Schoe Goes Through A Scare

Anthony Rieber at Newsday writes about Scott Schoeneweis and his visit to the hospital yesterday:

Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis spent the early part of yesterday in a Greenwich, Conn., hospital after waking up with searing abdominal pain and chills and calling an ambulance.

"I thought I was going to die," Schoeneweis, who has survived testicular cancer, said from Shea Stadium after the Mets' 5-3 loss to the Nationals.

Schoeneweis was feeling better after the game and blamed fellow reliever Joe Smith for spreading a stomach bug. Schoeneweis related the story of his six- to seven-hour hospital stay after Mets manager Willie Randolph revealed Schoeneweis was unavailable because he was "under the weather."

Shoe And Sosa On The Block

Adam at the Daily News writes about Scott Schoenweis and Jorge Sosa being shopped by Omar Minaya:

Mets GM Omar Minaya has let teams know that relievers Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa can be obtained in trades, according to sources briefed on the players' availability. Schoeneweis has two years and $7.2 million left on his original three-year deal. Sosa will earn $2 million in his final year before free agency.

The Mets like Rule 5 pick Steven Register, who has a deceptive fastball, but will have to offer him back to the Rockies if there isn't room in the bullpen at Shea. Trading Sosa would open the long-relief role and help get Mike Pelfrey onto the staff in some capacity.

Scho Cleared

At The New York Post they write about Scott Schoeneweis and him being cleared of HGH suspensions:

Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis will not be punished as a result of media reports that his name surfaced in a national drug investigation by the district attorney in Albany.

Gary Matthews Jr., Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus and Schoeneweis also were linked to HGH, but baseball decided there was “insufficient evidence” to determine they committed a doping violation. They were accused of receiving performance-enhancing drugs before 2005.

Some Bullpen Suggestions

The number one place where the Mets need to make some major improvements is their Bullpen. In order to accomplish this feat and return it to it’s 2006 for there is really only a couple of moves that are going to be required, in my opinion anyway.

1. First of all the Mets have to figure out what they are going to do with Guillermo Mota and his 5.76 earned run average. After he spent the first 50 games on suspension, Mota showed us Met fans why baseball players go on the juice in the first place. He had the knack of making every in game situation considerably worse and cost the Mets some vital games as we can all tell. The Mets can try and move him in a trade and add some cash, or simply eat his contract and send him down to Triple-A to figure himself out.

2. The next move would have to be to sign a legitimate set up pitcher and one such a pitcher will be available.

Scott Linebrink was traded to the Brewers last season and will become a free agent at the end of the World Series. The Mets would become a considerably better team with his veteran presence in the pen. I would say they should sign him to a one year deal, worth $1.75MM. If there is another team willing to go beyond this bid, then the Mets should double up on the deal. They have no other option for a proven veteran set up man and must bring someone of Linebrink’s credentials in to help turn around the mess.

3. Duaner Sanchez has to do anything and everything to make sure that he will remain healthy for the 2008 season. After getting hit by the drunk driver in Miami in 2006, he has missed a year and a half to rotator cuff surgery and a hairline fracture. With Sanchez back in the pen, the Mets will have the option of pitching Sanchez or Linebrink in the eight inning role on any given night and the other, possibly pitching the seventh.

4. Joe Smith, the youngest member of the Mets bullpen, must do everything in his power during the off season to make sure that he doesn’t get dead arm syndrome in the middle of the season next year and let’s not forget to remind Willie Randolph not to over use the youngster and let him get his rest in between appearances.

5. Orlando Hernandez has shown that he doesn’t have the endurance to go the stretch in the starting pitcher’s slot. So the logical move would be to the pen, where he can act as a two headed long inning monster with Jorge Sosa and make the inning or two appearance if the Mets know that they don’t need to get those kinds of innings out of him and his Bugs Bunny pitch.

With all of the above mentioned moves made the bullpen would shape up to look as follows:

Joe Smith
Pedro Feliciano
Jorge Sosa
Orlando Hernandez
Scott Linebrink
Duaner Sanchez
Billy Wagner

This will surly be a far cry, in the good way, from the 2007 bullpen and if you were wondering about Scott Schoeneweis, I would have to try and include him in a deal for a starting pitcher from the Athletics or the Pirates (my personal preference).

Schoeneweis May Be Suspended

The Mets relief pitcher, Scott Schoeneweis, may receive a suspension according to Yahoo Sports. According to the Associated Press stated the following:

No decisions have been made and no discipline would occur until after the postseason, a baseball official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcements have been made.

The official said that because discipline for possession was not specified, management could use the "just cause" standard to suspend a player for a first offense that occurred before 2005.

Not to be heartless or anything, but this might be just what the Mets needed to opt out of Schoeneweis’s contract and move on without him. I, for one, am hoping that the Mets can put this horrible signing behind them and continue to move forward in rebuilding for 2008.

Mets Not Going After Schoenweis's Contract

John Delcos at Lo Hud writes about Scott Schoenweis and that the Mets aren't going to go after his contract for the time being:

For now at least, the Mets aren’t seeking to escape the final two years of Scott Schoeneweis’ contract. GM Omar Minaya said the Mets will wait until MLB talks with the reliever, then the results from those discussions will determine what they do, if anything.

Schoeneweis, it must be pointed out, has not failed a steroids test since the implementation of the MLB’s enhanced drug policy. In addition, after a slow start he pitched well.

Scho To Talk To MLB

John Delcos at Lo Hud Writes about Scott Schoeneweis and him talking now that the steroid situation came to the front:

MLB will talk with Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis about receiving steroid shipments when he played with the White Sox.

Because Schoeneweis’ usage was prior to MLB’s drug policy, a baseball official said he’s not subject to disciplinary action.

However, Schoeneweis’ involvement with steroids doesn’t preclude the Mets investigating to see if they can escape the final two years of his contract under the guise the negotiations were done in bad faith.

Scho Linked To Steroids

Adam Rubin at Surfing The Mets writes about Scott Schoeneweis and him being linked to steroid use:

Let's just say it's not a good time to be Mets PR man Jay Horwitz right now ... Scott Schoeneweis has been linked to steroid shipments in 2003 and '04, according to ESPN.com. Horwitz said the organization had no knowledge of it and had no comment. Schoeneweis just completed the first season of a three-year, $10.8 million deal.

The Real "Show" Arrives?

With the bullpen in complete disarray and games being lost after early leads were established. The club was looking for somebody, anybody to step up and help out Wagner, Heilman and Sosa. It came from the most unlikely of characters, No; Mota didn't find his 06 form, Feliciano is still looking like a LOOGY and the intriguing names like Smith and Collazo still don't look ready. So then who is the mystery guess, none other then Scott Schoeneweis, Yes; the same pitcher we killed Omar for signing and begged to cut may have made the biggest save of the season on Friday night. The Mets had a three run lead in the eighth but with Wagner unavailable Schoeneweis was asked to do what a tired Sosa couldn't do the night before close out the game. With the Phillies already winning, the lead down to 1.5 in the division and six losses in their last seven games, another devastating loss could have been the season. "Show" worked the bottom of the eighth and ninth, striking out three for his first save as a Met. He followed that up today by getting the last out in a one run game in extra innings for his second save. Schoeneweis has quietly had an effective second half, since August first in 27 games he's given up eight earned runs and only two were multiple run games ( Phillies-3runs/Nats-2runs). He was working through a knee injury to start the year, maybe he found his groove and nobody realized it or maybe he's a veteran that knows how to step-up. When he was traded to Cincy last year and they were playing for the wild card he ha quite a run, maybe he's a big game pitcher.....

Comparing Scho And Bradford

From Kyle at Mets Prospects (Network Member):

Over the off-season the Mets let Chad Bradford go and instead picked up Scott Schoeneweis with a 3 year contract. Schoe is 0-2 with a 5.30 with 35 strikeouts, 27 walks, and 60 hits in 64 games (54.1 innings). Chad Bradford is 3-7 with a 3.43 era, 28 strikeouts, 14 walks, and 73 hits in 73 games (60.1 innings) for the Orioles

I Just Don't Get It

When a pitcher comes out of the bullpen and has held opposing batters to a .185 (right - .200; left - .169) batting average, you expect to see him for at least one inning. This isn’t the case with Pedro Feliciano.

For some unknown reason, manager Willie Randolph, must, keep telling himself that all Feliciano is good for is as a loogy (lefty one out guy). Never mind that right handed batters are hitting only .200 against him. Never mind the fact that Feliciano has been one of the Mets most consistent arms out of the pen and in my eyes, should be setting up for Billy Wagner. No, that doesn’t even come into play for Willie.

Feliciano has made 55 appearances out of the bullpen this year and has only gone one inning plus 24 times and the most he has been allowed to go for is two innings (June 30th @ Phillie). Instead Randolph relies on guys like Mota and Schoeneweis, whom have allowed batters to hit .254 (Schoeneweis) and .265 (Mota) against them.

There is no action against one kind of batter, be it lefty or righty , that Feliciano demonstrates, that in any way suggests that he should be the specialist in the pen. If anything, Schoeneweis should, in fact, be the lefty specialist, because left handed batters are only batting .185against him. That’s a far cry from rightys (.323). So wouldn’t this conclude that Schoeneweis should be the pitcher coming out to face one batter every couple of games instead of Feliciano?

By the way, it almost seems that Willie is still holding some animosity towards Feliciano for the incident that took place last August, when Pedro berated Randolph, to the media, about not using him in a game he felt he needed to be. None of us can be sure this is what’s happening, but there’s always going to be that air of suspicion when it comes to how Feliciano is used.

Now I’m not, by any means, calling Willie Randolph a bad manager. Like every manager in the game, he makes some questionable calls and I can live with that, because, let’s face it, managing a Major League team is not nearly as easy as it might seem. The only thing I’m trying to say is that the Pedro Feliciano decision is, by far, boggling my mind and I can’t seem to get over it.

Whatever the case may be with the relationship of Willie Randolph and Pedro Feliciano, it has to get fixed soon because if it’s not, we’re probably going to be seeing a lot more bullpen meltdowns before the season comes to a close.

No mistake in reporting injury

One of the most guarded secrets in any baseball organization is their injury report. Players are protected by the staff until there isn't any other alternative then to place them on the DL, even then teams guard their status and return date until it is absolutely certain. The Mets are one of the most secretive teams in baseball under Omar Minaya, its been rumored that Carlos Delgado slumped due to his elbow, Aaron Heilman has been inconsistent because of his elbow and who knows how serious Moises Alou's leg injury is.

So call me a conspiracy theorist but I just don't believe Rick Peterson accidentally revealed Scott Schoeneweis' leg injury. As protective as they are of such information, I have to believe that the revelation was calculated. If that is the case then the question becomes what were the motives for disclosing the injury.

Is the club protecting a veteran player who is struggling that they see value in, but is losing fan approval so their creating an injury excuse for him if he continues to struggle ?

Or is the club preparing to DFA him and hoping to de-value him with injury concerns so he'll make it through waivers?

If Schoeneweis is committed to the Mets he could use the injury to accept a rehab assignment while he figures out why he is struggling.

As bad as Schoeneweis has looked he has a track record as a tough lefty and may receive interest from other clubs desperate to left handed relief pitchers. But if he's considered damage goods clubs may stay away and he might not opt for free agency.

Scott Schoeneweis revealed yesterday he has been pitching this season with a severed tendon in his left hamstring. While the lefty reliever called it "not a big deal," he admitted it affects the drive from his legs. He likened it to "pushing off on ice."

Schoeneweis, who hasn't had a great season, said he tore the tendon last August and believes he severed it in spring training. Since the tendon will re-grow, the treatment right now is mechanical alterations and strength exercises. He said it's improving. source Mark Hale

Player Update: Scott Schoeneweis

David Lennon at Newsday, writes about Scott Schoeneweis and his leg condition:

Scott Schoeneweis winced last night when asked about the leg problem that has bothered him since spring training. Not from the pain. It doesn't really hurt. But the Mets reliever, not looking to make any excuses for his poor start, was disappointed to learn that his injury had been made public earlier that afternoon on the radio.

Schoeneweis, 33, has been pitching with what he described as a severed tendon near the bottom of his left hamstring, a condition that he developed last season with the Blue Jays and aggravated during fielding practice midway through spring training. Schoeneweis said he hyperextended the leg running on the warning track with Toronto, but continued to pitch with the partially torn tendon. He closed for the Reds after he was traded to Cincinnati and still finished the year with 71 appearances.

"It's getting better, but it's a work in progress," Schoeneweis said. "I haven't been the same guy I was last season."

Shoeneweis's Last 2 Appearances

Matthew Cerrone at Mets Blog, writes about Scott Schoeneweis and his last two relief appearances:

Prior to last night’s game, Mets LHP Scott Schoeneweis had allowed a run in only two of his 18 appearances this season.

However, last night, he allowed five runs on three hits and two walks, thus raising his ERA from 2.93 to 5.63 in the span of two outs.

After having pitched seven scoreless innings from April 24 through May 12, he has allowed eight runs, five hits and three walks during his last two appearances.

Staff defying The Odds

So, once upon a time, critics were saying that the Mets starting pitching was either too old or too inexperienced. That Maine, Perez and Pelfrey couldn’t be counted on. That Glavine and El Duque were going to show their age. That the great offense the Mets possess wasn’t going to be enough to make up for erratic pitching and a depleted bullpen.

Now fifteen games into the season, the Mets pitching seems to be enormously sounder than the team critics said had the best staff in baseball (Phillies). So going down the list, here’s what the Mets starting rotation looks like so far:

Tom Glavine – 3-1; 2.70 ERA
John Maine – 2-0; 1.93 ERA
Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez – 1-1; 4.00 ERA
Mike Pelfrey – 0-0; 3.18 ERA
Oliver Perez – 1-1 3.72 ERA

With none of our starting pitching over the four earned run average mark, it seems that the Mets were right in staying away from, new Giants ace, Barry Zito and his ridiculous demands.

The bullpen has been equally effective in their efforts to remain one of the strongest in the Majors. Here’s a look at what the boys in the pen have been up to:

Ambiorix Burgos – 4.26 ERA
Pedro Feliciano – 0.00 ERA
Aaron Heilman – 4.91 ERA
Scott Schoeneweis – 0.00 ERA
Aaron Sele – 2.84 ERA
Joe Smith – 0.00 ERA
Billy Wagner – 0.00 ERA; 2 Saves

If you ask me, that’s a pretty solid pen.

So, critics, keep writing about how the Mets pitching is horrendous and keep writing about our weaknesses. The Mets will just keep proving you wrong.

Schoeneweis Not So Hot In Debut

Mark Hale at the New York Post, writes about Scott Schoeneweis and his first outing as a Met:

Scott Schoeneweis fared decently against righties last night but couldn't retire his one lefty.

The left-handed reliever debuted last night for the Mets to start the eighth inning of their 4-1 win over the Cardinals. After getting righties So Taguchi and Aaron Miles on a groundout and pop-up, respectively, Schoeneweis walked righty David Eckstein.

Schoeneweis, who has held lefties to a .231 career average, then faced lefty Chris Duncan, who singled to right off him.

"It's one of those things that you kind of take pride in," Schoeneweis said of the lefty getting a hit, though he called it "no big thing."

Schoeneweis's Number Issue

Adam Rubin at the NY Daily News, writes about Scott Shoenweis and the issue with the number on his uniform:

Scott Schoeneweis had a No. 36 jersey hanging in his locker when he arrived, but the lefty reliever quickly asked for a higher number. The Angels issued Schoeneweis No.60 as a rookie in 1999, and he never wanted to rock the boat and ask for a change. The number followed him to the White Sox and Blue Jays, too, and now it's too late in his career to get a normal numeral. "It's like part of my life," said Schoeneweis, who received a three-year, $10.8 million contract to retire NL East lefties such as Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. "It's like a personal joke."

Mets Fever: Why Schoe and not Bradford?

Ed over at Mets Fever, writes about the decision of Scott Shoenweis over Chad Bradford:

The Mets signed left handed relief pitcher Scott "Schoe" Schoeneweis during the off-season. The contract is reportedly worth 10.8m dollars over three years.

Left-handed reliever Scott Schoeneweis and the New York Mets reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on a $10.8-million (U.S.), three-year contract source John Young, Shea Nation (original source AP-Globe & Mail)

Just last season a multi-year contract for a relief pitcher would have been unheard of. Relievers were considered second rate to starters and as such they lived year to year, from team to team. Only a premier closer or upper echelon set-up man ever saw extensive contracts. But the economics of baseball have changed and so has the emphasis on the Pen.

For me, I like to h ave a comfortable feeling knowing that if we get to the sixth or seventh inning the advantage goes to us. That’s a great feeling with our offense. If you wanna win championships, you have to have a strong bullpen. In a lot of ways, I have a tendency to start building the pitching staff starting from the back side than from the front side, but maybe that’s an Omar Minaya style of putting a team together (laughing). Omar Minaya on SNY souce Metsblog

In the grand scheme of things Schoe's contract is not out of the ordinary, until you add RHP Chad Bradford into the equation.

RHP Chad Bradford was an integral part of the Mets bull pen last year, which ended the season as the best in baseball. Bradford's side arm almost under hand delivery, along with his repertoire of off-speed pitchers baffled hitters and kept them guessing all year. Not only could he handle the pressure of NY, but was able to do so with bases loaded. Bradford was the critical situation pitcher, with runners in scoring position, ground ball inducing reliever. He was extremely successful in his role, and in over 62 innings produced an ERA of 2.90% with a BB/SO ratio of 13/45.

he was successful last year with the New York Mets. The submarine specialist went 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA last season, and more impressively, he allowed just one home run in 62 innings. The 31-year-old is often used to face a couple of right-handed batters,Bradford held right-handers to a .256 average last season, but for his career, he's held righties to a .231 mark. MLB.com

Bradford signed with the Baltimore Orioles this off-season for 10.5million dollars over three years. It's been reported that the Met's matched Baltimore's initial two year contract, but when the Orioles extended their offer to a third year the Mets were unwilling to bid any further. There has been criticism over not resigning Bradford, in which the organization has been accused of under estimating the market and then signing the only quality reliever left (Schoe) out of desperation. However, it appears that the club was willing to spend the money and years on a free agent reliever but felt that Bradford wasn't worth the price.

So the question is, if both contracts are basically the same why Schoe and not Bradford?

I can see a few deterrents to signing Bradford to a three year contract. In 2005 he was limited to 24 innings and had to have back surgery. The rest, due to the injury, may have resulted in a fresher arm and his successful season. However, in moving forward, his back is a potential concern for injury and his work load will have to be watched carefully. This is pure speculation on my part, but the severe arm angle that has made Bradford so effective may be a concern for elbow problems as he gets older. Bradford is a one dimensional pitcher. The most he has ever pitched in a season is 77 innings and he generally is somewhere around 50 innings. He is a righty specialist with a one or maybe two inning window. He couldn't be considered for starting, long relief or saves.

Orioles agreed to terms with RHP Chad Bradford, who had been with the Mets, on a three-year, $10.5 million contract.Bradford is set to work in tandem with Jamie Walker to give the Orioles assistance in the sixth and seventh innings. It's one too many years, especially given his past back troubles, but he should be quite an asset for the short-term. source Roto World

Schoe is primarily a middle reliever, ground ball specialist and in that sense he is very similar to Bradford. However, as a left handed pitcher he can also be extremely effective against left handed batters. Last year Bradford would be replaced against lefties with Pedro Feliciano. The tandem was very effective, it would be ideal if one pitcher could get through a the jam and save the pen for another time. As recent as 2004, Schoe logged over 100 innings and can be used as a long reliever or starter in an emergency situation. As a starter with the Angels in 2004, he pitched 204 innings with an ERA of 5.08% and a record of 10-11. He has not had a major injury in his career that has resulted in a significant loss of time during the season. Schoe spent his entire career in the American League until a small portion of last season. Pitchers are said to benefit from switching to the NL and never was it more true then for Schoe. In 14 games last year for the Reds his ERA was .063% with a record of 2-0, (3) saves in (3) opportunities and a BB/SO ratio of 8/11. Finally Schoe is from Long Branch, NJ and may benefit from the support of his family.

"Scott adds another dimension to our bullpen," said Minaya. "He can pitch middle innings, in the eighth inning and even has closed games. His record against left handed hitters is one of the best in the game." In the last three years, Schoeneweis only has allowed one home run to a lefthanded batter (Matt Stairs of Kansas City on May 11, 2005). In 2005 and 2006, Scott held lefthanded batters to a .209 (42-201) batting average, a .264 slugging average and a .293 on base mark. MLB.com

The 33-year-old gives the Mets another lefthanded option in the bullpen and he throws harder than Pedro Feliciano, Minaya said. Schoeneweis traditionally has been difficult for lefthanded batters to handle - they have hit .231 against him in his eight-year career. source Daily News

... I liked Bradford very much and thought it was essential for the team to resign him. I was very vocal about my thoughts that the team should have paid the third year for him. In doing this post I attempted to remain un-bias and open minded. The more I looked into Schoe the more comfortable I am with the decision. Schoe makes the pen much more flexible while being less of a risk of injury. Also as a lefty he is a more valuable reliever. Baltimore was the only team to offer Bradford a three year deal, while it is reported that several teams offered Schoe three years....

Mets Fever is a new addition to the Shea Nation family and would greatly appreciate it if you could go on over to Mets Fever and check out the terrific job he has done.

Mets reach deal with Schoenweis

The Associated Press at the Globe and Mail, writes about the Mets, Scott Schoeneweis and them reaching a preliminary agreement yesterday:

Left-handed reliever Scott Schoeneweis and the New York Mets reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on a $10.8-million (U.S.), three-year contract.

The deal is pending a physical, according to league sources.

Schoeneweis would join a strong bullpen that helped New York win a division title last year and advance to the seventh game of the National League Championship Series before falling to St.

Louis. But the Mets lost Chad Bradford, Roberto Hernandez and lefty Darren Oliver in free agency this off-season and needed to shore up middle relief.

Schoeneweis, 33, split last season between Toronto and Cincinnati, going 4-2 with a 4.88 earned-run average and four saves in 71 games overall. He was traded from the Blue Jays to the Reds on Aug. 16 and excelled the rest of the year, going 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA and three saves in 16 appearances.