Either doctors are getting better at performing Tommy John surgery or they've learned more about how to come back from it, because Billy Wagner could be back in a Mets uniform less than a year after going under the knife.
Wagner has thrown five scoreless innings for the Mets' Single-A affiliate in Port St. Lucie and will make two more appearances this week. If all goes well, he could be back in the bigs as soon as this weekend, which would give the Mets two closers and no save opportunities.
Unless they're gunning for some group health care rate, Wagner can't help the Mets. Might he be of use to a team that isn't swirling the drain, though?
Piecing together parts and sellers at the trade deadline can sometimes be easy. We know the Blue Jays are willing to explore trade options for Roy Halladay. We also know the Texas Rangers need pitching and that they have a farm system that's brimming with talent. So if we do the math here, it's not surprising to hear that the Rangers have inquired about Halladay.
According to the story, the Blue Jays are demanding Justin Smoak, maybe the best hitting prospect in the minor leagues right now, and two "good young starting pitchers" to go with him. Presumably, at least one of those two pitchers is either Neftali Feliz or Derek Holland. That's an awfully steep asking price that I'm not sure Rangers' GM Jon Daniels would be willing to pay, which is likely why the Rangers are still classified as "dark horses."
So far this season it seems like the Chicago White Sox have been trying to go back in time. After getting off to a bad start to the 2009 campaign, the Sox went out and signed Scott Podsednik to a minor-league deal -- even though most scouts would have told you he was done. Well, it's worked out pretty nicelyl for Chicago as Podsednik is back on top of their lineup and playing surprisingly well.
Then, this week the White Sox signed another player from their 2005 team who most people think is washed up: Freddy Garcia. It seems like the team thinks if they get as many players as they can from 2005 they'll win another World Series. Which is why it's too bad that the Rangers had to go and destroy Chicago's "brilliant" plan.
Hernandez, making his fourth minor-league rehab start and first with the B-Mets, gave up two runs in the first inning. He said he felt fine before the game began but hurt his right foot during the first inning, though he couldn't recall exactly when the injury occurred. It's the same foot Hernandez had surgery on prior to the beginning of this season.
The injury likely happened on the first out of the game. Connecticut leadoff hitter Kyle Haines hit a slow grounder to first baseman Mike Carp, who tossed the ball to Hernandez covering the bag at first. Hernandez recorded the putout but appeared to take bad step on the bag, hobbling slightly after the play.
First batter of the game. Alou lasted six innings before he took himself out. Even Hampton lasted two innings. El Duque, who lasted the rest of that first inning, couldn't even outlast them. That's like the injury equivalent of missing the $100 question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Poor guy.
It might be easier to list what's right with Orlando Hernandez than to list what's wrong with him. "El Duque" was due to come off the disabled list on Sunday from his bunion discomfort, but rather than just have a flare up of that existing injury, Hernandez has come up with a brand new injury, as a strained tendon in his right foot will put him on the shelf for at least another month.
This from the same guy who missed the 2006 playoffs because he hurt his calf while jogging in the outfield, and the same guy who had the following spring training hampered by arthritis in his neck. Add to that the fact that nobody really knows how old he is, it's possible that we may never see Hernandez in a major league uniform again at this rate.
The Mets, who probably took well over a year too long to stop depending on the health of El Duque, are looking at signing Claudio Vargas to help out their rotation. Just six months ago, Hernandez was being counted on to throw in the front end of the Mets rotation, before a previous flare-up with tendinitis started to convince the Mets that Hernandez just isn't very durable anymore ... just really, really old.
There was a time when Cuban athletes who defected were treated as traitors ... stricken from the Cuban media as if they didn't exist. So it was surprising that a documentary produced in 2004, and featured then Yankees and current Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, found it's way on to state run Cuban television four years later. It was originally censored due to the interviews with defectors such as Hernandez, Kendry Morales, and Rene Arocha, the first Cuban defector to play for a major league team.
I'm an Industrialista. I am not a traitor to the Industriales," Hernandez said in the documentary "Fuera de Liga" (Outstanding) by Ian Padron.
"I've had the opportunity to play for the two best teams in the world: Industriales and the Yankees," said the pitcher, who earns $5 million a year playing for the New York Mets, though he was with the Yankees at the time of the interview. (...)
The prime time showing of the documentary surprised Cubans, some of whom saw it as a sign of greater tolerance and debate in Cuba since Cuban leader Fidel Castro fell ill and handed over the running of the country to his brother Raul in 2006.
In a speech on December 28, Raul Castro said there was "an excess of prohibitions" in Cuba that did more harm than good.
Hernandez praised its broadcast. "I imagine the documentary will be a breath of fresh air on television for Cubans," he told Miami's Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald newspaper.
Although this story lands on a baseball blog, it could very well be the first step towards real change in Cuba, to where the airing of this documentary would be looked upon eventually as the first signal that things were going to be different. Real change may be a long ways away. But perhaps it's ironic that it's the sport that Fidel Castro so loved that would play a central role in this first step.
The Chicago White Sox added a little more depth to their team this weekend by reportedly signing Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez to a 4-year $4.75 million deal.
Two baseball sources have confirmed to MLB.com that the White Sox have agreed in principle on a four-year, $4.75 million deal with Alexei Ramirez. The versatile Cuban exile still has to pass a physical, and an official announcement from the team probably won't come until after the New Year.
"We have arrived at an agreement with the White Sox for a Major League contract for Alexei's services," agent Jaime Torres told the Associated Press on Friday.
Now, I'm not as closely wired to Cuban baseball as the rest of you, so I can't say I know much about Ramirez. I can tell you that he mostly played shortstop in Cuba, and he can also play at second base and in centerfield. Where the White Sox plan on using him, I don't know, but I'm guessing second base since Orlando Cabrera is at shortstop.
Ramirez is listed at 26-years old, but in Cuban years that means he's probably 28 or 29. In seven seasons with Pinar Del Rio Ramirez, he hit .332 with 87 home runs, and 391 RBI.
His addition to the White Sox also means that Juan Uribe's days on the south side of Chicago are over. With Cabrera at shortstop already, and Pablo Ozuna firmly planted in the role of super-sub, there really isn't a place left for Uribe on the roster. Which makes that contract extension the White Sox signed him too all the more confusing.
Ramirez could still have a positive impact on another member of the White Sox, though. Jose Contereras is a fellow Cuban, and actually played for Pinar Del Rio as well, and he's always seemed to be a better pitcher with a fellow countrymen around. I don't think it's a coincidence that Contreras' best years both in New York and Chicago took place when Orlando Hernandez was his teammate.
As if having their division lead shrink from seven games to a mere game and a half in the span of a week isn't bad enough for the Mets, it looks like their money pitcher ... the one they got for all of his playoff experience ... is "iffy" for October.
That immobilizing boot that Orlando Hernandez has on his right foot is apparently going to be there for a while and the pitcher may not be available if the Mets reach the postseason. El Duque, who was diagnosed with a bunion and a bit of tendinitis during an examination of his foot on Monday in New York, is scheduled to remain in the boot for a week to 10 days. He'll be allowed to work out while wearing the boot -- ride a stationary bike, play catch, lift weights. What he can't do, however, is much more significant than what he can. With the boot on, El Duque will be unable to run or throw off a mound.
"I'm not happy," Hernandez said. "I have no answers. Maybe after seven days I'll have a little answer."
Of course, in seven days the Mets may not be in a playoff spot anyway so this could all be moot. It is ironic that Hernandez, who the Mets got to pitch in big games ... especially big playoff games ... may not ever pitch in a playoff game for the Mets. He missed last year's postseason after injuring his foot while running just before the playoffs even started. And now, if there is a postseason for the Mets in 2007, there's every possibility he could miss that too.
(The good news is that the immobilizing boot will prevent him from injuring himself while running again.)
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
New York Mets (82-61) vs. Atlanta Braves (73-71)-7:05PM Est.
It wasn't too long ago that the Mets were barely holding on in the NL East. They'd just been swept by the Phillies, and it looked as if everything was falling apart around them. Now? Now they've won 9 of their last 10 games, they finally have a healthy starting rotation, and they're about ready to drive the final nails into Atlanta and Philly's coffins. With the start of a three game series tonight against Atlanta, the Mets have a chance to knock them out of the race for good. Orlando Hernandez will start for the Mets tonight after skipping his last start with a sore foot. That's good for the Mets because Hernandez is 6-1 since June 29th, and the Mets are 10-2 in his starts. The Braves counter with Buddy Carlyle. Carlyle has struggled lately, losing three of his last four starts. He only lasted 1.1 innings in his last start against Philadelphia, and has been giving up home runs at an alarming rate lately. All of which is only sure to get worse against the Mets lineup.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
Philadelphia Phillies (70-62) vs. New York Mets (73-59)-1:05PM Est.
I remember not too long ago when the Yankees had gotten to within 4 games of the Red Sox in the AL East, I thought about how awesome it was that every division in the league was so close. It assured us that September was going to be a fantastic month to watch baseball. I also remember that of the six division leaders at that time, the only one I felt was safe was the New York Mets. Now the Phillies are about to finish off a sweep of the Mets, and move within two games of taking over the division. Of course, finishing off a four-game sweep of your division leader is a lot easier said than done. Kyle Lohse starts for the Phillies, and since he came over from the Reds he's done pretty well for the Phillies. He's only 1-0 after five starts, but he's got an ERA of 3.95 and has lasted at least 6.1 innings in every start. He had his best start as a Phillie in his last game against the Padres. Kyle only allowed one run in 6.2 innings, but ended up with a no decision. El Duque starts for the Mets, and he can't lose lately. In his last nine starts, Hernandez is 5-0 with a 2.87 ERA, and more importantly the Mets have won all nine games.
Either doctors are getting better at performing Tommy John surgery or they've learned more about how to come back from it, because Billy Wagner could be back in a Mets uniform less than a year after going under the knife. 
Piecing together parts and sellers at the trade deadline can sometimes be easy. We know the Blue Jays are willing to explore trade options for Roy Halladay. We also know the Texas Rangers need pitching and that they have a farm system that's brimming with talent. So if we do the math here, it's not surprising to hear that 
So far this season it seems like the 
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It might be easier to list what's right with 
There was a time when Cuban athletes who defected were treated as traitors ... stricken from the Cuban media as if they didn't exist. So it was surprising that a documentary produced in 2004, and featured then Yankees and current Mets pitcher 
The Chicago White Sox added a little more depth to their team this weekend by reportedly signing Cuban defector 
As if having their division lead shrink from seven games to a mere game and a half in the span of a week isn't bad enough for the Mets, it looks like their money pitcher ... the one they got for all of his playoff experience ... is "
