C-09

In a move they hope will address the right-handed bench power in the absence of Damian Easley, the Mets this afternoon said they have acquired veteran Jeff Conine from Cincinnati for a duo of minor league scrubeenies. No word yet on what number Mr. Marlin will wear for the Mets but he’s most often been spotted in 18 and 19 with his other employers.

Guess here is that as a means of welcoming Conine to New York, the Mets will offer him 19, currently belonging to Sandy Alomar Jr. but of no real significance to him. (How significant Alomar is at all is a matter of debate). Moises Alou has 18 today and will tomorrow. Another solution is to give him “09″ (pronounced oh-nine) which would rhyme.

I might have preferred the Mets swing a deal for Detroit’s Craig Monroe, who’s younger and presumably still has upside. The issue I have with Conine is only that in the event Delgado doesn’t heal properly the Mets will be tempted to make him an everyday guy and we’ve seen too often already this year the downside to that. But, here’s to Mr. Marlin. Chime in if you have a uni number suggestion or confirmation.

Bad Break for Easley

Well the all-odd infield as described below went out together for a second straight night Saturday but it’ll be their last for awhile. Damian Easley stepped awkwardly while running and gruesomely rolled his left ankle in an event likely to sideline him for the rest of the regular season. Ever roll an ankle like that? It makes a noise.

Anderson Hernandez was recalled from AAA Sunday to take his place on the roster, arriving to find out the No. 1 jersey he wore in previous visits to New York had been assigned to Luis Castillo in his absence. The Mets roster has Hernandez dressed in No. 4 (bad news for Ben Johnson should he deign to return).

A more pressing concern could be finding an acceptable right-handed pinch-hitter, preferably one who can play first base (among other positions), so as not to further compromise our oftentimes meager attack. Easley was one of the few guys on the team who’d done almost no harm and/or disappointing this season too. But I thought it was weird when Omar didn’t come back after the trade deadline with a right-handed bench hitter, so I’m pretty sure this merits a trade too.

Meantime on Sunday Sandy Alomar Jr. 19 was back for Ramon Castro 11, whose bad back necessitated a DL stay. All as we swept a team for the first time since June and — can you believe this? — reached a new highwater mark at 17 over .500.

Even More on Mike DiFelice

Got a cool message this morning from Met roster genius Jason:

Mike DiFelice became the first-ever New York Met to be added to the 40-man roster five different times. No other Met has ever been added more than 4 times in Met history.
5/16/05: Purchased from Norfolk (having been signed as free agent, 3/31/05)
6/2/05: Designated for assignment
6/6/05: Outrighted to Norfolk

8/21/05: Purchased from Norfolk (having stayed at Norfolk, 6/6/05-8/21/05)
10/28/05: Announced free agency

8/4/06: Purchased from Norfolk (having been signed as free agent, 5/31/06)
11/8/06: Announced free agency

7/29/07: Purchased from New Orleans (having been signed as free agent, 1/9/07)
8/2/07: Designated for assignment
8/9/07: Outrighted to New Orleans

8/12/07: Purchased from New Orleans (having stayed at New Orleans, 8/9/07-8/12/07)

Anderson, Beltran, Newhan and McKnight

Forgive me but it was hard to notice until last night that Carlos Beltran 15 was back. He was of course; he returned from the disabled list on Friday, while Marlon Anderson 23 hit the bereavement list. Last night, Anderson was back and David Newhan 17 was again sent to the minors top make room.

Mike DiFelice by now is getting all the playing time you’d think he wouldn’t and so firmly established as the 22nd official member of the Sons of Jeff McKnight, or the three-number club:

 

Jeff McKnight 5, 7, 15, 17, 18

Kevin Collins 1, 10, 16, 19

Ed Lynch 34, 35, 36, 59

Darrel Sutherland 43, 45, 47

Cleon Jones 34, 12, 21

John Stephenson 12, 19, 49

Jim Hickman 6, 9, 27

Mike Jorgensen 10, 16, 22 (thanks, Chris)

Hank Webb 22, 29, 30

Hubie Brooks 62, 39, 7

Clint Hurdle 7, 13, 33

Chuck Carr 1, 7, 21

Kevin Elster 2, 15, 21

Charlie O’Brien 5, 22, 33

Ron Darling 12, 15, 44

Jason Phillips 7, 23, 26

David Cone 16, 17, 44

Jae Seo 40, 38, 26

Roger Craig 13, 36, 38

Lee Mazzilli 12, 16, 13

Pedro Feliciano 55, 39, 25

Mike DiFelice 33, 6, 9

Party Like it’s 2005

Mike DiFelice is on his way back to the Mets this morning after Paul LoDuca 16 was sent to the disabled list with hamstring issues. This gives DiFelice a second shot at accruing some playing time while wearing No. 9 — his visit earlier this year ended without seeing any action.

It’s hard to say that another disappearance of LoDuca is actually going to hurt: He sadly has been of little help while he was in the lineups this year. But LoDuca’s not alone in his struggles.

More and more 2007 is resembling 2005, only instead of hanging around the .500 mark all year they’ve futzed around the ten-games-over-.500 mark. Like 2005, they’ve done it while Carlos Beltran secretly hides one or more injuries and players make too many outs on the basepaths. All we need now is for Shingo Takatsu to “bring the funk.”

Jumping the Clark

54Brian Lawrence, who is scheduled to start this afternoon in Milwaukee, is expected to appear in No. 54. That would make Lawrence only the second Met player ever to appear in No. 54, which has traditionally been reserved for coaches and staff (including the recently whacked Rick Down, 1967 interim manager Salty Parker, and, for 14 years (1968-81), pitching coach Rube Walker.

The only previous playing tenant was non-alliterative starting pitcher Mark Clark, the best pitcher on a 1996 Mets team that’s remembered for its offense. Clark arrived in a trade from Cleveland for Ryan Thompson, won 14 games for the 96ers, and was traded to the Cubs as Steve Phillips took over as GM in the Turk Wendell/Mal Rojas/Brian McRae thing in 1997. Clark later got stupid money to pitch badly for the Texas Rangers.

Lawrence is a former 15-game winner or the Padres, but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2005.

Yes He Is

Eat it, Anderson Hernandez.

Luis Castillo tonight became the 25th player to wear No. 1 for the Mets. Hernandez, who had been assigned No.1 for his on-again, off-again visits to the active roster since 2005, will, find something else to wear next time the Mets need a second baseman (what with Castillo, Ruben Gotay, Marlon Anderson and Damian Easley around doesn’t look likely but never say never. Not this year. The Mets finally got around to disabling Carlos Beltran 15, so Castillo slides into his roster spot.

Neglected to be mentioned below: On Sunday 7/29, the Mets designated Jon Adkins 39 and recalled David Newhan 17.

He’s No. 1 (Maybe)

Looks like we’ll have to wait until tonight’s game in Milwaukee to see what number new second baseman Luis Castillo alights in, though we’d be very surprised if it’s not his familiar No. 1.Castillo was acquired yesterday for two minor leaguers with dubious futures, so we can’t get too excited over Castillo, a chubby slap-hitter, especially while Ruben Gotay 6 iseems to have so much thunder in his bat. That said we’re on board with the upgrade in defense and the stability Castillo ought to bring to the lineup everyday.

Nor is the exciterment too high over the fact that Carlos Beltran 15 will be out of action for another 2 or 3 weeks (maybe 4). (Maybe 5). (Who knows). That the Phillies and Braves have been very aggressive at the deadline so far seem to indicate they’re ready to fight this thing to end. Still waiting to hear how the Mets will work out the roster, and there’s still 4 more hours to make a non-waiver trade, so updates soon.

Paul LoDuca’s Saturday injury and the recent demotion of Sandsy Alomar Jr. meant the Mets on Sunday recalled Mike DiFelice for the umpteenth time in the last three years (Umpteen = 4). The news here is that DiDelice is in his third uniform number (9) after previous stints in 33 (2005) and 6 (2006). Mike Pelfrey 34 was sent down to make room.