The Mets have released right handed reliever Duaner Sanchez.

I saw this coming following Sanchez's bad outing Monday in Port St. Lucie, where the Orioles smacked him around during his one inning of relief, where he had basically no velocity and no break on any of his pitches.

Duaner was one of the most effective relievers in baseball in 2006 not giving up a single run in his first 21 innings of relief and pitching to a 2.60 ERA before he was involved in a taxi cab accident which sidelined him for the remainder of the year.

He was never the same pitcher.

He re-injured himself trying to come back and missed all of 2007 as well.

According to Metsblog, the move will allow the Mets to save $1.6 million on their 2009 payroll. Read More...

The Mets have avoided an arbitration case with relief pitcher Duaner Sanchez by signing him to a 1 year $1.7 million contract.

Sanchez showed he could stay healthy last season by pitching in 66 games. However he was not the same pitcher as he was in 2006 before the taxi accident. The Mets hope that Sanchez will come into 2009 much stronger and will return to form.

Stay away from taxi cabs in Florida Duaner. Read More...

So tonight was great.  Besides everyone wearing 42, which I'm sort of on the fence about, good win for the Metsies tonight.  They needed a solid victory with a nice little touch of inspiration. Everyone loves a little man tear or two.

Willie Randolph was on Mike and the Mad Dog this afternoon.
-Said that Pedro was in MRI machines as they were speaking (this was around 5 p.m. this afternoon. So much for Pedro having that MRI first thing in the morning.)
-Randolph fully expects Pedro to go on the DL.
-Hinted that Nelson Figueroa will be added to the rotation. It is being reported that Figueroa is on his way to Miami (according to Metsblog).
-Mike Pelfrey looked great in the bullpen today according to Randolph. And you guys were worried.
-Said that the Mets will in no way hurry El Duque back. Yeah, cause we wouldn't want to rush an injured and aging pitcher back to the rotation.
-Randolph praised the Mets bullpen for their work in the first two games of the season.
-Reassured fans that the clubhouse is indeed emotionally intact after Pedro hurt himself. I, for one, am sick of hearing about how Pedro's injuries will cripple team morale. It's the second game of the season. If losing Pedro Martinez is crippling to anything regarding this team, it's going to be a very long season.
-He continued his praise of John Maine, even saying that Maine has a little swagger going for him.
-Duaner Sanchez may be back before May.
-Also, Luis Castillo has one leg shorter than the other. I can't make this up, friends.

Randolph of course said more but nothing earth shattering. Perhaps we'll learn more about Martinez during tonight's game. Read More...

As I mentioned yesterday in my post, Scott Schoeneweis has not been an effective reliever. I know the guy has a bad left leg and maybe some time on the disabled list would be good for him.

After Wagner and Mota effectively pitched their one inning each, our favorite reliever comes in and gives up a bomb to Brendan Ryan when he has 2 strikes on him. In his 2/3 of an inning, Schoeneweis gives up 2 hits 2 runs (1 ER) along with walking a guy. Horrible.

What bothers me the most is, its becoming a normal occurrence. Even though his previous 4 appearances were a bit better and he really has not had a blow up since June 7th, his ERA is still well over where it should be and us Mets fans know that the game is over when he comes in.

Well whats the solution then? Good question. What lefty reliever can we acquire to take this guys spot if we did let him go or even put him on the DL for a while? I do not know of any. We are stuck in the meantime.

Many of you may be thinking "Well what about Aaron Heilman?" While Heilman has been another favorite whipping boy (especially giving up the temporary go ahead run), may I remind everyone that when Duaner Sanchez went down after his cab incident (which I think we are still feeling sour for) Heilman filled in beautifully as an 8th inning guy.

So I think the verdict is still out on Heilman, but it looks like Schoeneweis better figure something out fast. We are all hoping his days are numbered as a Met.



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