The aftereffects of the week in New Hampshire with my class is that I am so darn tired this week. I probably won't be up too late for tonight's game...but it features 2004 Red Sox teammates Derek Lowe versus Pedro Martinez*. That should be fun. And hopefully the Mets can finally get Pedro* a win.

The MLB draft was held today (I know, who really cares), and the Mets' first pick was the 62nd overall, and they took a pitcher out of Villanova. It's worth noting that the Mets didn't have a first-round pick because of the Billy Wagner signing - their first-rounder went to the Phillies.

As for Wednesday's game, (The real) Jae Seo has been moved out of the Dodgers' rotation - he's struggling, apparently. He's now in the bullpen, so Odalis Perez gets the start against Tom Glavine on Wednesday.

MONDAY'S RECAP: That was just about what Mets fans wanted on Monday. I mentioned the Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Mets got a much-needed solid performance from Alay Soler as well - one run over 7 innings, along with 7 strikeouts for his first Major League win. The 7 innings allowed the Mets to rest their key bullpen cogs - Pedro Feliciano and Chad Bradford closed the game out for the Mets, so the bullpen had a little time to recover from the marathons over the weekend.

MEDIA NOTE: If you caught any of the live Roger Clemens pitching in the minors stuff on ESPN, that was Ed Randall of WFAN's Sunday morning "Talking Baseball with Ed Randall" doing the broadcasting with Billy Sample. Just thought I'd point that out.

ALL STAR BALLOTS: Here's my two cents on the way the National League All Star balloting is going so far. (My two cents on the All Star balloting system, by the way, is that it's nothing more than a popularity contest...but if any Mets get in based on popularity this year, the fans will have gotten it right - because most of the Mets deserve All Star bids).

C - Paul LoDuca leads Mike Piazza. It really is pretty slim pickings at catcher in the NL. Has been the past few years.

1B - Albert Pujols is light years ahead of anyone else - 1 million votes to 300,000 or so. Second place belongs to Carlos Delgado. Pujols' injury won't affect this race...nor should it, really. Pujols' numbers so far are better than some people's seasons.

2B - No Mets here.

3B - David Wright trails Scott Rolen by about 37,000 votes. Mets fans need to step up here and get Wright in as a starter. It needs to start this year and continue until roughly the year 2020.

SS - Same here. Jose Reyes is third place, behind David Eckstein and Edgar Renteria, although, truth be told, Renteria deserves this spot.

OF - Here's the screwy part. Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltran*, and Ken Griffey, Jr. are the leaders right now. Jim Edmonds is fourth. While Beltran* is having a better year, it's still not really All-Star caliber. And none of these guys deserve to be there more than the number five guy - Alfonso Soriano.

The Mets should also see Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez* in the All Star game this year as well. Maybe even a guy like Duaner Sanchez or Aaron Heilman - but I doubt that. The problem is, I don't practice what I preach. Once I might vote for All Stars on-line, but not often. And rarely even when I'm at a game and they hand me ballots will I vote. I should start taking that initiative...can't complain if I don't do anything to try to change it. I encourage you to vote as well.

COMMENTS ANSWERED: I guess I'll put to rest the "Revisiting Games I Went To When I Was Younger" - The Wife said it wasn't too good last year, and if I interpret Dave in Brighton's comment correctly, I don't think he liked it, either. But I'm not quite sure what the dustbin of history is. Maybe it's a good thing - maybe he means let those games sit, become more historic for another year, and share them then. I should let you know, though, Dave, that you're no longer a third of the readership. We have at least 8 regulars now. So you're down to about 12-and-a-half percent.

HOCKEY JOKE I JUST THOUGHT OF THAT IS MAINLY INTENDED FOR STEVE IN QUEENS AND JUSTIN IN NYC: Wouldn't it be funny if Craig MacTavish wore a helmet when he was coaching?

THE KID'S KIDS: I'm not sure what's going on with the St. Lucie Mets. I'm reading one summary that says they split a doubleheader with Palm Beach, and the second game was an 11-1 win. But I thought that was Monday night. Unless they won again, in 6-and-a-half innings, 11-1. Which seems unlikely. Maybe I'll let the dust settle and figure things out tomorrow.

FANTASY UPDATE: God bless Dwight Gooden. He stopped the four game losing streak in Tuesday's last game, with a 4-1 win. Now come the weaker opponents. I'm 50-52, with 9 games against basement-dwelling Houston, St. Louis, and Chicago. I seriously need to win all 9 games. (The What If) Jae Seo gets his first start tomorrow.

BEAT THE STREAK: Miguel Tejada singled up the middle in his first at bat against Ty Taubenheim, so now I have a 7-game hitting streak. I'll admit, I thought he was going to hit a 600-foot homer every at-bat against the guy named Taubenheim, but I'll take a chopped single. I don't really care what he does the rest of the night. Wednesday I was going to take Ichiro, because he's been hot, but he's going against Boof Bonser, and I don't want to mess with that. I'm having trouble picking someone - I don't like the Mets' numbers against Odalis Perez....I'm going with Bobby Abreu, who seems to own Russ Ortiz, pitching for Arizona.
**LATE NOTE**: Apparently ESPN.com was not on the ball, and Ortiz came off the DL and pitched for Arizona Tuesday, not Wednesday....but I'm sticking with Abreu against whoever pitches for Arizona Wednesday.