It's On

First, the Braves called up Andy Marte to man third base and this kid can have the effect that 21 year old call ups David Wright and Miguel Cabrera had to their teams when they were called up. He was hitting .276/.363/.497 with 9 homers, 15 doubles, and 35 RBIs before his promotion to the big club. Give him a month and he could be the best hitter on the ball club and could really spark their horrendous offense.

Second, the Philadelphia Phillies made the best bullpen in the NL East even better by acquiring Uggie Urbina. His firat appearance as a Phillie notwithstanding, he had only given up runs in two appearances out of his last nineteen. He has been virtually un-hittable since May 1st and had been sparkling filling in for Troy Percival.

Third, the Nationals traded for Junior Spivey as some second base insurance should Jose Vidro continue to be hampered by injuries and picked up Ryan Drese off of waivers. The Nats did lose Tomo Okha in the deal and Drese represents a downgrade. However, they made their team deeper and there is a chance Drese will rebound after being moved to the NL and resemble a Major League pitcher. If not, the Nats have other fallback options in the minors like to give another try.

As for the Marlins, we know they are on the prowl for something. They were interested in Graves and they were reportedly interested in Urbina. They have some chips in the minors to play around with and will be looking to make a move to tighten up the bullpen and they may in fact trade Guilliermo Mota if the situation presents itself and appears to be beneficial for them.

The good news is the Mets have plenty of moves and options in house to give a look at before they even need to explore trade possibilities and you get the feeling Omar is going to be bargain shopping to see what he can find that will be reasonable. With the flurry of moves and some more to undoubtedly follow, it is officially on in the NL East.

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Minor update:

• Lake County beat Hagerstown 4-3.
  
• Brevard County fell to St. Lucie 4-2. Lastings Milledge went 2 for 4 with a run scored and Shawn Bowman has finally remembered how to hit. He went 2 for 3 with a run scored, two RBIs, a walk, and his seventh homer of the season. He has finally cracked the Mientkiewcz Line. Evan MacLane continued his solid pitching by going six innings, giving up five hits and one walk, struck out four, and gave up one earned run.
  
• Matt Lindstrom finally turned in a solid pitching performance in Binghamton's 4-3 loss to Norwich. He went five innings, giving up two hits and one walk, striking out four, and giving up one earned run on a homerun.
  
• Durham handed Norfolk an 8-7 loss. Jeff Keppinger went 4 for 6 with a run scored and a double.

Last place sucks. Last night's game sucked. But at least the Yankees got beat again.

Piazza's limp wrist is improving.

Omar, let's not do anything too hasty.

A report on the Mets' Web site that the team is interested in Pittsburgh closer Jose Mesa is accurate .

Dan Perry likes the idea of Lyle Overbay as a Met, but at the cost of Yusmeiro Petit? I like the idea of Overbay, but last season was head and shoulders above the rest. He is 28 and is not likely improve. A .275 hitter with 18 homers and 88 RBIs is probably as good as it gets. While that production would be welcome, is that maximizing the return of one of the top prospects in the game?

Jim Duquette, Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for MLB? I would not be happy to see him go, but he deserves it.