As it seems Minaya is on his way out, the Mets should consider Howard Megdal as his replacement.
Around MLB: Stat of the Day
After Brandon Morrow’s near-no-hitter, the Blue Jays completed a three game sweep of the Rays, in which 32 runs were scored, 28 of them in one game (2-1, 17-11,1-0).
That’s gotta be some sort of record, right?
By the way, the Rays were one out from being no-hit for the third time this year. Maybe the Mets would have their first no hitter by now if they got to face the Rays 19 times a year.
One of these days…
Seven Players Total Over $100 Million In 2011
Looking ahead to the offseason, I have totaled up the numbers of the contracts for players that are on the books for next season. The most interesting part of it is the fact that it only takes seven players for the Mets to exceed the $100 million mark.
Johan Santana: $22.5 million
Carlos Beltran: $18.5 million
Jason Bay: $16 million
David Wright: $14 million
Oliver Perez: $12 million
Francisco Rodriguez: $11.5 million
Luis Castillo: $6 million
The Mets total payroll for 2010 was only about $126 million!
Not only is this a starting point for the offseason, but the Mets still have to figure out what to do with four key players in Jose Reyes ($11 million club option, $500,000 buyout), Pedro Feliciano (FA), Angel Pagan (Arb. Eligible), and Mike Pelfrey (Arb. Eligible).
Whether it be Omar Minaya or a new general manager, they are going to have the huge task of finding ways to remove some of these high-priced veteran players that should not be on the team (Perez, Castillo, etc).
The Mets can choose to non-tender Jeff Francoeur, as he earned $5 million in 2010 in arbitration and will again be arbitration eligible this year. John Maine’s $3.3 million will almost certainly be off the books next season as well. The Mets also still owe $1 million to Gary Matthews Jr. in 2011.
It’s quite simple. The Mets have their work cut out for them this offseason. Fans are demanding changes and something will need to be done.
Jenrry Mejia, who tossed three innings in the Gulf Coast League on Wednesday in his first official game action since straining the back of the rotator cuff while working in Double-A Binghamton’s rotation, was so impressive in the performance he will be moved to a higher level of the minors, outside of Port St. Lucie.
