3 Up, 3 Down will be off tomorrow, Sunday, as I travel back down to Florida to meet up with the Mets.
1. Carlos Delgado had to return to New York to have an MRI on his right hip. The Mets are portraying this as precautionary. But this should heighten the Metsâ quest to find, at the least, a righty caddy at first base who could play regularly if Delgado misses serious time. Here would be my quick list of players I suspect could be had that fit this role: Baltimoreâs Kevin Millar (with the Orioles in full-blown rebuild mode), Pittsburghâs Xavier Nady (who is not part of the Pirate future plans), Detroitâs Marcus Thames (a spare part in a stacked Tiger lineup), the Angelsâ Kendry Morales (hasnât been able to find enough at-bats to prove or disprove he can hit in the majors), the Dodgersâ Nomar Garciaparra (who might end up being a reserve in L.A.), and veteran utilitymen such as San Franciscoâs Rich Aurilia and Houstonâs Mark Loretta.
If Delgado is down for a long time, the Mets may look into adding a lefty bat. Although Washington is in the NL East, the Mets have been able to deal with the Nationals, who have one first baseman too many with Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young, and are definitely listening on Johnson. Frank Catalanotto (Rangers), Scott Hatteberg (Reds) and Dan Johnson (Aâs) are others whose roles might be diminished enough to be available for a favorable price.
2. I tend not to believe in omens or harbingers. But the Mets cannot like how their injury ward is growing early this spring training. Delgado joined the healing quad of Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, Damion Easley and Orlando Hernandez, and then Ryan Church and Marlon Anderson collided. Anderson appears sore, but fine. However, Church suffered a concussion and looks as if he will be out for two weeks. Without Church and Delgado for a while, perhaps the Mets can get more at-bats for the righty bats they were hoping would emerge as the complements to Church and Delgado. That is known as the glass half full way of looking at these early medical issues.
3. The Yankees are intrigued by Shelly Duncan, by his righty power and his near endless enthusiasm. Righty might is difficult to find these days in MLB, so Duncan has a real opportunity to carve a meaningful role with the Yankees. So driving in the first five runs in the Yankeesâ 9-3 exhibition opener win over the Phillies only helps. Duncan had a three-run homer and a two-run double. Duncan, despite showing good stuff last year, does have to make the team. He has all three of his options, and the Yankees appear committed to going with 12 pitchers because of so few off-days early in the season. So that means position bench jobs are going to be competitive.
