METS FINALLY SEO UP WIN NUMBER 70

Mets 7, Marlins 1 (NYM: 70-66; FLA: 72-64) NL East: 7.5 GB, Wild Card: 2.5 GB

It occurred to me during the Mets' run in Arizona that the Diamondbacks were (are) not a very good team. It occurred to me after the Mets' 1-0 win in San Francisco (their fifth straight) that the offensive explosion a week and a half ago could have been some very bad pitching, as opposed to really good hitting by the Mets. But that all went away with the onset of the important divisional games, and the Mets' dramatic win over the Phillies on Tuesday night. I haven't written since then (and with school starting Tuesday and the football season being right around the corner, I need to take this opportunity to say the postings have the potential to be fewer and farther between...depending on my workload), and since then the Mets have dropped four straight - including an ugly one on Saturday night in Florida.

But all that said, after a big win on Sunday (they're all big wins from here on out), and with all the right teams losing, the Mets are still just two-and-a-half games out of the Wild Card. There are three teams in between the Mets and the Phillies (as well as the division-leading Braves - which is now a seven-and-a-half game deficit), but it's still just two-and-a-half games.

The Mets have to go through Atlanta now, and then they have to go to Saint Louis. Saint Louis is not playing the best ball right now, but they're still a good measuring stick - and Atlanta has been hot. So it's make-or-break time. If the Mets come away with a winning record, we're talking some exciting September baseball. If not, then it's a good thing the Jets start up on Sunday.

Let's talk about Sunday's game. Jae Seo again pitched brilliantly - 1 run, 6 K's in seven innings - and he continues to make me wonder "what if...." about the time Kaz Ishii spent in the majors while Seo was in Norfolk. Cliff Floyd homered - and it was a rifle. He's been hitting the ball hard lately - this homer (his 29th of the season) was a line drive that carried all the way over the center field wall. It makes you wonder what he has in store for the stretch run. David Wright and Carlos Beltran* also contributed - and I just wonder if Beltran* can take this team on his back the way he did the Astros a year ago, to make up for the struggles all season.

It's pretender or contender time. The Mets spend Labor Day in Atlanta to open up their series against the Braves. And the number one contender or pretender, Steve Trachsel, is on the mound for the opener. He wants to start the big games? There's nothing bigger right now. I want to see how he does when there's something on the line - he can show all Mets fans if he can handle it on Monday afternoon.

I never had the chance to give an August roundup - remember, the Mets had lost 13 games a month until August - 11-13 in April, 15-13 in May (to be .500), then 13-13 in June (staying at .500), then 14-13 in July (a game over), then they got hot, going 16-11 in August - the second best record in the National League in the month. They are off to a 1-3 start in September - not good, but they need the hot finish to be able to play more than their two scheduled games in October.

One other note - I mentioned an ugly game on Saturday. I only heard bits of the last inning and post-game show on the radio late Saturday, but it seems Willie Randolph opened himself up to second-guessing by putting in Shingo Takatsu (released by the White Sox, picked up by the Mets) with the bases loaded instead of sticking with Juan Padilla. The Mets also stunk it up in the field though - Ramon Castro apparently made a bad decision, and Victor Diaz lost a fly ball in the lights, leading to a 2-run homer. It seems like it was a disheartening loss...but the fact that the Mets came back with a 7-1 win should be encouraging.

ELTRAN*'S: Beltran* contributed on Sunday with a 2-for-5 day, with 2 RBI. Hopefully a sign of better things to come. For the second half:

44-for-164 (.268 AVG.), 4 HR, 20 RBI, 31 Runs, 12 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright was also 2-for-5, with 2 RBI - and a double.

SECOND HALF: 14 SEASON TOTAL: 36 TEAM RECORD: 44

WRIGHT NEEDS 9 IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 26 GAMES TO BREAK THE RECORD!!

Minor League Note: The Norfolk Tides won their division - the regular season ends Sunday....but there will be some post-season. I don't know how this affects end-of-season call-ups. I know, for example, that Royce Ring is still playing with the Tides.

A ROCKIES START

Tuesday night's game is in progress as I write this, and things aren't going well at the moment. Kaz Ishii + Coors Field = Trouble for the Mets.

I did want to post something, though, before bed, and there's an e-mail, so I'll get to that.

"Dear JohnnyMets,

Thank you for the reminder that this week marked David Wright's first
year in the majors. According to espn.com, his 162-game doubles total
is 41. I'm afraid it doesn't bode well for a happy ending to the
recently reborn Wright Watch.

My question this week has to do with Tom Glavine. He picked up a win
over the struggling Padres this week, to even his record at 7-7. He's
got a 4.62 ERA in 115 IP this season, and 51 Ks against 46 BBs.

In his 2-and-a-half years as a Met, he is 27-35, a .435 winning
percentage, compared to his carrer mark of .602 (269-178). Against the
Braves, through whom the Mets must go to make the playoffs/WS, he is
1-8 with a 7.85 ERA in 55 IP.

The three-year deal signed in 2002 was worth $35M, with a 4th year
option worth $7.5M based on IP. It's option year is based on a
complicated formula, but basically he needs to throw 200 IP this year
or 600 over the life of the deal. He's close to hitting those marks,
but may fall a bit short.

I was wondering if you think Glavine was a good signing. Please base
on your answer on statistics and value, not the fact that you're a
shameless Mets apologist.

Love your show,
Dave in Brighton"

OK, Dave. At least this "shameless Mets apologist" knows when to use an apostrophe in "its" (fourth graf) and can spell "career" (third graf). I'll chalk it up to an absurd lack of sleep around the time this e-mail was written. Also - I'm apalled at the negativity towards the David Wright doubles record.

Anyway, funny you mention the apologist factor. I know I'm very, very optimistic when it comes to most things Mets, but in late 2002, when the Mets signed Tom Glavine and Cliff Floyd, I was down on both signings. I think I've written that before about Glavine, and I felt he was starting to prove me wrong, and that it was a great signing, a year ago. Of course, last year Glavine was simply better than the year before, which is not saying a whole lot. And this year it's been even worse than the first year. So, no, I don't like the Glavine signing, and I can honestly say I never have.

I remember being in New York when the Mets signed the Glavine deal, and I said to my dad and my sister's boyfriend that this is the type of deal the Mets make where they take a Hall of Famer and turn him into a bust. (Not the statue kind of bust.) In other words, Tom Glavine is the exact reason why Pedro Martinez* and Carlos Beltran* have asterisks this season...and why Beltran still deserves his.

I have no real ability to prove to you that I hated the Glavine deal from day one. But I hope you trust the johnnymets.blogspot.com word.

WRIGHT WATCH:
SECOND HALF: 4 SEASON TOTAL: 26 (tied for sixth in the league) TEAM RECORD: 44

ELTRAN*S: (through Monday's game) 12-42 (.286) 2 HR, 9 RBI, 4 Runs, 1 SB

THE KID'S KIDS: Looks like another rainout for the Gulf Coast Mets - a doubleheader rained out. Still 18-8 on the season, 4 games up.

WRIGHT ON, PADRE!

Mets 12, Padres 0 (NYM: 49-46, 4.5 GB; SD: 50-46)

The Mets wanted a hot streak, they went out and got themselves on a hot streak. Now they need to keep it up.

Thursday afternoon's game was never in doubt (OK, that's sort of a lie - Kaz Ishii started, so it wasn't a guarantee). But Ishii pitched himself out of a few jams, and the Mets got to San Dieo ace Jake Peavy...in a big way.

You knew it was going to be a good game for the Mets when the first bats to get going were Doug Mientkiewicz and Ramon Castro. Mientkiewicz opened the scoring with a solo homer early on, and Castro added a two-run laser in the fifth. The Mets broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth, including two hits in the inning from future Hall of Famer David Wright.

Wright was celebrating his first year in the majors. He was called up on July 21, 2004, in a game against the Montreal Expos. Wright's numbers over that year - in 161 games he hit about .290, with 28 homers, and 87 RBI. The Mets announcers said those numbers compared very favorably with current (within the past 15 years or so) superstars in the majors - actually ranking Wright fourth statistically, behind Vladimir Guerrero, Mike Piazza, and Nomar Garciaparra. I think all of those guys hit over .300...and Wright's numbers were better than current young stars like Miguel Cabrera.

The Mets not only had a huge sweep against the first-place Padres, but also picked up big ground on the Nationals - now just four-and-a-half games out of first place. The best part about this is that now I'm not the only one who thinks the Mets have a shot at winning the NL East - now the Mets are starting to think that way too. The Nationals lost to Houston Thursday night, and the turmoil continues to build in Washington, D.C. The latest saga involves Livan Hernandez, who said Wednesday night after he lost his start that he was going to have season-ending surgery on his troublesome knee, and said he was mad about something, which he'd fill reporters in on after the season was over. Hernandez came back on Thursday to say that he would NOT shut it down for the year, in an expletive-filled tirade to reporters. He apparently said he was misquoted too. I doubt it, for some reason. The Nationals, by the way, are still trying to talk Barry Larkin out of retirement. And, at the top of their worry list - they are no longer alone in first place - the idle Braves moved into a tie for first with the Nationals' loss.

Hopefully the 12-0 win was a sign that the Mets bats are alive and well - they need to keep up that offense...especially when Kris Benson is pitching. He's been the hard-luck pitcher of the year - pitching very well, but getting no decisions or tough losses. Another good sign out of the Padres series is that Cliff Floyd has gotten hot again - he had cooled off right before and after the All-Star break..but looks good again.

The Dodgers are in New York for a weekend series - with the way the Mets pitching lines up, this too is a very sweepable series.

ELTRAN*'S: Carlos Beltran* was 0-for-3 Thursday, but he did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the 2nd half, he is 7-for-27 (.250-ish) with 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 runs, and 0 SB.

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 2-for-4 on Thursday, with both hits coming in the sixth inning, and one of those hits was an RBI double. SECOND HALF: 2 doubles SEASON: 24 TEAM RECORD: 44

THE KID'S KIDS: The Gulf Coast Mets are now 16-8, losing to the Nationals, 8-6 on Thursday. They still have a 3-game lead in their division.

WASHINGTON, ISHII (it sounds like D.C.)

Mets 5, Nationals 2 (NYM: 41-41, 9 GB; WAS: 50-32)

The Mets should be embarrassed that they didn't take two out of three from the Marlins this weekend, and they should be especially embarrassed about their performance on Saturday. They played uninspired baseball on Saturday, and it carried over into Sunday, when the deck was already stacked against them with Dontrelle Willis starting for the Marlins.

That said, the Mets should be very proud about their performance on Monday against Washington. This game was very boring. The Nationals pitchers took forever to throw a pitch, and the weather was (reportedly) unbearably hot. Top that off with the Nationals coming off an emotional win in extra innings on Sunday against the Cubs, with the Mets coming off their lackluster weekend, and the Nationals take an early 2-0 lead on Kaz Ishii. Sounds like the game's over, right?

Willie Randolph shook things up on the Fourth. He led off with Mike Cameron, hit Carlos Beltran* second, and slid THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, all the way down to the 7th spot in the order. The players responded. The Mets drew even at 2-2 in the seventh inning - Future Hall Of Famer David Wright delivered a big double to knock John Patterson out of the game, and sending Marlon Anderson to third. Reyes singled, bringing home Anderson, and was on third base when Cameron came up. Cameron broke a bat, and singled to center, tying the game.

Then in the top of the ninth, it was Reyes, ironically, setting up the big inning. He grounded a ball up the middle that Junior Spivey got to, but had no chance to throw out Reyes streaking down the line. Then Reyes stole second (it's moments like these why he is THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED). Jose Offerman, my nemesis, pinch hit, and actually did something right (I feel dirty writing bad things about Offerman...I feel....Shaughnessy-ish). Offerman singled past the shortstop, Reyes blazed in from second, and Offerman took second on the throw. Then Mike Cameron doubled home Offerman, and Carlos Beltran* brought home Cameron with a single, answering my prayers for insurance runs for Braden Looper.

Looper pitched a pretty good ninth. This win was huge for the Mets. After they finally strung together a few hits, it was like nothing could go wrong - you got the feeling that the Mets are about to start a big streak. I hope so, anyway. Three out of four is a must against Washington for the Mets to get back into the divisional race - a sweep would be outstanding. The good news is, the weakest link was strong today, with Kaz Ishii pitching five-and-a-third innings of five hit, two run ball. He didn't factor in the decision, but he was very good. Pedro Martinez* pitches on Tuesday, against the best the Nationals have to offer, Livan Hernandez. That should be a good one - too bad I'll be at work, only able to follow it on GameCast. But I'll do a write-up, that I can promise.

I watched another very exciting (actually, just an exciting game - not another one, because the Mets game wasn't exciting except for the top of the seventh and the top of the ninth innings) game Monday night - the Marlins and the Brewers. I started watching when it was 2-1 Marlins late, then saw the Brewers scratch out another run late in the game. 2-2, top of the ninth, Brewers have a runner on third, they ground it to shortstop. Alex Gonzalez makes a great play going to his right to snare the hard grounder. He gets up, throws a strike to Paul LoDuca, and Trent Durrington should be nailed at the plate. But Durrington slides, feet-first, and knocks the ball clean out of LoDuca's glove. The Brewers go on to beat the Marlins 3-2, earning Ben Sheets a win - he pitched a gem. Oh by the way, the last out of the game was a great sliding play by Rickie Weeks, fielding a ground ball in the hole at second, then getting the out at first.

But what I wanted to point out was the Brewers' hustle. First of all, Durrington pinch runs for the catcher, who got a hit, then steals second, so he can be bunted to third by Ben Sheets on a sacrifice. Then, he's off when the grounder is hit, and even though Gonzalez makes a great play, and has Durrington nailed at the plate, Durrington doesn't give up - he goes into the plate like he knows he's going to be safe. So you have players like Durrington, hard-nosed hustlers - and by the way, this is a category where you find players like Jose Reyes and David Wright, and then you have guys like Beltran* who don't run out pop-ups. At spring training, Beltran* would hold tutoring sessions with Reyes. I think they need to reverse roles. Reyes might have trouble getting on base lately, but when he's on base, the Mets are darn near guaranteed a run - except when Beltran* is messing things up on him.

The All-Star teams are set (barring injuries and/or dropouts), and Pedro Martinez* was selected to go as a pitcher, joining starters Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltran*. Piazza we've talked about - good for him - this is probably the last time he'll go. Beltran* is a joke - Cliff Floyd deserves to be the first Mets outfielder to go to the All-Star Game since 1989. Pedro* still might not go - he is pitching the Sunday before the All-Star Game, and Mets management might not want to risk Pedro* getting hurt (as astutely pointed out by Dave from Brighton in this very space late last week), so he might not go. But then again, there's a part of Mets' management who want Pedro* representing the Mets in Detroit. So we'll see what happens there. Either way, he's the one part of the Mets' contingent who has earned his spot since Day 1 this season.

THE KID'S KIDS: After a 10-5 win over the Marlins on Monday, Hall of Famer Gary Carter's Gulf Coast League Mets lead their division by three games with a 7-2 record.

KAZ-UALTIES OF WALKS

Phillies 6, Mets 3
(PHI: 40-38, NYM: 38-39; 7.5 GB, pending outcome of Washington's rain delay)

The Mets have an interesting combo in Victor Zambrano and Kaz Ishii. They both battle wildness, but they're both very capable of pitching themselves out of jams. Zambrano won praise for his pitching lately - there have been write-ups about how well he's doing, and how he's progressing, after Tuesday night's win, and people have been comparing him favorably to the year Scott Kazmir has been having...starting to think it might not have been a bad trade. Mike Piazza says Zambrano is wild to catch, because he gets himself into so many jams, but he says it's amazing how he pitches his way out of it.

All this is to set up the fact that "pitching yourself out of jams" is not going to help you play good baseball - because sooner or later, you're going to be just cruising through the first three innings, and then walk the first three batters in the fourth, and then you're going to give up a 2-run single, and a 3-run homer, and your team is going to be down 5-0 before they can manage to get a hit off the opposing pitcher, and then your team is going to lose. That's the long and short of Wednesday night's game, and start, by Kaz Ishii. Ishii did strike out Thome after loading the bases, so he did get himself within a groundball of getting himself out of the jam, but he still walked three straight batters. It's not the first time this season - it had better be the last. This loss is entirely on Ishii.

Changing gears - last night I mentioned my arch-nemesis Kenny Rogers breaking the pinky on his non-throwing hand throwing a hissy fit after a bad outing. Well, another hissy fit followed on Wednesday before the Rangers' game - Rogers attacked cameramen on the field in Arlington. He pushed one guy, then ripped a camera from another guy, threw it to the ground, and kicked it. Apparently, he has a huge temper, and it's becoming more apparent why Rogers couldn't cut it in New York, with the Mets and the Yankees. However, I do NOT remember him showing this much emotion after HE WALKED IN THE WINNING RUN IN THE 1999 NLCS. Probably because that game doesn't reflect in his personal stats.

Interesting fact from the Rangers-Angels series - Vladimir Guerrero has at least one hit in all 30 games he has played against the Texas Rangers. I think that's phenomenal. One more game this series Thursday afternoon in Arlington.

I was reading the Daily News online today, and Bill Madden talked about how the Mets want to be buyers at the (fast-approaching) trade deadline, but they don't really have much of a farm system to deal from. But they should be able to get something for Jae Seo - he won again on Wednesday for (1st place) Norfolk, and is now 6-2. He struck out nine in eight and a third innings, and has a 1.92 ERA since he was sent down on May 5. I'm not saying he's worth a ton - but he's gotta be worth something to somebody.

Let's talk Marlins for a minute: Jack McKeon will miss the next few games because of a death in his family....but that might be a good thing for Florida. Apparently, there is some unrest there - with players tiring of McKeon's old-school ways. Also, there are big-time trade rumors surrounding A.J. Burnett (I had no idea), and the players aren't happy about that at all.

Lastly tonight, I crunched the numbers on Piazza. I drew the line at May 26. To that point, Piazza had been hitting .239, with 4 HR, 10 runs scored, and 10 RBI in 42 games. Since then, he's hitting .316 (.322 before a 1-4 on Wednesday night) with 3 HR, 13 RBI, and 11 runs in 25 games. We'll probably never see the Piazza of old again...but I'll take the Piazza of late.

By the way, the Phillies still don't scare me.

CARTER COUNT: The Gulf Coast Mets had their game against "Washington" suspended in the first inning - they trailed 1-0. Two games on Thursday, putting their perfect record on the line.

Phillies 5, Mets 4 (PHI: 7-6, NYM: 6-7)

Kaz Ishii's first inning did in the Mets Monday night. Ishii gave up a leadoff single to Jimmy Rollins, then walked two straight to load the bases. I think he threw something like 11 straight balls - he just couldn't find the plate. Then Ishii bore down, he gave up an RBI single to Pat Burrell, struck out Jim Thome, gave up a long fly ball to score another run, then got a nice play by future Hall of Famer David Wright on a foul pop to end the inning, trailing 2-0. The Mets made a run at the end of this game - but if Ishii finds the plate in the first, it could be a whole different game.

A couple of bright spots on defense to mention - Kaz Matsui went way far to his left to pick up a grounder by Bobby Abreu in the second inning and throw him out at first - he's been struggling lately, so it's good to see him do something well. Then in the third, as the Phillies expanded their lead to 4-0, Cliff Floyd made a running catch into the left-center field gap that saved a run (there was a runner on second). It's the second time I've seen Floyd cover a ton of ground like that and make the running catch - the first was one of the first two games of the season in Cincinnati. Floyd, by the way, made his first start since April 11th, after missing some time with a strain.

In the bottom of the sixth, with the Mets down 5-0, Felix Heredia all of a sudden lost the plate. He was throwing all over the place, with the Mets announcers making comparisons to Rick Ankiel. He had to leave the game - it looked like he had a problem with his thumb. I'm not positive about this, but I think Heredia missed a bunch of time in spring training with numbness in his hand. If so, this could be a recurrence. I wish the announcers would have mentioned something about his problems during the spring (I know he had some problem, I'm just not sure it was the numbness), but they didn't. Fran Healy and Ted Robinson are driving me nuts again this season - but that's a topic I'll save for another night.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets were in a position to start a comeback, after a 1-out double by Victor Diaz. The key here - one out. After the next batter flew out to center field, Diaz was doubled off second - he lost track of the outs. The worse news? Third base coach Manny Acta seemed to have lost track of the outs too. Not a good thing.

The ninth inning shows why the Mets are going to be very exciting all year. I wrote down before the ninth, with the Mets down 5-0 and the top of the order coming up, if any top of the order can start a team towards five runs, it's this team. So then THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, singled, and so did Kaz Matsui, and so did Carlos Beltran*, scoring Reyes, making it 5-1. After Mike Piazza struck out looking on a pitch down the pipe (Piazza actually hit well in this game - he might be coming around), Cliff Floyd blasted a 3-0 pitch into the upper deck to make it 5-4. Unfortunately, future Hall of Famer David Wright struck out, then Doug Mientkiewicz hit it on the nose but right at the second baseman to end the game.

The problem with the Mets' winning six in a row last week was that they lost 5 in a row to open the season. Now, after two losses, the Mets are again a game below .500. They need to go on another run to put some distance between them and the .500 mark.

In order to do that, they need Wright to start hitting again. After he hit his second homer of the year last week, he has cooled way off. Teams are starting to pitch him way inside, and I think it's messing with his head. He doesn't look comfortable at the plate these days. I seem to remember a slump like this at the major league level for him last year, and I think he broke out of it with his 2-homer, 7 RBI day in Milwaukee. He needs a game like that real soon (Philly is a great park for slump-breaking) to get him back on track.

I hate to admit it, but Roger Clemens is having a lights-out season. He pitched another seven scoreless innings Monday night against Atlanta. That game, incidentally, is going to the 11th right now, still 0-0. The second straight night Atlanta has gone 9 innings 0-0.

Which brings me to another point - Sunday night, Atlanta and Philadelphia went into extras, tied 0-0. The Braves got a run in the top of the tenth, then Dan Kolb blew the save (he was horrid - he threw a ball away on a bunt, and then loaded the bases before the Phillies won it). I'm starting to wonder if the closer is going to become a less-important part of the game. I wonder if teams are just going to start getting away from gearing their whole game towards the closer. Right now, it's still the case that if you're up by 3 runs or less, the ninth inning belongs to the closer. But I think that may start to change, especially if it's a one-run game and you have a starter going good. I think Jack McKeon's view (I have a guy out there doing a great job, I'm not going to buy into this closer stuff) might start rubbing off on other people...especially if it's working. I don't think teams will start going with a closer-by-committee, I just think we're seeing the end of the dominant closer/saves category as guys like Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Troy Percival, etc. near retirement, and the closers around baseball continue to struggle.
Sorry I didn't write yesterday - I didn't watch the Mets lose to the Marlins, so I didn't have much to say. Also, sorry about the phone problems - hope you enjoyed the wife's take on things. I have to admit, I did. I have to earn some money this week (I'm on spring break - which means work at Channel 4), so I won't be able to watch the Mets Tuesday night or Wednesday night. I will, though, try to post what I follow of those games on the AP wire.

THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED PULLS THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH

Mets 1, Astros 0 -- 11 Innings (NYM 3-5, HOU 4-3)

Tension was building at the House Sponsored by DirecTV last night. Yes, the Mets were on. Ishii was pitching a great game; Clemens was pitching a great game. (I confess, I only saw from the 8th inning on.) John was pacing the room, nearly pulling his hair out. Let me tell you, I give my utmost thanks to THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED (Jose Reyes), who blooped a hit in the bottom of the 11th to win the game for the Mets.

I don't have much more to say than that, because from my point of view, it was a great win, yay, shut off the TV. Whereas from John's point of view, the game warrants endless paragraphs of muckety-muck analysis. I'll leave the analysis to him for next week.

I will say that the Mets are making a respectable comeback from their dismal start to the season. Let's hope they can keep it up.

Also, John tells me that I need to issue a mea culpa for dissing Pedro* in yesterday's blog. Apparently, Pedro*'s comments about not wanting a ring were "taken out of context". Which to us fans in Boston, we know that means that Pedro* opened his big mouth and then later realized he shouldn't have and backpedaled. So Pedro* apparently says he wishes the Sox luck and he doesn't know when he'll get his ring, and something about the Sox being champions and he's a champion too. Champion might not be the word I'd use...

Sorry for the short blog today, but there's work I should be doing and I have few comments except for "Yay, the Mets won last night!"

Lots going on, both with me and with the Mets. I'm going to be out of commission for about the next 10 days, because of the move. So I wanted to check the mailbox and update the Mets' news.

First of all, the Mets traded Jason Phillips to the Dodgers for Kaz Ishii. Ishii will be the number five starter, replacing Steve Trachsel, who will be sidelined until further notice with the back problem we mentioned last week. Ishii has control problems, which have been well documented. But as I've talked about - a lot - Rick Peterson is the best in the business, so I'm looking forward to seeing Ishii work. The positives everyone has been bringing up, opposite the walks Ishii allows, is that he wins games. So the runners might get to first, but Ishii doesn't give up a lot of hits, so the runners don't advance very much. And, personally, I've seen Ishii do well on a winning team, which can't be said for Trachsel. So I think the Mets didn't lose much here, and they might just have ended up with a better pitcher.

The loss of Phillips doesn't hurt very much. Ramon Castro now becomes the backup catcher, and he's good defensively. The Mets probably lose something offensively, but Castro has some pop, evidenced by the fact that he did hit a game-winning homer in Tuesday's spring training game.

The Mets, by the way, have the best winning percentage of any baseball team so far in spring training. This is not encouraging for me, because whenever the Mets do very well in spring training (much like the Jets during the exhibition season), they have an awful regular season. That may change this year, but I don't pay much attention to the fact that they do well in March.

In other Mets-related spring training news, Joe McEwing was released. He had no chance of making the team, and I guess the Mets got no interest in a trade. The Astros and Cardinals were said to be interested in McEwing - he ended up getting signed to a minor league contract with the Royals on Wednesday. The bench is now shaping up like this: Chris Woodward, Marlon Anderson, Miguel Cairo, Kerry Robinson. Andres Gallaraga looks like he'll start the season in the minors - despite a recent hot streak. The Mets figure their subs can all split time at first base. (I feel like I'm missing another big bench name.) Victor Diaz will be the starting right fielder if Mike Cameron does not make it back in time...but it's looking more and more like Cameron's wrist will be ready by Opening Day. If that's the case, Diaz will start the season in the minors, because Willie Randolph's priority is getting Diaz plenty of playing time and at-bats. So he'd rather Diaz play every day at Triple-A than sit on the bench in the bigs.

That about catches us up on the spring training news. Oh, one more thing - I read today that Aaron Heilman has gone back to his college windup, rather than the windup he had adopted with the Mets, and he's on a pretty good streak right now - four scoreless innings Sunday, and a good bullpen session. That bodes well, if someone else in the rotation gets hurt.

Now it's time to look at the mailbag, a couple of days late:

"Hey JohnnyMets-

Let's take a look at who's on the 2005 Mets this year ... Pedro Martinez*, Doug Mientkewicz, Cliff Floyd, Brian Daubach .. is it time we start calling the team the AAA Flushing Red Sox??

-Your Wife"

Wow, cheap shot from the co-inhabitant of The House sponsored by DirecTV. It'd be nice if she checked the spelling of Mientkiewicz.

"Dear JohnnyMets,

Kaz Ishii doesn't seem like a bad No. 5. He averages about 160 innings.

He's gone 36-25 in his 3-year ML career, with a 4.30 ERA. Though his K-BB ratio fell to almost 1-1 last year, which could be a cause for concern.

Are you pleased with the trade? Do you miss Jason Phillips already? Who will back up Piazza? How will Ishii's stats translate from Dodger Stadium to Shea?

Dave in Brighton"

Dave, good questions. I addressed some of them above, when I talked about the trade. But I do like it. Phillips proved to be streaky, if nothing else. You don't know if you're getting the guy who hit .290 a couple of years ago, or the one who hit .200 most of last year. Ishii will be solid. I do think his stats will transfer from Dodger Stadium to Shea quite well - they're both notorious pitcher's parks....and Ishii has a great defense behind him with the Mets.

One more thing I remembered as I wrote about Ishii, and thought about Trachsel's back. Kaz Matsui's back has been bothering him recently - he's sat out a few games. Hopefully he gets better - it'd be a shame if the Mets' middle infield starts the season injured, like it did last year.

OK - I have to go, quite possibly for a few days. Thanks for reading - and when I write next, Opening Day will be right around the corner.