According to Brad Como, Gary Matthews Jr. has been designated for assignment. In his place, the Mets have recalled Omir Santos for some reason I can’t decipher.
Extra-Base Omir was slashing .074/.167/.111 at Double-A Binghamton in 27 at-bats since being demoted from Buffalo, where he posted a .194/.216/.306 line.
This could be the ol’ Abraham Nunez Axiom rearing its terrifying head again, but I have to imagine Santos’ promotion is logistical and transitional. Maybe Rod Barajas or Henry Blanco has some minor nagging injury that we don’t know about, or it takes some time to fill out the requisite paperwork to add Jesus Feliciano to the 40-man roster and Omar Minaya was desperate to take Matthews away from Jerry Manuel before he got any more at-bats. At this point, it’d be hard to blame anyone for not wanting to watch GMJ “hit” anymore.
I used to let little details like this upset me a lot more, but I’ll wait until the dust clears before I freak out about it.
Ironically — or I guess unironically, and completely predictably — the only healthy outfielder listed on the Mets’ 40-man roster who is not currently on the active roster is missing man Nick Evans, who has a healthy .284/.357/.557 line in Double-A. Granted, Evans has only played first base in Binghamton and certainly could not be expected to back up center field — purportedly the reason the Mets were keeping Matthews around. Of course, Omir Santos can’t do that either, but whatever.
The good news here is that Matthews is gone, not only because it means he won’t be inserted for pinch-bunting tonight, but also because it demonstrates a rare willingness to acknowledge sunk cost on the part of the Mets’ front-office. The roughly $1.5 million the team owes Matthews is hardly the same as the $20 million it still has committed to Oliver Perez, but hey, baby steps.
The Mets have 10 days to trade or release Matthews, and I have a sneaking suspicion they won’t find a willing trade partner. Little Sarge finishes his career in Queens with a .190/.266/.241 line with 24 strikeouts in 65 plate appearances, many of which came in his eight ill-conceived starts in center field over the much, much better Angel Pagan.
UPDATE, 4:26 p.m.: Adam Rubin tweets that Blanco is indeed banged up. So we can close the book on that one.
Tedquarters 
Now GMJ can go where he belongs — on Patrick Flood’s list of players who ended their careers with the Mets b/c Omar was the only one willing to give them a job.
So it goes.
Amazing work.
Two (Matthews and Castillo) down and one to go! It took too long but at least it got done.
I think part of the reason why they called up Santos was so Minaya and Co can play the “gotcha” card with the fans who questioned GMJR in the first place. Everyone complained about having the useless backup cf on the roster but now that he is gone you all wish there was a backup cf. Or they just like Omir’s finely shaped eyebrows
No, it’s because my imaginary boyfriend, Hank White, is banged up and needs a day or two.
Our national nightmare is over. It would be very funny if some other team tried to claim Matthews. Likewise, I doubt it could happen.
I know it’s going to be Feliciano that eventually gets the call-up, but Evans would not be a bad option, and neither would Hessman. If Bay can play CF when Pagan needs a day off, then you don’t really need a back up CF. And you could go for more of a power guy as the 25th man.
Ted’s collectible shirt just increased 25 cents in value with the call up.