Rehabbing Mets

The Mets had two players rehabbing down in St. Lucie tonight. We all know Beltran's there working his way back, but Oliver Perez also made his first rehab appearance in St. Lucie tonight. We'll start with Perez, who was, well, Perez. He went six innings, gave up five hits, one walk and four earned runs, including two homers allowed. He did strike out seven on the night, though. Not an altogether terrible start for Perez, but not great either. The seven strikeouts and only one walk were definitely the silver lining. The two home runs? Not...

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Reyes Hurt During Warmup

Jose Reyes apparently injured his side while batting in the cages before the game. He was escorted into the clubhouse by the trainer, came back out to test it, then was sent back in the clubhouse with the trainer. Not good. We'll keep you posted.Update 6:12: Reyes has been scratched with a stiff lower back. New lineup:1. Jesus Feliciano CF2. Ruben Tejada SS3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Chris Carter RF7. Rod Barajas C8. Alex Cora 2B9. Mike Pelfrey...

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Suggested Reading

Joel Sherman, who I typically am not crazy about, did an AMAZING job summing up the Cliff Lee trade ordeal today. You can check out the post on Joel Sherman's Hardball blog for the New York Post by clicking here. The point in the post I agree with the most is Sherman's assertion that teams are overvaluing prospects way too much. Think about it, almost six years ago Mets fans starting salivating at the mouth when they signed a pair of 16 year olds named Fernando Martinez and Deolis Guerra. Today, neither one of those guys has yet to live up to...

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Hmmm.....I Didn't Know That

That's right ladies and gentleman, it's Wednesday, which means it's time for your little known Mets fact of the week. This fact is going to revolve around my favorite Met of the past five years, Carlos Beltran. Did you know that Carlos Beltran was a standout volleyball player all through high school, only to finally give up volleyball for baseball at seventeen thanks to his father's convincing? Could you imagine if Beltran had gone with volleyball instead? Talk about a waste of talent. I think everyone needs to go out and buy a nice gift for...

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Notable Mets History

On this day in 2000, Mike Piazza caps an historic comeback for the Mets against the Braves with a three run bomb. The ten run inning still stands as a Mets franchise record for a single inning. Perhaps more impressively, the Mets scored nine of those runs with two outs to finish off the 11-8 win. Sometimes I forget just how special that 2000 team was. If only they didn't have Benitez as their clos...

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Starting Lineup - 6/30/10

The Mets look to avoid the sweep in their three game set with the Marlins at San Juan. They'll send their ace Mike Pelfrey (10-2, 2.71 ERA) to stop the bleeding against Chris Volstad (4-7, 4.40 ERA). This is where the Mets need Pelfrey to step up and be the stopper he is quickly becoming. The lineup:1. Jose Reyes SS2. Jesus Feliciano CF3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Chris Carter RF7. Rod Barajas C8. Alex Cora 2B9. Mike Pelfrey PIt is essential that the Mets get the win tonight and put the nightmare series behind them. They're...

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Down On The Farm - 6/29/10

Sorry for the delay on this folks, but I had to be at work extra early this morning, leaving me with no time to post. However, it was a perfect day for the Mets' core four minor league teams as all of them picked up the win. Buffalo won their game at home aagainst Syracuse, 6-1, behind the strength of some fantastic pitching by Dillon Gee. He started and went seven, giving up only three hits, a walk and one earned. He struck out six on the day. Lucas Duda homered for the second straight game, a solo shot. Mike Jacobs and J.R. House each picked...

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Post Game 6/29/10 Marlins 7 - Mets 6

The Mets got things back to normal by scoring in the top of the first. Angel Pagan hit a ground ball to Hanley that knocked him down and then Ramirez threw the ball off his leg to allow Pagan to reach base. After Wright singled him to third, Bay drove him in with a sac fly to make it 1-0. Wright was caught tagging to second on the play to end the inning. It was a smart risk by Wright nonetheless. The Mets extended their lead in the top of the third when Tejada lead off with a single, Takahashi pushed him to second with a bunt and Reyes drove...

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Hypothetical Situation

My friend (a Yankees fan) posed the following hypothetical situation to me the other day:Him: If, for $30 million tax free, you had to cost the Mets game 7 of the World Series in a manner slightly worse than that of Bartman, would you do it?Me: Wow, that's a an awfully tough one.Him: Not only that, but every time David Wright came to bat afterwards, a video would come up on the Jumbotron of him saying, "I hate Josh Alley more than anything in the world". Me: Laughing hysterically. I think I'd have to go with no???Him: No way! You wouldn't...

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Oliver Perez Rehab Official

According to Adam Rubin at espnnewyork.com, Oliver Perez will officially start his rehab assignment tomorrow, pitching for the St. Lucie Mets. Also, according to Rubin's Twitter page, the Mets have signed Michael Barret to a minor league deal. Wouldn't be surprised if this was in an effort to get some catching depth at Buffalo pending a trend involving Thole. Just speculation on my part, thou...

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Starting Lineup - 6/29/10

The Mets look to bounce back from the home run festival yesterday and pick up a win in the 7:10 PM start in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They'll be throwing Hisanori Takahashi (6-3, 3.78 ERA) out to face fellow lefty Nate Robinson (5-6, 4.89 ERA). The lineup:1. Jose Reyes SS2. Angel Pagan CF3. David Wright 3B4. Jason Bay LF5. Rod Barajas C6. Fernando Tatis 1B7. Jeff Franceour RF8. Ruben Tejada 2B9. Hisanori Takahashi PIt's good to see Pagan back in the lineup, however, I hope he's fully ready to play as we don't need him worsening his injury. I'll...

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Suggested Reading

If you're not too busy pretending like you're working so your boss doesn't give you the death stare, head on over to SNY.tv, where Dan Graziano does a fantastic job summing up the Mets' need to pursue a starting pitcher. They need to make sure that they don't miss an opportunity to get Cliff Lee if there is one. (Seriously, Mets fans, how much fun would it be to beat the Phillies with Cliff Lee?) They need to take a more serious look than they appear to have taken so far at Roy Oswalt. And even if those two are out of their reach, they need to...

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Your Daily Dose Of Beltran

Carlos Beltran started at DH in an early St. Lucie game today. He went 1-5 on the day again, once again with a single. My guess is that Beltran didn't play the field simply due to the fact that it was an early game and they didn't want to overtax the knee. I have a feeling he'll starting playing back to back games in the field within the next couple of da...

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Vote The Wright Way

According to the updated NL All-Star voting results released today, David Wright trails Polanco by only 22,635 votes for the starting 3B slot. Wright closed the gap by over 100,000 votes over the last week and has until the end of Thursday to surpass Polanco. With Polanco on the DL, Wright is all but certain to start. However, let's do our job and vote him in like he deserves. You can vote for Wright by going here. By the way, you can vote up to 25 tim...

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More On Cliff Lee Possibility

In a post written by Tim Dierkes of MLBTraderumors.com, Tim goes on to suggest that the Mets may ultimately exclude themselves from the Cliff Lee sweepstakes...In my opinion, the Mets probably couldn't swing a Lee trade with Fernando Martinez as the centerpiece. He's hitting .248/.299/.397 at Triple A currently. Starter Brad Holt is struggling at Double A, though second baseman Reese Havens is raking. We heard from Rosenthal in on June 7th that the Mets are high on infielder Ruben Tejada, enough that they would be reluctant to include him...

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Barajas Breathes A Sigh Of Relief

When Henry Blanco started yesterday with R.A. dickey it marked the third straight game in which he did so. A trend that will likely continue for the foreseeable future. When questioned about Barajas not catching Tricky Dickey Jerry Manuel had this to say..."I like Blanco and Dickey. It's a little better match for us catching him, a little easier for Henry than [Rod] Barajas. When Barajas catches him, it's such work that we really don't feel we have him for the next day."Can't say I blame him as Barajas spends more time chasing after the Knuckler...

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Retro Video

Check out this video from WNBC news after the Mets won the World Series in '86. Enj...

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Down On The Farm - 6/28/10

Yesterday was an up and down day for the baby Mets as they dropped three and picked up two. Unfortunately for Savannah, they accounted for two of those losses. Let's take you through it.The Bisons lost a tough one down in Charlotte, 13-12, in what proved to be a pretty wild game. Recent pickup Ramon Ortiz was the main culprit, going three innings while giving up 12 hits, two walks, nine earned runs and striking out only one. Obviously, Buffalo's offense fared pretty well though. Russ Adams was 3-6 with two homers and three RBIs, Andy Green...

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Carlos Beltran Update

After getting the day off yesterday, Beltran returned to the St. Lucie Mets lineup and played all nine innings in CF. According to the Mets' twitter page, which you can check out by clicking here, Beltran had only one put out on the day while going 1-5 with a single and a run scored. The tell tale sign is always going to be how he feels the day after increasing his workloads. So if Beltran is back in the lineup tomorrow night, things are definitely looking go...

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Post Game 6/28/10 Marlins 10 - Mets 3

The Mets were not first to get the scoring going for a change. In the bottom of the first, Chris Coghlan lead off with a walk and then stole second. Gaby Sanchez bunted him over to third and Hanley Ramirez drove him in on a hard ground ball that Reyes couldn't corral to put them Marlins up 1-0. Reyes was charged with an error on the play. Two batters later, Uggla swung and missed on a pitch, sending his bat flying into the stands. The fan who caught it threw it back onto the field. Interesting. It didn't take the Mets very long to get it...

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Oliver Perez

Word has it that Oliver Perez may start his rehab assignment later on in the week. This bit of news makes me wonder if there's any way possible to get Shooter McGavin's buddy to take out Perez Happy Gilmore style. Shoot, I'd even settle for Tonya Harding. Just kidding. We love you Oliver. Well, maybe not, but I still don't wish injury upon you, just that you never make it back to ...

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Starting Lineup - 6/28/10

The Mets will open up a three game series against the Marlins tonight at 7:10 PM in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Mets will see R.A. "Trickey" Dickey (6-0, 2.33 ERA) face fellow righty Ricky Nolasco (6-6, 4.92 ERA). The lineup:1. Jose Reyes SS2. Jesus Feliciano CF3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Jeff Franceour RF7. Henry Blanco C8. Ruben Tejada 2B9. R.A. Dickey PShould be interesting to see how a free swinging Marlins team will do against the new look Dickey. Traditionally, Dickey has not pitched well against the Marlins, though...

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Bullpen's Air Tight

The #Mets bullpen has allowed one run over its last 26.1 innings (0.34 ERA) dating back to June 17. - Mets, via Twitter Wow, that's an impressive stat for sure. Sometimes I forget how good the bullpen has been because of how well the rotation has been. What a great problem to ha...

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Mejia Update

According to the Mets, Jenrry Mejia has a posterior cuff strain and will return to throwing when his pain subsides. Judging by what occurred with Sammy Gervacio earlier in the year with the Astros, we can probably expect Mejia to miss in the range of 2-3 weeks. My guess is a month and possibly even more, though. According to this site, healing can take up to three months. Gervacio was placed on the DL on April 7th with the same exact injury and then activated 17 days later. He went on to re-aggravate that injury a week or so later. After...

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Your Retro Video

Back with more video, this time of the confetti shower that took place in Manhattan after the Mets won the '69 Series. My favorite part has to be the music. I fully expected Superman to come flying into the picture halfway through the video, only to see Lex Luther attempt to take him out. Sadly, I went away disappoint...

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Your Daily Cliff Lee/Trade Rumor Update

For your daily update on the saga that is becoming the Cliff Lee pursuit, head over to mlbtraderumors.com, where Tim Dierkes sums up an article from Joel Sherman on the Mets pursuit of Lee, and a new target yet to be mentioned, Ted Lilly. The idea of Lilly intrigues me as he's been a very good pitcher over the past few seasons. However, I believe that if you're going to trade top talent for a lefty starter, you go all in and get Lee. If I'm the Mets, I offer Fernando Martinez, Wilmer Flores, Thole and either Familia or Valdespin. But that's...

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Video Of Corona Cleanup

I always love to see this type of stuff happen and often times people forget that teams/players do a lot of this sort of community outreach. The Mets have been fantastic at doing that type of outreach throughout the years and this serves as yet another examp...

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Alex Cora: Future Manager

I was preparing an opinion piece today on the role of Alex Cora on this team and the importance that it serves. However, Andy McCullough of The Star Ledger beat me to the punch this morning. He serves up a fantastic profile of Cora's baseball lineage, his role on the Mets, and his future in coaching. Those guys over at the Star Ledger continue to do some really impressive work and have always been among my favorite reads. Inside the dugout, he often consults with infield coach Chip Hale to make sure rookies Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada are positioned...

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Suggested Reading

Dave Hutchinson of The Star Ledger has some great coverage on the Mets' Puerto Rican born players, who will be playing in their home country for three games starting today. Pedro Feliciano had this to say when asked of the experience:"This is big," said Pedro Feliciano, whose mom, dad and eight sisters will attend every game. "Everybody is excited. Hopefully, there's no rain. They've had a lot of rain lately. I hope the sun comes out and we'll have three good games." - The Star LedgerI couldn't help but laugh when Angel Pagan said that he'll have...

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Notable Mets History

Today's bit of notable Mets history didn't happen during a Mets game, or technically by a Mets player, but I thought it to be pertinent nonetheless. Here we go.On this date in baseball history, Darryl Strawberry hit his 300th homer, a two run shot to win the game for the Yankees. Yes, it does irk me that it came with the Yankees and not the Mets. But, Strawberry is and always will be a Met at heart, so I'm proud of his accomplishment, even if it did come on the dark si...

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Down On The Farm - 6/27/10

It was a fantastic, if not rainy, day for the Big Four minor league teams. Three of the four teams picked up the win while Savannah's game was suspended until today. The rundown:In Buffalo, the Bisons picked up the win 6-3 after trailing for a good part of the game. Pat Misch put out a pretty solid effort in the start for Buffalo. He went six innings, gave up seven hits, one walk, two earned and struck out two to pick up the win. In the top of seventh and traling by two, Buffalo plated Jorge Padilla on a wild pitch to close it to 2-1. Five...

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Valentine Will NOT Manage Marlins

Former Mets and Rangers skipper Bobby Valentine is no longer being considered for the Marlins' managerial vacancy, according to a Major League Baseball source. - Jon Heyman, SI.comI can now breathe a huge sigh of relief. Valentine is one of my favorite Mets people of all time. It's hard enough to think of him managing a team other than the Mets, but having to watch him manage against the Mets 19 times a year was just too hard to swallow. Hopefully this story doesn't take another about-fa...

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Pagan Suffers Setback

Unfortunately for the Mets, Pagan suffered a setback when swinging the bat from the left side of the plate in cages today. Unfortunately, that means that Pagan won't be in the lineup tomorrow, as had been expected. Dave Hutchinson of the Star-Ledger has the scoop.Center fielder Angel Pagan experienced pain while swinging from the left side today and won't be in the starting lineup on Monday against the Florida Marlins when the Mets start a three-game series. - Star LedgerPagan was obviously disappointed with the setback, though he expects to...

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Mejia's Start

In Mejia's second start since being demoted to Binghamton, he managed to go only 1+ innings on the day. He struggled a bit in that 1+, giving up two walks and two hits, though he did strike out two and let up no runs. No word as to what caused Mejia to leave so early. But I wouldn't be shocked if you see some people speculate on a possible pending trade. I sincerely doubt that possibility. More info to come as it becomes available.UPDATE: Early indications seem to point toward a possible injury. We'll keep you posted.UPDATE 2: After today's...

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Post Game 6/27/10 Mets 6 - Twins 0

It took a little while, but the Mets got on board first in the bottom of the fourth. It started with an Ike Davis single up the middle. After a weak pop out by Bay (he heard some boos afterward) and strikeout by Barajas, Frenchy smoked a line drive two run homer on a slider over the middle of the plate to make it 2-0. Ruben Tejada would then hit a single to extend his hit streak to 10 games, the longest by a Mets rookie since Jason Phillips did it in 2003. Remember those goofy goggles?After Niese did a fantastic job wiggling out of a second...

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Remember To Vote For David

If you haven't already, don't forget to vote for David Wright to start at 3B in the All-Star game. As of the last update, Placido Polanco leads Wright by roughly 130,000 votes. If Polanco starts at third, there's no chance I go anywhere near the All-Star game ever again until they change the vote process. Polanco has no business being at the All-Star as anything other than a spectator. It's not even debatable. Click here(or the image) to vote for David Wrig...

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One Thing Jerry And I Agree On

As you may already know, I'm usually one of Jerry's biggest critics. However, you can't deny that he's done a great job getting the most out of the talent on this team. It's just his in-game managing that makes me long for more sometimes. There is one opinion, though, that I certainly share with Jerry. It comes courtesy of Anthony McCarron, Kristie Ackhert and Sean Brennan of the NY Daily News. "I don't think you can interfere with history, with a guy trying to make history. You got to give him every opportunity to do that," Manuel said. "I...

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Beltran Will Not Be In P.R.

Kyle Maistri of mlb.com brings us news on Beltran's "attempt" to make it back for the series in Puerto Rico against the Marlins, which starts tomorrow. "I wish it would've been maybe five or six days later, Puerto Rico, so he would get the chance to play in front of his family and friends, that would've been a possibility," manager Jerry Manuel said. - MLB.comI don't think anyone realistically expected Beltran to be back for the Marlins series in P.R. So this latest bit of news shouldn't be much of a shocker for Mets fans. Jerry seems to indicate...

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Notable Mets History

Today I bring you two interesting pieces of Mets history, one very bad, one very good. On this day in 1993, the infamous Anthony Young sets a major league record by losing his 24th straight decision. It's a wonder how anyone could have let Young go that long. It's probably pretty certain that Young would have been DFA'ed or outright released had he played during this current generation.Now for the good one. On this day two years ago, Carlos Delgado breaks Dave Kingman's 32 year old record by driving in nine RBIs against the Yankees. Delgado...

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Mejia Starting Today

At the same time the Mets big league club will get under play the B-Mets will throw Mejia for his second minor league start since being demoted. It will be interesting to see how long they will let him pitch since, in his first start, they limited him to a 2.1 innings pitched. I'm sure they're watching his pitch count but I'd like to see more than a 2+ inning outing from h...

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Debuting Higher Up

Yesterday Mark Cohoon made his Binghamton Mets debut but was knocked around pretty handily. He ended up going 5,2 innings while giving up 11 hits and 5 runs. Even with the poor showing the B-Mets went on to hand Cohoon the win by scoring 10 runs in the first 6 innings.Brandon Moore faired much better with St. Lucie giving up 2 runs in 6 innings while striking out 6 to earn the win after St. Lucie backed him with 7 runs.Good to see Moore excel at the next level but Cohoon looks like he would rather be with Moore aga...

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Starting Lineup 6/27/10

The Mets will look to take the rubber game against the Twins today as they run Jon Niese(4-2 4.17) out there to do battle against Scott Baker(6-6 4.61). Niese, like Pelfrey, is a better pitcher at home and his counterpart is not so good away from his home. Baker is 1-4 with a 5.93 ERA away from Target Field this year.1. Jose Reyes SS2. Jesus Feliciano CF3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Rod Barajas C7. Jeff Franceour RF8. Ruben Tejada 2B9. Jon Neise PAfter losing a game to the Braves after yesterday afternoon's loss, the Mets...

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Carlos Beltran: I'm On My Way

The good news on Beltran just keeps coming. Beltran started in CF for the St. Lucie Mets today and played seven innings in the field. He went 3-4 at the plate on the day, notching a double, two RBI, and a run scored. If Beltran keeps up this pace and of course barring setbacks, I think it's entirely possible you'll see Beltran back in time for the six games at home against the Reds and Braves starting July 5. I am not one of those people who believe we need to baby Beltran along. I think if Beltran plays 7-10 games in the minors, including...

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Speaking Of Santana....

In a great piece by Roger Rubin and Kristie Ackhert, the Daily News brings us news that Santana isn't, in fact, fully recovered from his offseason surgery. Santana had this to say when questioned:"After the last surgery I am still recovering from it," he said. "Having bone chips in my (left) elbow changed my mechanics a little bit. But I feel much better now. ... I am making progress and I'm adjusting." - NY Daily NewsI don't think this really comes as a surprise to anyone who's watched Santana consistently this year. It's quite obvious he's...

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Rehab Update: Carlos Beltran

Carlos continued his rehab assignment tonight in St. Lucie going 2 for 3 with a single, double and walk as a DH. It's good to know that Beltran can handle back to back games even if he didn't play the field today. He's obviously healthy enough to run the base paths but I still think they are going to take it very slow with his rehab games, the last stage in his comeback. Don't believe that he'll be playing in the bigs this weekend when the Metskies travel to Puerto Rico to play the Marlins starting Monday. It's been echoed on various shows and...

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No Hitter In Florida...

Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks threw the fourth no hitter of the season tonight in a grueling outing. Jackson needed 147 pitches to finish the job against his former mates, the Tampa Bay "Devil" Rays. His feat is ridiculous if you consider the fact that he threw more balls than strikes and walked 8 batters. Even so, Well Done, its good to see a pitcher disprove the theory of regulated pitch coun...

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Postgame Run Through 6/25/10

Tonight the Mets bounced back from their loss last night to down the Twins 5-2. Pelfrey went 6 good innings to earn the win while Wright, Reyes and the bullpen did the rest. This was another big win for the Mets as they are currently chasing Atlanta, only 1/2 a game back, who also won tonight.Key contributions...David Wright- 2 for 3 with a HR and RBI double. He also accounted for another run with heads up base running, on a single by Ike Davis, after Denard Span overthrew Mauer with no one backing...

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Starting Lineup 6/25/10-METS vs TWINS

The Mets look to continue with their great play at home when they square off against the Twins at Citifield. They'll send Mike Pelfrey (9-2, 2.69 ERA) to the mound to face soft tossing righty Kevin Slowey (7-4, 4.58 ERA). The Mets enter the 7:10 PM game still just a half game behind the Braves for first place after the Braves dropped last night's game. Will this be the night they finally overtake them?1. Jose Reyes SS2. Jesus Feliciano CF3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Josh Thole C7. Jeff Franceour RF8. Ruben Tejada 2B9....

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All Eyes On Niesen

Last night Eric Niesen of the Binghamton Mets went 7 innings while giving up only 1 run against the New Britain Rock Cats. So far this year Niesen has held opposing hitters to a .190 average. He's a couple of wicked pitches that have some real movement on them. If you check out his stats year to year you'll notice that the year after he's been promoted he starts to figure out that level. It started with St. Lucie in 2008 and now with his second year with Binghamton he's put up a line of 2.66 ERA/40.2 IP/2 HRA/30 BB/ 30 K. The only cause for concern...

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Omar Minaya Interview Part 2

In the initial post yesterday morning I recapped an interview between Boomer and Carton, of 660 WFAN, and the Mets General Manager Omar Minaya.Here is the remainder of the key points touched upon...How is the roster going to be handled when Beltran returns from the DL?When the time comes, Pagan will shift around the outfield giving everyone some rest, when needed. Also, Beltran will be handled tenderly and won't play throughout the week without an off day. At the same time there may be points where...

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Minor League Musical Chairs

The Mets made several roster moves in their minor leagues yesterday, sending a bunch of guys up a level or two and even sending some guys down a level. Most notable:Mark Cohoon, coming fresh off his three straight shutouts and All-Star appearance, was promoted from Savannah all the way up to Binghamton. Rarely do you see a guy skip St. Lucie, so the Mets must think very highly of Mark Cohoon. Or maybe they're trying to drive his trade value. Hmmmm, we shall see.Brandon Moore, another standout pitcher and All-Star for Savannah, wasn't quite...

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Josh Thole...Call-Up In His Best Interest?

Josh Thole was called up to the majors yesterday with the Mets optioning Raul Valdes to Triple A. This is an intriguing move in that the team had to option a reliever in order to get another catcher to back up Henry Blanco, since Barajas woke up with stiffness in his back. I can't think of a good reason to have called on Thole unless they feel that Barajas's stiffness is something more worrisome. If not, than why not call up someone else who isn't finally getting his game together hitting .318 since...

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Down On The Farm - 6/24/10

In a full night of action, the "core four" minor league teams had a rough go of it, managing only one win out of four games. Here's the rundown:In the final game of a four game set in Georgia, Buffalo dropped a bad one to Gwinnett, 10-4. Unfortunately, Dillon Gee was the main culprit as he started, went only three innings, and gave up nine hits, seven earned (double ouch) and struck out four. Little to see on the offensive side, though Fernando Martinez went 2-3 with a double, a run scored and a walk while recent acquisition Jorge Padilla hit...

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Post Game 6/24/10 Tigers 6 - Mets 5

The Mets unfortunately missed out on a golden opportunity to seize the division lead tonight (Braves lost 2-0) by dropping the finale to Detroit, 6-5. The highlights:Unfortunately for the Mets, Takahashi just didn't have it tonight. He gave up all six earned runs in only four innings of work, giving up eight hits, walking four, and striking out four. The top of the order was the catalyst for the Mets tonight, as Reyes went 1-3 with two walks and a run scored, Jesus Feliciano went 3-5 with two runs scored, and David Wright went 2-4 with an RBI...

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Check Out This Blast From The Past

Two words. Simply. Hilarious. Who doesn't love the eighties? The Piscopo appearance at the end is just classic. Hope you enjoy...

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Notable Mets History

Once again, I bring you just one nugget of Mets' history today. It's probably the most peculiar one I've brought to you so far.On this day in 2005, the Mets became the first National League team to get three sac fly's in one inning, doing it against the Yanks. Ramon Castro got it started off, followed by Jose Reyes to score David Wright and then capped off by Mike Cameron's sac fly to score Doug Mientkiwoiuljwinindnoiwicz. What a character that Mientkiewicz w...

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That Cliff Lee Chatter Grows Stronger

Yesterday morning, Mark Hale of the New York Post gave us some tantalizing news about the possible acquisition of Cliff Lee. Mr. Hale had this tidbit to say, among others:...the Mets potentially could offer Seattle a package built around such prospects as Ruben Tejada, Fernando Martinez, 18-year-old shortstop Wilmer Flores, 20-year-old righty Jeurys Familia, and Triple-A catcher Josh Thole. - Mark Hale, New York PostHale also mentions that the Mets' front office is willing to go for it and rent Lee without requiring a 72 hour window to negotiate...

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Suggested Viewing/Reading

I bring you video of Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe discussing Trickey Dickey's impressive start last night. Check it out:For more reading on Dickey's start from last night, go here, here and here. I'm so sorry I missed Dickey's start last night as I was genuinely excited to see what he'd do against such a righty heavy lineup. My gut instinct turned out to be true, as he dominated the Tigers, keeping them off balance and shaking their heads all night long. I just Jerry Manuel would have let Dickey finish the game, as Dickey pleaded with him...

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Minaya Interview On WFAN Part 1

Today Omar Minaya was a guest on Boomer and Carton this morning. They talked about different Mets topics including Dickey's performance, Luis Castillo, Johan's Velocitiy, K-Rod's "traffic", Citifield and more. Here were his responses to some of the questions he yielded...When talking about the unexpected performances by both Takahashi and Dickey...Of course it wasn't a surprise to see these guys come out and perform as they have but he believes both pitchers will continue to be successful for two...

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A word from Elias

In last nights game Jose Reyes had three hits and three runs scored, making it two consecutive games in which he's done so. Only five other Mets have done so...Ron Hunt (1966), Gary Carter (1985), Kelly Stinnett (1994), Edgardo Alfonzo (1997) and David Wright (2005).The people over at Elias do a wonderful job analyzing the games and bringing the fans great comparisons...Well do...

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Lttle Known Mets Fact

I know this is a day late from it's usual Wednesday. Very sorry for that. Yesterday was a particularly busy day at my regular job and therefore I didn't get the few minutes I normally get to pop up a few more posts. Without further ado, I present your little known Mets fact. Did you know the Mets broke the 1948 Yankees record for attendance by a New York team in 1970 by drawing 2.7 million people? They held the record until 1999 (they would break their own record five times in that span), when the Yankees finally surpassed them after winning...

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Down On The Farm - 6/23/10

Last night was a pretty good one for the farm, as three of our big four were in action with two picking up the win. The details:Down in Georgia, Buffalo beat Gwinnett in the the third game of their four game set, 5-4. It was all thanks to Lucas Duda and Mike Jacobs who each tallied solo shots in the sixth, with Duda hitting the game winner. Each added RBIs in the first inning, as well. Duda finished 3-4 while Jacobs had himself a 2-4 day with two runs scored. Manny Acosta came on for the second straight night to get the save, this time picking...

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Player Update: Angel Pagan

During tonight's game Pagan was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning. The cause was his at bat in the bottom of the fifth after he took an awkward swing during his at bat against Bonderman. According to Jerry Manuel, Angel was experiencing muscle spasms in his right side and decided to pull him and most likely sit him tomorrow. The one thing I heard during the play by play was that, in the clubhouse before the game, Pagan was icing down his midsection pretty heavily. Gary...

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Postgame Run Through 6/24/10

Tonight the Mets handily defeated the Tigers once again by the score of 5-0. R.A. Dickey was without a doubt the key performer in the game. He held the Tigers to just 4 hits and was only in trouble once, the first inning, overcoming a bases loaded jam. Also, during the television broadcast, as stated in an earlier post, Jerry Seinfeld joined the SNY crew minus Ron Darling. I am happy that he steered all the attention towards the game. Ultimately it was like having a fan in the booth helping with...

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Special Guest During Game

The SNY crew will welcome Jerry Seinfeld to the booth during the 3rd inning of todays game with the Tigers. Let's hope that Jerry, Keith and the rest of the guys don't get too caught up in Keith's appearance on Seinfeld years ago. It's about the team guys, which should be the only reason you've invited Jerry to the booth, because he's a die hard fan.Link to the arti...

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Starting Lineup - 6/23/10

The Mets look to make it two in a row against the Tigers in tonight's 7:10 PM start at Citifield. They'll throw R.A. "Trickey" Dickey to the mound (5-0, 2.82 ERA) to face fellow righty Jeremy Bonderman (3-4, 4.06 ERA). The lineup:1. Jose Reyes SS2. Angel Pagan CF3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Jeff Franceour RF7. Henry Blanco C8. Ruben Tejada 2B9. R.A. Dickey PThe Mets are coming off an impressive shelling of the Tigers last night. They'll look to move to 11-3 in interleague play this season and clinch the three game set against...

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Jerry Manuel....Headscratcher Yet Again

Let me start off by saying I'm sorry. I know there's a lot of Mets fans that will criticize me for this post, since we're ten games over .500. But just because we're winning doesn't mean Jerry Manuel hasn't made some questionable moves. I'll give you my take.-Manuel lobbies hard for Mejia to be in the opening day bullpen. I understand this is ultimately Minaya's decision, but all indications seem to point to Minaya conceding to Manuel to avoid more controversy to start the season.-The hit and run. I've literally counted on one hand the number...

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Down On The Farm - 6/22/10

It was a busy, busy day down on the farm. Mets' teams took three out of four games on the day and watched their Gnats shine in the All-Star game. The summary:Down in Georgia, Buffalo beat the Gwinnett Braves 6-3. The long ball was the Bisons' best friend in this one. Recent acquisition Jorge Padilla hit his first with the club, a three run blast, to highlight a 3-5 day. Val Pascucci added a 2-4 day, including a two run shot of his own. Pat Misch pitched pretty well, going eight, giving up eleven baserunners, three runs and striking out three...

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Mets Futures Game Representative

Jeurys Familia will represent the New York Mets during the Futures Game in Anaheim on July 11th. Previous Mets invites include Wright, Reyes, Mejia and Flores. I'm not sure I agree with this move as there have been many other more deserving minor leaguers in the Mets system. Here are some of the disappointing stats on the year for Familia...0-4/6.16 ERA/49.2 IP/50 H/32 BB/49 KThat line is a far cry from his line last year in Savannah. In fact, he's a little bit passed a third of the amount of innings he pitched last year. His stats in '09 were...10-6/2.69...

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Climbing Those Power Rankings

One of the big reasons for the major jump from 24th to eventually the 8th spot was there run of 12 wins out of 13 games up until the final two games at Yankee Stadium this past weeke...

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Post Game 6/22/10 Mets 14 - Detroit 6

The Mets got on the board first in this one. Reyes lead off the bottom of the first with a single on a weak dribbler to third. Two pitches later, Pagan tripled in Reyes to make it 1-0. David Wright plated Pagan with a sac fly to make it 2-0. That RBI gave Wright 54 on the season, 615 for his career, and pushed him out of a tie with Ed Kranepool for fourth on the Mets' all time list. The Mets continued their scoring in the bottom of the third when Wright walked to lead off the inning, Ike knocked him over to third with a single and then Bay...

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Shining In Savannah

Juan Lagares went 3 for 5 with two runs and an RBI on Sunday as the Savannah Sand Gnats wrapped up the South Atlantic League South Division crown. So far this year Lagares has torn it up. The 21 year old right handed hitting LF from the Dominican Republic has hit .300 with 42 runs, 39 RBI's, 5 HR's, 9 3B's, 12 2B's and 18 SB's in 290 AB's. Juan originally signed with the Mets as a non drafted free agent in May of 2006. Since then he's split time in Brooklyn and Savannah for the past three years...

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Injury Update: Carlos Beltran

UPDATE: Beltran will begin his rehab assignment on Thursday. I'm sure there's not much that needs to be said other than WOOHOOOOO. Hat tip to Ted Berg at Metsblog.com for the info. Over at mlb.com, Adam Berry does a fantastic job covering Omar Minaya's recent trip to St. Lucie to watch Beltran work out. Check it out:"I had not been here for a while, and we had been getting reports, but watching him, the leg seems to be getting stronger," Minaya said. "I can tell you that I'm pleased. Talking to the staff, watching him run and watching him...

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Starting Lineup - 6/22/10

The Mets open up a six game home stand tonight with the first of three against Detroit. They'll send lefty Jon Niese (4-2, 3.64 ERA) to the mound to square off against young Tigers ace Justin Verlander (8-4, 3.54 ERA). This should be an awfully fun one to watch, as I know I'm excited for the 7:10 PM start. 1. Jose Reyes SS2. Angel Pagan CF3. David Wright 3B4. Ike Davis 1B5. Jason Bay LF6. Rod Barajas C7. Jeff Franceour RF8. Ruben Tejada 2B9. Jonathan Niese PI, for one, am happy to see Chris Carter out of the lineup. I'm not particularly enamored...

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Suggested Reading

Doing some casual reading this afternoon, I stumbled upon a topic I've always had a great fascination in: The Mets inability to hold opposing teams hitless. It's bizarre, really. In their 48½ years of existence, they have more complete-game one-hitters than all but three other teams. And they have no no-hitters. - Danny Knobler, CBSSports.comI do not agree with Gary Cohen and Dirk Lammers on this one. I am itching to see a Mets no-hitter happen. At the same time, the one-hitter is somewhat of a perfect representation of the Mets. Even when...

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A Wealth Of Blogs

One of the things I noticed before I started blogging about the Mets, but have especially noticed since, is that there are tons of different Mets themed blogs out there. Undoubtedly, this comes from the deep passion Mets fans have for their team. That is what spurred me to do it, along with my love of writing. One thing I've noticed, though, is that there's a decent amount of competition out there, as well. I've noticed a few writers out there taking content from other blogs, rewording it, and using it as their own. I've noticed writers changing...

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Injury Update: John Maine

We have some more, if not minor, news on what's going on with John Maine and his "injured" shoulder/ego. Take a look:Mets pitcher John Maine did not see a team doctor on Monday, a Mets official said, the day after both his manager and general manager indicated that would be the plan once reported discomfort following his second minor-league rehabilitation start on Friday night. - Andy McCollough, Star-LedgerNot much to see here really. My guess is that there's something going on behind closed doors, though. If you want my guess, it's that Maine...

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Notable Mets History

On this day in the Mets history, we saw two fairly significant events happen. One was a fairly somber day for Mets fans, the other was a happy one.On this day in 1987, Tom Seaver ends his comeback with the Mets and retires from MLB. He finishes his hall of fame career with 311 wins, 198 of those coming with the Mets. There's perhaps no Met more beloved to this day than Tom Terrific. Sometimes I think all these current gen Mets fans don't realize just how much of an impact he had on the franchise. On this day in 1995, another famous Met, John...

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Mets' Pitchers Want Another Ace

The Mets' world was buzzing today with news of the Mets own players clamoring for Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt. You can catch the story at the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and Newsday.It's such a tough decision to make, as the Mets will undoubtedly have to give up some good talent to get either one of those guys. Seemingly, the Mets would never want to give up Niese for Lee, but at the same time, could you imagine a rotation of Pelfrey, Santana and Lee pitching down the stretch? This should definitely play out as one of the most intense,...

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