Jae States His Case

Ah, baseball on TV and the Mets beat up on the Marlins 6-0 and everyone played well. Life is good. Does anyone think Jae Seo is making Omar re-think his trade? Probably not, but he did look good. The enigma that is Jae Seo is a shame because he can be good. His off speed pitch is nasty and one of the best around when he is working in the high 80's, which he was doing and was regularly touching 89. When he he is hitting 88-90 mph, his off speed pitch is really efffective. Last year he was throwing 86 mph regularly and it really hurt him. He used his breaking pitch a bit and if he goes to AAA pitching like his did on Saturday afternoon, he'll put up dominant numbers. If nothing else, he's worn out his welcome with the Mets and at 27, could be solid trade fodder. Cheap and effective, much like Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Good to see Wright and Galaraga get off the homer schnide and poke opposite field homeruns. The Big Cat did it all and will make Willie and Omar think pretty hard about letting him on the team. If you can get your backup first baseman to come in and hit with power and save the fielders with great digs, that's a great luxury. However, with the Mets most likely carrying twelve pitchers, it is a tough decision. Carlos Beltran is just raking. Hitting over .400 and leading the team in homers, I'm pumped and I'm dreaming of MVP. He has the talent and if the top two guys can get on, he can get the numbers.

* * *

Jason Phillips is not a happy camper, but he should be happy that he will get a chance to start. They are bringing him in because Dioneer Navarro is not quite ready and they are pretty sick of Kaz Ishii.

Given the disparity in salaries - Phillips will earn roughly $330,000 this season - the Dodgers have agreed to pay a substantial part of Ishii's contract to facilitate the deal, which could be wrapped up today.

It looks the Mets will not be paying out much cash for Ishii and they only gave up a backup catcher to do it. It's worth a shot. I like Phillips as much as the next guy, but let's be realistic about his upside being 28 years old now. He is not a hot prospect.

Mets fans are the best fans for a reason.

"Maybe they like me. Maybe they wanted to show me they really, really wanted me," said Delgado, who grounded out, lined out and flied out at the right-field wall, all to the delight of 7,053, the largest crowd at Tradition Field since the ballpark opened in 1988.

"They were singing God Bless America when I came up to the plate in my last at-bat," he said, laughing. "Boy, oh, boy, I love fans."

Oh we do not like you. In fact, we hate you and your agent.

According to Newsday, the Mets have decided not to pursue recently released reliever Billy Koch at this time, according to senior vice president of baseball operations Jim Duquette. "Right now, I think we're going to go with the guys we have in camp and give some consideration to that down the road but nothing that's immediate with him," Duquette said.

According to the Washington Post:

Two club sources said the Nationals won't part with lefty Mike Hinckley, the organization's top prospect who'll likely begin the season at Class AA Harrisburg. Other clubs -- the New York Mets and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in particular -- are closely watching outfielder J.J. Davis and third baseman-outfielder Tony Blanco.

Buster thinks Roberto Alomar belongs in the hall and should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. I definitely agree.