On Wednesday, not that it should matter to him, Pedro will take on Rays #1 pick David Price. 

            At Baseball Prospectus, Joe Sheehan, in discussing the Mets, suggests that they sign Barry Bonds. 

            “Not to put too fine a point on this, but a team with a hole in left field, desperate for lefty power (the Mets are 11th in homers and 12th in slugging), that has already committed itself to below-average defense and occasional unavailability from the regular in that spot, that has a win-now bent, and whose season is already the subject of crushing media coverage… I mean, how hard is this to figure out? Sign him already. Barry Bonds is Alou, but with better offense, defense, speed, and health.”

 

            I’d thought about Bonds before, and I like the idea though I doubt it will happen.  From a baseball perspective, it makes a lot of sense.  Bonds hit .276/.480/.565 with 28 bombs last year for a lousy San Francisco team.  PECOTA’s weighted mean projection for Bonds for 2008 was for a .248/.420/.494 equivalent line, with slightly below average defense in left.  I’d bet adding a .420 OBP and .494 SLG to the lineup and extra wins in the standings would do wonders for clubhouse chemistry.

 

Stars of the Day:

AAA: Nelson Figueroa/Argenis Reyes

AA: Eric Reed

A+: *Tobi Stoner*

A: Jose Jimenez

 

New Orleans (AAA – Pacific Coast League)

@ New Orleans Zephyrs (26-25, -1.5) 4, Round Rock Express (20-31) 3

 

            Nelson Figueroa shut out the Express through seven innings, before giving up a three run homer to Reggie Abercrombie in the eighth that brought Round Rock within a run.  Figueroa struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter in his eight innings.  However, Nate Field worked an uneventful ninth for his fifth save. 

            LF Chris Aguila, (.266/.347/.468) was 2-4 with an RBI while 2B Argenis Reyes was 2-4 with a double and an RBI.  RF Valentino Pascucci, whose name has been appearing a lot more in NYC media outlets and blogs recently, was 0-4.

            With their five-game winning streak, the Zs are within a game and a half of first for the first time in two weeks. 

 

Binghamton (AA - Eastern League)

@ Portland Sea Dogs (31-19) 6, Binghamton Mets (24-26, -8.5) 2

 

            The Sea Dogs got to Jose Sanchez (4-4, 4.66) for six runs, three earned in five innings. 

            Eric Reed put together his second straight multi-hit effort going 2-4 with a walk and two runs from the leadoff spot.             

 

 

St. Lucie (A+ - Florida State League)

Vero Beach Devil Rays (25-26) 3, @ St. Lucie Mets (11-40, -20.0) 2

 

            Tobi Stoner’s brilliance wasn’t enough for the Mets on Tuesday.  Stoner took a no-hitter into the seventh before a one-out double ended the suspense.  Stoner had allowed just two runners entering the seventh, a walk and a wild pitch on a third strike.  All told, in seven innings, Stoner yielded two runs on two hits, fanning seven and walking one.  Stoner now has fanned 42 and walked seven in 39.2 innings working with a four pitch mix.  I’ve seen pitchers with strong off-speed pitchers baffle advanced-A hitters only to struggle at higher levels, so I’m eager to see how Stoner performs when he moves up the ladder. 

            DH Salvador Paniagua was 1-3 with a two-run double. 

 

Savannah (A – South Atlantic League)

@ Greenville Drive (27-26) 8, Savannah Sand Gnats (22-30, -13.5) 2

 

            Maikel Cleto (1-9, 4.04) gave up four runs on nine hits in six innings while the Gnats offense was held to 7 hits.

            Two of those seven hits belonged to 1B Jose Jimenez who homered as well. 

 

Toby Hyde has written Toby’s Mets Minor League Report since 2004.  Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, and Mets fans of all types.  To subscribe to the email newsletter, sign up here: http://groups.google.com/group/mets-minors?hl=en.  Archives are available at http://metsminors.metsblog.com.