MEET THE METS - JOHN MAINE/OLIVER PEREZ

A preview of the 2008 Mets, presented in the expected batting order, followed by pitching rotation, followed by impact bullpen/bench players. Today we focus on starting pitchers John Maine and Oliver Perez.

2007

MAINE: 15-10, 3.91 ERA, 180 K's, 75 walks, 191 IP

PEREZ: 15-10, 3.56 ERA, 174 K's, 79 walks, 177 IP

I think these two merit having a preview written about them together, because I think so much of the Mets' success this year hinges on the two of them performing well. Also, I thought it was eerie how similar their stats were last year.

Bottom line - if the Mets get 30 wins out of these two again, they're not going to miss the playoffs. It just won't happen. The question is, can the Mets get 30 wins out of Maine and Perez?

I think a couple of things are working in the Mets' favor. One is the point I've been beating you over the head with for the past month or so - with the addition of Johan Santana, instead of facing other teams' second and third starters, Maine and Perez will be facing the third and fourth starters, and they are better than those pitchers. There are not many teams who have formidable opponents for Maine and Perez. So call factor one the 'Steve Trachsel Factor' - Maine and Perez will get wins for just showing up. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Oliver Perez leads the league in run support this year.

Another reason you can expect them to do even better than last year is the fact that Brian Schneider is behind the plate. From all I've been hearing about Schneider's ability to handle pitchers, I've really built him up to be some sort of Supercatcher. But he has to be able to help Perez keep his head on straight when he starts to lose his control. And John Maine has shown an incredible ability to focus when the games/season are on the line, so maybe Schneider can force him to think like that on a normal day in July in addition to late September/October.

The last positive I'll list is that there has to be some sort of comfort level for these guys now. Both backed up the promise they showed in the 2006 post-season with very good 2007 seasons. They've proved they belong here, and that they can hold their own. Other than the pressure of pitching every fifth day in the New York spotlight, the pressure's off.

The warning signs are the same they have always been. Can John Maine avoid throwing 100 pitches by the sixth inning? Can Oliver Perez find his release point so he isn't walking 9 batters a game? I think the best thing for each of these guys is that last year, while it was ridiculously successful for both of them, was also a learning experience. They learned on the job, and they didn't suffer for it. That can only lead to a better 2008.

PEREZ ALREADY 1-0: Worth noting - On Friday, Oliver Perez was granted a salary arbitration win, meaning he will earn $6.5 million dollars this year (the club was offering $4.725 million). The odds were stacked against Perez - this was the first salary arbitration hearing the Mets lost since 1992.

OLIVER!

I didn't expect to write tonight, but I'm working on the theory here that another blog entry will take my mind off of going back to school tomorrow.

I have it in my head that Oliver Perez is no worse in the Mets' rotation than Steve Trachsel. I'm thinking that, had he pitched for a better team in 2006, Perez's record would not have been 3-13 (2-10 in 15 starts with Pittsburgh). Of course, Steve Trachsel gave up a lot of runs in 2006 as well, but finished with a 15-8 record. Here's how the two compare overall in the 2006 season:

I had to throw in the post-season, because Steve Trachsel failed the Mets horribly in that department, while Perez stepped up big-time. But I digress.

I'm not going to break down each of Perez's 15 starts with Pittsburgh, but I will highlight five:
1) Opening Day, in a 5-2 loss at Milwaukee, Perez gave up one run (earned) in 5-and-a-third innings. He ended up with a no-decision.
2) and 3) In back-to-back starts in May, at Arizona and at home against Houston, Perez got two no-decisions in two very good performances. At Arizona, Perez gave up 0 runs in 6 innings of work, and vs. Houston he gave up 2 runs (both earned) in 8 innings. Pittsburgh lost both games (4-3 and 5-4), and Perez didn't factor in those decisions, as I mentioned.
4) In June, Perez and the Pirates lost to St. Louis 2-1, after a 7-inning, 2-run performance by Perez.
5) In his next start, Perez went 7-and-two-thirds innings against Minnesota, giving up 4 runs, but only 1 was earned, in an 8-2 loss.

Now, it's generous, given the final score of that Minnesota game, but again, we're talking pitching well enough to win on a good team. If you take these five starts, and reverse the outcome, factoring in pitching on a better team, Perez is suddenly 7-8. It doesn't change his awful ERA (6.63 in those Pirates starts), but it shows that having Oliver Perez in your rotation is not a bad thing.

Also consider the fact that with the Pirates, Perez was the number one guy, and often was matched up against the opponents' number one starter. With the Mets this year, he'll get the chance to start anew, and in the back end of the rotation. If he gets off to a good start, and builds up his confidence....maybe that's what he's needed to recapture the flashes he showed early in his career (spotlight on 2004 with Pittsburgh: 12-10 with a 2.99 ERA in 30 starts).

As for Trachsel, I didn't break down his starts like I did Perez's, but having watched nearly all of his starts last year, I KNOW that there are quite a few that could have gone the other way, leaving him with a lot less than 15 wins if he was with a lesser team. (Hello, Baltimore and American League hitters!)

Bottom line - I'm excited to see how Oliver Perez fares this year. If a couple of the Mets' potential starters do as well as they are capable of (Perez, Glavine, maybe one of the young guys like Pelfrey or Humber, or even John Maine), the rotation may not be the problem people are making it out to be.

CARDS' SUPPAN IS ACE OF DIAMOND

Cardinals 5, Mets 0 (STL leads NLCS, 2 games to 1)


Stadium organists. Stadium vendors. Sports bar owners. Opposing hitters. They all must love Steve Trachsel. The first three because he takes so long between pitches that they can all make careers out of his starts. The fourth group because he is awful.

Early on in the year, Trachsel wondered why he wasn't getting more respect from Willie Randolph, and why he's been treated the way he has - starting behind rookies, being passed over for playoff starts by the likes of John Maine. This is why, Steve. This is why. You lucked out all season with some outstanding run support, and the Mets hitters made you look so much better than you are. Now, when it counts, you didn't even give them a chance.

1+ inning. Not even 2. Not even an out in the second inning! And I'll tell you what - Randolph left you in too long. Trachsel should have been gone before the ground ball off his leg. Darren Oliver should have been brought in before the bases were loaded. Trachsel should take a lesson from Oliver - you bring your 'A' game to the post-season. (Although Oliver has had his 'A' game all season.) P.S. - I'm pretty sure Trachsel hurt his mouth biting his glove as he was being pulled from the game - he covered his mouth as though he hurt it walking off the field.

The problem here is the Mets kind of need Trachsel. They might be able to slide through the rest of the NLCS without using him again (if they win a couple more games), but if they make it to the World Series, unless El Duque comes back, they're going to need another starter - and Trachsel is it.

The Mets now need Oliver Perez to come through in their biggest game of the year - a year in which they haven't had many - if any - back-to-the-wall type games like they will in Game 4 Sunday night. The good news is that Perez faces the Cardinals' Anthony Reyes, who is untested in the playoffs himself, and might be just what the Mets bats need to wake them up.

As for Game 3, even the good went bad for the Mets. The Mets had a chance to set the tone early - in the first inning, Trachsel picked off David Eckstein (and though he wasn't called for the balk - it looked like he did balk), and that had the potential to be a huge momentum swing. Instead, Trachsel went on to give up 2 runs.

The Mets bats were silenced by Jeff Suppan, and as well as he pitched, I'm sure the early deficit sucked some of the wind out of the Mets' sails. That, coupled with the fact they were coming off a tough loss and a very late night of travel.

Trachsel left with the bases loaded, no out in the second, and Darren Oliver pitched six outstanding innings, after a wild pitch and a groundout resulted in the final St. Louis runs. The bullpen kept the Mets in the game, but (I can't believe I'm about to write this) Jeff Suppan was too much for them.

I praised him after Game 2 - but I'm starting to wonder about Shawn Green's decision-making in right field. Nothing has come of it, but I noticed two very odd things in the past couple of games. He seems to be throwing to the wrong place, missing cutoff men, and in general making bad decisions. The one that comes to mind in Game 3 is after Scott Speizio's triple (I don't fault him for missing the ball on the dive) Green threw the ball home, trying to get Pujols, when it didn't look like he had a play, and the throw allowed Speizio to go to third. (Speizio ended up stranded.) In the 9th inning of Game 2, he came up like he was going to throw home, where it looked like he had a play after a single into right, and didn't throw the ball. (Nothing came of that either.) Not sure what's going on there - I just hope it doesn't hurt the Mets at some point this post-season.

Endy Chavez continues to impress, and make you scratch your head about the Cliff Floyd roster spot. He nearly ran down Suppan's home run (oh, by the way Trachsel - a homer to Suppan!?!??! Really?), when he was playing very shallow, and nearly robbed it. He's a great outfielder - I hope he's the Mets' starting rightfielder next year.

The Cardinals' defense, meanwhile, was flawless. David Wright has yet to get a hit in the NLCS, but he was robbed a couple of times by Scott Rolen after hitting the ball hard. Rolen made a couple of defensive gems, and David Eckstein killed a possible Mets rally in the eighth inning, robbing Endy Chavez of a hit by diving to his right, then getting a force at second. Preston Wilson also gunned down Jose Valentin at second base, as he tried to stretch a single into a double.

After Game 2 I called on Steve Trachsel to lighten the load for the bullpen. It's funny (not really) that the bullpen ended up lightening the bullpen's load. Darren Oliver's outing may have been in vain in Game 3, but it could end up strengthening the bullpen in the long run. Because of Oliver, Randolph only had to use Roberto Hernandez for one inning, and had the chance to rest everyone else. The bullpen use shouldn't be an issue the rest of the series - unless Oliver Perez's outing is a disaster.

A couple of final things:

• I'm not sure if it was the FOX sound or what, but for "the greatest baseball fans in the world", the St. Louis crowd seemed awfully quiet all game. Am I the only one?
• The Mets being on the road shouldn't be an issue. Remember that in the first week of June, the Mets put together a 9-1 road trip in LA, Arizona, and Philadelphia that put them on the fast track to a dominant season. They are capable of going on a run on the road - and the most important thing for them that road trip is what will be important for them in Games 4 and 5 - getting a run in the first inning and jumping out to early leads.
• Finally, I have this sick feeling right now watching the Mets be pretty much dominated the past 11 or 12 innings. I hope the Mets have that same feeling, and go out there angry on Sunday night. Maybe they won't need a dominant outing by Perez, because they'll put up 10 runs. That's what I want.

ALCS: I should mention that the Tigers won earlier on Saturday, in dramatic fashion, advancing to the World Series. They could be waiting a very long time for their opponent. I have to say, it seems a lot different for the Tigers to be waiting all this time for a World Series opponent, than, say, the Mets after the Dodgers series. The Tigers are hot right now. The only benefit to a layoff like this is that they might get Sean Casey healthy. Other than that, it's only liable to cool off their hot pitching. If I'm a fan of the National League team who is going to face them (please, please, please be the Mets), I'm feeling OK about Detroit having a long layoff.

**FINAL, FINAL THING: I just saw David Wright's post-game comments. First of all, he was ornery - about as ornery as David Wright will get, anyway. And I like that - take that into Sunday's game. Secondly, he said it's not the end of the world - the Mets are only down 2-1. And he said no one is panicking. That's all good news. So hopefully Sunday night's posting is a recap of a win.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE METS DON'T GIVE TRACHSEL A TON OF RUN SUPPORT

Dodgers 9, Mets 1 (NYM: 88-54, LA: 76-67)

I admit, the Mets took a backseat on Sunday to the first Sunday of the NFL season (please see the Jets blog for more on that). And it was a lot easier to ignore the baseball game when the Dodgers jumped out to early 4-0, 5-0, and 9-0 leads.

The Mets' only run came on a Jose Reyes homer, his 19th of the year. Steve Trachsel gave up 4 runs in 2-and-2-thirds - against a possible playoff opponent. I am telling you - I do NOT want to see him in a tight spot in the playoffs...and I'd prefer not seeing him in any spot in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Brian Bannister pitched in relief in the game, giving up 5 runs in 3 innings of work - 3 of those runs coming on a Nomar Garciaparra homer. Eric Stults started for the Dodgers, and pitched very well, getting his first major league win.

The Mets open up a series in Florida on Monday, with a magic number of......

MAGIC NUMBER: It's 4, because the Phillies lost to the Marlins. The Marlins are now tied with the Phillies for second place, so the Mets will have to beat the Marlins and need the Phillies to lose over the next few days in order to decrease the number by more than one. I still suspect the clincher will come Friday in Pittsburgh.

Dave Williams goes for the Mets on Monday against Anibel Sanchez, who is making his first start since his no-hitter last week.

PEDRO* UPDATE: There's a chance we'll see Pedro Martinez* back on the mound for the Mets this week - actually, a very good chance. He hopes to be back no later than Friday. My bet is he's the one to pitch the night the Mets have a chance to clinch (and, like I said, there's a great chance that will be Friday night against the Pirates).

THE KID'S KIDS: Holy smokes! On Saturday night, for the second night in a row, the St. Lucie Mets scored multiple times in the 9th inning to come from behind and win in the FSL Finals. This time, trailing 3-1 in the 9th, the Mets got a 3-run homer as part of a 4-run ninth to come back and beat Dunedin, 5-3. Game 3, which could be the clinching game for the Mets, was Sunday night at 7pm, finishing after I posted (St. Lucie leads 2-0 in the 5th), so I'll update that on Monday.

ONE AND DONE

Braves 5, Mets 0 (NYM: 84-52, ATL: 66-71)

The Mets could only muster one hit against Braves pitchers Chuck James and Macay McBride, as the Braves beat the Mets, 5-0.

David Wright had the only Mets hit, a single in the second inning, where he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

The Braves scored 4 runs off Steve Trachsel (3 earned) - he only went 4-and-a-third, leaving with the bases loaded. The Mets got great relief from Heath Bell, who got two outs with those bases loaded without giving up a run, then went another scoreless inning, and Royce Ring, who threw 2 perfect innings.

The past two games have been very disappointing. 1 run on 5 hits, total. The Mets need to break through, but it will be tough Tuesday night. Dave Williams goes against John Smoltz.

MAGIC NUMBER: I was really hoping this would be 10 right now, but the Mets loss and a Phillies extra-inning win on Monday means it stays at 11. I'm not even going through with the effort of putting up the graphic, that's how badly I wanted it to be 10. Chase Utley hit a walk-off homer for the Phillies, who beat the Astros, 3-2.

****IMPORTANT: I'm sorry, I didn't realize you needed a league ID#, not a league name, to join the football pick 'em league on Yahoo!. The League Number is: 44177. All other instructions should work. You can get them in Saturday's posting, or on the Jets site.

THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets finished the regular season (2nd half) 37-32, a game behind Palm Beach, who they will now play in the Florida State League playoffs. The series goes best-two-out-of-three, and it starts Wednesday, I think...although it could be Tuesday. minorleaguebaseball.com breaks down the series and picks St. Lucie to win in three games, saying the deciding factor in the series is:

Gary Carter. The Mets skipper, a Hall of Famer, is a great motivator and his players love him. He's trying to work his way to the Major Leagues as a manager, and the moves he makes over the next few games will give a better idea of what he's learned in two years on the bench.

I like the way they do things at minorleaguebaseball.com.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: Looks like it's over. Edgardo Alfonzo was 0-for-3 in the final game of the season for the Norfolk Tides, finishing the season at .241. Too bad. We'll see if the Mets make any moves involving Alfonzo in the next couple of days.

ANOTHER TRACHSEL WIN

Mets 10, Cardinals 8 (NYM: 77-48, STL: 66-59)

It's just so unfair that Steve Trachsel is 13-5, and the Mets couldn't get any wins early in the season for Pedro Martinez*, and for Tom Glavine towards the middle of the season. Pedro* had the good stretch, then went bad, and the Mets couldn't win for him either time. Same with Glavine after he got out to 10, 11 wins - when he pitched poorly he lost, when he pitched well he got a no decision.

Now here's Trachsel, who hasn't had much of a good stretch all season - not better than average all year, and he's right behind the league leaders in wins (which is another sad commentary on the National League). Trachsel gave up 6 runs in 5 innings, for an even ERA of 5.00 on the year. All he did Wednesday night was nearly blow a huge lead.

The Mets had leads of 4-0, 7-2, and 10-2 in this one - and won by a score of 10-8. THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, was 3-for-4, with a 3-run homer. The homer made him only the second player since 1900 with 15 HR, 15 triples, 50 SB, and 20 doubles in a season - the other person, believe it or not, was Juan Samuel.

I didn't have time to mention it in Tuesday's posting, but David Wright's average dropped to .299 after Tuesday's game. Wednesday he showed signs of life, with a 2-run double, going 1-for-4 - he's now hitting .298. Billy Wagner finished off a parade of Mets relievers (Roberto Hernandez, Pedro Feliciano, Chad Bradford, Aaron Heilman, and Wagner) with another good 9th inning for his 32nd save.

I'd say the past two games should go a long way to re-establishing the Mets as the best team in the National League, but I think they moreso served the purpose of helping people realize that the Cardinals aren't the second-best team in the National League anymore.

The Mets go for the sweep on Thursday night as Dave Williams looks to follow up his solid start last Saturday against Jason Marquis (who has been less than underwhelming this year).

P.S. - the Mets celebrated Julio Franco's (alleged) 48th birthday before the game with a cake on the field.


MAGIC NUMBER: The Phillies won their fifth in a row, 2-1 over the Cubs, getting a run in the ninth to win it after the Cubs tied it in the bottom of the eighth. I still think the Phils will cool down soon - and perhaps the Mets will be the team to do it this weekend at Shea. It'll be interesting to see how the Mets play Philadelphia this weekend - the past two series with Philly have been very tough for the Mets. Anyway, the Phillies are hot now, and have been able to keep pace with the Mets, so the magic number only goes down by 1 - to 24.

Also, the Phillies are now just a game-and-a-half behind the Reds for the wild card. They can NOT keep this up. There's no way. They'll find some way to fall apart.


PEDRO* UPDATE: There was a quick mention in the New York Daily News on Wednesday that Pedro Martinez* is feeling very good, and that his calf is pretty much healed. The writer was quick to point out that it doesn't take much to put Pedro* in a good mood, but the fact that he's bouncing around and happy while injured is a good sign. Looks like Pedro* and Glavine still will be the Mets' 1-2 punch in the post-season.

THE KID'S KIDS: Another rainout for St. Lucie (2nd in a row). For the season they're 33-24, a game and a half ahead of Daytona, in first place in the second half of the season. There are only about 13 games left in the regular season - and now the Mets are faced with a number of doubleheaders.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: The Tides got their game in, and Edgardo Alfonzo started at 3B again. He was 2-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI (15 now), raising his average to .259.

I updated the Jets site, in case you're interested. I can't promise that I'll do a very good job with that this football season, but I'll keep you posted here if you should be checking over there.

FLYING A MILE HIGH

Mets 6, Rockies 3 (NYM: 73-48, COL: 59-63)

It's like Monday through Wednesday never happened. The Rockies are just about as good as the Phillies, and the Mets played the type of game Friday night against Colorado that they should have played all week against Philadelphia.

Steve Trachsel was good (again, good, not great), pitching 7 innings, giving up 7 hits and three walks. He always seems to be getting himself into jams, though. Despite the 12-5 record, I just don't have a lot of confidence in Trachsel.

The Mets' bats are continuing to come alive. Friday night it was future Hall of Famer David Wright who showed signs of life, going 2-for-4, doubling, with 2 RBI - his first big hit in a while. Endy Chavez (2-for-4) had the big blow in this one, homering off Byung-Hyun Kim to tie the game early on. Chris Woodward was also 2-for-2, filling in for Jose Valentin, who left Thursday's game in Philadelphia with a small injury (I think it's small). Woodward hasn't played well all year, so we'll take what we can get from him.

Dave Williams will be up from Norfolk to make Saturday night's start - hope he can at least keep the Mets in the game, so we won't have to leave a Rockies blowout early. The Mets will also be wearing 1986 uniforms for the Saturday and Sunday games - another reason I don't understand why they didn't pick a team that existed in 1986 to play this reunion game against, so they could wear throwbacks too.



MAGIC NUMBER: A tough loss for the Phillies Friday night, but I don't care, because it means the Magic Number goes down by 2 instead of just 1! We're now inside of 30 - down to 28. The Nationals beat the Phillies, 6-4, in Philadelphia. That's a bad loss for Philly, especially coming off such a successful series against the Mets. But, like I said, it doesn't matter to me.

MAIL CALL: With the fantasy football draft in the morning, I'm still without a team name. Apparently, my readers have trouble keeping their suggestions for team names clean, because I received very few suggestions. I did like the Southern Bureau's suggestion: "Fallopian Swim Team", but I don't think that will make the cut. No shortage of suggestions from my cousin Eddie: Here's the e-mail I got from him:

"John,

Here are some names for your fantasy team as you requested on your mets blog.
"Spit up, dirty diapers, and sleepless nights, oh my!!" (no explanation needed)
"Waaaaa!!" (Baby's 1st words when he gets a look at your roster)
"The Prodigy" (Refers to next year's team that the baby picks by spitting up on the player he/she wants. This is the 1st time one of Johnny's teams makes the playoffs.)
"Patets" (Combo of the Patriots and Jets- Nickname would be Patsies which is quite appropriate for your fantasy team)
Non baby names you could use:
"At Least I Can Spell" (John digs back into the past to try to change his luck)
"Winless in October" (no explanation needed- most people already know the Mets don't have a chance when they get to October; also approproate for your fantasy team)
"T.O's Hammy" (Your team will gimp through the season just as your star player will)
Eddie"

Well, at least someone put some thought into my query. I'm not going with any of these either. Although, "At Least I Can Spell" has some potential. I'm not feeling too confident about this year's team....I don't pick until #13 overall....I hope I can salvage some good players. I really can't wait for fantasy football season to get underway.

I've had to reject some of my own ideas, too. The Wife came up with "The Very Hungry Caterpillars", which would have been awesome, but it's too long to fit in Yahoo!. I might go with The VHCaterpillars. (It's a popular children's book.) Then there was "Goodnight (Warren) Moon", my idea - but again, more than the required 20 characters. I also thought about "The Cat in the Helmet", a play on the Cat in the Hat, but that one just isn't very good.

Official word: I'm going with the "Hungry Caterpillars".

FROM THE WORLD OF PRINT JOURNALISM: The newest "can't miss" show in the House Sponsored by DirecTV (and supported by TiVo) is "Tabloid Wars", Bravo's reality show, which follows reporters from the New York Daily News as they do their job. This show fascinates me because I'm not too familiar with the print world - I had my sights set on the television world after high school, so I'm not too familiar with newspaper deadlines and such. And as much as I enjoyed watching the footage of the reporter tracking the priest who had an affair, and accidentally getting a huge scoop by staking out a restaurant (that show isn't going to catch a better moment than that), I wish it focused on the sports department once in a while. Well, I finally watched the latest episode, and that's what they did.

I'm a little disappointed, because the angle Bravo showed was that of an intern dealing with his first deadline story, which was just about what I expected. Plus, he was covering a New York Liberty game. I'd much rather have seen a beat guy covering the Mets. It was neat, though, to see some aspects, and compare them to the TV world, but overall I was disappointed by it. I hope they revisit the sports department before the show ends its run.

THE KID'S KIDS: Hall of Famer Gary Carter's St. Lucie Mets played a doubleheader on Friday, losing Game 1, and they're winning Game 2 as I write this, but it's still early. Not sure if Carter is with the team on Friday - I imagine he is, and will come up to New York Saturday. Daytona lost - now we also have to keep an eye on Palm Beach, who moved to within a half-game of St. Lucie.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: Norfolk gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth to lose on Friday night, but Edgardo Alfonzo kept up his good hitting - a 1-for-3, starting at third base. He had a 2-out RBI, and also walked. His average is now .274. (That's better than Michael Tucker's when he was brought up, just FYI.)

WELCOME HOME, MIKE

Mets 3, Padres 2 (NYM: 67-44, SD: 58-54)

The Mets fans made Mike Piazza feel welcome, the Mets players didn't. I was thinking about Piazza's situation - you really couldn't leave a place of employment any better than he did. He's going to be given a hero's welcome every time he comes back to New York for the rest of his life - and deservedly so. (To think, I didn't like him as a Dodger.) He received a bunch of standing ovations on Tuesday night - it was really nice to see.

But it was also nice to see the Mets come up with a very clean, solid, 3-2 win. The Padres' 2 runs came on a Geoff Blum 2-run homer off Steve Trachsel. And in fairness to Trachsel, it was a fly ball to right field...that carried....and carried....and somehow carried over the wall, just past Lastings Milledge's leap.

The Mets came back quickly, scoring one run on a double play ground out, then getting a bases loaded RBI single from David Wright, then another RBI single from Wright later on to take the 3-2 lead. Carlos Beltran tied a team record with 3 doubles, scoring on one of those.

Trachsel is now 11-5, and he lowered his ERA to 5.03 with 5-and-two-thirds pretty effective innings. Royce Ring, Darren Oliver, Roberto Hernandez, Pedro Feliciano, and Billy Wagner all came in from the bullpen to close out the win.

The Mets have two more with the Padres - Wednesday night Pedro Martinez* returns to the mound for the first time since his gem in Florida, against Clay Hensley.


MAGIC NUMBER: The Braves beat the Phillies, which means the Mets get two games knocked off the magic number! It's down to 38.

THE KID'S KIDS: After Monday night's rain out (actually, I read that it might have been a power outage due to storms), the St. Lucie Mets bounced back nicely, sweeping a doubleheader from Dunedin, 5-2, and 6-0. They've narrowed the gap behind Daytona to a game (again).

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: Back at third base, another single for Edgardo Alfonzo. He was 1-for-4, raising his average to .234.

BEAT THE STREAK: An ofer for Albert Pujols, so I'm back to 0. I'm not even sure I can get a 56-gamer at this point. Maybe there are 56 games left in the year. Might be time to hang up the ol' beat the streak cleats. I'll pick a player anyway for Wednesday - Paul Lo Duca. That ought to cool him off.

METS, WAGNER BACK ON TRACH

Mets 6, Marlins 5 (NYM: 64-42, FLA: 50-57)

Another game that didn't really seem like the Mets were going to run away with it, despite an early lead. The Marlins just won't go away - all season, even early in the year, every time the Mets play them. But the important difference between this game and the one on Tuesday night - the Mets came out a winner.
Roberto Hernandez, Pedro Feliciano, Chad Bradford, and Aaron Heilman all combined to get the Mets from Steve Trachsel to Billy Wagner (new Met Hernandez gave up 2 runs) - and prevent the Mets from blowing a 6-0 lead.

The Mets built a 4-0 lead after one, and managed to build their lead without an extra-base hit. Typical of the night, probably, was Carlos Delgado, who was 1-for-1, with 3 walks. But this should have been a blowout - the Mets couldn't get a big hit. David Wright left 10 men on base, going 0-for-5. Cliff Floyd was 1-for-5, with an RBI, but he left 6 men on.

All told, the Mets left 28 men on base - not a formula for success.

The Marlins left their share on base, too - including two in the ninth. Wagner was back to his tightrope-walking self, but managed to get three straight outs, after letting the first two men on (including a pinch-hitting pitcher, who Wagner hit with a pitch - the pitcher was up there only to sacrifice bunt). The Marlins left 19 on - I almost feel like these are typos - that seems like way too many people left on base. I wouldn't know if it's correct or not - I had the Marlins broadcast - those guys drive me nuts. You barely know there's a game going on listening to them. It doesn't help, I guess, when the most boring man on earth, Steve Trachsel, starts the game.

It was just another typical Steve Trachsel night. Trachsel is 10-5 now, but his 5.12 ERA really bothers me. That's way too high. The Mets still have a chance to take two out of three from Florida, with a Pedro Martinez*-Dontrelle Willis matchup Thursday night. That should be a good one.


MAGIC NUMBER: The Mets win knocks the magic number down one, to 44, but the Phillies beat the Cardinals Wednesday night, keeping the number from going down one more. I'm tired of waiting for the Phillies game to end, matter of fact, so I'm posting this before it's final. The Phillies blew an 8-2 lead, with Saint Louis making it 8-7, before the Phillies have opened it up again, to 16-8. But I'm done waiting for it to be over. The Cardinals stink. I'm telling you - if they're the Mets' stiffest competition in the playoffs, the National League playoffs will be a breeze.





BOOF: All-Star rookie sensation Francisco Liriano hurt his elbow, and couldn't make his start for the Twins on Wednesday afternoon against the Rangers, so guess who got the call from Rochester to make the emergency start? That's right, Boof. He showed up, unfortunately, the Twins defense didn't.

Bonser pitched 4 innings, giving up 7 runs, of which only 4 were earned, while striking out 5. He should have been out of his bad inning (5 runs allowed) a few different times, but different players kept making errors, forcing him to get extra outs. It really wasn't fair. The loss dropped Bonser's major league record to 2-3, and his ERA is now 5.67. He was sent back to Rochester after the game.

THE KID'S KIDS: St. Lucie moved into a tie for first with Daytona, after beating Daytona, 6-2 Wednesday. There's one more game in this series - both teams are 22-16 in the second half of the season, with about a month left to play.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: A start at second base for Edgardo Alfonzo on Wednesday, and he was 1-for-2, with 3 walks, and a run scored. He's now hitting .224. Things are certainly on the upswing.

CHASE'S CHASE: It took five at-bats, but Utley legged out a nubber past the mound in the 8th inning against the Cardinals, extending the streak to 34 games. He really didn't look like he was going to get it - maybe this will bring the streak a second wind.

BEAT THE STREAK: I managed to not jinx Utley (barely), so maybe Vladimir Guerrero's hitting streak against the Rangers will continue as well. I have him for all 4 games. My streak stands at 1.

These Steve Trachsel starts take a lot of energy out of me. Honest, they do. It's like watching a Yankees game from start to finish once every five days...and I don't even sit through the entire Trachsel games. I get up and do stuff...for instance, I'm writing my blog right now, and Trachsel isn't even pitching anymore.

I'm just feeling right now that if I waited until the end of the game, I wouldn't post afterwards. I had a busy weekend, I'm feeling a little run down, I actually have things to do Tuesday, a rarity on my summer vacation, so I want to get this out of the way and get some sleep.

The Mets are trailing the Cubs right now, 8-4, so it looks like we'll have to wait another day for win number 60. But keep in mind that the Mets ARE playing the Cubs, who they are capable of scoring 11 runs against in an inning...so perhaps this one's not over yet.

PEDRO*: Finally, Pedro Martinez* appears set to pitch Friday at Atlanta. We'll see....

THE KID'S KIDS: The Mets are 16-13 in the season's second half, three-and-a-half back of Daytona. They're riding a 3-game losing streak right now. Perhaps the boys have their minds on the post-season, and not on the regular season...and some big-time managing is going to be needed by Hall of Famer Gary Carter.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT: Here's your rare full Mets minor-league report...we just mentioned St. Lucie. A Binghamton pitcher threw a no-hitter against Portland on Sunday. So that covers Binghamton (it was just a 7-inning no-hitter, so I won't even mention the guy's name).

Regarding Edgardo Alfonzo's comeback - he didn't play on Monday, but after an 0-for-3 on Sunday, he's hitting .261. That's not going to be enough.

BEAT THE STREAK: After an all-Ichiro weekend (3 hits), A-Rod got me a hit on Monday. So I have a 4-gamer. It's Jimmy Rollins on Tuesday - a .500 career hitter against his opposing pitcher, Miguel Batista.

HUMAN RAIN DELAY

The Mets just finished a nearly 2-and-a-half hour real rain delay, and the starter, Steve Trachsel, the human rain delay, has come out to pitch after that long time off. So this game's not going to be over for a while. But the Mets are up 4-0, so I'm glad it didn't get postponed. With apologies to the Southern Bureau, whose article I said I would post on Thursday, I am now going to post that article FOR Thursday. (Just to tie up loose ends - St. Lucie won, 4-1, and Edgardo Alfonzo was 1-for-4 for the Tides.) Here's the Southern Bureau's comparison of the 1986 Mets and the 2004 Red Sox, with my thought at the end.


Johnny Mets…

I was watching a show on ESPN about the greatest baseball teams of all time. As a Red Sox fan – I was shocked and disappointed that the 1986 Mets were ranked as a better team than the 2004 Red Sox.

So I thought…what would Johnny Mets do?? So…being the stat dork….I broke it down…just to earn my keep at the Southern Bureau Chief.

C – Gary Carter vs Jason Varitek: Varitek is obviously the Red Sox leader and captain, but Carter put up some pretty impressive numbers by 1986 standards. I think what Varitek brings in the clubhouse makes it closer – but I’ll go with Carter. (1-0 Mets)

1B – Keith Hernandez vs Kevin Millar/David Ortiz: A tale of two ballparks. In Fenway Park, the edge obviously goes to the Mets because Millar is/was terrible. But when they play in Shea, the edge has to go to the Red Sox (since Ortiz can't DH). Ortiz might not be a good fielder, but is there anyone else you’d rather have at the plate?? Ever?? We’ll call this position a tie. (1.5-.5 Mets)

2B – Wally Backman vs Mark Bellhorn: Backman hit 320 in 1986. That’s enough for me. (2.5-.5 Mets)

3B – Ray Knight vs Bill Mueller: I was surprised how good Knight’s stats were. Mueller had a great 2003, but struggled at the plate in 2004. Since that is the year we’re comparing – the edge to Knight. Mueller had a rough regular season. (3.5-.5 Mets)

SS – Rafael Santana vs Orlando Cabrera: Before looking at the stats, I had this pegged as a “they both aren’t very good” draw. But shockingly - Santana was even worse than I ever would have guessed.. He hit 218 for the season in 1986 – just 100 total bases. I was shocked to see he played in 139 games with those numbers. Orlando wasn’t THAT bad. (3.5-1.5 Mets)

LF – Mookie vs Manny: Just first names necessary here, and while Mookie may have had the most famous at-bat, Manny takes this one by a mile. (3.5-2.5 Mets)

CF – Lenny Dykstra vs Johnny Damon: The two leadoff hitters match up. Dyskstra hit 295 with 31 stolen bases, and 77 runs. Damon hit 304 with 19 stolen bases and 123 runs. Just 45 RBI for Dykstra…94 for Damon. This one is tough to call – but I’m going with Damon. (3.5-3.5)

RF – Darryl Strawberry vs Trot Nixon: I love Trot, but this one is about as close as Manny vs Mookie. Now Manny vs Darryl…that might get interesting. (4.5-3.5 Mets)

DH – Danny Heep vs David Ortiz: Heep started in games 3 and 4 (when the Sox pitched rightys). Kevin Mitchell started game 5 when the Sox pitched a lefty. In 2004 - the Red Sox had no lefty starters - so Heep's the guy. Not that it matters. (4.5-4.5)

Relief Pitching – Speaking from personal experience, I never felt safe with any lead as a Red Sox fan. Keith Foulke was lights out and Timlin and Embree were good enough. But that was it. Bronson Arroyo stunk in the playoffs. So I wanted the starters in as long as possible. Looking at the Mets reliever’s ERA, I’m guessing that wasn’t the case. So – on a guess – I’ll take the Mets. (5.5-4.5 Mets)

Bench – I think one reason the Red Sox won it all in 2004 was their depth. Dave Roberts, Gabe Kapler, Kevin Youkilis, Doug Mirabelli – defense with Pokey Reece and Doug Meintkiewicz. They were loaded with the exact type of bench guys you would want. I found ONE Mets bench player who hit over 250 in 1986. (5.5-5.5)

So we’re tied going to the one category I was stuck on – Starting Pitching. Its very hard to compare pitchers from different eras – especially with the increase in offense. What does Gooden’s 2.84 ERA equal in 2004?? Is it better than Pedro’s 3.90?? Sid Fernandez had nice numbers, but how much better is he really than Derek Lowe….or is he better at all?? Do the Mets have a number two starter like Curt Schilling??

This is where I got stumped. So in my mind…it’s a draw. It was much closer than I was expecting…the 86 Mets turned out to be a pretty good team.

Maybe this will spark some debate. Enjoy…and I look forward to the Johnnymets response…

-- southern bureau chief
end of article

Nice job, Southern Bureau. I'm kind of surprised the 2004 Red Sox come up in arguments of best team ever....I missed that ESPN special, I guess, but they weren't that great of a team, were they? Seems to me they were a very good team that went on a very timely post-season run. The 1986 Mets were a legitimately great team, that should have translated into the 1987 and 1988 Mets being great teams, but didn't. So they're a stand-alone great year. But I guess that's an argument for another time.

I don't know that I would do much differently than your analysis...maybe first base. I think Ortiz would make first base a Red Sox edge if we're talking head-to-head, because he'd be playing first base at Shea over Millar. And he'd give them the edge at DH, no doubt. But if we're talking strictly the first base position, then the edge would go to the Mets, because Hernandez was far better than Millar. I know you were getting at that, but the fact that you gave that position a tie, I think, needed a little more explanation....also, like I said, it would be different if we're talking comparing seasons or a head-to-head series (say, I don't know....in Triple Play 1999 or something).

Now for the pitching. Let's look:
#1: Dwight Gooden vs. Pedro Martinez
#2: Ron Darling vs. Curt Schilling
#3: Bobby Ojeda vs. Derek Lowe
#4: Sid Fernandez vs. Tim Wakefield
#5: Rick Aguilera vs. Bronson Arroyo

Again, if you're talking a head-to-head series, Pedro and Schilling alone as a 1-2 punch get more of an edge. But if we're comparing seasons, I think we have to give the edge to the Mets staff more than the Sox. You're right, we're talking different eras (and we can't overlook the 2004 AL versus the 1986 NL), but I think season-wise, I'd take the Mets' staff.

Dwight Gooden (although he'd probably get rocked in a series vs. these Sox) had a better '86 than Pedro had an '04. Maybe Pedro in '99 could rival it...but not '04. Edge: Mets

I'd still probably give '04 Schilling the edge over '86 Darling. Edge: Sox

Ojeda had a far better '86 than Lowe's '04, so Edge: Mets.

Wakefield's '04 was average, at best. El Sid is better than a draw here. Edge: Mets

And Aguilera and Arroyo are actually pretty comparable in the five slot. I'd go draw here.

So when you're comparing regular seasons, the edge is in the Mets' favor. If you're talking post-seasons, I think the Red Sox might get the edge. Maybe that's part of what had you stuck. I think better parameters need to be set for this argument. Or maybe we just need to settle this like men - on PlayStation.

AND AWAY WE GO

Mets 6, Cubs 3 (NYM: 54-36, CHI: 34-55)

The Mets began their march to the post-season with a second-half-opening 6-3 win on Friday in Chicago. Steve Trachsel won his seventh straight start - it seems like ever since I called him out he's responded...but I still need to see him win games in late September (actually, those might be meaningless this year) and October (very meaningful). Trachsel improved his record to 9-4, working six good innings - one inning coming after a 45-minute rain delay. He gave up just 2 runs on three hits.

Cliff Floyd is coming alive - I've been writing it I think even before my computer died - Friday, Floyd was 2-for-3, raising his average to .255. Unfortunately, Floyd was also drilled again - after taking his base, he stole second, and slid hard into second base...there's going to be a brawl, and it's going to center around Floyd being hit...I'm telling you. Future Hall of Famer, All-Star, and Home Run Derby Runner-up David Wright was 1-for-4, with a key RBI.

More encouraging news - in his first game after the break, Aaron Heilman had a very solid outing - working a quick, perfect inning (the 7th), throwing 12 pitches, 9 of them for strikes. He really limped into the break, and the Mets need him in the second half. Jose Valentin also had an impressive game - 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot, with 2 stolen bases.

On Saturday, quite a pitching matchup - Tom Glavine versus Carlos (the good) Zambrano. Glavine has been winning, but he hasn't been great recently - I'd like to see a strong start from him.

GULP*: No sooner did I declare to Dave in Brighton, via text message, on Tuesday night, during the All Star Game, that I was going to remove the asterisk from Carlos Beltran's name, then he hit the first base bag awkwardly hustling out a ground ball to third base. I made the asterisk decision because Beltran had a great first half, and played the All Star Game like he knew it would have an effect on the Mets' fortunes. I figured, to heck with superstition - I'll still keep the asterisk on Pedro Martinez*'s name, because he's slightly injured, but I'll remove it from Beltran.

Well, Beltran seemed to recover quickly on Tuesday, leaping over a ground ball, advancing to second, but being stranded there for the NL. Then he came out on Friday with a 1-for-3, driving in a run, looking no worse for wear. But he didn't come out after the rain delay, reportedly due to soreness in his knee. Uh-oh. If he's hurt, and is out for an extended period of time, I take full responsibility. But what are the chances - right when I remove the asterisk? And you wonder why I'm superstitious?

REYES/PEDRO*: Jose Reyes didn't play Friday, may not play all weekend, still suffering from the stitched up pinky finger, injured when he dove headfirst into first against the Marlins last Friday, aka on my birthday. The injury forced Reyes to miss the All Star Game (although he still traveled to the game, Manny). I haven't commented on this yet, but obviously, Reyes has to stop doing this - and he says he's going to try. So I'm not going to criticize him or others who dive headfirst into first. I'll save that for if he continues to do it. But I will say that I think the most powerful lesson for Reyes is that he was hurt enough because of that act that it prevented him from taking part in the All Star Game. I don't think for a young guy like that, there could have been a worse punishment. Especially after he was voted in. It hasn't cost the Mets much (Jose Valentin has filled in ably as a leadoff man - even though I prefer seeing Endy Chavez in that spot), so it's also a well-timed lesson for Reyes - he'll be back for the stretch, with a lesson hopefully learned.

As for Pedro Martinez*, he was supposed to come off the DL on Wednesday, July 19, but might miss that start because he suffered food poisoning/stomach flu symptoms the other day. I don't know why this would affect him half-a-week off, but it will - Steve Trachsel will start Wednesday (on regular rest), and Pedro* will be delayed. Something smells fishy to me here...Is he injured worse than we think? Is he taking an extended All-Star vacation? Who knows. As long as he pitches effectively the rest of the season, I'll forget all about the missed All Star Game, DL stint. But another delay and I'm going to get really suspicious.

CUBS BROADCASTERS: I've seen about all I need to see with these guys (Len Kasper and Bob Brenly - and the whole Comcast production crew, really). I watched about 15 minutes of their pre-game, before the ESPN coverage started, and it was bad. First of all, negative points for the Cubs when I realized that Chip Caray (even though he has strikes against him because of his lineage) and Steve Stone had been canned by the Cubs after they were critical of the team in the booth. So that reflects poorly on Kasper and Brenly right away. Then there was the fact that before the game started, twice, Kasper says, "We're ready to go", while the ESPN broadcast wasn't even close to taking the air, and Comcast twice went to commercial, came back, and went to commercial again after he said that. So, no, Len, you weren't even close to being ready to go. That bothers me a lot.

Then there was the production aspect - The Cubs guys were spotlighting David Wright, and Brenly says, "About the only 0 you see on his stat sheet is under sacrifice bunts!". So what. He meant it to be funny, but said it like it was a relevant stat. Then when they showed the Wright graphic, they showed him hitting .310, when he was hitting .316 before the game started. Unacceptable stuff. GRADE: F

MY THOUGHTS ON TRADES: I've been sitting on this for a while, because it struck me strongly when I didn't have computer access...don't know that the weekend is the best time to write it, but oh well. There are all kinds of names being bounced around in trade rumors for the Mets, with the trading deadline nearing. I want to mention a couple of names I think the Mets should NOT trade, along with others I think might be expendable.

People are always looking for left-handed relievers, and the Mets have a supply of them right now. There's Pedro Feliciano and Darren Oliver, as well as Royce Ring at Triple-A (having a very good season - he was an International League All Star). Now, this went under the radar a little, but after the Mets had their little losing streak before the break (against the Red Sox and Yankees), Feliciano criticized Willie Randolph, and the way he uses the bullpen. Randolph worked this out with Feliciano behind closed doors, but the fact that Feliciano vented through the media prompted Randolph to say something to the effect of, "I've been around plenty of winners, and that's not what winners do." I've heard Randolph and management have been happy with Feliciano - but if he's going to mouth off, I'd rather see him shipped off. Things are going too well for the Mets for him to mess it up (chemistry-wise as well as on the field). So if the Mets are going to deal a lefty, get rid of Feliciano. I've heard the Mets might use Ring's good year as trade bait- but I'd rather see Feliciano dealt, and Ring brought up - I just feel Ring has more upside. Oliver has done a great job in his role this year too - but I don't feel like he'll keep it up, even through the end of this year. So I wouldn't mind seeing him shipped while his value is high, too.

Aaron Heilman's name has been tossed around too, because of the fact that he's unhappy with his position as a reliever. I agree Heilman is unhappy, but it would be a big mistake for the Mets to trade him, then see him have a huge year somewhere else. I think the Mets finish the year with him in the role he's in now, then let him start next year. Then, I think he becomes a free agent, and he's gone if the Mets don't allow him to start...if he is a starter, maybe he'd consider staying with the Mets.

As far as position players, I don't see many deal-able players. I think Lastings Milledge is here to stay, despite his little mental lapses. I think he got his taste of the big leagues, and the Mets are hoping he earns a spot up for good as Cliff Floyd's replacement next year. I also think if the Mets are going to trade an outfielder, it will be Victor Diaz - with the way Xavier Nady has been playing, Diaz is very expendable. Look for a Milledge-Beltran-Nady outfield for the next 5+ years.

So that's my two cents - the Mets are going to add a pitcher at the deadline - there's no way they'll sit idly by. I just hope they don't deal a guy like Heilman, or Ring, in order to get someone else.

THE KID'S KIDS: The Mets won Friday night, 4-2, their second win in a row following a 5 game losing streak (part of which was due to the absence of manager and Hall of Famer Gary Carter). I think the ship has been righted again - in the second half of the season, the first half champions are 12-8, two-and-a-half games behind Daytona.

BEAT THE STREAK: I tried to ride Mark Teixeira's coattails, after his big 3-homer night on Thursday, but to no avail. He was 0-for-1 with a couple of walks. Darn. Back to the drawing board....I have Derek Jeter on Saturday.

THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED

Mets 7, Blue Jays 4 (NYM: 47-28, TOR: 41-34)

I was actually looking forward to this Mets-Blue Jays series. I was thinking it would be some great baseball, and I was looking forward to watching some of it. I saw none of it, other than highlights. Friday night, I went out to celebrate the last day of school, so I didn't catch that game...a Mets win, 6-1. Saturday, the game was blacked out here because of the Red Sox' national telecast on FOX, but it's just as well - the Blue Jays won that one 7-4. Rough start for El Duque. Sunday, it was all Mets (apparently)...an early Sunday start - 12:00 - Jose Reyes set the tone a little after noon, and the Mets followed suit.

Reyes led off the game with a home run, his eighth of the year, he went 4-for-5, and stole his 34th base. Reyes is on a 32-for-57 tear, raising his average from .246 all the way to .302. This is the third time in five games Reyes has had a 4-hit game, and the second straight. He's on a 13-game hitting streak, and one of those games - the first of the 4-hit games - Reyes hit for the cycle.

Steve Trachsel had a good (not great) outing, giving up 4 ER in 5 innings, with 6 hits, and 3 walks. He won his fourth straight decision. Billy Wagner did the ol' walk-the-tightrope in the 9th, giving up 2 walks, but he did close it out for the save.

Carlos Beltran* hit his 20th homer of the season, and Jose Valentin added a solo shot. I'm very happy with the Mets taking two out of three against Toronto - they're a very good team. The Mets are one win from 16 in the month of June - hopefully they'll get a few wins this week. Next up is the big Red Sox- Mets series, at Fenway Park. I'll be at the game Tuesday night - should be Alay Soler against Jon Lester.

PEDRO*: I was wrong on one of my early-season predictions - it doesn't look like Pedro Martinez* will back out of a start in Boston. I was surprised how little the Boston media talked about Pedro* coming back...it only really started the past couple of days up here. But Pedro* is really playing it up in the papers that he expects a nice welcome when he takes the mound at Fenway. So I guess that's his angle - if he's going to start here, he'd better make the fans out to be idiots if they boo him. And really, he's right. It should be a good series.

2 PIECES OF MAIL: These have been sitting in the mailbox since Thursday and Friday - about time I got to them:

"Dear JohnnyMets,

While the Red Sox were playing the Nationals this week, I heard the Boston broadcasters talking about how Alfonso Soriano could become trade bait as the July 31 trading deadline approaches. So what do you think -- is there room for a $10 million error machine in the infield of the 2006 World Series Champion New York Mets?

Signed,
Dave"

Dave - The Alfonso Soriano thing is interesting. First of all, I think he'll be traded - and I think he might just be the biggest name that gets traded at the deadline (I don't think John Smoltz will end up going anywhere). I do not, however, think the Mets will be players. While they do have a hole of sorts at second base (Jose Valentin is filling the gap quite nicely, and Chris Woodward will be seeing time there), I think that hole will be filled by Anderson Hernandez or Jeff Keppinger, making a mostly homegrown infield in the coming years. The Mets just got rid of a big-contract block at second base, preventing the infusion of youth at the position - I don't think they'll get involved with Soriano and create that type of situation again (albeit, a productive big-contract guy, instead of Kaz Matsui). The other interesting thing about Soriano is that he's increased his value a little bit because he has played pretty well in the outfield. While he wants to play second base at heart, a team could probably get away with acquiring him and using him in the outfield for the rest of this season. Makes you wonder if a deal back to the Bronx is possible, with the outfield holes the Yankees have right now.

Also, this e-mail:

"Johnnymets -

I cannot be happier with the play of our National League leading NY Mets. However, I am very concerned about Wagner. He is being paid millions to get 3 outs a game, and not even in every game, yet he is not living up to his big pay check. What happens down the stretch, or more importantly, in the World Series? Do we give Sanchez a shot if Wagner continues to get in trouble and can't find the plate? Let me know what you think.

Steve from Queens"

Steve - you bring up Sanchez, which I forgot to mention - he pitched on Friday night, and threw just two pitches before leaving with a pinched nerve in his neck. He's listed as day-to-day - but he's been so effective, it was unsettling to see him get hurt. Hopefully he'll come back feeling fine. That said, as good as Sanchez has been - there's no way the job's going to be taken away from Wagner. I've said this before, I think that finger thing that bothered Wagner during spring training is still bothering him. There's no other reason I could think of, besides the Mets uniform, as to why Wagner is so ineffective. I really thought he was the type of guy who blows a couple of saves early, then is consistent the rest of the year. He has not been consistent at all so far this year. But he's the guy who's going to get the ball at the end of games. Hopefully he'll come through in the clutch for the Mets through the post-season. (P.S. - you know the Mets are doing good when Steve from Queens 'couldn't be happier' with their play...those of you who read often know he's about as negative as Mets fans come.)

BOOF: It's been a while since a Boof Bonser update - but he pitched 6 shutout innings against the Cubs on Saturday, outdueling Mark Prior. Thought that was worth mentioning. Boof's ERA is still up there - about 4.68, but he's contributing to a very hot Twins team right now, and I bet he has a spot in their rotation for a while to come. The win was his second big-league win, so he's now 2-1.

**I'm having some trouble putting pictures on here...might be related to the recent spate of computer troubles we've had here....hope I can get that working again soon. Just wanted to let you know about the lack of pics lately.****

THE KID'S KIDS: What with all the end-of-the-school-year commotion, I stopped paying much attention to the St. Lucie Mets and the entire Florida State League season. It's broken up into two halves, which I'm not sure I realized (I think last year's Gulf Coast League was done the same way), and the Mets needed to win on Wednesday to clinch the first half title. They did, beating Brevard County, 5-2, finishing the first half 40-30. "I told the players before the game that our destiny was in our own hands," said St. Lucie manager Gary Carter, who didn't know the Cardinals' result during his team's game. "I'm not going to take any credit [for the title]. It was the kids, we can only motivate them. We try to pound into their heads good, sound, fundamental baseball."

You'll remember that the Kid's Kids in Rookie League qualified for the post-season last year as well. The Kid is going places. He'll also be managing the U.S. squad in the Futures Game, the All-Star Game for the best of the minor leagues, in a World vs. U.S. format. It takes place the Sunday before the Major League All-Star Game, in Pittsburgh's PNC Park, the site of this year's All-Star Game. So on Wednesday, Hall of Famer Gary Carter was on ESPNEWS' "The Hot List" with Brian Kenney to talk about that, and other things. Carter still loves to hear himself talk. There's no such thing as a short answer with him....and his goal now is to manage a Major League team, and take them to a World Series championship. Of course, I'll root for him...but it depends on the Mets' situation when he ends up taking over a team. Obviously, with Willie Randolph's success, he's not going anywhere for a long time, and with Gary Carter's minor-league success, he's going places fast. So he won't be managing the Mets. I can only hope it's a team whose success doesn't effect the Mets.

On Sunday, the St. Lucie Mets were winning 8-1 in the sixth when I decided to post this, so let's assume they go on to win, shall we? That makes the Mets 3-1 on the young second half of the season.

FANTASY UPDATE: I'm getting my rear end kicked lately, so it's not worth mentioning how the What If Mets are doing in the season's final week. But for the sake of the Southern Bureau, we'll update the What If Nationals (also with a catcher named Gary Carter, so that's a bonus), who are about to wrap up the Wild Card - a 4-game lead with 4 to play....coincidentally, all against me. I was actually considering starting Dwight Gooden every game down the stretch, to see how awesome his numbers would come out to be, but I won't do that now against Washington, lest I win all four. I'm rooting for you, Nationals!

It's a shame this season is just ending when school ends, when I could actually devote a little time to it....but then again, it wouldn't make a lick of difference if I did devote some time to it, anyway.

BEAT THE STREAK: I may have partied a little too hard after the final day of school, so Saturday I forgot to make a Beat the Streak pick, so I had to start all over on Sunday. I took Jose Reyes, and he's got me started on another streak. Monday, I'll go with Bobby Abreu against the knuckleball of Tim Wakefield (if he still starts Monday...I think he will).

BACK ON TRACH

Mets 8, Reds 2, in progress in the 8th

Here's an encouraging sign - a really good start for Steve Trachsel. Trachsel went 6+ innings (unfortunately, the "+" was leaving with the bases loaded in the 7th), and was very, very effective. He even hit a home run!

Duaner Sanchez got Trachsel out of that 7th inning jam, giving up just one run, pitching very well in the 7th and then staying on.

After being beaten up by former Mets this weekend against Baltimore, it was a former Met who helped the Mets blow this game open in the bottom of the 7th. David Weathers came in for Cincinnati, walked a batter, gave up a 2-run homer to Xavier Nady (his first hit since coming off the DL), and allowed the Mets some breathing room....they led 8-2 after 7.

I'm going to take advantage of the big lead to get to bed early. I'll miss Wednesday's game because I'll be at the Red Sox-Nationals game, so I won't post. Thursday is a day game...I'll post Thursday night.

I'm assuming the Mets hold onto the 6-run lead with just 4 outs to go right now...that means 4 more wins to reach 16 in June!

INTERESTING NUANCE: I noticed tonight for the first time that David Wright has a little bit of a Nomar Garciaparra thing going on in between pitches when he's at bat. After every pitch, he tucks his bat under his arm, tugs on each batting glove, then adjusts the neck of his jersey, and lets out a deep breath.

I told The Wife about this, and it wasn't news to her. (Not surprising to me, I guess, that she studies Wright's every move.) I guess she watches different parts of the game than I do.

THE KID'S KIDS: Monday night Brevard County added 5 more runs after I signed off, and beat St. Lucie, 7-0 (the ol' 10-hit shutout for B.C.). It's just a one-game lead for the Mets now in the division, and it's time for Hall of Famer Gary Carter to turn on that managing skill. So far, so good - St. Lucie is leading tonight's game 2-0 in the 8th, giving up just one hit.

FANTASY UPDATE: Well, the What If Mets are officially done...losers of two out of three to the awful Chicago Cubs. They won the first game, 22-2, and I was thinking, OK, that's more like it....only to lose the next two. It's embarrassing, really. The wild card leaders right now are the Southern Bureau's Washington Nationals, so maybe we'll start following their results.

BEAT THE STREAK: Amidst the (real) Washington Nationals getting killed at Fenway Tuesday night, Alfonso Soriano got a hit off of Tim Wakefield. So a 2-gamer for me. Mike Lowell Wednesday night.

9 AND A HALF UP

Mets 5, Phillies 4 (NYM: 42-23, PHI: 33-33)

This is going to cause some wear and tear on the bullpen - and I think the Mets are going to start paying for it this week. Back-to-back extra innings games, and now a trip out west to play Los Angeles, Arizona, and then back east at Philadelphia. I'm not expecting the best road trip....but maybe the Mets will show how good they are and come away with a winning record. (This is the last tough road trip the Mets have this year - at least as far as mileage goes.) - johnnymets.blogspot.com, Sunday, June 4, 2006, after the Mets lost a 12-inning game to the Giants, 7-6.

It's the darndest thing. I'm overly optimistic nine and a half times out of ten, and the half time I get cautious, the Mets roll off a 9-1 West Coast/East Coast road trip. Honestly, even in my most exaggerated hopes about this trip, I didn't expect a sweep in Philly to cap it off (or a 9-1 record overall). But I think that qualifies as a "winning road trip", and shows just how good the Mets are. They're at the next level.

On Thursday afternoon, the Mets got 4 runs in the first, and managed to hold on for the 5-4 win. It's going to be weird when the Mets are now home, and they won't be hitting first. I don't know what they'll do if they don't get the chance to jump out on top in the top of the first. On Thursday, the early lead was courtesy of a double by Endy Chavez, driving in a run, then a 3-run David Wright homer (number 14 on the year, 55 career). Carlos Beltran* had a sac fly, driving in a run. His "Player of the Week" performance last week lifted his average so much that I didn't even realize it, but Beltran* is hitting an even .300 on the year. David Wright is up to .335, and this week Wright is the leading vote-getter among NL third basemen in the All Star Balloting.

An added bonus - the Mets won a Steve Trachsel start. He is so unreliable. You know what I think I'd love? The Red Sox need pitching. I'd love to see the Mets deal Trachsel to the Red Sox. I don't know what the Mets would get in return, but I'd love to see the way Trachsel is treated by the Boston media. He'd get killed. And he'd be miserable. Of course, a trade would probably light a fire under him, and he'd become a good Steve Trachsel for a couple of months, but eventually, it'd catch up to him. I'm still not convinced he can handle the pressure of a winning team. (Right now, though, the Mets are winning by so much, there isn't much pressure at all.)

Lost in much of this winning, by the way, is that Billy Wagner has been pretty solid. He picked up two saves in Philadelphia, and neither one was particularly nerve-wracking (as far as I can tell - I actually didn't see Thursday's game because of school, and the other night he was saved by David Wright's incredible double play...).

The Mets are getting lots of attention right now...as the cream of a pretty crappy National League crop. I think they can handle it. And I'm really enjoying this season.

The Orioles are at Shea Friday through Sunday, as the Mets come home to interleague play. Alay Soler goes against Erik Bedard Friday.

MY TWO CENTS ON THE RECENT EJECTIONS OVER PITCHING INSIDE: I don't often step up on my soapbox to declare what's wrong in the world of baseball, so I hope you'll indulge me every once in a while. I want to talk about today's practice of umpires issuing warnings, then ejecting a guy if he pitches inside, and comes too close to hitting someone. I hate it. But....I think it's absolutely necessary in today's game. Here's why.

First of all, this is a hot-button issue today because Wednesday night Randy Johnson was ejected for throwing at Eduardo Perez of the Indians after Derek Jeter was hit, and after both sides were given warnings. Also Wednesday, Ozzie Guillen put in a rookie pitcher to throw at a member of the Texas Rangers (might have been Hank Blalock, but that's not really important), the rookie threw a few inside, didn't hit the guy, then got him out, and Guillen yanked him from the game, yelled at him, and then the kid was sent to the minors after the game. There's your background info. (I guess that doesn't have to do exactly with my soapbox issue, but it's somewhat related.)

Anyway, I liked the old days, where a pitcher could brush back a player, there could be retaliation, maybe a brawl, then it was over - a dead issue. (Maybe there wouldn't even be a brawl, because the players knew to expect it.) The problem is, that won't happen today...because young people feel entitled. I really think that's the problem. Young players feel entitled to hanging out over the plate, and not getting hit with pitches, and if you hit them with a pitch, well, darn it, I'm going to come out there and charge the mound. Heck, you don't even have to hit me, you just have to pitch inside, dangerously close to hitting me, and I'll come out there. Right, Manny Ramirez? It's just part of a spoiled society, I think, which doesn't want to be made to feel uncomfortable. I wish it could go back to the way it used to be...but it won't. And so the players can't police themselves - they're too immature, and the thing would never end. There would be retaliation after retaliation, because everyone would want the last say. So the umpires have had to step in to put a stop to it. And I don't like it. But you know what....it's working.

Going back to the Sean Tracy thing (he's the White Sox pitcher who was sent down after not hitting the batter), I have a big problem with that whole situation. Ozzie Guillen put that kid in an awful situation. Of course, he's not the first to do something like that - but really, if the kid makes the effort to throw at the guy, and then ends up getting the out, isn't that better for the team? It's an out. People are comparing this to the Sean Estes deal against Roger Clemens from 2001. There's a big difference here. First of all, Hank Blalock (or the targeted Ranger) wasn't doing the pitching for the Rangers. So he arguably didn't deserve to be thrown at. Sean Estes was carrying the weight of everyone who had ever been thrown at by Roger Clemens on his shoulders, and he couldn't hit him (Of course, then, I was psyched that Estes did homer off Clemens, which thought was better than physically hitting him). (I was especially peeved at Estes, though, in 2002, when he had been with the Cubs for about a week, and was throwing haymakers in a brawl with that team, when he wouldn't stand up for his Mets teammates in 2001.) Anyway, if anyone ever deserved to be thrown at, it was Roger Clemens, against the Mets, with Mike Piazza catching. (For those who don't know - he beaned Piazza really bad [don't tell me he didn't mean to - he practically caught Piazza between the eyes...and based on Piazza's career numbers against Clemens, and the homers he had hit off Clemens recently, and Clemens' career history and his great control....it was intentional], then, in the 2000 World Series, threw the shattered bat at Piazza.) So don't compare Estes to this kid Tracy. Estes wimped out. Tracy was put in an unfair situation.

THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets have hit the skids a bit recently. They lost Wednesday night to Vero Beach - their fourth straight loss following a nine-game winning streak. The winning pitcher for Vero Beach? A. Bastardo...so I think that explains that. Yup, A. Bastardo. That's right. Look it up.

FANTASY UPDATE: The What If Mets are 62-67. The schedule rotates, and I'm entering a (theoretically) easy part of the schedule. I've got the Cardinals and the Cubs coming up. People are just killing the Cubs right now - one score the other day was like 37-11. Seriously. When I played the Cubs last, I beat them like 3-2 in 12 innings. So I'm either that bad, or not lucky enough. We'll see if I can make some hay in the standings - I'm 5 back of the wild card. The schedule actually goes: Reds, Pirates, Astros, Cardinals, Cubs. Only the Reds and Pirates have winning records. I need a big streak...winning streak, that is.

BEAT THE STREAK: Back to square one, thanks to nada from Brian Giles. Oh well. I'll try to get leadoff man Jose Reyes to lead me off on a new streak Friday night against the O's. Meanwhile, the wife was working on a season-high 8-gamer...but Ty Wigginton ended that one on Thursday night with an 0-for-4.

METS FIND THEIR BATS IN THE DESERT

Mets 15, Diamondbacks 2 (NYM: 39-23, ARI: 34-29)

I feel a little silly now about being worried about this trip out west for the Mets. I did say that they could be catching the Diamondbacks at the right time, with this Jason Grimsley thing swirling - but I never expected a 4-game sweep. I would have been happy with a split in Arizona, after taking two out of three from LA, I'm ecstatic with a sweep. Honestly, if the Mets only won a game in Philadelphia, it would be OK. Two out of three would be fine. Another sweep would pretty much wrap up the division.

The only thing I'm upset about right now is that the Mets have dominated the Diamondbacks their last two trips out there. But when I was out in Arizona, what did I see? Total domination by the Diamondbacks. It was awful. I wish they would have found out how to win out there a little sooner, that's all.

Nice that the Mets finally got Pedro Martinez* some runs - he got his first win since late April (through no fault of his own). I didn't get to see this game - but from the box score, it looks like Pedro* might have labored a bit. He pitched just 5 innings - and threw 91 pitches. I saw 5 innings and thought Willie Randolph might have been resting him with the big lead, but the 91 pitches is a lot. And he only struck out 3 - so that's not the reason he was throwing a lot of pitches.

Everyone's hitting (see below), the pitching has been great - this next series in Philadelphia should be fun to watch. The Mets enter the series with a 6-and-a-half game cushion in the NL East. Cliff Floyd is supposed to be back Tuesday (the Mets are off on Monday), so just add another bat to the arsenal.

WEEKEND RECAP: On Friday, Steve Trachsel was less than great, but still managed to get the win in the Mets' 10-6 win over Arizona. His start resuled in a lot of work by the bullpen - but each time the Mets gave up a run, the offense answered. On Saturday, it was all Alay Soler. He threw a complete game, 2-hit shutout, and the Mets won, 5-0. It's almost getting to the point where I'd rather see Soler and Orlando Hernandez pitch rather than Trachsel.

The Mets' bats re-awoke this weekend - Carlos Delgado is out of his slump (he hit two homers Friday night), and Carlos Beltran* also slugged two homers on Friday, bringing his season total to 17 - more than all of last year. I guess he was pretty hurt last year, and not able to do all he's capable of...let's see what happens the rest of this year.

David Wright continues his hot hitting - he hit homer number 11 on the year (52 career) over the weekend, and is now hitting .336 after Sunday's game.

INTERESTING NOTE: The Mets are off Monday, but there may be something worth watching Monday night for Mets fans. ESPN.com has Kansas City's starter for Monday listed as B. Keppel. I'm not positive, and I can't find much information about him, but I'm pretty sure that's Bobby Keppel, who the Mets traded to Pittsburgh in the Kris Benson deal. I remember him not pitching too well for the Pirates' minor league teams, but I don't remember reading about him being traded. (Guess no one's considered too bad to find their way into the Royals' rotation.) I'll see what I can find out about him - I might not get much information until I watch the game Monday night.

**OK - here's what I found out on the Royals' website. This is not Keppel's debut - he's pitched in 4 games, made 2 starts, and is 0-1 with a 2.11 ERA. He's struck out 12 in 21.1 innings. He has given up 2 homers - they came back-to-back in his Major League debut against Seattle. His numbers in the minors even this year haven't been good.

But it's definitely the former Mets' prospect, and he's apparently been plagued by injuries in recent years. No word yet on how he got from Pittsburgh's organization to Kansas City's. I'll be watching tomorrow night.

KAZ TRADED: The Mets finally traded Kaz Matsui on Friday, in exchange for Eli Marrero. Since spring training you got the idea the Mets were trying to showcase Matsui, in order to work out a deal, hoping he would play well, and they could get something of value for him. That didn't work out too well, resulting in a 1-for-1 deal. But I like Marrero. He's been a member of some winning teams in St. Louis, and he offers the Mets some versatility. He started out as a catcher, and then Tony LaRussa put him in the outfield and at first base. So with all the injuries the Mets have had lately, he gives them a little bit of depth. And I read he also allows Willie Randolph to use Ramon Castro and his bat off the bench a little more liberally, since there is now a bona fide third catcher on the roster.

The problem with this trade is that the Mets are committed to Marrero at the Major League level (unlike the Rockies, who sent Matsui to Triple-A). So what happens when Xavier Nady gets healthy? (Probably around June 19th.) They are probably not going to send Lastings Milledge back down - it looks like he's in the majors for a while now. When Nady comes back, the Mets will be playing some games in AL parks, so Milledge could play the field while Floyd DH's. But someone's gotta go - and barring other injuries, right now it looks like Heath Bell is again the odd man out (he was rescued for a while after the Mets traded Jorge Julio. Too bad for him - he's going to be up and down between New York and Norfolk all year long.)

THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets are rolling. The Mets beat Daytona on Saturday, 7-1, for their ninth straight win. Their game against Palm Beach on Sunday was rained out, and will be played as part of a doubleheader on Monday. The Mets are 38-24, and have opened up a 4-game lead in the standings.

FANTASY UPDATE: Just when I thought things were starting to turn around....the What If Mets won 5 in a row Friday into Saturday, getting back to within two games of the wild card spot. But now I'm one of those streaky teams - because I've gone on to lose 4 in a row. Now I'm five back of the wild card. I guess I can't give up on post-season hopes...but it will be luck that gets me in - because it's definitely not skill.

BEAT THE STREAK: Big doings in "Beat the Streak". Rocco Baldelli got me a hit on Friday, so I was at a season-high 10-gamer. Then I picked Michael Young, thinking he'd be playing two games on Saturday. That was rained down to one game, but he still got a hit, and me an 11-gamer. Then on Sunday, in the rescheduled doubleheader, I took CoCo Crisp of the Red Sox. It took him almost the entire first game, but he got me a hit in the 9th (ahead of David Ortiz's game-winning homer), so it's 12 games in a row now. I think I'm going to go against Bobby Keppel (if that's who it is), and take Vladimir Guerrero on Monday night.

A NIGHT OF COMEBACKS

But it's not over yet. The Phillies just retired the Mets in the bottom of the ninth, and I need to go to bed.

This was one of the best games the Mets have played all year (from an offensive standpoint). Whenever they play the Phillies, I get the feeling that they're never out of it, no matter what the score is. It seems like, eventually, the Mets will get back even with Philadelphia - it's just a matter of when. Sometimes it doesn't happen, most of the time, the Mets at least threaten, Tuesday night, the Mets did it three different times.

Cliff Floyd is really, really swinging the bat well - he homered again on Tuesday. And Julio Franco had a key pinch-hit, getting the game to 6-5. (Full disclosure, I missed the Franco RBI double - I was watching a live in-dugout interview with Boof Bonser on the Twins' telecast.) Chris Woodward also had a big pinch-hit. And David Wright hit career homer number 48 to get the Mets' scoring started.

The negative - not a good start for Steve Trachsel. He gave up the Phillies' first 6 runs - but in fairness, could have been out of a jam tied at 2 - Endy Chavez had Pat Burrell nailed at the plate, but Paul LoDuca dropped the throw. That led to a big 4-run inning, when it should have been 3 outs. But Trachsel still gave up a 3-run bomb - he's still too inconsistent - he pitched into a lot of tough situations Tuesday.

Interesting note - the Phillies are 17-0 this season (as of this writing) when they led after 7 innings. The Mets came back on them in the eighth...when THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, hit a game-tying 2-run homer, with 2 outs.

It's 8-8, top of the tenth, and I need to get some sleep. Or, more specifically, watch the rest of the game in bed, and not blog afterwards.

MAIL: Guess who this is from?

"Johnnymets -

Pedro would have had 4 days rest and would be available to pitch Thursday against the Phillies. However, Willie has decided to give Pedro another day of rest and start him against the Marlins on Friday. This makes no sense to me. I understand that Pedro needs a few extra days here and there. But, do you think it makes sense to give him that extra day against the Phillies. What if Thursday's game turns out to be the rubber game, or worse yet, a game to avoid a sweep? Is Willie thinking clearly that Jeremi Gonzaliez should get the start at such an important game? Don't you think Willie should push Gonzalez to Friday against the mostly Triple A Marlins? What do you think?

Annoyed Mets Fan from Queens"

The "Annoyed Mets Fan from Queens" always keeps me grounded when things are going well for the Mets. He'll always find that dark lining on the cloud...but he makes sense here. The thing is, Pedro* pitches very, very well in Florida. And I bet that Willie Randolph is considering the fact that Pedro* needs to get another win, not another no-decision, just to keep things upbeat in the clubhouse. So that should come against Florida. I bet that's a factor....finally getting Pedro* to 6-0.

The other thing is, Jeremi Gonzalez has to start either Wednesday or Thursday. He's not really up for debate. Up for debate is the fact that Alay Soler, the Cuban defector, is going to start one of the games against Philly (I don't think the Mets are sure yet whether he's going Wednesday or Thursday). But I think they have enough confidence in Soler that they feel he is the best arm to go for them in this series. I am pretty excited to see Soler - he's a big guy. About 6'1'', 240 pounds. In summary, I give Randolph the benefit of the doubt here.

***Update after I wrote this...Soler will definitely start Wednesday, with Thursday's start going to either Gonzalez or Darren Oliver. Apparently, Gonzalez has been battling the flu.

THE KID'S KIDS: The big rivalry started Tuesday night - the St. Lucie Mets taking on the Tampa Yankees. Too late for me write about it here - but the Mets still have a 2-game lead in their division, entering Tuesday night's action.

LAST-PLACE LASTINGS: Apparently last place is getting to Milledge and the Tides. I didn't realize this in yesterday's posting, but Milledge sparked a benches-clearing brawl with a slide that spiked Richmond's third baseman - the son of Atlanta GM John Scheurholz. (Curiously, this isn't mentioned on the minor league website I'm checking for results.) I wonder if he's going to get suspended for that - he didn't spike the guy maliciously, it seems it was on a slide.

On Tuesday night, a big win for Norfolk, with an 11th-inning run giving the Tides a 3-2 win over Syracuse. (They're still in last place.) Lastings Milledge had a big game - going 3-for-6, with 2 doubles and an RBI. He is now hitting .286 on the season.

FANTASY UPDATE: I'm mad - the What If Mets' bullpen blew a 4-0 9th inning lead (hmm...sound familiar), and went on to lose in 11. So I've lost two straight to the Braves. I'm still 3 games back of the phillies, two behind the Nationals, and 2 ahead of Atlanta. I need to take game 3 Wednesday morning, then at least split with the Blue Jays - they're one of the toughest in the game right now.

The Wife is getting tired of the What If updates. "What If you stopped telling me about those games?" she said Tuesday night. I think it's that pregnancy, making her cranky.

BEAT THE STREAK: Of course Vlad got a hit against Texas Monday night...and he already homered early on in Tuesday's game. So I'm working on a little 3-gamer...one more night of Guerrero against the Rangers, who just can't get him out.

ONE MONTH CLOSER

Braves 8, Mets 5 (NYM: 16-8, ATL: 10-14)

A sweep would have been nice, but...2 out of 3 isn't bad. The Mets have to feel good about going 2-1 in a place where they haven't had any success, and more importantly, finishing a very difficult road trip (San Diego, San Francisco, and Atlanta - more difficult in terms of travel than in ability, but nevertheless) at 6-4.

The positives from Sunday (I barely saw any of this game): Carlos Beltran* homered, and Endy Chavez, moving to right to give Xavier Nady a rest (Chavez had played center in Beltran*'s stead) was 2-for-4 with a homer. Chavez's defense is awesome, but his offense is less than average.

The bad news is that this is what worries me about Steve Trachsel. According to the numbers (because I didn't see Trachsel at all - I really haven't seen him pitch much this year) Trachsel got rocked: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 5 BB (!), 1K. I've been saying this for about three, maybe even four years now - I'm not sure I have confidence in Trachsel in a big spot. We'll see what happens when October rolls around, but Trachsel is the first to complain when he doesn't feel he's being treated fairly (and I think that's a big part of why he was kept on schedule to pitch Sunday in Atlanta, and Victor Zambrano was moved to Monday instead), and I'm not 100% sure Trachsel deserves the kind of treatment he thinks he deserves. I like Trachsel, I think he's been good for the Mets the past few years - I just want to see him deliver when it matters. And Sunday was one of those days - the Mets could have buried the Braves (they hadn't won all week - they lost 5 in a row) and swept them at home...but Trachsel didn't pitch well.

Oh yeah - the headline refers to the end of April. The Mets went 16-8 in the month. That's pretty good - I don't have the numbers in front of me - but I remember the past couple of years it was a struggle for the Mets to have a month where they were just a couple of games better then .500. So they've definitely turned a corner. We'll see what May brings - it starts with a two-game series beginning Monday night at Shea against the Nationals.

THE KID'S KIDS: What managing by Hall of Famer Gary Carter! The St. Lucie Mets trailed 3-0 going into the 8th - but the Mets scored twice in the eighth, and twice more in the ninth to pull out a 4-3 win over Brevard County on Sunday. The Mets had lost to Brevard County on Saturday, so they're back to a half-game back of B.C., and 1.5 back of first place Palm Beach. 14-9 is the record right now.

OTHER MINOR LEAGUE NEWS: I'll be honest, I went away on vacation, and I forgot about Boof Bonser. But I still love the name. So let's play catch-up, and I'll try to figure out when his turn in the rotation falls, so I can keep updating. No surprise, though, that Bonser is still the Twins' top pitcher at AAA - he's 2-1 right now, with a 1.52 ERA. He's pitched a team-high 29.2 innings, with 26 K's. He's also just given up 20 hits....but he's walked 12. He's had a total of 5 starts, most on the team, so he must have just pitched....Nope, baseball detective failed there. He pitched a few days ago - and it was his worst outing, versus Richmond. He gave up 3 ER in 5.2 innings, on 8 hits, with 4 walks. He'll be pitching again soon - maybe even Monday. We'll be watching for it.

BEAT THE STREAK: Jeter got me a hit, so I'm up to a season-high 9 gamer. Monday I go with Michael Young, because he's the best hitter on Texas, and they're playing Tampa Bay's Seth McClung. I always find myself picking a hitter who is hitting against McClung.

TRACH-SELL

No Mets game tonight. The Marlins lost, so the Mets will pick up a half-game on them.

But the big news is the stuff I heard Buster Olney talking about on ESPNRadio this evening. The Mets are probably going to deal Steve Trachsel by Wednesday, the deadline for making waiver-wire deals.

Olney says the Mets made a very smart move (and I agree), which is that they started the process of putting Steve Trachsel through waivers before he made his start last week. So Trachsel cleared waivers (no one tried to pick him up), and then he goes out and pitches 8 shutout innings. So now he's valuable, and he's trade-able. So the Mets are (probably - Olney wouldn't say this for sure, but it's speculation) looking to trade Trachsel for a first baseman or a reliever.

Here's my take on the Trachsel situation. He probably ticked off Willie Randolph when he wouldn't go to the bullpen, and acted like the Mets were jerking him around. Randolph is big on "TEAM", and there's no "TEAM" in Trachsel. He's all about me, or at least that's what he's made it sound like while he was waiting for a slot to fit in. So Randolph is probably endorsing using Trachsel as bait for a reliever, because the Mets could use some bullpen help (although this hasn't been a big problem lately - mostly because the starters have been so good).

The other interesting note about the Wild Card chase is the fact that this is the time of year that teams play within their divisions. Unfortunately, this gives the Astros a huge advantage in the hunt for the playoffs. The Astros have just 12 games against contending teams the rest of the way - I assume they play the Cardinals about 6 times, then a couple of East teams. The Mets, Phillies, Marlins, and Nationals play about 28 of their remaining 32 games against contending teams - for the Marlins - their whole remaining schedule is against contenders. The Mets, I know have the Nationals, Marlins, Phillies, and Braves all 6 times, then the Cardinals for four, and then play the Rockies. Now, just because they're playing "contending" teams doesn't mean they're not going to win the games (and non-contenders doesn't mean they'll win - we all know the Rockies will cause them problems that final weekend), and the Phillies don't scare me, and really, the Nationals don't either. So the Braves, Marlins, and Cardinals series are the tough ones. The problem. though, is that the Astros are playing teams like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. They do have games against the Cubs - hopefully the Cubs are in a spoiling mood - but the Astros can go on a tear here.

One last point before I go to bed: In the two losses to the Giants over the weekend, Armando Benitez got two saves. This is getting ridiculous. I forgot, but last year, the Marlins gave the Mets fits, and Benitez was their closer. Benitez got 11 saves against the Mets last year, when he was with Florida. 11! That's the most saves anyone has ever had against one team in a season. That's ridiculous. And now he's back from the DL, and boom! two saves. What a joke. He's killed us as a Met, and now against the Mets. And the worst part about it is, as much as I cursed him as a Met, he's a really nice guy - and he's very gracious, and although he struggles with English, he grants interviews to the New York media...who have been very tough on him. It's hard to hate him. But he's doing a good job of making me feel that way towards him.