Uni Controversies

Well, as suspected below last night's marathon prompted the Mets to bring up another pitcher tonight -- and the offense just might get a jolt too.
Tobi Stoner, who made a few late-season appearances last season wearing No. 29, was recalled. The surprise was that rather than demoting a gassed arm, the Mets designated flailing first baseman Mike Jacobs for assignment in order to make room. That leads to speculation that an offensive player would be recalled once the Mets depart St. Louis, first base prospect Ike Davis being the most intriguing option.

Davis has been wearing No. 20 up in Buffalo but there's some speculation he could end up in No. 49, which his dad, reliever Ron Davis, wore for at least some of his career.(As pointed out below, Ron Davis wore 53, 39, 34, 55 and 33 in his career). No. 20 currently belongs to coach Howard Johnson. We've argued here before for No. 17, which would properly honor another terrific Met first baseman but require that Fernando Tatis changes his shirt. Stay tuned!

I'm still having trouble believing that Jenrry Mejia, along with Ruben Tejada, apparently have made the Mets' opening-day squad and along with the usual caution you should take with all 20-year-olds who've yet to play above Class AA, it should be exciting to see what these kids have to offer.

I'm also interested to see what they'll be wearing. Mejia as discussed below was outfitted in No. 76 this spring and as outrageous as it'd be I'd be tempted to leave him in that jersey both as a reminder of his age and a symbol of his unique place within the Met family. Tejada has apparently won a job the old-fashioned way: He caught the ball better than his counterparts in a competition for a middle-infield job, as compromised as Jose Reyes's medical misadventaures made it. He hit pretty well too.

Tejada was wearing No. 79 this spring and will certainly have a new jersey by Monday. No. 3 was recently vacated by Chris Coste and makes perfect sense; 10 (issued to and taken from longshot Andy Green for the second straight spring) would be another strong possibility.

Other late cuts Friday included Kiko Calero, whom I thought would have been a lock if only for his pedigree; hapless punching bag Nelson Figueroa; Bobby Parnell, who had less going for him than Meija a year ago when he turned in two solid months of setup relief; veteran Elmer Dessens; infielder Russ Adams; and reserve hopeful Chris Carter who probably didn't get a real fair shake at winning a job at first base. The winners along with Mejia and Tejada included utilityman Frank Catalanotto and one of either Sean Green or Raul Valdes. The latter came out of nowhere -- he wore No. 96, the highest in camp -- to challenge for a lefty specialist role. We'll try to keep you updated on what the Easter Bunny leaves these guys. ...

A few quick notes before I head out of town to spend some time at the home of the band whose song is referenced in the title of today's post:

1) Several readers including David reminded me that I (and the mets.com roster I ripped off) left Jenrry Meija (I had to have spelled that name wrong) off the spring training roster where he should be noted to be wearing No. 76.

2) I neglected to mention this website recently passed its 11th birthday on Feb. 22. That's in part because I made such a wreck of the 10th birthday bash, neglecting to make it all the way down the 'top 10' countdown as promised. Shameful. But I haven't stopped doing this. Shortly after I return next week, the website will be freshly updated with a new look & feel I'd been working on for the last month with the crack team at Crooked Number. The changes -- necessitated mainly by an upgrade of the operating system that would make the current look go kablooey -- may look plain at first, but is much more powerful beneath the hood and is only a start.

3) I first got this question a few years ago, and didn't know what to say then or now: What will the Bat Boys be wearing in 2010? As I recall the history, Met bat boys went numberless until 1986 (maybe 85?) and have in most years worn the figure of the year -- except in 1999 when they skipped ahead to 00 so as not to mess with Turk Wendell's mojo. Despite the second-straight curious spring training issue to Andy Green, it seems as if No. 10 will be available this year, but I'm thinking maybe 00 might be better. I've never been a fan of the 'BB' designation some teams use and I'd hate to see it here. Thoughts?

4) I'm again happy to have been asked to contribute an article for the 2010 Maple Street Press Mets Annual, which is arriving on area newsstands now. My contribution -- a look at 2009's injuries and their place in team history, got a terrific boost from longtime MBTN contributor Jason E., whose comprehensive history of the Mets disabled list made it all work. Did you know who the all-time leader for separate trips to the disabled list is? What body part has been injured most often? Who was the first Met ever to go on the DL? Then pick this thing up now. Also, there's good articles.

5) We're scheduling another Amazin' Tuesday March 23 at Two Boots Tavern on the Lower East Side. Deets to come.

Quick note on the developing Gary Matthews Jr. trade: If you remember the magical start to the 2002 season,  Sarge Jr was wearing No. 25 for all of one turn at bat and one pinch-running appearance before being traded to the Orioles. No. 25 subsequently went to Scott Strickland when he was acquired days later.

Today, 25 belongs to Pedro Feliciano, and so unless Pedro cares to make a mind-boggling fourth uni-switch in his Mets career, matthews can find something else to wear. He was 24 in his ill-fated adventure with the Angels.

I'm not ready to say this move (reportedly for reliever Brian Stokes with the Angels paying all but $4 million $2 million remaining on Matthews's contract) completely spoils the "No Stupid Moves" theme for this offseason but it's not terribly great either. I am thankful they dodged the Bengie Molina bullet, and still think they'll look for a pitcher via the trade market especially after letting Joel Piniero go. F all once and future Cardinals.

As for Stokes, he did a pretty nice job amid meager expectations, but I think it's good practice in general to shuffle these middle-reliever and bench types in and out with some degree of frequency.

The Times this afternoon reports that the Mets are close to a deal with Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi of the Yakult Swallows. From what I've read Igarashi is either a righthander with a deceptive motion and good control, or a wild righty who throws mad heat, but should be considered to be a late-inning relief candidate in any disguise. All the photos I've seen indicates he prefers to wear No. 53, which happens to be Jerry Manuel's number. In other words, if the Mets don't get off to a hot start, he can have it on Memorial Day.

I made the mistake of listening to WFAN while I moved the car last night and was blown away by the fire of stupidity Mike Francessa was stoking among fans competing with one another to be the most wounded by the news that the Phillies were to acquire Roy Halladay (at the cost of Cliff Lee, a multiyear, multimillion extension and some prospects) and the Red Sox had signed John Lackey for five years and $85 million. Ira on the Car Phone announced his intention to stay away from CitiField forever and demanded the Mets part with Jose Reyes (cuz we need less offense) while Francessa just let him talk.

Now.

My confidence in the Mets' ability to do the right thing for the club is shaky at best, but that's mainly due to those occasions when they kowtow to the demands of Francessa's listeners and columnist hacks like John Harper of the Daily News (THE METS MUST SIGN LACKEY he demands as hunting season opens and "THE METS NEVER HAD A CHANCE" he taunts at the end). The JJ Putz trade, which I'll never stop maligning, was a perfect example. If this tricky offseason has shown anything so far it's that the Mets haven't turned themselves inside out only to create the illusion they've solved their problems or to win a meaningless competition to make the biggest offseason splash.

They can certainly do a better job standing up for themselves in the meantime, but I'm glad they aren't getting pushed around, so far. Kudos too to the Phils for boldly making the moves they feel they have to to stay on top. It wouldn't be any fun to know your opponents weren't also trying.

The Mets today said that bitching about changes to the 2010 uniforms will begin in December, later than originally scheduled, but timed to coincide with the period during which fans will bitch about the players acquired to wear them, so it will all work out.

With that in mind, the following chart may help you navigate the upcoming shopping season, with a selection of free agents and potential tredees mentioned in recent rumors and speculation, their most recent uni number, and our analysis of the chances they maintain it with the Mets.

Apologies for the ugly chart. They don't pay me enough here to fix it.

Joel Pineiro        St. Louis   35    Sorta     Technically belongs to Lance Broadway

Brandon Phillips Cincinnati   4     Yes       Wilson Valdez not on the 40

Aaron Harang     Cincinnati   39   No         Bobby Parnell could switch

Matt Holliday     St. Louis     5/15 Neither  Wright and Beltran won’t switch

Jason Bay         Boston       44   Sort of    Tim Redding cannot make demands

John Lackey     Anaheim     41    Nope     Don’t ask

Ryan Doumit     Pittsburgh   41   No         See Above

Randy Wolf       Los Angeles 21 Yes         Delgado won’t return

Jason Marquis  Colorado 21 Yes         See above

Roy Halladay     Toronto     32   Yes         Unissued in 2009

Benji Molina     San Francisco 1 No         For now; Castillo is rumored to go

Just a brief message to note Nick Evans is back with the Mets after Fernando Martinez was sent to AAA after a short, semi-successful tryout. You'll remember Evans wore No. 6 in his runs with the Mets last season but after nearly making the club out of spring training (only Gary Sheffield's late arrival cost him) Evans suffered a brutal start at AAA Buffalo and was sent to see psychologists and Binghamton instead and in the in-between Ramon Martinez got a brief infield gig wearing No. 6.

We'll let you know what he shows up in -- I would guess 6 just for its ubiquitousness but then things could get interesting (for me at least) if and when Marttinez reappears, since he's already been in tweo numbers.

(Thanks to Gene for the awesome headline)

Today the Mets recalled Fernando Nieve from AAA Buffalo to take the place of JJ Putz who finally stopped pretending there wasn't something wrong with his arm. Nieve has reportedly been assigned No. 38. Nieve wore No. 50 in spring training, but that number went to Sean Green once Green decided he was unworthy of comparisons to Aaron Heilman (how right he was) and swapped in No. 48.

Not to say I told you so but we smelled trouble long before this Putz-Green-Heilman deal ever got done inasmuch as "addition by subtraction" is a concept that works great in opinion columns and talk radio but rarely on the baseball field. I'm not saying that time hadn't come to swap away Heilman (not to mention Endy Chavez, Joe Smith, Jason Vargas, Makiel Cleto,and Mike Carp) but seeing as we're looking at a $9 million fat guy having elbow surgery, a righty specialist who's already lost his job, and a reserve outfielder, this whole deal is looking pretty much like "subtraction by subtraction" so far.

Nieve by the way will be the third Fernando in uniform for the Mets, which has to be some kind of record.

Watching the Met debut of Tim Redding, who tonight will become the 860th Met of all-time.

Redding will be suited up in No. 44 -- which belonged to four different guys last year, none of whom I could have told you had I not just looked it up myself, I don't think. If you're interested in making a guess in the comments section, go ahead, I won't say who they are.

Redding's accompanying lineup is a little goofy -- a continuation of the stuff we saw last night where Fernando Tatis played short and Jerry Manuel, once again, made a baffling pinch-hitting call that blew up his face with the game on the line. Yet, Angel Pagan starts tonight in left while Daniel Murphy and Ryan "Doghouse" Church once again sit.

The shortstop is Ramon Martinez, called up because of a thumb injury to Alex Cora who is going onto the DL today too and Jose Reyes is still unavailable (Mackey Shillstone?). You might remember Martinez as the only Met who could buy a hit in the last week of the season last yea. He was wearing No. 22 then but with that jersey since reassigned to JJ Putz, we'll have to wait and see what he turns up in. (Updated: He's wearing No. 26)

Seems like only a moment ago I was praising the flexibility of this roster but this is about as stretched out as I'd like to go right now. Carlos Delgado, you may have heard, is on his way to the operating room and I can't imagine he reappears until August or so.

Redding's recall, by the way, meant another demotion for Nelson Figueroa -- who came and went without an appearance -- and a continuing tour for Ken Takahashi.

Right you are, Ken.

Let me start by saying Sean Green is welcome to request any number he desires and for any reason he wants.So if he prefers 50 to 48, then fine. But, couldn't he do it in a way that wasn't unkind to a guy whose career to this point he ought to be aspiring to and not passively disrespecting? I mean, come on, Sean. Make up a story about your Mom's birthday or something. No need to pile on poor Aaron Heilman. He's suffered enough. (He's pitching for the Cubs as a I write this -- wearing No. 47 in the 8th inning of a tie game at Houston).

And if you really wanted to disassociate yourself from a recent disappointing Mets reliever, could you do any worse than selecting the number worn last by Duaner Sanchez? The guy whose brilliant half-season ended in a mysterious car accident, and who then showed up out-of-shape for camp, and who was nowhere to be found in the hour of the Mets' greatest need last season?

But I'm not here to bury Sanchez either. I wish him well in San Diego, -- he made the team -- and is still wearing No. 50. I'll admit I chucked when I saw Scott Schoeneweis in his first appearance for the D-Backs yesterday surrendered a home run, but I'm not going to boo the next guy who wears No. 60 for the Mets. What's the use?

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