Three different Mets pitchers were honored with pitcher of the week honors: Binghamton’s Miguel Perez, Hagerstown’s Deolis Guerra and Brooklyn’s Nelson Portillo.  Congratulations, all.   

            I’ll admit that I’m a little confused by the Mets’ valuation methods.  How was Roberto Hernandez expendable enough last winter that they didn’t offer him a contract while now, packaged with Oliver Perez, a 24 year-old with severe control problems, he’s worth a starting right fielder?  Yes, yes, circumstances change, but it doesn’t feel right.   Beyond feel, let’s try some math.  Xavier Nady had a 8.2 VORP, Roberto Hernandez has a 5.3 VORP, while Oliver Perez was -12.  It’s nice that Perez has upside, but the focus should be primarily on winning a World Series in 2006.  I hope Milledge is ready this time around after being shopped a little bit this week.  Maybe now Mets will wear seatbelts in cabs?

 

Stars of the Day:

AAA: Jose Lima/Jose Offerman & Rueben Gotay

AA: -

A+: Brian Bannister/Caleb Stewart & Jonathan Malo & Mike Carp

A: Fernando Martinez & Jesus Gamero

SSA: Dustin Marin & Jonathan Schemmel/Eric Brown

R (APP): Alejandro Zuaznabar
R (GCL): Ben Saylor

 

Norfolk (AAA - International League)

@ Richmond 4, Norfolk 3 (10 innings)

 

            A night after Tagg Bozied’s walkoff HR, Hector Pena returned the favor with his first of the year off Royce Ring in the bottom of the tenth.

            Jose Offerman’s RBI single with two outs in the game tied it up and sent the game to extras.  Offerman finished 2-5 with a pair of RBI.  Rueben Gotay doubled and tripled in a 2-5 night as well. 

            Jose Lima started and allowed just three runs in his eight innings of work on eight hits.  Dominating?  Hardly, he struck out one. 

 

Binghamton (AA - Eastern League)

Binghamton

 

            Off.

 

St. Lucie (A+ - Florida State League)

@ St. Lucie 4, Daytona 0

 

            Brian Bannister apparently doesn’t really want to hang out in Florida very much longer.  He dealt seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts.  He allowed just four hits.  Carlos Muniz picked up the two inning save.

            St. Lucie scored first in the second on an RBI single from Jonathan Malo, but put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the eighth that included a two run bomb from Caleb Stewart who was 2-4.  Jesus Flores also was 2-4 with 2 runs scored while Mike Carp was 2-4 with a double. 

 

Hagerstown (A – South Atlantic League)

Asheville 5, @ Hagerstown 4

 

            The Tourists scored in the top of the ninth to win the finale of this series.

            Fernando Martinez doubled in a 2-4 evening at the top of the order while Jesus Gamero continued his tear with a triple in a 2-4 night.  In the Suns eight game homestand, Gamero, a 22-year-old Venezulan was 14-28, with 2 2B, 3B, HR and 14 RBI.

 

Brooklyn (SSA – New York Penn League)

Brooklyn 6, @ Aberdeen 3

 

            Jon Schemmel was 3-6 with 3 singles while Dustin Martin was 3-4 with a double, triple, RBI and a walk.  Joe Holden’s only hit was a two run HR in the fourth inning. 

            Eric Brown, who began the year with Hagerstown, improved to 3-0 in the NYP with an eight inning performance complete with eight strikeouts.  He gave up three runs, only one of which was earned. 

 

Kingsport Mets (R – Appalachian League)

@ Elizabethton 6, Kingsport 5

 

            Alejandro Zuaznabar was a perfect 3-3 with a double.  Ivan Maldondo’s 2 run HR in the sixth helped bring the K-Mets back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game before the Twins scored in the bottom of the eighth for the win. 

GCL Mets (R – Gulf Coast League)

GCL Mets 3, @ GCL Marlins 2

 

            John Holdzkom blew the save by allowing an unearned run, but picked up his first professional win when the Mets scored in the top of the ninth on a Ben Saylor double.  Saylor was the GCL Mets offense: 3-4 with a double and all 3 RBI.