Hopefully Bobby V. is next:
Mets waive unhappy Henderson
ESPN.com news services
Rickey Henderson's career with the New York
Mets is over.
ESPN's Peter Gammons reported Tuesday the
National League club put the outfielder on
outright waivers Monday night.
During spring training,
Henderson nearly talked
himself off of the Mets.
Henderson is batting a meager
.205 with just two RBI, 14
runs scored, two stolen bases
and an on-base percentage of
.362 in 26 games.
He went 1-for-6 during this
past weekend's series in
Florida but did score two runs
in a 4-1 victory on Friday.
Henderson, 41, and Mets manager Bobby
Valentine have had a stormy relationship
during the past two seasons.
On a number of occasions Henderson has
criticized the organization and Valentine. Last
year he was upset at being pulled from the
outfield during an National League
Championship Series game and was apparently
playing cards with former teammate Bobby
Bonilla when the Mets' season ended in the
11th inning.
This spring, Henderson made public his desire
to either receive more playing time or be traded
after general manager Steve Phillips refused to
give him a two-year contract. He then said he
would not travel to Japan for the
season-opening series with the Chicago Cubs,
but eventually made the trip.
Last month, Valentine jokingly told a group of
students at the University of Pennsylvania that
he "ignores" Henderson's antics before going
on to say that "Rickey is Rickey."
The Mets are currently without center fielder
and potential leadoff hitter Darryl Hamilton,
who is about to undergo surgery on an ailing
toe and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.
Melvin Mora is hitting just .255 and has yet to
prove he can handle the job on an everyday
basis despite a strong performance in the
NLCS.
Henderson won his record 12th American
League stolen base title while with the Oakland
Athletics in 1998 and signed as a free agent
with the Mets in December of that year. Last
season he batted .315 with 12 homers, 42 RBI
and 37 stolen bases in 121 games, spending a
couple of weeks on the disabled list in May
with a strained knee.
Henderson broke Lou Brock's record when he
collected his 939th career steal in an Oakland
uniform on May 1st, 1991 against the Yankees.
He is baseball's all-time leader with 1,336
thefts.
Also the Yanks rocked Doc last night. |
