News & Notes...The Tuesday Edition

Say It Ain't So, Pedro On the mets site (click here ) they noted that Rick Peterson knew of Pedro's tightness before his start yesterday.

The manager wasn't made aware of the pregame sensations Martinez had experienced. Peterson said Martinez mentioned the discomfort as they left the bullpen. "It didn't seem like a big thing," the coach said. He noted that veteran pitchers typically experience some muscle tightness in a pregame warmup.

With so much on the line (post-season), why wouldn't they have exercised additional caution and simply scratch Pedro from yesterday's start? Why didn't Peterson tell Willie, even IF, as he says, Pedro knows his body better then anyone else? Too many ifs this late in the season regarding our #1 pitcher. Get better fast, Pedro, PLEASE!!!

~Over at the Boston Globe, Nick Gafardo reveals the real architect behind the recent successful trades made by the L.A. Dodgers, in the form of 72 year old Bill Lajoie. Lajoie, you might remember, is the guy who took over during Theo Epstein's bout with indecision regarding his future with the Red Sox, temporarily resigning before coming back a few months later. During the interim, Lajoie engineered the deal with the Marlins that netted Beckett & Lowell in exchange for Hansley Ramirez, and he was the force behind the Dodgers acquiring Lugo. You can read this great article here.

~In Sunday's New York Journal News, Peter Abraham wrote an article praising some of the work that the Mets ex-GM, Jim Duquette completed before leaving town and joining the Orioles. He is the guy who fired Art Howe, promoted David Wright and nurtured Jose Reyes.Duquette drafted Lastings Milledge, signed Steve Trachsel to an extension and trimmed the payroll dramatically, giving the team the financial flexibility to eventually sign Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran."There are a lot of things I did there that I'm proud of,'' Duquette said. "We built some depth in the minor leagues, we made some difficult decisions with the payroll and made the team leaner in '04 by $35 million. Their payroll won't be that low again for a long, long time."Another good read, which you can access by clicking here.

~Over at Minorleaguedugout.com, they offer some exciting news about Mets' pitching prospect and former #1 pick (2004) Phil Humber.When he finally started pitching again, the Mets prospect discovered he hadn’t lost his mid-90s velocity and that he’d developed a changeup. While with St. Lucie, his ability to change speeds baffled Florida State League batters, producing a five inning, nine strikeout performance against Lakeland and a seven inning, two hit gem against Sarasota .Great news, as we have longed to see Humber in the majors ever since he was drafted. As of right now, he is the only Mets 1st rounder who has not spent any time in the majors from the last 5 drafts (David Wright, Scott Kazmir, Aaron Heilman, Mike Pelfrey & Lasting Milledge). Let's hope he'll be part of our rotation at some point in 2007! You can read this article by clicking here.