Quick Hits: Pelfrey, Wandy, Beato, Bennett
Links for Monday, before Josh Beckett makes his 2011 debut. Will he live up to his extension?
- Rival executives don’t expect Mariners ace Felix Hernandez to be available this summer, but they’re eyeing Wandy Rodriguez and Mike Pelfrey as potential trade targets, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark.
- If you want to look a little further ahead, check out Tim Dierkes' preview of which starters will be available next offseason.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law suggests the Orioles will regret leaving Pedro Beato off of their 40-man roster last fall. The Mets nabbed the reliever in the Rule 5 draft and he's now on the team's active roster.
- Former Braves reliever Jeff Bennett is trying to revive his career after seeing it hit rock-bottom, as Greg Sullivan of the Tennessean writes.
New York Notes: Silva, Sanchez, Beato, Colon
Here's the latest out of Queens and the Bronx on the final Sunday before regular season baseball gets underway….
- The Yankees have no plans to pursue the recently released Carlos Silva tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild was Silva's pitching coach with the Cubs last season.
- Yankees manager Joe Girardi told Chad Jennings of The Journal News that Romulo Sanchez was scratched from today's road trip "for reasons I can’t give to you at this point." The right-hander is out of options and a long shot to make the team, and Girardi gave a look that indicated a trade was in the works acording to Jennings.
- Pedro Beato will make the Mets' Opening Day roster, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. The Mets selected Beato from the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft.
- In another tweet, Heyman says the Mets are searching for a second left-handed reliever, in part to match up with some of the lefty sluggers in the NL East.
- In a conversation with Steve Selby of the New York Post, David Wright says he's not concerned about the possibility of a Mets fire sale.
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News argues that the Yankees took the "safe, easy" route in giving Freddy Garcia a rotation spot over Bartolo Colon.
- The Yankees hope Colon can occupy the swing-man role previously held by Alfredo Aceves, writes Feinsand.
Alderson On Perez, Castillo, Beato, Emaus, Reyes
Mets GM Sandy Alderson held a blogger conference call today, and Metsblog.com's Michael Baron has the transcript. Here are some of the hot stove-related notes…
- Fan sentiment "came into play" in Luis Castillo's release, Alderson said. The Mets "became aware about the sentiment in New York for [Castillo and Oliver Perez]….It's difficult to overcome that, so you evaluate player performance against presumption in the minds of the fans." In Perez's case, Alderson said the southpaw just didn't pitch well enough to make the roster, so the fans' thoughts were moot.
- Alderson says if the Mets are in contention, the club will have the money available to add a player if necessary.
- Alderson thinks his team's farm system is underrated but he says the Mets "need to be more aggressive and successful in developing players out of the draft."
- "There is a very good possibility we will keep both our Rule 5 picks" Alderson said, in regards to Pedro Beato and Brad Emaus. The GM said that Emaus' Rule 5 status was a major reason the team gave him every chance to win the second base job this spring. "If he was not a Rule 5 draftee, he wouldn’t have presented the immediacy that he does," Alderson said. "If he’s not the starting second baseman, I’m not sure how much he helps us in a bench role. At least at the outset, you’re going to give him every opportunity."
- If the Mets have a reduced payroll next season, they should still be able to re-sign Jose Reyes if they wish, given the number of contracts the team has coming off the books this winter.
Olney On Shortstops, Juan Cruz, Mets
The latest from the blog of ESPN's Buster Olney…
- Olney muses on who the Giants might look at as a midseason acquisition if Miguel Tejada does not work out at shortstop. He comes up with Jose Reyes, Marco Scutaro, and Jack Wilson as possible trade candidates. I can see Stephen Drew, J.J. Hardy, and Ronny Cedeno as other possibilities.
- Evaluators tell Olney Rays reliever Juan Cruz looks excellent. Apparently recovered from shoulder surgery, Cruz has allowed one run in eight spring innings. He's whiffed nine and allowed only two hits, but also walked seven.
- The Mets intend to keep Rule 5 picks Brad Emaus and Pedro Beato, according to Olney. With Justin Turner being cut today, Emaus certainly appears to be the second base starter. Joel Sherman of the New York Post digs into the Mets' logic with Emaus here. The infielder, 25 on Monday, hit .298/.395/.495 at Triple-A last year.