While most everyone remembers getting El Duque from Arizona for Jorge Julio, primarily because shortly thereafter he pitched an amazing game and has added some quality starts this season, its often forgotten we got one of our other Mets last season from the Backs too: Shawn Green. 

Primarily thought of as a Dodger, most fans seem to vaguely remember him coming from there or being picked off waivers, but Green too come from the desert, brought in trade for minor league pitcher Evan MacLane.  Personally, I think this is another one of Omar's steals. Lets look at it:

Shawn Green, normally a slow starter, is batting .348 with a .407 OBP.  His 39 hits include four homeruns and nine doubles. He also has 20 runs and 18 RBI's, and somewhere along the line stole two bases.  He's had 13 multihit games while only having 5 days with no hits, two of which he still drew walks. All while batting towards the end of the order, during stretches where the heart of the lineup was often struggling. His average has steadily remained over the .300 mark, and his prime liability is his lack of speed. All and all, pretty respectable, especially considering in March most fans were questioning if he should even be starting.  While his fielding may not be anything to write home about, he's made just one error, and a small handfull of what may not be errors, but are realistically poor choices.

What we lost, Evan MacLane. MacLane is still down in AAA Tuscan. While he had a hot streak while in our farm system, he has since cooled down a bit. He's 1-2 for the season, over 5 starts, with a 5.54 ERA.  He's given up 24 runs, 16 earned, while striking out 8 and walking 6.  Last season he made just one appearance for Tuscan, and went 9-8 overall with the Tides. While he is still starting, the word is that the Diamondbacks are looking to eventually use him as a lefty specialist. Based on his current numbers, were he still with the Mtes organization, he'd still be in AAA, as an option most likely behind Sosa and Humber, but possible above Vargas.

The post below in which Mr. Foot said that the Green deal was being finalized.  Well, that just happened.

Allen 'Bud' Selig approved the trade just a few minutes ago, according to mlb.com, because the swap involved cash considerations, which reportedly is slightly more than $6.3 million. Green is owed about $12.75 million for the rest of his contract.

Along with the cash, Omar Minaya was able to get Shawn Green and only give up minor-leaguer Evan MacLane.

MacLane, 23, is considered a good prospect, but like Jeff Keppinger, he is considered to not have much of a future in Gotham.

…Good trade Omar.  Michael Tucker is starting to bother me, and Lastings Milledge needs more seasoning.  Endy Chavez and Shawn Green would be good corners of the OF…

…Thanks to Metsblog for the link…

Mack's Mets posts an interesting article of minor leaguers who might have worn out their welcome in the Mets system and might be clogging up the system. Mack gives a list of players who might be good candidates for a flushing to make room for new talent.

Mack also makes a great observation that, although the Mets seemed to have some issues right now with their starting pitching, soon they could have a surplus of young major league ready arms.

From Inside Pitch Magazine…

Bannister struck out five and walked one. News out of Norfolk is that Oliver Perez has rediscovered his velocity in the Mets attempt to bring him back to being a power pitcher after he was tinkered with in Pittsburg to become more of a finesse pitcher.

Evan MacLane has been impressive as well, pitching a complete game shutout recently. His 92 strikesouts rank fifth in the organization.

Norfolk Tides website reports…

Bannister would be a dark horse candidate to replace Pedro in the rotation should he need extended rest for his strained calf.

Toby's Mets Minor League Report reminds us that Bannister would be on short rest to replace Pedro's scheduled start, not a particular good idea considering Bannister is coming off an injury.

Toby reports that Evan MacLane pitches today for the Tides at 2PM and Phil Humber throws tonight for Binghamton.

Here's a rundown of this weekends minor league action courtesy of the fantastic Toby's Mets Minor League Report…

Norfolk Tides (AAA)

Saturday

Edgardo Alfonzo drilled a homerun and
drove home three in a 2-4 night in support of MacLane.  The only other Tide with two hit was Tagg Bozied who was 2-3 with a solo HR
and two runs scored. 

Catcher Yunir Garcia started his first game for
Norfolk, after
one pinch hitting appearance, and was 1-3.

Sunday

Sandy Martinez slugged
a walk-off homer in the ninth inning to lead the Tides to a win at Harbor Park, he also
drove in a run with a fourth-inning double.

Heath Bell
(3-2) picked up the win in relief of Jose
Lima who was pitching a shutout until surrendering four runs in the sixth
inning.

Binghamton Mets (AA)

Saturday

Jorge Padilla doubled twice in a 2-4
performance with two runs scored. 

Chase Lambin launched a solo HR as
well.

Sunday

St Lucie Mets (A+)

Saturday

Caleb Stewart won this game with a
three run HR in the bottom of the ninth for St. Lucie. Stewart
also doubled and scored twice in a 2-5 night. 
Carp, in addition to starting the ninth inning rally doubled and drove
home a run. 

Sal Aguilar turned in a nice start,
allowing two runs in seven innings.  He struck
out two and walked two.

Carlos Muniz blew the save in the ninth
by giving up a run, but Stewart’s blast made him a winner.

Sunday

Jose Coronado’s
three-run, eighth-inning single proved to be the margin, as St. Lucie battled
back from a big deficit and shaky starting pitching to beat Vero Beach at historic Holman Stadium.  (Ed: If you had trouble with the concept of a
three-run single, you weren’t alone. 
Coronado himself scored the third run on the play on a throwing error on
Vero’s catcher.  This, my friends, is
minor league baseball.)

Carlos Muniz
pitched the final out of the game to pick up his 27th save of the season.

Hagerstown Suns (A-)

Saturday

Deolis Guerra (5-7) allowed just one run in his five innings on two hits.  He walked three and struck out three,
lowering his ERA to 2.35.

Centerfielder
Sean Henry, who was converted from
SS this year, and promoted this week from Kingsport,
was 2-3 with two doubles.

Sunday

Jeramy Simmons (1-2) was sharp through seven innings, allowing
just two runs and four hits, but ran out of gas in the eighth, allowing a pair
of singles and then a double, which scored a run, to start off the inning.

Ryan Meyers couldn’t put out the fire,
giving up a single and two more runs before finally quelling the uprising.

Kevin Tomasiewicz slammed the door and
picked up his 15th save.

Adam Rubin reports on his blog, Surfing The Mets, that Mike Devaney has made the most of his opportunity to step into Mike Pelfrey's spot in Binghamton since being promoted.

With that victory, the Camas, Wash., native – who turns 24 on July
31 – improved to 24-7 record since signing with the Mets as a
23rd-round pick from Concordia University in Portland, Ore., in 2004.

He enjoyed a 32-inning scoreless streak this season at high-A St.
Lucie, was named a Florida State League All-Star, and led his team to
its first-half division title by posting an 8-3 record and a 1.62 ERA
before his promotion. The 6-4 righthander’s biggest win this season
came on the second-to-last day of the first half on June 20, when he
took a no-hitter one out into the eighth inning in a 2-0 win against Brevard County.

Here are some more highlights from Rubin…

• Royce Ring’s
  scoreless-innings streak ended at a Norfolk-record 26 2/3 innings July
  8 against Ottawa. Ring, the Tides’ lone Triple-A All-Star
  representative, pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday at the event.

• Philip Humber’s comeback from Tommy John elbow surgery continues. The third overall pick in the 2004 draft, one slot behind Detroit’s Justin Verlander,
  limited Brevard County to two unearned runs and three hits in six
  innings. Humber has a 3.86 ERA and .208 opponent batting average in
  four starts with St. Lucie

• Alay Soler hasn’t done much since his July 3 demotion to
  Norfolk. The Cuban defector, who complained that right calf discomfort
  affected his last big-league start against the Yankees, had been
  walking around in a boot with the Tides and could be headed to the
  disabled list

• Lastings Milledge has twice been denied first base by plate umpires after getting hit by pitches on his elbow guard since returning to the minors.
• Michael Tucker entered yesterday hitting .333 (19-for-57) in his last 19 games.
• Edgardo Alfonzo joins the Tides tomorrow.

Some highlights from yesterday's minor league action from Toby's Minor League Report…

• In AAA action, Tagg Bozied led an offensive explosion in the nightcap with a pair
  of home runs.

• In AA, Jay Caligiuri tripled to
  lead off the ninth, Ambi Concepcion singled him home to tied the game and then
  Kevin Rios doubled in Concepcion
  for the game winner. Matt Lindstrom (2-2) picked up the win for streaking Binghamton.

• In High A ball, Blake Eager threw one-hit, shut out ball for seven
  innings while Ivan Naccarata slugged three hits, including a home, to lead St.
  Lucie to an easy win Saturday night.

Toby's Mets Minor League Report provides a recap of last nights action. Some highlights…

With the promotion of Mike Pelfrey, Deolis Guerra is the next kid in the system who is lighting up the charts. In his last
five starts, he has a 1.37 ERA, 6.15 h/9, 0.34 hr/9, 6.84 k/9, and 2.86
k/bb. He went 6.1 innings in his last outing
with a career high of six strikeouts. Before that, he threw a five inning,
no hit performance.

Deolis made the Baseball America Hot Sheet for the first time this week, possibly the youngest player on the list.

Another prospect who has been turning heads, as we've profiled here on Hot Foot many times is Evan MacLane, whyo last night pitched seven innings, allowing two
hits and no runs. Since his callup on May 8, MacLane is 6-4 with a 3.24
ERA in 12 starts.

Michael Devaney pitched a complete game shutout in his Double A debut, striking out six, allowing two hits.

Jake Ruckle threw a one-hitter against the Staten
Island Yankees. Ruckle was lifted in the ninth inning. He struck out
five in the game. The Cyclones have won five of their last six games
and four straight.

For a full rundown on yesterdays Mets minor league action check out Toby's Mets Minor League Report.