No surprise here but it does give it more of an official feel. Free agent closer Brian Fuentes won’t be scooped up by another possible suitor before he meets with Omar Minaya and the Mets.
According to the Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck Fuentes agent told him that:
Rockies closer Brian Fuentes has scheduled a visit to the New York Mets as part of his free-agent decision-making process.
Renck also touches on the trade speculation that would send Aaron Heilman to Colorado for newly acquired Huston Street noting how the Mets are seeking a setup man as well as a closer.
Speaking of Heilman and I know there are many who would rather I didn’t but Always Amazin’ Matthew Artus points us towards a site called FanGraphs.com that gives an interesting breakdown of Heilman’s pitches. The main culprit for Heilman’s failures, they seem to conclude, is his increased use of his slider. I would guess most Mets fans would say his main culprit lies between his ears. I know Hot Foot’s own Rob Harding doesn’t want to hear it but the numbers are substantial.
Also, just in case you were all caught up with the NFL yesterday and missed this:
Newsday’s Ken Davidoff reported that “a person familiar with the situation said”:
Earlier this offseason, the Mets asked the Rangers about catcher Gerald Laird.
Obviously, Texas would be looking for pitching in return.
Lastly, The Daily News‘ Anthony McCarron expands on his “Where are they now?” piece on Mets great southpaw Jon Matlack. Matlack talks to McCarron about the night he took a line drive off his forehead at Shea:
“I got out of the hospital and went home and there was a film crew waiting there. They were really ticked because there was no sign of damage on me. They wanted to put me in a wheelchair to do an interview, Matlack recalled.
