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.

Here's a recap of yesterday's minor league action courtesy of the great Toby's Mets Minor League Report…

Norfolk Tides (AAA)

Binghamton Mets (AA)

St. Lucie Mets (A+)

Jose Sanchez was roughed up for five
runs in five and a third.

Hagerstown Suns (A-)

Check out Adam Rubin's interview with Mets' Minor League Pitching Coordinator Rick Waits regarding Oliver Perez's debut for the Mets Triple-A Norfolk Tides on his Daily News Blog.

Perez (1-4) struggled in his debut, allowing
seven runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of work. He struck
out four and walked four but Waits saw some positives to take away from his appearance.

Here's a highlight

“[Perez] was missing down a lot, which is a good sign.
He just had a little problem with his fastball command. We're going to
go to work today. This is the first day in a lot of ways. You've got to
let a guy throw and take a look at him.

The thing I saw last night that was well is he's got an
electric arm with his fastball and a real sharp slider. Just like with
a lot of pitchers we're going to work on a consistent delivery. The
game wasn't good last night. But the first inning he got the bases
loaded and no out and should have gotten out of it. The umpire missed a
call at third. He ended up giving up just one run. I liked the way he
battled.

We really haven't done a lot with him yet. He just got
here. We wanted him to pitch. There's a lot of things we're going to
discover.”

Adam Rubin reports to us from his Daily News Blog that it's a good weekend to check out the Tides if you're near Buffalo.

Oliver Perez starts Friday, followed by Brian Bannister on Saturday and
possibly Mike Pelfrey on Sunday.

Check out the Tides website for more information, as they take on the Buffalo Bison.

From Daily News.com…

Here's what some of our favorite bloggers are talking about today…

Amazin' Avenue is excited to have Oliver Perez in the organization.

Deadspin wants to let you know, Derek Jeter would like you to smell him.

Jessica @ Chicks Dig The Pitchers Duel thinks the Mets turned lemons into lemonade.

Jeremy gives his assessment of the trade deadline action on Mets Geek.

Mets Walkoffs takes us back to 1969, when the Mets had their own shoulder woes to endure.

Metstradamus wants to rally fans to join MADD, Mets fans Against Drunk Drivers.

Faith and Fear In Flushing trusts in Omar.

The Metropolitans thinks Omar did the best thing he could do, given the circumstances.

Toasted Joe asks “You talkin to me?…….you talkin to me?”

Crosstown Rivals does not like the Nady deal and tells us why.

…and Archie Bunker's Army discusses the all important “butterfly effect”

Jim Callis reporting for Baseball America, makes his assessment on newly acquired Mets Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez…

Few lefties in baseball have the ceiling of the 24-year-old Perez,
but he has melted down since going 12-10, 2.98 with 239 strikeouts in
196 innings in 2004. He went 2-10, 6.63 in 15 starts, prompting his
demotion to Triple-A Indianapolis. In 76 innings, he had a 61-51 K-BB
ratio, .296 opponent average and 13 homers allowed. Those numbers just
don't make sense for a guy who can throw in the mid-90s with a tight
curveball, but Perez' stuff and command have slipped for no obvious
reason. Still he's a worthwhile gamble for the Mets. Perez, who avoided
arbitration by signing a one-year, $1.9 million contract, will be
arbitration-eligible again during the offseason. He has a career record
of 29-40, 4.56 in 105 games.

Hernandez will help replace Duaner Sanchez, who separated his
shoulder in a car accident yesterday. Hernandez isn't the all-star
closer he once was, but he has been effective in a setup role this
year. He has gone 0-3, 2.93 in 43 games. He has a 33-24 K-BB ratio in
43 innings, while opponents have hit .264 with three homers against
him. Hernandez operates with a low-90s fastball, a splitter and a
slider. He signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract as a free agent in
the offseason. In 938 career games, he owns a 64-68, 3.32 record and
326 saves.

Omar Minaya denying reports of Oliver Perez for Scott Linebrink.

Omar Minaya asked to comment on if a deal will happen and Omar said no comment.

Asked his thoughts on Scott Linebrink and he said he can't comment on other players.

Duaner Sanchez not done for the year as of yet, could be back in 4 to 6 weeks.

Check out the video here.

Xavier Nady was just traded for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez.

Lastings Milledge will likely be promoted to fill Nady's slot in right field.

Rotoworld gives their take…

Buc's Dugout chimes in…

If this is the whole deal, this is awful. Perez was probably a lost
cause, but only probably. There's still some chance he could be ironed
out. Nady is already 27 and has never been an especially good hitter.
There isn't very much upside for the Bucs here - Nady is only a little
bit better than the Ty Wigginton/Daryle Ward class of Pirates we always complain about, and the Bucs gave up quite a bit to get him.

Nady is basically Craig Wilson
lite. He doesn't have a position, he's not a great runner, his hitting
is not as good as Wilson's, and he's only two years younger than
Wilson. Why you'd trade a 24-year-old pitcher (however damaged) with an
All-Star caliber season under his belt, plus a valuable reliever, to a team that abruptly lost its setup man (Duaner Sanchez), to get Nady is beyond me. The Bucs already have Craig Wilson and they won't even play him.