Division-Watching (2009)

[spidernat]

The phillies felt misled by Moyer because he has been masquerading as an MLB pitcher. 70% of his starts this season have been dismal.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

And the Nats mislead me because I paid full price for my share of our season tickets expecting to see major league baseball.

[spidernat]

And the Nats mislead me because I paid full price for my share of our season tickets expecting to see major league baseball.

[blue911]

The phillies felt misled by Moyer because he has been masquerading as an MLB pitcher. 70% of his starts this season have been dismal.

And yet he's still miles better than Daniel Cabrera.

[JMW IV]

The Phillies' decision to bump Jamie Moyer to the bullpen for Pedro Martinez may be the right baseball decision, but as Nick Kapur pointed out last month at UmpBump.com, the move has major financial implications. Moyer's contract incentives are based on innings pitched and games started so they'll be much harder to reach out of the 'pen. Moyer has started 22 games and pitched 123.3 innings, so he would have started about 30 games and pitched about 180 innings if he'd stayed in the rotation all year. Here are some incentives in his contract:

$250k for 150, 160, 170, 180 and 190 innings.

And a few ways he could boost his 2010 salary:

Moyer adds $250k to his salary when he starts his next game and again if he reaches 150 IP.
His salary rises by $500k when he starts his 25th, 27th, 29th and 31st games.
It increases by the same amount when he reaches 160, 170, 180 and 190 innings.

Had Moyer stayed in the rotation long enough to make 30 starts and pitch 180 innings, he would have received $1MM more this year and $3.5MM more next year. He could still reach some of these marks, but it's no wonder he's disappointed.

if the Nats did this to one of their pitchers, the LAC would be all over it.

[NatsAddict]

if the Nats did this to one of their pitchers, the LAC would be all over it.

Fish pulled that stunt on Mark Hendrickson last year.

[PC]

Brad Lidge just blows chunks.  Blows saves, at least!

[sportsfan882]

vintage Church chasing a ball way in the dirt

[bklynnats]

Scary moment with David Wright being hit in the head by that Matt Cain pitch  Hate the Mets, but I don't wish anything bad on the guy. Hope he's all right.

[houston-nat]

Scary moment with David Wright being hit in the head by that Matt Cain pitch  Hate the Mets, but I don't wish anything bad on the guy. Hope he's all right.

And let's not forget Kuroda also got hit in the head today by a line drive...

[spidernat]

Scary moment with David Wright being hit in the head by that Matt Cain pitch  Hate the Mets, but I don't wish anything bad on the guy. Hope he's all right.

AZ and SF probably loved it.

[bklynnats]

And let's not forget Kuroda also got hit in the head today by a line drive...

Extremely scary moment. I didn't see the video of that til this morning. Always awful to see an athlete stretchered out like that. Sounds like Kuroda was released from the hospital and cleared to fly home, which is great news. Looked a lot worse than that when it happened.

Kinsler was hit in the head yesterday too...but he was more pissed than anything. Had a big day offensively today

Mets put David Wright on the 15-day DL with post-concussion symptons. After everything with Ryan Church last year, I'm sure they're going to treat this with kid gloves. Especially since the Mets are going nowhere this year.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

The Mets are completely falling to pieces.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/08/20/mets.sheffield/index.html

Sheffield wants out.

[DPMOmaha]

The Mets are completely falling to pieces.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/08/20/mets.sheffield/index.html

Sheffield wants out.

[DPMOmaha]

Will Billy Wagner be hitting the market this year or will he still be under contract?  If he his on the market, Riz should make a run at him.  Not at what he's getting paid now of course, but he's better than MacDougal and could probably do well showing Storen the ropes.  Don't know if he'd come to a place like Washington, but if he's as good and heaslthy as he look like he was last night...

[blue911]

The Mets are completely falling to pieces.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/08/20/mets.sheffield/index.html

Sheffield wants out.

So Sheffield is pulling the same crap Manny Ramirez pulled last season.

[HalfSmokes]

So Sheffield is pulling the same crap Manny Ramirez pulled last season.

Its what happens when old guys want to sit on a bench and get a ring. When the team is winning, its easy to be a team guy, when you're out of the wild card race in August, its harder.

[houston-nat]

What are the odds the Mets pass us for last place? Not good I imagine

[bklynnats]

The Mets are completely falling to pieces.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/08/20/mets.sheffield/index.html

Sheffield wants out.

Nice to see Sheffield is keeping up his reputation as a great team guy He was on the scrap heap from Detroit, and now he's making demands. Shows how much half a season can change things.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Will Billy Wagner be hitting the market this year or will he still be under contract? 

Jayson Stark suggests Wagner is sound and might be someone the Mets look to trade down the stretch. He says TB or FLA, but money might be an issue.

Ready to rumble
• Wig-Wagging: A scout who covers the Florida State League reports, after watching Billy Wagner throw, that there is "no doubt" Wagner could help somebody in the big leagues if the Mets can find a trade partner.

"I saw him twice, and he was impressive," the scout said. "He was throwing 92 to 94 [mph], and he was throwing strikes. The breaking-ball command was not real good. But everything else was the old Billy Wagner."

Two teams that other clubs' scouts believe have some interest are the Rays and Marlins. But Wagner's $10.5 million contract (which has more than $2.5 million remaining through the end of the season, plus a $1 million buyout of his 2010 option) likely would be too pricey for both of those teams. But other clubs believe that the Mets will have to eat a major chuck of that money if they expect to land a decent prospect in return for Wagner.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It's reported that the Red Sox won the claim for Wagner and are very interested in cutting a deal with the Mets. 

[sportsfan882]

Oliver Perez

0.2 IP 4 H 6 ER 2 BB 0 K (47 pitches)

[DPMOmaha]

Crazy finish at Citi Field today.  Jason Bruntlett who was playing 2b had committed back to back errors to put the winning run at the plate with no one out.  Manuel sends the runners, Bruntlett covers the bat, Murphy lines the ball up the middle right to Bruntlett who's basically standing on the bag and tags the runner off first for the unassisted triple play to end the game. 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090823&content_id=6585864&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[tomterp]

It's reported that the Red Sox won the claim for Wagner and are very interested in cutting a deal with the Mets. 

"Is he ready to pitch, or is he not? You know what I mean? I think our bullpen is good where we’re at right now. Don’t get me wrong. But I guess you could always make it better. It’s kind of like the (Eric) Gagne thing, I guess."
—Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, on the Red Sox making a waiver claim on Mets reliever Billy Wagner.

"I don’t have any thoughts on somebody like him. I mean, when he walks in my shoes, then I’ll say something. Let him be 38 and have Tommy John and come back."
—Mets reliever Billy Wagner on Papelbon's less-than-welcoming comments towards him.

[spidernat]

Wagner will probably exercise his no trade clause.