Suiting Up

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I thought it might be fun to take a look around the major leagues and see what men who have a history with the Mets will be in uniform on the coaching staffs of other organizations in 2009. I was able to identify no less than twenty-four such individuals. They are (in alphabetical order):

Manny Acta, manager, Nationals
Rick Anderson, pitching coach, Twins
Bob Apodaca, pitching coach, Rockies
Don Baylor, hitting coach, Rockies
Bruce Bochy, manager, Giants
Tim Bogar, first base coach, Red Sox
Larry Bowa, third base coach, Dodgers
Ron Gardenhire, manager, Twins
John Gibbons, bench coach, Royals
Steve Henderson, hitting coach, Rays
Clint Hurdle, manager, Rockies
Juan Lopez, bullpen coach, Reds
Mike Maddux, pitching coach, Rangers
Dave Magadan, hitting coach, Red Sox
Bob McClure, pitching coach, Royals
Roger McDowell, pitching coach, Braves
Orlando Mercado, bullpen coach, Angels
Jose Oquendo, third base coach, Cardinals
Sam Perlozzo, third base coach, Phillies
Gary Pettis, first base coach, Rangers
Willie Randolph, bench coach, Brewers
Luis Rivera, first base coach, Indians
Juan Samuel, third base coach, Orioles
Joe Torre, manager, Dodgers

The champions at employing ex-Mets are the Colorado Rockies, who have three ex-Mets in positions of prominence: their manager, pitching coach, and hitting coach.

Izzy a Ray

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Former Generation K hopeful Jason Isringhausen has signed a minor-league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, after a decade as one of baseball's most consistent closers with the Athletics and the Cardinals. He suffered through his worst season in a 2008 campaign that was marred by stints on the disabled list.

For those of you too young to remember Generation K, that was the nickname given to three young pitchers in the Mets' farm system who were supposed to lead them out of the doldrums back to pennant contention: Izzy, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher. Mainly because of injuries, that never happened. Here are the career totals with the Mets for each of the Generation K pitchers for W-L and ERA:

Izzy: ..18-21 4.67
Wilson: .5-12 5.38
Pulse: ..5-.9 4.63

Jason Isringhausen was the most successful of the three, both in terms of overall career and in impact on the Mets. When Jason first arrived in the majors, he immediately rang up a 9-2 record and a 2.81 ERA as a starter. But he struggled for the next three years before being traded to Oakland and finding his niche in the bullpen.

In other ex-Mets news, Kris Benson has signed a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers. Kris is 34 years old now, and hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2006. But if any team is likely to offer him a few more major-league innings, it's the traditionally pitching-starved Rangers.

Practically Inevitable

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Tom Glavine has re-signed with the Braves--another one-year contract. Did anyone out there really think he was going to sign with the Nationals?

I am not one of the Tom Glavine haters. He gave the Mets the best he had to offer for five years, and if it wasn't always very good, whose is? He pitched a couple of memorable clunkers, most notably his last start for the Mets--no need to go into that one too deeply. And if he wasn't "devastated" at the loss, preferring to save such a term for a greater disaster than a baseball game … well, he was right. It might not have been particularly politic for him to have made that admission so quickly, given the intensity of the moment and the fans' disappointment … but he was right.

In Tom's defense, he didn't always lose. In his five years with the Mets, he averaged more than 200 innings a year, with an ERA less than 4.00. Who wouldn't want that now? His last two years with the Mets, he went 15-7 and 13-8. He recorded his 300th career victory for New York. And if he wants to finish his career with Atlanta, where he has spent seventeen(!) seasons, more power to him. It's home to him.

While history will remember Tom as a stalwart member of the Hated Braves, he's still a Met to me. He always behaved with dignity and class, and he won more games for the Mets in the decade of the 2000s than anyone except Al Leiter and one other pitcher.

***TRIVIA QUIZ ALERT***

Who is the pitcher who won more games for the Mets this decade than anyone else? There will be an actual prize awarded, worth possibly 25 cents, to the first person to email me with the correct answer.

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***TRIVIA ANSWER***

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Congratulations go out to Jay from Elmira, who correctly identified Steve Trachsel as the winningest Met pitcher of the 2000s. Didn't see that one coming, did you?

Monday Meanderings

Just a couple of quick hits: The Hated Phillies have signed onetime Met infielder Miguel Cairo to a minor-league deal and invited him to Spring Training. Miguel was essentially the Mets' starting second baseman in 2005, posting a paltry OPS+ of 64 in 100 games. Last year he played for the Mariners--if he appears with the Phillies, it will be Cairo's eighth different big-league team, including two separate stints each with the Cardinals, the Cubs, and the Yankees.

2000 star pitcher and noted aficionado of education Mike Hampton was sent home from the Astros' training camp after an irregular heartbeat was discovered. This setback is not thought to be serious. Mike was once one of the National League's brightest stars ... until he signed that free-agent mega-contract with the Colorado Rockies in 2001. Since then, it's been a bumpy road for Mike, including missing the entire 2006-07 seasons with injuries. As much as I wished for his failure as a member of the Hated Braves, I hope this new problem is indeed nothing to be concerned about.

And finally, old friend Jason Phillips is still out there plugging away. The only action Jason saw in 2008 was in the minors for Richmond, but he has just signed a new minor-league contract with Seattle, where there's an outside chance for him to see a few more big-league at-bats. Jason was the starting first baseman for most of 2003, having a surprisingly good year with the bat, and the starting catcher in 2004. In March 2005, the Mets traded him to the Dodgers for Kaz Ishii--betcha didn't remember that! His most recent big-league action was as a bench player for the 2006-07 Blue Jays.

Will Work for Food

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Moises Alou, Gary Bennett, Ambiorix Burgos, Paul Byrd, Miguel Cairo, Damion Easley, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, Jason Isringhausen, Paul Lo Duca, Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jay Payton, Ricardo Rincon, Kenny Rogers, and Matt Wise.

That's the list of players who have history with the Mets and are still out of work for 2009, as complete as I can figure it. Some of them will undoubtedly be forced into retirement; some will get minor-league deals and last-minute Spring Training invites. Ambiorix Burgos, of course, is a story unto himself, and will probably never play baseball in America again.

Anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to say goodbye to most of these guys, whose disappearances from the big leagues will come without press conferences, with no formal declarations of retirement. You were all Mets heroes for a moment or two (just one, in Gary Bennett's case).

***UPDATE***

Just a few moments after I made this post, I read on MetsBlog where Ramon Martinez is coming back to the Mets as a non-roster invitee for Spring Training. Ramon was actually fairly impressive for the Mets in a handful of September starts last year, and he is younger than Jose Valentin!

Thursday Morning Nuggets

Frank Viola, the Mets' last twenty-game winner (nearly twenty years ago!), is going to work with the Cleveland Indians' pitchers this Spring Training, helping pitching coach Carl Willis. Frankie was a one-time teammate of Indians manager Eric Wedge.

In 2½ seasons with the Mets, Viola went 38-32 with a 3.31 ERA, and the mark of 249.2 innings he pitched in 1990 hasn't been seriously challenged since. He originally came to New York in late '89 for five other pitchers, two of whom went on to have long-term big-league success: Kevin Tapani and Rick Aguilera.

Following up on yesterday's Robbie Alomar story, a statement from his own website, www.robertoalomar.com:

"This is a very private, personal matter and I greatly appreciate all the support I have received in the past few days from my family, friends and colleagues in baseball. I am in very good health and I ask that you respect my privacy during this time."

Wednesday Morning Quick Hits

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40-year-old Jose Valentin is back, according to multiple sources, getting $800,000 if he makes the big-league squad. For me, this is kind of a head-scratcher. He was a surprisingly wonderful player three years ago, not very good two years ago, and couldn't play at all last year, because of creaking old age. I appreciate the idea that he's a good teammate and a valuable clubhouse presence, but why didn't they make him the first-base coach then (apologies to Razor Shines)? With Luis Castillo and Alex Cora nearly guaranteed to have roster spots, I just don't see any room for old 'Stache.

In other very sad news, the New York Post is reporting that one-time second baseman Roberto Alomar has been afflicted with AIDS. No commentary here; just sorrow for Robbie and his family--two of whom are current Met coaches.

Mr. Beisbol

Edgardo Alfonzo was one of the best all-around players to ever don the orange and blue, but a bad back and a steep decline led to his becoming persona non grata in the big leagues a couple of years ago. Since then he has repeatedly attempted to resurrect his career, spending time in the minors and Mexico, even playing in the independent leagues. Now he is going to Japan--Fonzie recently agreed to terms with the Yomiuri Giants for $380,000. A far cry from his glory days with the Mets … but just a smidge more than I will make this year from watching baseball on TV.

Miilwaukee Looper

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Mets fans have had a love-hate relationship with their team's relief pitchers for nearly as long as I can recall. I remember back when I first started paying attention to such things, Jerry DiPoto and Doug Henry would frequently get booed while trotting in from the bullpen, long before they had done anything at all for good or for ill. What was that about? Check the numbers, Met fans; they weren't that bad.

It's easy to remember the past couple of seasons, when Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis routinely received the same treatment. These men would come out from Shea's bullpen to do battle for our side against a common enemy, and instead of being cheered on and encouraged to do well, they were heaped with scorn and abuse before they threw their first pitch. It almost made me ashamed to be a Mets fan. When did our expectations get so twisted that we would only be pleased with perfection? To be a Met fan has historically meant a willingness to cheer for the underdog, an ability to love those who lose, those who fail. When did we morph into those ugliest of sports patrons … Yankee fans?

It hasn't only been our marginal bullpen contributors who have received this scorn. John Franco, the all-time franchise leader in saves, got booed by his hometown fans. Armando Benitez, the most dominant closer in team history, was booed with something like religious zeal. Even Billy Wagner heard the rumblings of discontent more than once the past couple of years--Billy, whose worst ERA with the Mets was 2.63.

All this is to say that Braden Looper seems to be on the verge of signing a contract with the Brewers. I can hear the boos starting already, the mocking, the catcalls. Check the numbers, Met fans. He wasn't that bad.

In other ex-Mets bullpen news, 2006 stalwart Chad Bradford, now with Tampa Bay, has had surgery on his right elbow and is expected to miss the first half of the season. See the picture below in case you wonder why his elbow needed surgery.

Ayala to the Twins

2008's season-ending closer-by-default Luis Ayala has agreed to a 2009 contract with the Minnesota Twins. Up until last year, Luis had been quite a good relief pitcher. Last year, though, he was bad, which explains in part why the Mets were able to trade for him, for what seemed at the time to be the bargain-basement price of deposed middle infielder Anderson Hernandez. Luis was immediately installed as the closer (though no formal proclamation was ever issued), and, to his credit, saved nine games in eleven chances. But he faltered at last, as did the whole 2008 bullpen, and ended up with a Mets ERA of 5.50. I thought he would be back this year in his more-familiar role of a setup man, but then there was that whole "addition by subtraction" thing, and the Mets never showed any interest in re-signing him that I heard about.

In other ex-Mets news, former emergency catcher Mike DiFelice officially ended his playing career, accepting the reins as manager of the Mets' rookie-league Kingsport franchise. Good move! And welcome back, Mike.

Friday Morning Tidbits

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The Mets have signed veteran right-hander Elmer Dessens to a minor-league contract. Don't panic, Met fans! They didn't sign him to be the Opening Day starter--if he throws a pitch for the Mets at all, I'll be a little bit surprised. Buffalo needs pitchers, too; for that matter, so does Binghamton. I don't think Elmer will wind up on the B-Mets--I just wanted to write "Binghamton" for the first time on this blog. The Binghamton Mets are, I'm pretty sure, the closest professional baseball team to my home in Corning. How did I get here? Oh, yes ... Elmer Dessens. I'm not sure I have anything more to say about him, except that he's 38 years old, and he had three pretty good seasons for Cincinnati a long time ago.

And here's an ex-Mets transaction I missed (hat tip to Hot Foot): David Newhan has signed a minor-league deal with the Houston Astros. I thought David was going to be a pretty good utility man for New York a couple of years ago; he had a very strong training camp. Regular season came ... not so much.

Speaking of Spring Training ... it's only a week away, boys and girls!

Uncle Cliffy to the Friars

Veteran outfielder Cliff Floyd continued his end-of-career, across-the-USA farewell tour by signing a deal with the San Diego Padres for reportedly less than a million dollars. A good deal for the Pads, I think, and good for Cliff, too, if he desires to keep on playing.

In another mini-transaction involving an ex-Met this week, Brian Bannister avoided arbitration by signing with the Royals, receiving quite a tidy bag of loot for his 9-16, 5.76 season--more than $1.7 million.

Mr. Wigginton Goes to Baltimore

Ty Wigginton is heading to the Baltimore Orioles, where he will apparently take over Kevin Millar's roster spot and duties. He should be about as good as Millar, too, who I always thought was overrated, and seems to be solidly in the decline phase of his career as well.

It's a mixed bag for Ty, who was the Mets' last starter at third base before the ascension of David Wright. He goes to a place where he should see significant playing time, but also be able to enjoy a real comfortable view of the basement in the AL East.

Some Mets fans wanted Wiggy back this winter, and I admit the idea would have pleased me, too. But this is clearly a better opportunity for Ty, who's not ready to succumb to the splinters of benchdom quite yet.

Ex-Mets Moves

Maybe this is of interest to nobody except me, but whenever I hear that (for example) Timo Perez signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers, I always remember that Timo was once, and forevermore will be, a Met. With that in mind--and on the off chance there are more of you out there like me--this blog will report any transactional moves involving former Mets.

There have been four such moves that I noticed this week, starting with this one: Timo Perez signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers.

Timo didn't log a single at-bat in the big leagues last year; he spent the whole 2008 season with AAA Toledo--he also spent most of 2007 with Toledo. His numbers were very similar both seasons: over 400 at-bats, at least 30 doubles, 13 home runs, over 60 RBI, and batting averages of .309 and .302. His last big-league action came with the Tigers in '07, when he batted a sparkling .389 in 96 late-season trips to the plate. Here's hoping he gets another chance to show his stuff in the majors.

Steady reliever David Weathers re-signed with Cincinnati, thus avoiding arbitration. Dave was a workhorse out of the Met bullpen for 2½ years earlier this decade, as he has been elsewhere before and since. He's appeared in over 60 games in each of the last ten seasons.

Former favorite whipping boy of the intolerant Mets fans Aaron Heilman got traded from the Mariners to the Cubs without ever having thrown a pitch for Seattle. It was long rumored that the Cubs were interested in Aaron; now they have their man. I never fully understood the Mets fans' dissatisfaction with Heilman; even in the years he was pretty good for them, he was always an easy target for fast, unjustified booing. Good luck in Chicago, Aaron. Hope we meet you in the playoffs!

Lastly, another popular target of the Mets fans' scorn, Jeff Kent, announced his retirement after seventeen stellar seasons. Jeff merits a post all his own, which will be soon forthcoming.