All Quiet On The Flushing Front: Trade Deadline Passes As Mets Stay Idle

The trade deadline ended at 4:00 PM EDT and while the Mets Eastern Division rival were saying 'No Mas' in dealing away 2/3 of their outfield, the Mets stood idly by and didn't make a move.

Surprised? I'm not. The Mets don't have much to deal from in the way of trades. Scott Hairston has had a good year, but would not garner the type of player that would make the Mets better, so Elvis felt he helps the team more than his trade acquisition would. As posted earlier, Tim Byrdak's trade value has plummeted, and Alderson wasn't willing to trade prospects or young talent which would in fact jeopardize the Mets future.


Earlier in the day, we saw the Phillies say 'Uncle' and trade away Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence; the Cryin Hawaiian went to the Dodgers and Pence went to Frisco, where the Mets might see him before leaving town.


So how frustrating today might seem to Mets fans, especially when there was so much activity in baseball, but in the long run, today's lack of activity might pay dividends down the road.

Mets trade dead line update… less then hour to go…

The Mets might have been able to move Tim Byrdak to the Redsox who were looking for a lefty.  No dice since it looks like Breslow is heading to Fenway.  Gaby Sanchez who has had a rough year with some time in the minors for the marlins has been sent to the Pirates. 

Cubs and Tigers are working on a deal. No not Dempster,  Soriano might be going to the Tigers while the Cubs still working on dealing Dempster.  Blanton of the Phillies is still with the Phillies.

T minus 50 minutes for trade deadline and T minus 7 hours for Mets and Brian Harvey….  

Mets midday deadline update… Hairston, Shoppach….

As we approach noon here on the east coast the Mets are I am sure enjoying the cool early morning in San Francisco after a 4 hour 10 inning win last night 8-7. Powered by Scott Hairston.  The Mets clutch killer against lefties is about the only thing I am sure the Mets are getting calls on.  The Mets don’t need to unload him since the return will be nominal. 

Catcher Kelly Shoppach might be moved by the Red Sox. He has 11 doubles and 5 bombs…too bad he cant play left field.  The Mets might be interested but other teams like the Nats are as well.  Pretty sure the price is too high for the Mets tastes. 

In other deadline news, Victorino is heading to the Dodgers as the Phillies start to re tool towards the future.

Update 1230...not much of a shocker...Pence to SF...not sure who gets axed in there OF...
NY Post

Trade Deadline Looms: Will Mets Make A Deal?

The MLB trade deadline is 4:00 PM EST today, and as things stand right now, the Mets most likely will won't make a trade.


It has been rumored that there is interest in Mets fourth OF, Scott Hariston, who only raised his trade value with two HR's last night in San Francisco, giving him 14 for the year. There was also alleged interest in the Mets lefty reliever Tim Byrdak. As of last night, the interest in Byrdak was nearly non-existent.


Should the Mets trade Hairston? I don't think they will. Although he is having a tremendous year for the Folks In Flushing, what will be the return on Hairston? Most likely nothing better than a mid-level minor leaguer, and the Mets don't need mid-level prospects, or at least not as much as to trade their #4 OF.


From the majority of reports it sounds like the Mets are interested in continuing building their minor league system and/or adding more relief help to their horrid relief staff. Their relief corps has been atrocious, but where I believe the Mets need the most help is behind the dish. The Mets need a #1 catcher.


The Josh Thole experiment in year three is failing. He was touted as a good hitter who needed a position. Then he was moved to catcher. Well, a .271 avg with 1 HR and 14 RBI is not enough of a hitter to offset his poor defensive skills. The Mets keep beating the Thole drum, but truth be told, I think it's nothing but hype. I do believe the pitchers hate throwing to him. We need to look no further than Pedro Beato and Tim Byrdak's public complaints of Thole's defense and pitch selection.


Who is available? Well, Geovany Soto was dealt by the Cubs to the Rangers. The Mets were believed to have had interest, but couldn't match up well with the Cubs to incite a trade.

The BoSox Kelly Shoppach is supposedly available, but he has only played in 42 games this year. He is hitting .261 with 5 HR and 15 RBI. Better stats than Thole in 29 less games. 29 less games than Thole who missed a few weeks with a concussion.

It would be nice if the Mets could land a #1 catcher, but chances of them being buyers is slim.


We will report any trades the Mets make, so be sure to check back throughout the day. See our noon update! noon update   3pm update


Source: MLB Trade Rumors, Baseball Reference

Captain Kirk Beamed To Buffalo: Nieuwenhuis Demoted To AAA After Prolonged Slump

RA Dickey, the Mets new ACE, silenced the hot Arizona Diamondbacks with yet another tremendous performance by allowing only an unearned run in earning a 5-1 victory. With the win, the Mets ACE raised his record to 14-2. It was a tremendous outing by Dickey who has appeared, since the All Star Break, to be slumping. Not today, Dickey was back to his June self in baffling the D'Backs with his floating, dancing, hovering knuckle ball.


It was announced after today's game that the Mets optioned outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis to AAA Buffalo to accommodate the recall of Mike Baxter.


Captain Kirk has lately been acting like unintelligent life form by chasing bad pitches, and striking out an alarming 98 times this year. Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens said:

"He chased some a little bit. He's got to learn to lay off that fastball up," Hudgens said. "It's a ball for the most part. They'll try some soft stuff down, and then they try to elevate fastball. It's just an adjustment he's going to have to make. They try that on a lot of guys, and you've got to be disciplined. It's tough, because you see that ball so good. It's close to your eyes and you see it good, so you react. You just have to learn to lay off it, because you can't catch up to it." 

It was a joy to watch the young outfielder play; giving his all in every play, but this decision has been in the making for a couple of weeks in which the rookies average dropped from around .305 to .250. The amazing thing still is that Bay has only .159 with 18 hits the entire season. Yet, he will get the start until there is too much pressure for the Mets to handle. Amazing what $16M will do.

Upon notification of his demotion, the honest Nieuwenhuis said:

"Right now I'm not contributing. It's something you want to do. It's something that you need to do. Hopefully I'll get it going down in Buffalo, and hopefully be back soon." 


I couldn't agree more; hopefully Captain Kirk will return to the USS Mets and assume a position in the outfield.


Source: ESPN

Speculation About Terry's "Bad News" To Be Revealed Shortly; Mets Lineup Vs. Diamondbacks

After last night's Mets win loss, Mets skipper Terry Collins said he has some bad news, but wasn't going to reveal it until this morning.



Adam Rubin and others have tweeted and reported that there isn't any indication as to what the "bad news" is. 


All that  being said, I will throw a couple of possibilities out there as to what the "bad news" might be:

• Frank Francisco's set back last night due to the aggravated left oblique is serious, and the remainder of 2012 is in jeopardy.

• Dillon Gee's blod clot/aneurism issue is more serious than originally expected.

• Mike Pelfrey re-injured his his surgically repaired right elbow while going to like his fingers.

There could be much more serious issues than the few examples just given, but I don't think that is the case. If it were, Elvis would be making the comments and not TC:

• David Wright's contract will not be extended

•  The Mets have released/DFA'd Jason Bay

Adam Rubin has said he will  tweet the story as soon as Collins addresses the media, which should be within the hour.


Stay tuned...


Today's Mets lineup:


1.  Tejada-SS
2.  Murphy-2B
3.  Wright-3B
4.  Hairston-RF
5.  Davis-1B
6.  Bay-LF
7.  Torres-CF
8.  Thole-C
9.  Dickey-RHP

Harvey Wall-Banger!: Mets Rookie Rocks D'Backs In ML Debut

 

 Mets 3 Diamondbacks 1

The much awaited debut of Mets 2010 first round draft pick Matt Harvey was one to remember. The 23 year old Mets rookie pitcher had his Major League debut last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and when his night ended 5.1 innings into the game, the D'Backs were left scratching their heads.


Harvey set a Mets rookie record by striking out 11 batters in his first start, breaking the previous record of 8 held by none other than Tom Seaver and Bill Denehy, both in 1967.


Not only was the tall righthander mowing down Arizona batters, but he was also 2-2 with a double. Not bad, a 1.000 winning percentage and a 1.000 batting average. On this pace, he will be undefeated for his career and bat 1.000. Sure fire Hall Of Famer (relax, only kidding).


In our poll, 88% of our readers felt that Harvey should be called up. In all honesty, I was not one of the 66%. I felt from what I had read that Harvey didn't have enough command of his secondary and tertiary pitches to get Major League hitters out. Last night all of his pitches were working well and it showed. His fastball was clocked at 96 MPH.


According to Elias, Matt Harvey is the first pitcher since 1900 to have 10+ strikeouts and two hits in his debut.


Not a bad start for the kid, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Mets have been reeling after losing all but one game since the All Star break. Might the Mets have caught lightning in a bottle with their #1 pick? Only time will tell, but he is off to a great start, and it's nice to have positive news concerning the Mets.


Source: Photo ESPN