New York Mets news and notes as the season winds down

Here are some Mets news and notes from Monday, Labor day.

Today at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Ike Davis spoke with reporters and said he was in Port St. Lucie this past weekend participating in baseball activities, and is pain free.Davis said he will workout for the next two days with the team in Miami and will then shut his activity down for a month to allow for further recuperation. The team will move him to the 60 day disabled list.

In addition, Johan Santana visited with the team in Miami today, and told reporters he will pitch in another rehab game this Friday either with Single-A St. Lucie or with Savanah in the South Atlantic League. He could rejoin the Mets sometime after that, as the minor league season will have concluded at that time.

Also, assistant GM John Ricco spoke with reporters and said Jon Niese is still experiencing pain in his side when he sneezes, and is therefore not close to returning.  The Mets have had some crazy injuries this year as well as the last couple of years, this is something that really has to be addressed in the off season.

Meanwhile, the Mets announced they have recalled outfielder Mike Baxter and selected the contracts of righthanded pitcher Chris Schwinden and first baseman Valentino Pascucci from Triple-A Buffalo. Baxter will wear #23, Schwinden will wear #63 and Pascucci will wear will wear #15. All three players will join the team in Florida tomorrow.

Schwinden, 24, was the Mets’ 22nd round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He was 8-8 with a 3.95 ERA (64 earned runs/145.2 innings) with Buffalo this season. He allowed 138 hits, issued 48 walks and struck out 134 batters. According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Schwinden could start one of the games in their doubleheader against the Braves on Thursday.

Pascucci, 32, hit .259 (114-440) with 58 runs scored, 29 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs and 91 RBI in 129 games with the Bisons this year. He appeared in 32 major league games with the Montreal Expos in 2004. He hit .177 (11-62) with six runs scored, two home runs and six RBI.

Thanks to metsblog.com for providing some of the information here about the Mets.  They do a great job over there and if you aren't familiar with the work should check it out.

Yankees News and Notes

Here are some Yankees news and notes from Thursday.


Yankees reliever Dave Robertson spent his off day back home in Alabama checking on the devastation left by the tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa last month. He has set up a foundation, not exactly sure what he saw or who he met with but he is trying to help in any way that he can.  Robertson is a really good guy that has also played really well this year. 

“It’s way worse than I thought it was,” Robertson told the Tuscaloosa News. “You can hear about it and see it on TV, but it’s not the same as being here. It’s total devastation.”



If you would like to donate visit the David and Erin website.  David and Erin Robertson and you can help out there, it is just a horrible tragedy with all these storms out there.  In New York we don't have to deal with this kind of stuff but we do know all too well about tragedy and getting through it.

Donnie Collins reported tonight that the Yankees have released left-handed reliever Andy Sisco. He must have requested his release. He was pitching pretty well in Triple-A, but with Randy Flores onboard, Sisco’s role was pretty much non-existent. The team put him on the DL when Amauri Sanit was optioned down.

After Buster Posey’s injury, the Giants called up former Yankees catcher Chris Stewart. He never got much big league time with the Yankees but he will now get a chance with the Giants.  He has a reputation of being a very good defender.

The Yankees will be playing all three west coast teams, the Mariners, Athletics and Angels.  The three teams aren't that good but they have very good pitching and that will be a challenge for the Yankees with their offense that has struggled most of the season but has seemed to maybe turn it around the last couple of days.  The Yankees will see phenom Michael Pinada in Seattle and King Felix.  They will see Dan Haren and Jered Weaver in Anaheim.  The three teams they will play against have the three lowest team ERA in the league.  I never like west coast trips, this is the longest trip of the season and it will be tough.  If they can go 4-5 or 5-4 I would be happy. 

Mets vs. Giants-Emotional night on tap

The New York Mets begin a three game series with the San Francisco Giants tonight at Citi Field.  They are the first NY team to play in NY since Osama Bin Laden death, it is sure to be a patriotic and emotional night.  Here are some notes and the lineup.

Mets Lineup:Jose Reyes, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Josh thole, Jason Pridie, R.A. Dickey.

Lucas Duda was recalled from AAA Buffalo due to Jason Bay going on Paternity leave for 1-3 days.  Duda was batting 257 in AAA with four doubles, three homeruns and nine RBI.  He has had five out of his last eight games be multi-hit games.  Those stats are in 21 games down in AAA.

Jenrry Mejia is off to see Dr. Andrews, most likely he will undergo T.J. surgery in the near future but just wants to make sure.  It is never good when you go and see Dr. Andrews.  The Mets have high hopes for this kid and this was a devastating injury but most are able to come back from the surgery in a year or two and be just as good if not better. 

The Mets will wear special stars and stripes hats tonight.  A source says the Mets will sell a part stake in the team this month.  I will see it when I believe it but they keep saying they have minority investors and they have been moving forward.  It is hard for me to believe anyone will do that without some type of agreement about having a chance to get the whole team. 

The game is at 7:05PM on SNY, enjoy the game everyone and it should be emotional with the patriotic theme, USA USA will be heard going through the crowd, a special national anthem and God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch.  It should be fun to watch at home on T.V. if your not going to the game. 

More Yankee Notes

Jorge Posada is the emergency catcher for the next couple of days, he says hopefully he will be back in the lineup on friday. He will be reevaluated on Thursday but it doesn't look like he will go on the DL. Mariano Rivera was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and if he came through it fine he could be available tonight. Joe Girardi said though that he would like to give him another day off. Joba would be the closer again tonight in that case. Chan Ho Park has been playing catch in Tampa and said he feels better. Park will throw off half a mound tomorrow. The Yankees plan to have him throw a bullpen session on Friday. If that goes well the Yankees will have him make a rehab appearance next week. It is not known how many rehab appearances he will need before coming back up but Girardi said one isn't going to be enough. Girardi said he may start Golson against some lefties. Marcus Thames had three hits against Matusz last week though so this made sense for tonight. Mark Melancon was optioned back to AAA-Scranton. Javier Vazquez said he still wishes he wasn't being skipped but understands it. There is no Jeter injury, Girardi just wanted to give him a day off in the field. He said as the team plays more and more days in a row you will see more of this. Girardi did this a lot last year and it worked, keeping the older players fresh.

Me featured on another blog

Here is a link to me being featured in the Touching base blog by Jesse Spector in the NY Daily News today. I think you guys will enjoy me talking about the Yankees and getting a little hot stove action going. I want to hear your comments on this, how did I do? What did you think of this please let me know and thanks for all the support. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/touchingbase/2009/11/blogger-nine-innings-gary-marc.html