T-Minus Twelve Days

Draft day is barreling down on us and while some people still could care less about the draft and players that may never amount to anything and they may never hear about, it is becoming more and more of interest to fans. We love to see what new prospect is coming aboard the train wreck we call the New York Mets. Trying to predict the draft is as unpredictable as the next time my girlfriend will decide to let me have sex with her, but we love to try anyway. There is a bit of a consensus on the first group that should be drafted with two major caveats that could alter seemingly solid predictions. What will the status be of Jared Weaver and Stephen Drew?

Scott Boras is saying that the two will most likely enter the draft and Baseball America is saying they will both ink. In their pre-draft blog, BA said there was "significant movement" in the Angels negotiations with Weaver now that his demands have dropped to a $6,000,000 major league contract. That means the teams are $750,000 apart from the Angels highest offer and Weaver's amended demands. If everything is true, this deal has a good chance of going through despite the Angels refusal to budge over their initial offer. They just seem too close to let it slip away at this point. If it does go through, it could serve as a catalyst between Drew and the Diamondbacks.

Drew is leading the Independent League in batting average according to Baseball America and he would rank in the top ten for players entering the draft should he actually re-enter. If the Diamondbacks do happen to sign him, they will most likely be looking a little cheaper on their number one overall pick and may be steering away from Justin Upton, who would cost them a lot of money, but also is a middle infielder that might project as a centerfielder. Between him and Drew, not only would they be possibly profiling at the same position, the Diamondbacks could be spending over $10 million dollars on the two if drafted and that would be a big bill for any team to stomach before they even moved into the latter rounds and the Diamondbacks do have a sandwich pick to think about as well. Fiscally, it may just not be possible. Baseball America also mentioned that Craig Hansen is still in the mix for number one overall pick and he would certainly come at a cheaper tag and the D-Backs seem to have heavy interest. The Diamondbacks could potentially walk away with two top ten players before the second team even picks.

If the rumblings from BA are true, and the D-Backs will possibly look towards Hansen if they ink Drew, the Mets picture is pretty muddy. Outside of Drew and Hansen, Jay Bruce has been the only other name tied to the Mets and BA ranks him at number nine overall in terms of best players currently available. As John Sickels pointed out during his chat at Always Amazin' yesterday, the Mets tend to prefer tools when it comes to position players and Jay Bruce supposedly have five of them and fits their previous draft tendencies when it comes to position players. If the D-Backs shake things up by snagging Hansen, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Cameron Maybin, Troy Tulowitzki, and Ryan Zimmerman still figure to be off the board by the time the Mets pick leaving myself disappointed the Mets were not able to snag one of those polished position players or a close the majors closer. It will be interesting to see how this thing starts to materialize in the upcoming days

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Jerry Manual is getting a shot at the Kansas City managerial position and he may not have much competition with Art Howe also being a candidate.

Willie speaks back.

"According to certain people, I put him in a slump because I sat him down," Randolph said, apparently upset about sports talk radio conversations back in New York. "Just so everybody knows, just to make it official because you guys run with [stuff] all the time, I didn't sit him down. [He didn't play] because he said his leg was bothering him. Why would I give a guy with a 20-game hitting streak a day off?"

Umm, because you put your best hitter in the seventh spot. Until you show common sense, people will assume you have none.

Just when Zambrano actually pitched a good game, things fall apart anyway. Sure the Braves offense is just as bad as the Mets, but you take what positives you can. Only 84 pitches through six innings for Zambrano is the equivalent of a no hitter in my opinion. However, once again, shoddy fielding and no hitting does the Mets in. Bad combo. There was however, a Heilman sighting.

DL someone and bring up Victor. Nuff said. This team needs something right now, some injection of life.

Willie is frustrated, but is rather reluctant to shake things up. Sometimes that what needs to be done to wake a team up. Too many people are doubting themselves on this team and confidence is playing a larger part in these losses and anything else in my opinion.

I'm not sure what is more amazing. How many DPs the Mets have killed their potential rallies with this year or the fact that there are six more National League teams that have hit into more DPs.

The last time the Mets won, Kris Benson was on the mound. Hopefully he can give them their first win in five games. At this point, their horrifying play is starting to affect me personally. If I have to stomach one more Yankee fan letting me know the Mets lost again while the Yankees won again, I may kill someone. Tonight, I will turn to my good friends Bass and Jägermeister to make these games more palatable. If the Mets lose, at least I'll be drunk....right?