This week you saw the Mets call up Elmer Dessens and R.A Dickey from Buffalo to help the big league club. Right now there are three players: Gary Matthews Jr., Luis Castillo, and Oliver Perez that are taking up roster spaces. Each of these three are better off elsewhere and it might be wise to eat salary in order to make their departure feasible. The frustrating part is there are players in AAA that clearly could do better for a lot less than the $20 million that trio is currently earning.

Dillon Gee: Yesterday Gee improved to 5-1 with an ERA of 3.86. It appears Raul Valdes will start against the Phillies this week, but I think they are going to need him long term out of the bullpen as the second lefty. Gee doesn’t have overpowering stuff. However, he throws strikes which is more than Perez has been doing. Just look at Hisanori Takahashi and R.A Dickey this week. They threw strikes and good things happened. Amazing how such a simple concept could yield positive results. There is also Pat Misch who did a nice “Tom Glavine light” impression last September. I rather give the kid a shot first.

Jesus Feliciano: The career minor leaguer is now 31 years old having toiled in pro ball since 1998. He doesn’t have power, but makes contact and can play all three outfield positions. The one thing going against him is he is left handed and the Mets already have another LH outfielder off the bench in Chris Carter. Regardless, he has hit over .300 the last four years and can’t be any worse than Gary Matthews Jr. I would have said Jason Pridie, but he is on the DL with a hamstring injury. Pridie is essentially Feliciano with some pop.

Ruben Tejada - We saw the kid briefly the first week of the season when Jose Reyes was on the disabled list. After a slow start in Buffalo, he is hitting .306 with a homer and 10 RBI. At this point I rather see the kid get some time at second base than Castillo. On Friday, Jon Heyman told Mike Francesa that Jerry Manuel isn’t a fan of Castillo. Turns out Willie Randolph wasn’t either. The organization sees Castillo as a “low energy” player and second base is the most obvious position to upgrade. Another option is Russ Adams who has some big league experience with Toronto. Just like with Dillon Gee I prefer going with the kid to see what he’s got.

Ironically all three would cost the league minimum for a total of just over a $1 million dollars. You can eat some salary and be done with three players that are not contributing, have bad energy, and are disliked by fans. Little things like this can help a team with such a thin margin of error.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Buffalo Bisons, Dillon Gee, Gary Matthews Jr., Jason Pridie, Jesus Feliciano, Luis Castillo, New York Mets, Oliver Perez, Pat Misch, Ruben Tejada