Even though there was no Mets game on Monday, there was plenty going on in the world of baseball to get Mets fans talking. The big news of the day was certainly the announcement of the biogenesis suspensions, of which there were a pair of current Mets minor leaguers and one former top prospect. Smug Bud had a little to say about the suspensions, and will likely have more to add after that one guy that didn't accept his punishment gets done with the appeal process.
I don't think it will surprise anyone if the suspension of Jordany Valdespin means it's the last we see of him with the Mets organization, but Cesar Puello will likely remain with the organization beyond the end of the season. Since both were on the 40-man roster but in the minors when the suspension was announced, both players will get minor league service time until September 1, and the games they sit out after that date will count toward their major league service time. Both player will be placed on the restricted list in the interim, which opens up a pair of 40-man roster spots if the Mets decide they want to promote someone for September 1 (Montero, cough, cough).
The Mets are also expected to be placing Bobby Parnell on the DL later today, and will be calling up Wilmer Flores to replace him. Flores has been playing third for the past several games, so it would seem that he's likely to be filling in there for his debut.
Yesterday at AA
It wasn't all roster moves and suspensions yesterday, we also had graphs and gifs breaking down Matt Harvey's last start!
Rob took the time to answer some prospect-related questions with the help of a current Mets minor leaguer. We also took our daily look into the previous night's minor league action.
In the wake of A-Rod's most recent run-in with baseball and his club, Matthew looked back at a comment from Steve Phillips and wondered if he might have been right all along.
Around Baseball
Valdespin, Puello, and Martinez weren't the only three players that accepted suspensions yesterday, as nine others accepted the punishment handed down by Bud Selig. Rob Neyer took a look at which of those might actually have an impact this season, and it becomes a very short list.
I'm sure by this point we've all heard that one guy just had to be different and decided to appeal his 211-game suspension, and that he also made his season debut in Chicago last night. He did manage a hit in the 8-1 loss, but fellow PED legend Andy Pettitte got shelled.
There was one game last night involving divisional opponents, and the Braves used it to move a little closer to putting the NL East title to bed. Is it too much to ask for a repeat of the 2011 collapse?