2011 New York Mets
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Justin Turner, Mets second baseman, edges Carlos Beltran for Daily News’ Big Apple POW honors
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Justin Turner, Mets second baseman, edges Carlos Beltran for Daily News’ Big Apple POW honors
BY Anthony Mccarron
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, May 17th 2011, 11:45 AM
Justin Turner slugs his way to the Big Apple Player of the Week award after batting .333 (6-for-18) with a .556 slugging percentage and a .924 OPS.
Brad Mangin/Getty
Justin Turner slugs his way to the Big Apple Player of the Week award after batting .333 (6-for-18) with a .556 slugging percentage and a .924 OPS.
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Diamond Studs – Week 6
Who do you think deserves to be the Daily News’ New York baseball player of the week?
Carlos Beltran
Brett Gardner
Francisco Rodriguez
Justin Turner
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Two Mets had monster games last week that propelled them into contention, but because we admire consistency in this crazy world, we are picking Justin Turner over Carlos Beltran for our New York Player of the Week for last week.
ANTHONY MCCARRON’S POWER RANKINGS
Turner, the latest Met to man second base, reached base safely in all five games this week and batted .333 (6-for-18) with a .556 slugging percentage and a .924 OPS. And – milestone alert! – he slugged his first career homer and had a career-best five RBI in the Mets’ win in Houston Sunday. He totaled five runs and six RBI overall.
Beltran had a top-heavy week, smashing three two-run homers in Colorado last Thursday. But he had only one more hit the whole week and did not drive in any other runs. Still, it was his first career three-homer game, the eighth time he had homered from both sides of the plate in the same game and his 29th career multi-homer game (17th as a Met), which is good enough for second place.
As for potential Yankee candidates, it’s hard to concentrate on anything on the field because of all the palace intrigue in their clubhouse and corridors of power. I guess we could throw some votes to their players, though the Yanks had a horrible week (1-5) on the field as well as off.
Other getting third-place votes: Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez threw 4.1 scoreless innings and had three saves, extending his streak of consecutive converted save chances to 12 and giving him 13.2 shutout innings since April 17; The Yankees’ Brett Gardner (batted .318, continuing his wakeup from a poor start); Curtis Granderson (two more homers, placing him second in the majors); A.J. Burnett (seven innings of one run, one hit ball in his lone start); Mariano Rivera (three scoreless appearances, one save).
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Mets designate Emaus, call up Turner
NEW YORK — Shortly after 9 a.m. ET, after getting the call from his manager that he was being called up to the Major Leagues, Justin Turner boarded a plane heading out of Buffalo. The plane broke down shortly thereafter.
Due to a mechanical issue — or so Turner heard — the infielder had to switch planes, watching out the window to see that his bags made the switch, too.
So it was a rocky start to the day for the 26-year-old Turner, who arrived at Citi Field smiling nonetheless.
He started at second base and batted eighth for the Mets on Tuesday. “It’s my fourth time being called up, but you still kind of get excited about it and that feeling in your gut,” Turner said.
Turner was recalled Tuesday morning after the Mets designated Brad Emaus for assignment. Emaus, who won the starting second-base position out of Spring Training, lasted just three weeks on the job. He was hitting .162 with no extra-base hits in 37 at-bats.
Mets manager Terry Collins said he started to grow concerned over the 25-year-old Emaus’ mentality as he battled through struggles at the plate.
“When doubt starts to get in his mind, it could be a long road back,” Collins said. “I saw it, I was sensing it and I did not want him to be a bench player. We asked a lot of him to be an everyday player.”
Emaus was a Rule 5 Draft pick from Toronto, so he must now be offered back to the Blue Jays for $25,000, half of what the Mets paid to draft him. General manager Sandy Alderson sounded doubtful that the Mets would manage to bring him back into their farm system.
“We’d given it enough time based on what we’d seen and what we could anticipate seeing,” Alderson said. “We just felt it was time. It’s been three weeks.”
In those three weeks, the Mets have gotten little production from their second basemen, manned mostly by Emaus and the left-handed-hitting Daniel Murphy. With the arrival of Turner, a right-handed hitter, Collins said the position will likely remain a platoon with Murphy.
“I’d say it’s an evolving situation, no question about that,” Alderson said, adding that Murphy’s adjustment to the new position has gone better than anticipated.
Against Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez, Turner got the immediate start, even though he was preparing to play for a different team in a different city in a different league when he woke up this morning. He was relieved to know his baggage made it safely from Buffalo.
“I woke up this morning ready to play [in Buffalo],” Turner said. “So I guess I just got a little extra rest.”
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Getty Images, Icon SMI
Rule 5 pick Brad Emaus (left) is out with the Mets, with Justin Turner (right) taking his place.
The Mets have pulled the plug on Rule 5 pick Brad Emaus.
Days after Terry Collins said the 25-year-old second baseman had a limited number of at-bats to prove himself, Emaus was designated for assignment Tuesday. Justin Turner has been promoted to take his place.
Emaus hit .162 (6-for-37) with one RBI in 14 games. He must go through Rule 5 waivers before being offered back to the Toronto Blue Jays for $25,000 — half the claiming price. At that point, the Mets could trade for Emaus, if interested, and place him in the minors.
Turner, 26, hit .300 (12-for-40) with two RBIs in 10 games for Triple-A Buffalo.
The Mets still have one Rule 5 pick remaining — right-handed reliever Pedro Beato. He will become Mets property if he spends the entire season on the major league roster. The last Rule 5 pick to stick an entire season with the Mets and become team property via that route was catcher Kelly Stinnett in 1994.
Sandy Alderson deputy J.P. Ricciardi had been a particular advocate of Emaus, having drafted him while general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mets valued Emaus’ ability to hit for power, while still walking more than he struck out. However, that was accomplished in Double-A and Triple-A with the Blue Jays, not at the major league level.
The decision should bode well for lefty-hitting Daniel Murphy, although righty-hitting Justin Turner could see more action against the Houston Astros, since Houston will start a left-hander in two of the three games in the series.
The Mets will need to make another roster move Thursday for Jason Bay’s activatation from the disabled list. At that point, they are expected to go from eight to seven relievers, with Ryota Igarashi seemingly most vulnerable.
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