. Feliciano
• S. Green
• B. Stokes
• C. Muniz
• B. Parnell

I only trust one of them with a full inning, three batters at the least, of work. Stokes seems to be the only one who can go for more than a batter or two. Sanchez has stunk for a while now, ever since his run-in with a taxi cab. Feliciano is a situational, one or two batter kind of guy. When stretched to work an inning or two, he struggles.

Green, I don't know enough about to judge, but his numbers really aren't that good. A career 4.32 ERA and 1.53 WHIP aren't going to calm my nerves, or my heartburn, when he's pitching in the 7th inning with a one run lead.

Muniz has been riding the shuttle between triple-A and the major leagues for a while now. He's never really gotten a ton of work at the MLB level, and rightly so. He's just not that good. Parnell is a young gun, who they hope will blossom and prosper soon, but he's just not ready yet.

So save for K-Rod and Putz, the bullpen is a bit of a mess. They need to go out and lock down Ohman or Cruz (or someone else!), and soon, because this 'pen is just not going to cut it in the NL East.

Duaner Sanchez avoids arb

Duaner Sanchez will make $1,687,500 in 2009, avoiding an arbitration hearing with the Mets.

This nearly doubles Sanchez's $850,000 salary from 2008.

Six file for arbitration

Six players have filed for salary arbitration.

Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano, Ryan Church, Jeremy Reed, John Maine and Angel Pagan all filed for arbitration. David Lennon has the players service time and 2008 salaries up.

Last off-season, Oliver Perez was the first Met player to make it to a hearing since David Cone in 1992. Five bucks says they'll have another hearing this year. Clearing six players before the deadline is going to be a tough task, especially with Omar Minaya's attention elsewhere.

2008 MotY: Blue Bracket voting

Voting closed. Here are the results.

This is the final voting in Round 1. The Blue Bracket in the Piazza Division.

Here are today's matchups. (There are four polls. I notice the top poll has more votes than the others, so make sure you scoll down for the others!)

Game Recap: Astros 8 -- Mets 3

Tonight was not pretty.

Pitching Performance

John Maine struggled. He lasted more than five innings for once, going five 2-3 innings. Unfortunately, he got absolutely rocked. He let in six runs and was charged with two more after he left the game. Maine let up 10 hits, and walked two, striking out four batters.

The third was not pretty, and I thought he wasn't going to make it out. The four-run inning was capped off by a Lance Berkman opposite field three-run home run.

Awful. Not good at all. His velocity was up, which was a good sign. He looked so strong in the first, but seemed to fall apart after that.

Duaner Sanchez pitched only one third of an inning, but allowed two hits, that allowed the two runs to score charged to Maine. Joe Smith and Brian Stokes combined to throw three perfect innings, striking out three Astros.

Sanchez's velocity was up, too, but it had no movement. Smith and Stokes looked nice, I must say.

Offensive Output

The bats were stagnant again, as Brandon Backe had a perfect game going through four innings.

In the fifth inning, Daniel Murphy drew a two-out walk to break up the perfect game, which was followed by a Ryan Church double, driving him in. This was Church's first RBI since returning to the Mets.

Another lull for the bats, as they were held off the board until the eighth inning. Brian Schneider continued his hot streak, smacking two-run blast to right center field, pushing Church across.

Schneider...another home run? Crazy. Too little, too late.

The Rest of the Story

Can't win 'em all, right?

Another quick game: 2:36

Game Ball: Ryan Church

Game Recap: Pirates 5 -- Mets 2

Put away your brooms...

Pitching Performance

The man with the quick pitch count, John Maine, labored through five innings today, as he threw 96 pitches but only allowed two hits. Maine walked four and struck out three, but can't seem to keep his PC below 75 through four innings. Maine didn't factor in the decision, as the Mets offense sputtered and the bullpen played the part of "sieve" and watched the sweep disappear from their grasps.

Maine has been pitching OK lately, but this pitch count issue is something that needs to be addressed. I've never seen a pitcher throw so many pitches in only a handful of innings. He's getting too deep in counts and allowing too many foul balls to work deep into games.

The bullpen from Hell reared it's ugly head again today. Brian Stokes was tagged for a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, erasing any work Maine did on the bump. Scott Schoeneweis finished out the seventh inning for Stokes.

The trouble came in the 8th, when Pedro Feliciano only recorded one out, but allowed one hit before he was removed for Duaner Sanchez. Feliciano and the Mets could only watch as Sanchez faced four batters, intentionally walking one and giving up three hits, including a two-run double for the Pirates final runs. Joe Smith came in and recorded two outs to stop the bleeding.

Sanchez looked like he got his act together recently, struggled with his velocity again. He's just not the pitcher the Mets thought he would be through the entirety of the season. He doesn't have the stamina to get through a whole season like this. Maybe Steven Register could have helped this team through the season...

Offensive Output

Wasted chances. That was the theme today for the Mets. The team was only able to scratch out two runs, both on productive outs.

Outside of the sac-fly in the first from Carlos Beltran, scoring Argenis Reyes and an RBI groundout in the fourth off the bat of Carlos Delgado, plating David Wright, the Mets left runners on base in a handful of innings and it came back to bite them in the end.

The Mets had runners on second and third with nobody out twice, both times resulting in one run. The Mets got a leadoff double from Nick Evans in the 6th, and with one out he stood on third while the Carloses struck out, stranding him.

In the 8th, the Mets got a two-out single from Evans, then consecutive walks from Wright and Beltran, bringing Delgado to the plate with the bases drunk, but the Pirates were able to induce a pop up and get out of the jam scott free.

They had a ton of chances to open up this game and put distance between themselves and the Buccos, but they failed to convert. When the bullpen let the lead slip away, the missed chances were enhanced, as always.

The Rest of the Story

Overall, a great road trip, as they went 6-1 and beat up on teams they should have. A sweep would have been great, but 3-4 against Pittsburgh is good. Guess the Mets should never play the Pirates on a Monday in the summer.

Game Ball: John Maine, I guess.

Game Recap: Mets 2 -- Pirates 1

The Mets jumped out, fell asleep, and then barely hung on to a win in Pittsburgh...

Pitching Performance

Another beautiful performance almost slipped through the Mets fingers, but the bullpen staved off the Pirates to secure the win for Mike Pelfrey and the Mets.

Pelfrey threw another spectacular game in his best season so far in his young career. Pelfrey threw seven shut out innings, walking none and striking out only one. He threw 98 pitches, and got the benefit of a perfect throw from Carlos Beltran in the seventh inning, but more on that later.

Pelfrey looked great. He scattered his seven hits, and trusted his players to make the outs tonight. Gotta love Big Pelf.

Duaner Sanchez apparently does not like easy wins, as he gave up a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to make it a one run game. Sanchez allowed a double and intentionally walked one batter before recording the third out in the inning.

Whew! That's all I have to say.

Aaron Heilman started the inning with a spectacular, heads up play by Argenis Reyes to make the first out of the inning. Heilman issued one walk, but induced a game ending pop-up to finish it off and earn his third save.

Again, whew.

Offensive Output

Anything the Mets had, they showed it early and then shut down. The Mets strung together three straight hits before an out was recorded in the first inning for their only two runs of the game. Jose Reyes, Argenis Reyes and David Wright each singled, with Wright's hit driving in Jose. Argenis later scored on a wild pitch.

From there on out, the Mets bats were stifled. Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider each had doubles, but nothing much came from the rest of the game.

The Rest of the Story

Besides Pelfrey's great outing, defense was the main reason the Mets won this game. I can thing of at least five plays off the top of my head that the Mets made in the field to help get outs.

The two of note were made by Beltran and A. Reyes. Beltran, in the bottom of the seventh inning, gunned down Adam LaRoche at home plate after fielding a single off the bat of Brandon Moss. Beltran threw a perfect ball to Schneider, who didn't do a great job of blocking the plate, but managed to make the tag and record the out.

In the top of the ninth, leading off the inning, Andy LaRoche bounced a ball to first. Delgado backed up, but the ball ate him up and skipped by him. Thankfully, A-Rey was aware enough to sprint over and slide in behind Delgado on the outfield grass and field the ball. Heilman did his job and got over to cover first in time for Reyes to make the quick throw and avert some trouble in the ninth.

There were other great plays, but these were critical in the game. I really like the way A-Rey has played in his limited time. Does Luis Castillo really have to come back?

Game Ball: Mike Pelfrey

Game Recap: Mets 9 -- Nationals 3

How sweep it is... (Cliche, I know. But it's fitting.)

Pitching Performance

Oliver Perez pitched a damn fine game, but was maybe left in a little too long. Perez pitched a scoreless game into the seventh inning, but let in runs when Pete Orr hit a pinch-hit triple to right, scoring two. Another run scored when Carlos Delgado overran a ball at first base and Orr scored from third.

Perez went 6 2-3 innings, allowed six hits, three runs (all earned), walked three, and struck out eight batters.

Good stuff from Perez. He was absolutely dealing until he ran into a little trouble in the seventh. Nice to see him pitch well against a bad team for once. And when I say bad team, I mean that in the strictest terminology of the word "bad." The Nationals are really, really bad.

The bullpen combined to throw 2 1-3 hitless and scoreless innings, with Joe Smith, Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman combining to finish out the game.

Smith walked two and Heilman walked one, but they were able to work out of it. Sanchez and Heilman each struck out one.

The bullpen always looks like they're going to make it as interesting as possible, but thankfully the offense exploded for four runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Offensive Output

The Mets bats had eight hits, but managed to push nine runs across thanks to two Nationals errors.

Big nights from Delgado, Brian Schneider, and Damion Easley, who each drove in two RBI's. Delgado drove in two, going 1-5, with a RBI groundout in the fourth and a solo home run in the sixth.

Schneider added a home run of his own, only his third of the year, a two run shot in the fifth, scoring Fernando Tatis.

Easley broke open the 9th inning with a pinch-hit single to center field, scoring David Wright and Tatis. After a Ronnie Belliard error loaded the bases for the Mets, Delgado reached on a throwing error that allowed two more Mets runs to score.

Nothing spectacular, but thanks to some Washington follies, the Mets leave with a sweep. The bats did what they needed to do and that's all that matters. The team, as a whole, seems to be clicking.

The Rest of the Story

Tatis is making me eat some humble pie, and boy is it delicious! He went 1-1, walked three times, and scored twice tonight.

Daniel Murphy went 1-4, scoring one run.

The first four in the Mets order each had one hit and scored one run.

Lastings Milledge was held hitless, snapping his hitting streak.

Game Ball: Brian Schneider

Early Morning Madness: The final edition

Jack Curry of the New York Times presents a very sobering statistic this morning: The ERA of five members of the bullpen since the All Star Break...

Scott Schoeneweis, 5.14.
Duaner Sanchez, 5.40.
Pedro Feliciano, 8.10.
Joe Smith, 9.53.
Aaron Heilman, 11.32.

Wow. 11.32?! And he's still in the majors? I thought it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad. Something needs to be done.

** * **

Church service ran long yesterday. A day after I discussed the idea of not getting Ryan Church back at all this season, the concussed spent nearly four hours under examination.

The Mets should learn the results of the tests today.

** * **

This is the final edition of Early Morning Madness. My internship runs up today.

I know some folks from work stop by once in a while, so I'd just like to thank them for everything this summer. It's been an amazing experience.

What this means for the blog: Real game recaps will return, with a slight twist. They should debut on Monday. Also, posting time will be shifted back a bit. I'll be posting more in the late morning to late at night.

The Mets need to call up Eddie Kunz

If the Mets were unsure whether or not to call up AA pitching prospect Eddie Kunz before last night's game, they must know what they have to do now.

Short of the bullpen staff making a sign that read "Omar, promote Kunz now! (Hi Mom!)," they could not send a clearer sign to the front office that they need help. They need reinforcements, and they need them now.

I think it's time for the Mets to wise up and send Duaner Sanchez to the DL. His velocity seems to be dropping with every appearance. The newest Met, Daniel Murphy, saved his butt with a beautiful jumping grab at the wall and eventual double play, or the game might not have gotten to Billy Wagner (not that it mattered, because Wagner blew the save anyway).

Sanchez, who spent a year and a half out of baseball rehabbing his injured shoulder, seems to have hit a wall. It makes sense, as he hasn't thrown this much in two years and his stamina just isn't there. It works on the same reasoning that the Mets don't want Mike Pelfrey to top 180 innings.

Pelfrey's arm is young and fresh, but it's not used to throwing this much. Same thing with Sanchez. The promotion of Kunz would give Sanchez precious time off to both rest his arm and strengthen it.

Both games in Houston have seen a bullpen implosion, costing the Mets the game. A move needs to be made, and promoting internally is the only way to do it. The bullpen market is slim and the player would have to pass through waivers as it is.

Promote Kunz now.

Mets Rumors: Maybe no deal will go down; Bullpen help

If the Mets sit back and watch the trade deadline pass them by, will you be upset? I won't, and I hope Omar Minaya doesn't make a deal just to make a deal.

The Mets have some team chemistry going, and are playing fairly well together. They lost two our of three to the Marlins, but it was their first series loss in all of July. With Ryan Church on the comeback trail, it may not be the worst thing in the world to keep what they have and continue on.

If the Mets felt so inclined to fix an area on the Mets, I implore them to look to the bullpen. Duaner Sanchez and Joe Smith have really started to struggle. Pedro Feliciano has turned into a one man pitcher, and Carlos Muniz switches between being extremely effective (Wednesday against the Marlins) and not effective at all (many times). They need a steady, MLB ready arm to bolster the pen.

The pickings are slim, though.

• Arthur Rhodes. Mets haven't really been mentioned in any deal for him, and the Marlins are supposedly on the verge of landing him.
• Will Ohman. Also, haven't really heard the Mets involved here, probably because the Braves are in their division.
• Brian Fuentes. Mets were linked to Fuentes a few days ago, but no one seems to be able to figure out Colorado and if they're buying or selling. Seems like he's going to stick with the Rockies.
• Eddie Guardado. This is the name I've heard mentioned the most of late. Won't cost a high level prospect, but most likely if the Mets trade for him, you'll have heard of the players dealt.

Doubt a deal gets done, but only time will tell.

Mike Pelfrey to receive innings cap

According to Adam Rubin, the Mets will try to limit the number of pitches and innings that Mike Pelfrey throws this season, trying to prevent the young pitcher from hitting a wall.

From Rubin:

Mike Pelfrey's pitch counts may soon be reduced. The organization would prefer Pelfrey not exceed 180 innings in his first full major-league season. Pelfrey currently is at 122-2/3 innings with roughly 11 starts remaining.

Usually, I'd hate this, but we're seeing a clear sign of it in Duaner Sanchez right now. He seems to have hit a wall only half way into the season, but remember he hasn't pitched in one and a half years.

Something like this needs to be monitored but not fully and strictly enforced. If there are chances to give him a break, give them, but don't pull him out of great starts just because he's nearing his innings cap.

Early Morning Madness: Jerry pulled a Willie edition

There are two sides to every coin. On one hand, I leave Johan Santana out there for the 9th inning to work his magic. That's why he's getting the big bucks. On the flip-side, I can see why you don't want to run your "ace" out there and run up his pitch count, especially with Pedro Martinez ailing.

But, your closer is unavailable, and no one has really shone through as a viable replacement. Why not give Santana a shot? Maybe you keep him on a very short least, if he gives up a hit or two, you yank him. Easy as that. Just have the bullpen ready to go as soon as possible.

And again, on the other side of the coin, you should trust your bullpen enough to hold a three run lead with only three outs to get.

Jerry Manuel did his best Willie Randolph impression, and it only took one inning. When Manuel didn't send out Santana for the 9th, he made his first mistake. When Duaner Sanchez came in and gave up not one, not two, but three straight hits, he made his second. Again, without your closer, these players should be on a short leash in their attempt to fill his role. The first single should have been a huge warning sign, and the second one should have been enough to get him out of the game.

The Jose Reyes goof at second base on a ground ball induced from Joe Smith, can't be pinned on Manuel. That blame falls solely on Reyes.

When Manuel left Pedro Feliciano in after he gave up the tying hit, he was pulling a classic Willie. Not trusting your pitcher at all at times, and trusting others way too much. It seems like Randolph would always leave a pitcher in just a little too long, even though the common sense thing would be to pull him. It's as if he didn't want to hurt their feelings. Sometimes the pitchers just don't have it on a certain day, and unfortunately for the Mets, no one seemed to have it in the bullpen last night.

This was Manuel's first big mistake as the Mets manager. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it came against the Phillies, in a battle for first place, with the teams ace in line for a win (a dominant one at that), but things just did not go as planned.

"After seeing that, you can't help but . . . You hate not being out there," said Billy Wagner. I couldn't agree more.