There are not a ton of great match-ups today, but the Cardinals face off against Johan Santana today, so we will go with that. The Metropolitan's season may be a lost cause but St. Louis is certainly in the thick of it, thanks a bunch to Joel Pineiro.
Cardinals (58-50) @ Mets (50-55), 7:10pm
STL: Joel Pineiro (30, RHP, 9-9, 2.84)
NYM: Johan Santana (30, LHP, 12-8, 2.96)
You know what would be cool? If we had a Mets fan around here that would post stories for us, so I don't have to. Please put me out of my misery.
It was only a week ago that Omar Minaya claimed the Mets to be “buyers” rather than “sellers” but that was as much hogwash then as it is now. The Mets have 11 more losses than the NL East-leading Phillies and are 7 1/2 games out of the Wild Card with 65 games to play. Mathmetically, yes, they have a chance to reach the postseason. Realistically, though, it’s not likely. With four days before the trading deadline, it’s time to see where the Mets can cut their losses and bring in some talent for 2010. Unfortunately, the list of trade bait is pretty short.
The New York Mets are a steaming pile right now; a team in total disarray. It’s to the point where, as a Phillies fan, I no longer enjoy the schadenfreude. I now pity the New York Mets and their fan base. It is a pathetically-run organization.
ummmmm ...
As if now all of the Mets' secrets are revealed. Injuries, the Mets keep talking about their injuries. At this point, those injuries are just a convenient excuse. Even when healthy, this team is a dysfunctional mess, from the top down.The Mets do not want to clean house, some say, because it would mean starting over. But that is exactly the point. If ever a team needed to start over, this is it. The dismissal of Bernazard ultimately might be viewed as a positive step, if the Mets replace him with someone who can fix their farm system and start spending as aggressively in the draft as other high-revenue clubs.
But on a day when the Mets should have drawn praise for dumping a controversial, volatile executive — "a cloud has been lifted from over the organization," one relieved employee said — they again turned into laughingstocks when Minaya singled out Rubin.
All the sudden, Frenchie jerseys are flying off that rack. I find it all a little hilarious
When the Mets traded Ryan Church to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Francoeur, there was an outcry among Mets fans such as I’ve never heard before over a trade that I thought was a great one for the Mets. All of a sudden Ryan Church was looked upon as this golden boy, when in fact he hadn’t put together a string of six solid games in a row since April of 2008.At the time of the trade, I lobbied hard for Jeff Francoeur because I saw something in him that we haven’t seen since Darryl Strawberry last did it in 1990, almost 20 years ago. A 100 RBI season. It’s hard to believe that at a position that most teams have stocked with a slugger, the Mets have suffered through two decades of offensive futility. Not anymore.
More Mets anybody?
Mets brass projects Reyes as the first significant player to return from the DL. Reyes will begin testing his balky right hamstring by running the bases any day, Ricco predicted. Meanwhile, Beltran remains in New York, doing pool workouts and hitting off a tee. Ricco indicated that Beltran soon will have the bone bruise in his right knee reexamined. The assistant GM wasn't writing off Beltran for the season. "There's been no talk of him being missed for the rest of the year," Ricco said.Sheffield, 40, underwent an extensive workout before Friday's game to test a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since he left last Friday's game in Atlanta. Jerry Manuel said the Mets would place Sheffield on the DL when they activate Jon Niese for today's start if the left fielder doesn't feel good upon waking up, but everyone now seems confident that Sheffield will be okay to play and another roster move will be made instead.
"I did a major workout," Sheffield said. "I did the running, the distance from first to third, backpedal, running sideways - did everything. I'm pretty good."
Here's a good Mets story for ya ..
Johan Santana's 14 scoreless innings last week coaxed a lot of gamers off the ledge, but the New York ace took a step back at Houston on Friday night, laboring through a very mediocre 105 pitches (6.2 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K). It's only the second time in his career he's allowed a dozen hits in a game, and fantasy owners have to be concerned about his diminishing strikeout numbers (a mere 34 whiffs over his last 10 starts). Slugging Mike Hampton dug in against Santana, ripping a homer and raising his average to .312.
John Maine will get a second opinion on his injured right shoulder from Dr. James Andrews, raising the possibility that he could be done for the season. A source with knowledge of Maine's plans confirmed reports that he will travel to Birmingham, Ala., to see Andrews at some point in the next several days.
It's speculation at this point of course, but you just know it is in the back of the mind of every fan of the Metropolitan's.
Three words. Micro fracture surgery. I just know it’s coming.read more »Guys, Beltran is not coming back. I just have a hunch that he’ll opt for the surgery. Which really is the only way to truly heal a bone bruise as severe as Beltran’s even though the micro fracture king himself, Dr. Steadman, recommended rest. The problem is that rest has not been the wrong answer thus far as the bone bruise has not gotten better.
Now your going to ask me where I’m getting this information from and the answer is nowhere but between my dirty ears. But I’ve been a Mets fan my whole life and know that when the $h*t hits the fan in Met Country it hits at 100 mph. I mean how else do you explain a pitcher that replaced an injured pitcher getting hurt trying to beat out a ground ball.
In doing some research of micro fracture surgery I became quite fascinated by it. It would seem that creating tiny fractures in a already sick bone would be the opposite of a good thing but that’s simply not the case. And the fact that your up and running 4 months later is a bonus.
where oh where have my mets fans gone, oh where oh where can they be?
Fernando Nieve's run from spring-training waiver claim through two levels of the minors and then into the rotation has resulted in a trip to the DL for at least six weeks. Nieve tore his right quadriceps muscle trying to leg out a grounder Sunday in Atlanta, an MRI exam revealed.Jerry Manuel reiterated that rookie Jon Niese appeared to be the likely rotation replacement for Saturday's game in Houston. Nieve undoubtedly had been looking forward to that series, since he had been claimed off waivers in March from that organization.
Niese is 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA in his last seven starts for Triple-A Buffalo, including a seven-inning, two-hit shutout in his most recent start Saturday against Toledo.
