Where Do They Rank?

Once again, I do realize you cannot win every game, but this game was the equivalent to chewing on tin foil. In a game where Kevin Millwood should have been tattooed, he no-hits the Mets into the fifth. Piazza is cold as ice and the entire offense is cold as ice except for Kaz who went 2 for 4. The only good thing was that Howe finally used frick and frack in a situation that the Mets were behind. This is a spot that usually Moreno and Parra would take, but hopefully they start seeing action when the Mets are winning. Unfortunately those two fools could not even make it through two complete innings. Stanton went one inning giving up one run and Franco went 1/3 innings giving up two runs. Howe had to waste Bottalico for 2/3 innings to bail Franco's sorry ass out. Those two blow. They blow big time.

Our ace is on the mound today and the Mets need a big game out of him and he needs some runs from the offense. I'm feeling a win today.

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The Mets K/BB ratio is ranked 24th in the majors with a 1.69.

Their WHIP is ranked 10th in the league with 1.35.

They are ranked 18th in walks allowed.

They are ranked 27th in strikeouts.

They have the fourth lowest .BAA and the third lowest OPS.

They are ranked 7th in the least hits allowed.

They came into Friday's game with a 3.70 ERA which is good for 1st.

Their staff has only one complete game (and it was a beauty).

They have given up the 3rd least homeruns.

The Mets would have two guys ranked in the top ten of ERAs if Al Leiter had two or three more innings and they would have had three in the top twenty.

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Yusmeiro Petit got his first high A ball win by going six innings, allowing only one hit, walking two and striking out six. His ERA is 0.77 in three starts. Oh, and Lastings Milledge managed to go two for five with triple in his debut. Not too shabby for a bunch of teenagers.

"Aarom" Baldiris is getting some attention from Baseball America's Daily Dish.

Class A St. Lucie third baseman Aarom Baldiris went 3-for-4 last night, pushing his average to .306. Rated the Mets' second-best third baseman behind Triple-A Norfolk's David Wright, Baldiris has hit over .300 in all but one of his six minor league stops.

Also, from mets.com:
Class A St. Lucie third baseman Aarom Baldiris is hitting .347 [50-for-144] with 18 RBIs over his last 35 games

First of all, what the heck is his name? I always thought it was Aaron Baldiris.

Second, can someone say trade bait? He's not a third baseman long term unless he develops power (which does not seem likely), but he can be a nice guy to have at second base and hit #2 or #7 in the order.

Phil Rogers has some theories as to what is wrong with Barry Zito.

From the article, here is a quote from Johnny Damon on the Red Sox stealing signs at Fenway.

At least one scout has suggested that he's developed a flaw in his delivery that tips off that pitch. His changeup got hit so hard in a recent start at Fenway Park that some wondered if the Red Sox might be stealing signs.

"That makes us laugh, because we're not the brightest of guys over here,'' Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon said. "We're not smart enough to do that. We didn't know what was coming.''

A classic quote from Captain Caveman.

Carlos Delgado is staying put. He will not waive his no trade clause.

The same Mike Maroth that lost twenty games last year one hit the Yankees last night. Good stuff. Also of note in the game, the Javier Vazquez got blasted. His ERA is now 3.95 and the Yankees are very close to having no starters with an ERA under 4.00. El Duque only has one start so he does not count, but I expect his ERA to be over 4.00 after his next start or two. This is something that would concern me if I was a Yankee fan. They may be able to beat up on bad pitching, but come playoff time and solid staffs it could be rude awakening.

Kris Benson is sure driving up his price. He has not gone less than seven innings in his last six starts. He has only surrendered more than two runs once and walked away with giving up one earned run three times. Mr. Benson would look great anchoring the back end of the Mets rotation.

When will the Yankees realize that they have no real prospects that anyone wants and stop trying to pawn off their crap to other teams for all-stars.

One AL scout said Class A third baseman Eric Duncan has "the most upside" but said the Yankees have "no David Wright and no Scott Kazmir," referring to top Mets prospects.

Jose on his hammy:

"Right now I don't want to put too much stress on my leg," Reyes said. "I don't want to push it. Last year I'd make a triple, but I have a lot of doubles this year with my leg (because) I don't want to get injured again. I want to stay with the team."

Get this kid some help in the off season and it better be the best of the best.