Links for Saturday…
- Rule 5 Draft pick Carlos Monasterios will make the Dodgers' Opening Day squad, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. However, Joe Torre will not announce whether the team will carry 11 or 12 pitchers until tomorrow.
- Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (via Twitter) says to expect word that Elliot Johnson has cleared waivers and will stay with the Rays at their Triple-A affiliate. Johnson, who was out of options, was waived by Tampa Bay earlier this week.
- Righthander Nelson Figueroa was one of six players cut by the Mets, according to MLB.com's Bill Chastain. Figueroa is out of options and has been outrighted before, so he can elect to become a free agent instead of reporting to the minors if he clears waivers.
- Victor Martinez doesn't feel he needs promises in his next contract that he will remain at catcher, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. This morning we learned that V-Mart doesn't want talks about a contract extension to take place during the season.
- Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies points out that the Rockies will start the year with the highest Opening Day payroll in team history, a cool $85,808,682.
- Marc Carig of The Newark Star-Ledger tweets that Marcus Thames has officially made the Yankees' Opening Day roster. He could have opted out of his minor league deal if he didn't make the team out of Spring Training, but now he'll earn $900K for the season.
I think the Mets are being foolish by letting Figgy go. I understand he is getting old, and has little future in the organization, but he can definitely help this season. He is very flexible, he can start, long relive, or just be a reliever. He might end up going to Japan to pitch, although I think some team will pick him up. When they do, it will be a smart move.
you mean like last season when no team picked him up and he ended up returning to AAA? this is a nonissue.
Well good for Marcus Thames. Hopefully he can play well.
Yes, good for Thames, but if Thames, Winn, and Gardner are all on the team after the July 31st trading deadline, I will be very surprised.
Good point.
Remember, acquisitions can also change the complexity of the Roster.
Yet again another mistake made by the organization..
Someone really ought to pick up Nelson Figueora. I know he’s not a great pitcher; he’s probably not even a good pitcher, but he could be useful bridging the gap if you have injuries, potential arbitration problems, or a staff with a lot of unknown. If he’s your twelfth man on the staff, you could do worse. Especially when you already have Maine and Perez and young, inconsistent Niese as part of your rotation. Let’s see-his cost is a roster spot and less than a million bucks. I don’t quite understand the Mets thinking here.
figueroa just wants to be in the mlb for a full season. he has been in the minors for like 10 years.
i feel bad for him and the mets are stupid for not giving him the spot over green
They also cut Bobby Parnell?? He seemed like he had some hope coming out of the ‘pen.
Not a Mets fan but really felt stymied by the recent moves. Had been pulling for Figgy all ST and now not seeing him make the club…FO should really be ashamed of themselves, going out and acquiring 2 unproven Jap. pitchers and automatically stick em in the bullpen…and then pushing a still undeveloped Mejia into a late-inning role when most ppl knows that this season won’t mean squat for the Mets…smarter move would have been putting Mejia back into AA, giving Figgy a spot, letting Tatis go when they had the chance, and give Carter that bench spot.
really happy to see everyone pulling for Figueroa. Had a chance to listen to him talk about awaiting a roster decision the other day and was really feeling for him. In his mind, he was really convinced that he made the club and said that his whole family was pulling for him at home. Even said that he was willing to do anything they needed him to do: start, relief, tutor the young pitchers, learn some Japanese…Hope he finds a job somewhere else…
I think Figgy is a decent enough pitcher, there’s no excuse for him not making the Mets 25 man roster. He’s not going to be a great starter, he isn’t young, but you can do a lot worse for a 5th starter and reliever. He pitched a shutout last season.
I think Mejia would be very good in their bullpen but it’s a dumb move because he’s their best starting pitching prospect and I hope this doesn’t set him back just because they are being desperate. Neftali Feliz is also a great pitching prospect but the Rangers are putting him in the pen and starting guys like Matt Harrison and CJ Wilson. Head scratcher.
Actually, I like the Jacobs move. He’s got a great track record of hitting left-handed pitching.
But calling up Mejia is just ludicrous. You have a 20-year-old pitcher with the makings of an ace if he can develop his offspeed stuff and command, and you put him in the god damn big league bullpen? It just reeks of desperation by the Mets’ management. If management wasn’t on its last leg, would they still risk so much of their future for 2010?
For a team in such desperate need of cheap, good starting pitching, I just can’t believe that Mejia isn’t in their Double-A rotation right now.
mets,nationals
Mejia starting the year in the Mets bullpen is just going to be one of their many embarrassing decisions for 2010. It’s pretty pathetic when a franchise can do something as stupid as this and have so little people actually be shocked by it.