According to ESPN.com, MLB home-run king and former San Fransisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates OF Barry Bonds has been charged with 14 counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

In 2003, Bonds said in front of a grand jury that he denied unknowingly taking illegal performance enhancing drugs.  After that, he was charged with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

Bonds has not officially retired and remains a free agent.

Former Dodgers GM Paul Depodesta is now has his own blog for the public called It Might Be Dangerous.  Depodesta was GM of the Dodgers for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Prior to that, he was an assistant with the A’s where he apprenticed under Billy Beane.  Currently, Depodesta is an advisor to the Padres. He is known for us use of sabermetrics and statistics to guide his decisions.

In his inaugural post he wrote:

So, I’m here, and I’d like to be a part of the conversation. I’ll do my best to reply to comments/questions, though I can’t promise punctual responses or regular posts. After all, just like everyone else out there, I already have a job.

I think its pretty cool that somebody like him is doing this.  Naturally, because he has a job and is associated with a team, he can’t spill industry secrets or the formula for a winning team (not like he ever found it) but he is already dropping nuggets of well-thought out analysis. He also has addressed questions he’s gotten from readers, which is pretty neat - knowing that he cares about what people are asking him and the fact that he’s taking time to answer questions.  This blog is a nice gesture on his part.

I’m a bit curious about the name though…

For ESPN E-Ticket, Jim Caple profiles Yu Darvish, the 21 year old phenom on the Nippon Ham Fighters.  Darvish, half Iranian and half Japanese, made his professional debut in 2005. 

Last year, Darvish was 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA, and has already won the Japanese equivalent to the Cy Young award.

While Darvish is five years away from Japanese unrestricted free agency, he can be posted to MLB teams, similar to the way stars Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka have come over.  According to Caple, if Darvish were posted, peopole expect the posting bit to exceed the $50 million paid by the Red Sox for Matsuzaka, and perhaps exceed $75 million.

Caple quotes Trey Hillman, Royals manager and previous coach of Darvish in Japan, ”The curveball is just not fair. Honestly, it’s just not a fair pitch.”

Caple also profiles how Darvish is almost a rockstor in Japan in terms of popularity.  Trey Hillman likens Darvish’s popularity to Michael Jordon and Tiger Woods.

Really just a fantastic and informative read.

If he is posted, I have to imagine the Mets would be interested in a young SP stud that they could acquire without having to give up prospects, or even draft picks.  Yet, the idea of paying $75 million just to negotiate with the guy seems a little insane to me, but so is the market.

I’ve never heard anything but rave reviews on this guy, and I know Japanese baseball isn’t the same as baseball here, but he was 20 last year and in a full season had a 1.82 ERA. That’s just nuts.

In his Met Notes for the NY Post, Mike Puma provides an update on Pedro Martinez.

Pedro threw a 60 pitch session, part of which was a bullpen session and part was batting practice.  About the session Omar Minaya had to say, “It was a pretty good session. He threw all his pitches.”

According to Puma, Minaya refused to set a timetable for Pedro to throw in a simulated game, which presumably will be the next step.

The following are a list of clues for you to guess three different Ex-Mets:

Player #1 (easy):

• This former Mets’ first round pick made his debut with the team in 1984.
• After failing to produce in 1984-1985, he was traded to the Twins. He would later be traded to the Tigers, then sign as a free agent with the A’s.
• He is now the GM of the A’s, famous for being profiled in the book Moneyball.

Player #2 (medium)

• This ex-Met made a name for himself as an OF/1B in Pittsburgh, making four All-Star appearences for them.
• Prior to the 1992 season he signed a monster (for the time) contract with the Mets worth $25 million over five years.
• He was trade mid-way through the season in 1995 for Alex Ochoa, despite having made an All-Star appearance that year.  He also made an All-Star appearence for the Mets in 1993 for six total in his career.
• In 1998 he was traded by Marlins along with Gary Sheffield for Mike Piazza. In November of 1998 he was traded to the Mets.
• The Mets are still paying this player to the day, because when they released him in 200 they agreed to pay the $25 million left on his contract over time through the year 2035.

Player #3 (hard)

• In 2002, this 36 year old Japanese RP pitched for the Mets. 
• He had an 0-3 record in 25 appearances with a 5.61 ERA.
• This RP has played for Bobby Valentine in both the United States and in Japan.
• He is famous for his trademark goggles and for throwing a “shakeball.”

And the answers are Billy Beane, Bobby Bonilla and Satoru Komiyama. Nice job cityfishing.

According to Dan Graziano of the Star Ledger, the Mets brass is planning on a reevaluation at the end of the month.

The team is disappointed that they are not playing up to their potential, and will look at the idea of replacing manager Willie Randolph. However, if the Mets remain in contention, Randolph will likely keep his job through the season.

Right now, I think its too early to replace a manager, we still have to see what we’ve got. Yet, if we’re still hovering around .500 come June, I’d be in favor of pulling the trigger on Willie. If we’re still around .500 come June, it means lots of the team is still under performing, like Carlos Beltran and Oliver Perez. Under performing, as well as having a fan base that seems like it wants to win more than the team wants to, is a sure sign that its time for a change.

Hat tip to Mets Blog for the link.

After Brian Bannister’s a sizzling start, which resulted in many people criticizing Omar Minaya for ever trading him, he has sunk back to earth.  Bannister was traded to the Royals for RP Ambiorix Burgos prior to the 2007 season.  Burgos is now recovering from Tommy John Surgery

Bannister began the year with two earned runs in his first three outings, however since then has lost his last four starts.  He now has a record of 3-4 with a 4.46 ERA. 

Meanwhile, Lastings Milledge has been unimpressive thus far with the Nationals.  Milledge is batting .256 with with only one HR and 11 RBIs. 

In an article for ESPN, Jayson Stark lists the top 10 most influential trades from this winter.

Ranking 1st is the Diamondback’s trade for ace Dan Haren, but ranking 2nd is the Mets’ trade for Johan Santana.

Stark writes:

True, this deal hasn’t propelled the Mets into first place. Also true: Santana is “only” 3-2, with a 2.91 ERA. But he’s also tied for the league lead in strikeouts. And his bullpen has already blown two saves for him. And he left one of those two losses trailing the Braves, 1-0, in the eighth inning. So he ought to be 6-1. But even at 3-2, he’s still been a definite upgrade on, say, Brian Lawrence.

As an honorable mention, he lists the deal for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church.

Yes, we are not in first place. But I’m having a really tough time imagining our rotation without the idea of Johan going out there every fifth day and giving us a shot to win. He anchors our staff, and I’d be a lot less confident in our squad if Jorge Sosa or Tony Armas Jr. were in the rotation.

And while I was uncomfortable with trading Lastings Milledge initially, and now even if he does develop into a guy that makes the All-Star game for a few years, having Church in our lineup has made so much of a difference. Especially with Beltran being so passive at the plate, Church has been there to get on base, drive runs home and he’s been phenomenal in the field. Not to mention, I enjoy the way Schneider calls a game and when he catches I have more faith in whomever is pitching.

Dear Carlos Beltran,

The Mets faithful were giddy when their usually soft spoken center fielder said, “So this year, to Jimmy Rollins, we are the team to beat.”

Since then, the Mets have bumped and struggled into (going into last night) a 16-14 record.  People have said Carlos Delgado should be benched or released. For the NY Post, Joel Sherman wrote, “Delgado is to the Mets what Mike Mussina is to the Yankees: A once standout player whose current organization is hoping he can recapture just a piece of his past to survive the season competently.” Going into last night, Delgado was batting .216 with 4 HRs, 16 RBIs and a .313 OBP.

You Carlos, our soft spoken leader said this was our year.   Going into last night you were batting .221 with 2 HRs, 13 RBIs even though you had drawn 25 walks contributing to your .372 OBP.  That’s a lot of walks to begin the year, but we don’t need you to be hesitant at the plate and taking walks.  With your speed - another place and another time you could be a fantastic lead off hitter where your walks would be extremely valuable.  With Delgado struggling and Moises Alou hurt, it was you who had to produce runs.  And, you didn’t, so we only scored 112 runs in April, 25th in MLB.

So, I challenge you Carlos Beltran, step up your game. 

We probably should’ve expected Delgado to dip off by now. Come June, Delgado will be 36.  Since 2005, his stats have been going down, so we should’ve expected this sort of production from him pending him hitting some sort of renaissance (re-birth). However, you are the younger and better of the two members on this team named Carlos.  We’re not counting on Senor Delgado to produce runs for this team.  You my friend, though are still in your golden age - not that you need reminding but you are only 31 years old. 

You go to the plate and it is as if you are perfectly comfortable leaving that bat on your shoulder.  By no means am I saying you should stop drawing walks, but go up there and look to hit the ball.  Fans wonder why we’re not producing runs this year? You’re our clean up hitter and you’re batting .189 with runners in scoring position. Oh, but don’t worry, you have eight walks with runners in scoring position.  Walks aren’t scoring those runners. 

So, I challenge you Carlos Beltran, step up your game. 

Last year when Jimmy Rollins seemingly pompously predicted that the Philles would win the NL East, he backed it up.  He went out there, won the MVP and led the Phillies to the post season.  Carlos, you don’t call out your division rival and bring this sort of trash out to the plate day in and day out and expect to evade criticism.  Well here it is, I’m calling you out.  We don’t need Delgado to lead, he’s past his prime and was never as good as you.  Where is the stud that batted .435 in the postseason for the Astros, hitting eight home runs in 46 post season ABs in 2004?

As of now, you’re not that stud, but hopefully you can find him and tell him I want my all-star back.

Sincerely,

Andrew Beaton