Kaz Matsui traded to the Rockies.

[DirtyKash]

To the Rockies:
Kaz Matsui

To the Mets:
Eli Marrero

[Dry1313]

Heard about this on 1050 ESPN radio. ANd apparently it was on Newsday. Great for the Mets.

[HollywoodLeo]

Kaz Matsui has, in turn, been optioned to AAA Colorado Springs.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9489524

The Rockies optioned Matsui to Triple-A Colorado Springs and recalled outfielder Jorge Piedra.

[Dry1313]

Hahahaha, if you're not better than Jorge Piedra, you shouldn't be playing

[Roy31]

They are just starting him in AAA probably because he is rusty from sitting on the bench behind reyes. Colorado robbed the Mets if you ask me. Not really big loss for the mets though because they have reyes.

[Kingdom]

Piedra, wasn't he one of the minor leaguers who tested for 'roids?

[Giants666]

yes

[Giants666]

PHOENIX -- The New York Mets acquired versatile utilityman Eli Marrero from the Colorado Rockies on Friday afternoon in a one-for-one trade that sent second baseman Kazuo Matsui to the Rockies, who optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs of the Pacific Coast League.
Marrero, 32, was batting .217 (13-for-60) with four home runs, 10 RBIs, three doubles and 11 walks in 30 games with Colorado. He has played catcher, first base, left field and right field this season and becomes the third-Cuban born player to play with the Mets this season, joining right-handed pitchers Orlando Hernandez and Alay Soler.

Marerro split the 2005 season between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles, missing the final two months of the campaign with a sprained right thumb. He batted .181 (25-for-138) with seven home runs and 19 RBIs in 54 games, overall.

Marrero established career highs in hits (104), doubles (19), home runs (18), RBIs (66), stolen bases (14) and games (131) in 2002 with St. Louis. He was acquired by the Rockies on June 8, 2005.

According to a report on Newsday's Web site, the Mets would in effect pay what is left on Matsui's contract by paying the $477,000 remaining on Marrero's deal and sending the Rockies about $4.6 million.

Approximately $5.1 million remains on Matsui's $8 million 2006 salary.

Matsui, who signed a three-year contract with the Mets in December 2003, was hitting .200 (26-for-130) with 10 runs, six doubles, one home run and seven RBIs this season after batting .255 with three home runs and 24 RBIs in 2005.

Matsui began the season on the disabled list with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee and was activated on April 20. He hit an inside-the-park home run in his first plate appearance on April 20 at San Diego, becoming the first player in Major League history to begin his career with a home run in his first plate appearance for three straight seasons (2004-06).

He also became the first player to hit an inside-the-park homer for his first long ball of the year since Johnnie LeMaster for San Francisco on Sept. 2, 1975, vs. Los Angeles. Matsui posted a hit in each of his first eight games in 2006 and had a nine-game hit streak from May 3-14. There have been two Japan natives to play for the Rockies, both pitchers. Masato Yoshii made 29 starts for Colorado in 2000 while Mac Suzuki appeared in three games with one start for the club in 2001. A pair of other former Rockies pitchers, Craig House and Jeff McCurry, were born in Japan to U.S. military families.

Outfielder Jorge Piedra was recalled from Colorado Springs to take Marrero's roster spot. Piedra is expected to be in uniform for Friday night's game against Los Angeles.

It was not immediately known when Marerro will join his new team, which played the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night in the second game of a four-game series. The Mets currently lead the National League East with a 36-23 record and are 4 1/2 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.

[ThomasTomasz]

I'm guessing the Mets will be paying most, if not all, of the salary for Matsui. However, Matsui couldn't ask for a better place to go, because he'll eventually be recalled, and be playing in the best hitter's park. That isn't to say he will start, since Jamey Carroll has turned out a .331 average so far this year. The Mets aquired a valuable utility player who can play C, 1B, 3B, LF, CF, and RF, and is pretty good defensively at each.