Well, against our admittedly late calls to outfit him in No. 0, the Mets apparently have gone and given catcher Rod Barajas No. 21.
Archive for February 2010
For the Record
If recent dispatches from Port St. Ledger are any indication, David Waldstein of the Times seems determined to wrest the title of Uni Number Beatwriter Champion from Marty Noble.
Today he gets Hisanori Takahashi on the record discussing what we’d already reported here — he’s got eyes for the vacant No. 21 jersey, and not the 47 they’ve outfitted him in already. The other day Waldstein explored whether Jerry Manuel would consider changing his jersey number to 3 so as to mimic the Yankees’ Joe Girardi and his pretentious switch from 27 to 28 this spring. As if Joe shouldn’t really get to the point and change his jersey number to 208 million.
That piece sparked an even dumber post on the Bats blog where Jim Luttrell tries to zing the Mets by demonstrating he hasn’t realized the 21-day disabled list is long since dead and once again raises the issue of retiring Mets jerseys (Harrelson?)
Happy New Year
Pitchers and catchers report today. I’ll be honest, I’m not one of those people who swoon over this news; if anything, it tends to make the coming weeks drag. The Mets probably have a little more than usual to solve during this one at least, but don’t be surprised to see it come down in the end to a matter of options and not performance. Have I crapped on your new year’s celebration yet? It does beat the alternative.
Anyway, here’s an updated roster, with contributions from Adam Rubin of the Daily News and other sources. Interestingly, Egbert’s trip to waiverland (he resurfaced on a minor-league contract) did cost him his uni number 35. That’s now with Mike Jacobs. Also worth noting is Hisanori Takahashi listed in 47, with Jay Marshall tumbling all the way to 94. (Edited to add Riggans, Warthen and Hernandez as pointed out by readers. Thanks!)
New players in bold. * indicates non-roster invitee.
1 Luis Castillo, 2B
2 Frank Catalonotto*, INF-OF
3 Chris Coste, C
4 Henry Blanco, C
5 David Wright, 3B
6 Nick Evans, OF
7 Jose Reyes, SS
8 vacant
9 Omir Santos, C
10 Andy Green*, INF (was 29 last year)
11 Anderson Hernandez, INF
12 Jeff Francoeur, OF
13 Alex Cora, INF (was 3 last year)
14 Retired
15 Carlos Beltran, OF
16 Angel Pagan, OF
17 Fernando Tatis, INF-OF
18 Ryota Igarashi, P
19 Gary Matthews, OF
20 Howard Johnson, Hitting Coach
21 vacant (was Delgado)
22 Jolbert Cabrera*, INF-OF
23 Chris Carter, INF-OF
24 vacant
25 Pedro Feliciano, P
26 Fernando Martinez, OF
27 Nelson Figueroa, P
28 Daniel Murphy, 1B
29 Tobi Stoner, P
30 Josh Thole, C
31 vacant
32 Arturo Lopez, P
33 John Maine, P
34 Mike Pelfrey, P
35 Mike Jacobs*, 1B
36 R.A. Dickey*, P
37 retired
38 Fernando Nieve, P
39 Bobby Parnell, P
40 Eddie Kunz, P
41 retired
42 retired
43 Josh Fogg*, P
44 Jason Bay, OF
45 Kelvim Escobar, P
46 Oliver Perez, P
47 Hisanori Takahashi, P
48 Pat Misch, P
49 Jon Niese, P
50 Sean Green, P
51 Chip Hale, 3rd base Coach
52 Razor Shines, 1st base coach
53 Jerry Manuel, Manager
54 Dave Racaniello, Bullpen Catcher
55 Randy Niemann, Bullpen Coach
56 Dave Jauss, Bench Coach
57 Johan Santana, P
58 vacant
59 Dan Warthen, pitching coach
60 vacant
61 Clint Everts, P
62 Jesus Feliciano*, OF
63 Shawn Bowman, INF
64 Elmer Dessens*, P
65 Russ Adams*, INF
66 Mike Hessman*, OF
67 Mike Cervenak*, INF
68 Bobby Livingston*, P
69 vacant
70 Carlos Muniz*, P (was 32 in last appearance with the Mets, 2008)
71 Mike Nickeas*, C
72 Kai Gronauer, C
73 Shawn Riggans*, C
74 Francisco Pena*, C
75 Francisco Rodriguez, P
76 vacant
77 Eric Niesen*, P
78 Ike Davis*, 1B
79 Ruben Tejeda*, INF
80 Luis Hernandez*, INF
81-89 vacant
90 Travis Blackley*, P
91 Kirk Nieuwenhuis*, OF
92 Jason Pridie, OF
93 Jack Egbert*, P (was 35)
94 Jay Marshall*, P (was 47)
More Mets
The Mets are hitting the leftovers like the day after Thanksgiving. Only hours after posting the numerical roster below, one number, 35, came available again when the Mets claimed outfielder Jason Pridie from Minnesota with a waiver claim and designated pitcher Jack Egbert for assignment. Egbert joined the Mets roster late last season when they claimed him off waivers from the White Sox, fulfilling the destiny of all baseball players on the downside of their careers from the tri-state area.
Anyway, Pridie, a potential challenger for innings in center field, is in and not yet assigned a number.
The Mets were hardly done, it turned out, signing former Met Mike Jacobs to a minor league deal and a chance to pressure incumbent Daniel Murphy at first base. There’s been some speculation that Jacobs would take his old No. 27 and leave Nelson Figueroa to search for a new uni, but I doubt that comes to pass. Jacobs hasn’t really earned any equity in 27 and I think he’s a longshot to be anything more than a Buffalo Soldier this year, as attractive as ability to punish mistakes by righthanded pitchers is. He could really help his cause by taking up catching again, though. My guess is he takes Egbert’s 35.
Also new to the NRIs is Tokyo Giants lefty Hisanori Takahashi (no relation to Ken as far as I know). This Takahashi could land in the vacant No. 21, that was his jersey back East. Ex-Rays catcher Shawn Riggans, like Jacobs a shaky defensive player with power, accepted an invite and looks to me destined for 73 or 76.
Yo, That’s Fresh
Thanks to Dave Mackey in the post below who pointed out new assignments as per the Mets.com roster. I’ll rap more about these later, but here’s the pertinent info. Hats off to outfielding prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis, with the highest digits assigned so far.
Of interest: Alex Cora moving to 13 and new catcher Chris Coste taking over 3.
New players in bold. * indicates non-roster invitee.
1 Luis Castillo, 2B
2 Frank Catalonotto*, INF-OF
3 Chris Coste, C
4 Henry Blanco, C
5 David Wright, 3B
6 Nick Evans, OF
7 Jose Reyes, SS
8 vacant
9 Omir Santos, C
10 Andy Green*, INF (was 29 last year)
11 Anderson Hernandez, INF
12 Jeff Francoeur, OF
13 Alex Cora, INF (was 3 last year)
14 Retired
15 Carlos Beltran, OF
16 Angel Pagan, OF
17 Fernando Tatis, INF-OF
18 Ryota Igarashi, P
19 Gary Matthews, OF
20 Howard Johnson, Hitting Coach
21 vacant (was Delgado)
22 Jolbert Cabrera*, INF-OF
23 Chris Carter, INF-OF
24 vacant
25 Pedro Feliciano, P
26 Fernando Martinez, OF
27 Nelson Figueroa, P
28 Daniel Murphy, 1B
29 Tobi Stoner, P
30 Josh Thole, C
31 vacant
32 Arturo Lopez, P
33 John Maine, P
34 Mike Pelfrey, P
35 Jack Egbert, P
36 R.A. Dickey*, P
37 retired
38 Fernando Nieve, P
39 Bobby Parnell, P
40 Eddie Kunz, P
41 retired
42 retired
43 Josh Fogg*, P
44 Jason Bay, OF
45 Kelvim Escobar, P
46 Oliver Perez, P
47 Jay Marshall, P
48 Pat Misch, P
49 Jon Niese, P
50 Sean Green, P
51 Chip Hale, 3rd base Coach
52 Razor Shines, 1st base coach (thanks for the correction)
53 Jerry Manuel, Manager
54 Dave Racaniello, Bullpen Catcher
55 Randy Niemann, Bullpen Coach
56 Dave Jauss, Bench Coach
57 Johan Santana, P
58 vacant
59 vacant
60 vacant
61 Clint Everts, P
62 Jesus Feliciano*, OF
63 Shawn Bowman, INF
64 Elmer Dessens*, P
65 Russ Adams*, INF
66 Mike Hessman*, OF
67 Mike Cervenak*, INF
68 Bobby Livingston*, P
69 vacant
70 Carlos Muniz*, P (was 32 in last appearance with the Mets, 2008)
71 vacant
72 vacant
73 vacant
74 Francisco Pena*, C
75 Francisco Rodriguez, P
76 vacant
77 Eric Niesen*, P
78 Ike Davis*, 1B
79 Ruben Tejeda*, INF
80-89 vacant
90 Travis Blackley*, P
91 Kirk Nieuwenhuis*, OF
Unaccountable
Not to toot my own horn here but the latest JJ Putz flap only goes to support the idea expressed way back when that the Mets cared not about the results when they committed five guys and $10 million to get Putz, only the illusion that they’d boldly gone out and created some kind of impenetrable bullpen.
That said, I think there’s more room for debating whether the team treated JJ Putz’s injuries properly than whether an impenetrable bullpen really exists. In other words, the Mets screwed up no matter how Putz’s health turned out.
A look at the Mets roster will tell you how unspectacular this offseason’s been by contrast. A little more than two weeks before pitchers and catchers report, and 11 men on the 40-man roster have yet to be officially assigned numbers, and a couple of them (Eddie Kunz, Tobi Stoner) are no locks to return in what we saw them wear last (40 and 29, respectively).
Behold the unassigned:
Jack Egbert, P
Kelvim Escobar, P (probably 45)
Clint Everts, P
Ryota Igarashi, P (probably 18)
Arturo Lopez, P
Jay Marshall, P
Henry Blanco, C
Chris Coste, C
Shawn Bowman, INF
Chris Carter, INF-OF
Gary Matthews, OF
Also invited to camp on minor-league deals:
R.A. Dickey, P
Elmer Dessens, P (wore 64 last year)
Bobby Livingston, P
Russ Adams, INF
Jolbert Cabrera, INF-OF
Mike Cervenak, INF
Andy Green, INF (wore 10 29 last year)
Mike Hessman, OF
Jesus Feliciano,OF
Frank (Smithtown’s Own) Catalonotto, INF-OF
