ESNY brings you the latest chatter surrounding the New York Mets. On tap today: Bartolo Colon, Amed Rosario, and a near no-no.
It’s been widely assumed that Bartolo Colon, AKA Big Sexy, spurned a reunion with the New York Mets because there were no assurances that he’d stick in the rotation long-term.
It turns out that’s not the case.
“The only reason that I [chose] the Twins was because of [Ervin] Santana,” Colon told the New York Post‘s Thomas Lipe, through an interpreter. “He’s a close friend, best I have on the team. He talked to [me], and convinced me to go to the Twins.”
According to the veteran starter, he wasn’t feeling any love from his former teammates in Flushing. “I [was] surprised,” Colon remarked. “I have a lot of friends with the Mets, and none of the players called me to see if I could come back with the Mets.”
The need to feel wanted, to feel appreciated, is a real one that every human being deals with at some point. And to be sure, Minnesota is in a better position to contend for a playoff spot than the Mets are heading into the season’s second half.
But Colon comes off sounding more like a spurned lover than an athlete looking for his best chance to succeed. It’s not a good look, and it makes one think that the Mets are probably better off without Big Bart than they would have been with him.
Amed Rosario Rules…
…one set of midseason prospect rankings.
ESPN’s Keith Law named Rosario baseball’s top prospect as he released his updated Top 50 prospects list at the season’s halfway point. It’s the same spot Rosario occupied in Law’s rankings just as the season was about to begin.
As you’d expect, some of the reactions to Law’s choice for the top spot were, shall we say, less than flattering. But Rosario is certainly deserving of the praise.
In 83 games with Triple-A Las Vegas, the 21-year-old shortstop is hitting .327 with 30 extra-base hits (seven home runs), 52 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a .839 OPS.
Chris Flexen Flexes
One pitch. One pitch kept Chris Flexen from tossing a no-hitter for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, New York’s Double-A affiliate, Thursday night.
With one out in the eighth inning against the Reading Fightin’ Phils, Phillies catching prospect Chace Numata sent Flexen’s pitch screaming into the right field seats.
While disappointing, it doesn’t take away from a stellar outing by Flexen. His final line: 8 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K.
Over six starts for the Rumble Ponies, the 22-year-old has gone 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA and 0.67 WHIP, walking only four batters while striking out 43. Not bad for a player MLB.com named the team’s No. 22 prospect heading into the season.
Other Mets News, Stories
- ESNY’s Zachary Weisleder recaps Tim Tebow’s first career walk-off home run.
- MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo takes a look at how the rest of July could play out for the Mets.
- Marc Carig of Newsday lays out some of the decisions the Mets will have to make.