Mets sign Sanchez to one year deal.

[RandolphScott]

Duaner Sanchez signs one year deal.

 

 

NEW YORK -- Duaner Sanchez has a new contract and a new opportunity. The Mets can only hope those perks will bring with them some new results.

 

The Mets signed Sanchez to a one-year deal on Monday, reportedly for $850,000, avoiding arbitration with their most fragile reliever and giving him a chance to become a cog in the bullpen yet again.

 

Sanchez missed all of last season after undergoing right shoulder surgery on a hairline bone fracture last April, never recovering in time to take the mound. Originally injuring the shoulder during a taxi accident the previous summer, he missed the end of that season, and then came to Spring Training and promptly injured his shoulder again.

 

Before the accident, Sanchez had become one of the more valued members of the Mets bullpen, posting a 2.60 ERA in 49 games. His absence proved conspicuous last season -- as it did in the 2006 postseason -- for a bullpen that descended from elite to mediocre in the span of one year. With Sanchez, in 2006, Mets relievers ranked second in the Majors with a combined 3.25 ERA. Without him, in 2007, they finished 15th with a 3.99 mark.

 

That's not to say that Sanchez is the answer. Multiple shoulder surgeries have a way of sapping strength, and there's no telling if Sanchez will ever be the same. To that end, general manager Omar Minaya hedged his bet last month by signing veteran right-hander Matt Wise to a one-year contract. He, along with Sanchez and incumbent setup man Aaron Heilman, should battle for late-inning relief responsibilities this spring.

 

The Mets also announced Monday that they had signed right-handed reliever Juan Padilla, among seven other players, to a Minor League contract.

 

Padilla, like Sanchez, missed all of 2007 due to injury -- his was a partial tear of the flexor tendon in his right elbow, which required surgery in April. That came a year after elbow ligament-replacement surgery caused him to miss all of 2006, and two years after he splashed into Queens with a 1.49 ERA in 2005.

The Mets also signed right-handers Joselo Diaz and Andy Cavazos, lefty Ryan Cullen, infielders Anderson Machado and Fernando Tatis, and catchers Robinson Cancel and Salomon Manriquez to Minor League contracts, and invited all of them to Spring Training. Of those players, only Cavazos spent time in the Majors last season, and none are expected to significant impact this summer's plans.

 

 

1. Hopefully Sanchez can duplicate the success he had in '06.

 

2. Why the FUCK are the Mets signing a never was in Tatis?

 

 

[mws44]

It’s been awfully quiet in Flushing lately. Here’s a quick recap of the recent moves and maneuverings at Shea.

 

Over the weekend, the Mets reacquired Cubs outfielder Angel Pagan in exchange for two low-level minor leaguers. Pagan was a star on the Brooklyn Cyclones while in the Mets organization and was sold to the Cubs in January 2006. The 26-year-old speedster has a .255 batting average and nine homers in 318 career major league at-bats.

 

Over in his mailbag for MLB.com, Marty Noble states that his initial reaction to the trade is that the acquisition could make Endy Chavez expendable, however according to Noble, “a member of the club hierarchy said Pagan had been acquired only for reasons of outfield depth.”

 

In that same mailbag, Noble notes that Tom Nieto will be replacing Rickey Henderson on Manager Willie Randolph’s coaching staff. Nieto had previously served as the team’s catching instructor.

 

The Mets have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with reliever Duaner Sanchez, who missed all of last season following two shoulder surgeries. It’s unknown whether or not Sanchez can come close to the often dominant form he exhibited prior to the car accident that shelved him in 2006, but reports indicate that the righty is in great shape and hitting 94 mph on the radar gun while pitching off a mound in Port St. Lucie. The Mets could sorely use any help they can get in their thin, mediocre bullpen.

 

LINK

 

1. I hope to God Endy Chavez is not expendable.

2. Good riddance Rickey.

3. Wow. I hope he is hittin 94 throwin strikes.

[so-cal dub]

Mets are into the Dirty Sanchez... no surprise.

[feefifoefum]

I am into the Dirty Sanchez... no surprise.

 

Disgusting...

[xxi-xxv]

Mets are into the Dirty Sanchez... no surprise.

 

yeah well at least they do not cheat