This Is What They Do

Offerman has no business being in the Majors, much less starting two games in a row. Injury or not, watching people like him on a one hundred million dollar team is exasperating. On Saturday, he failed to catch a double play ball that allowed the Marlins to extend the lead a bit more and yesterday, he did not hustle and out a ball that Luis Castillo bobbled. Though Offerman looked like he should have reached first if he was busting it down the line, he was out by a lot. I can deal with Beltran not hustling, but fringe player? Believe me, it is not excusable for anyone not to hustle a ball out, but is a guy like Beltran going to be bench? Those things happen, but for a player of Offerman’s stature, that should be the kiss of death. he does not have the luxury of making those mistakes. Bench players and all reserves have to play 100% all the time. Running out every fly ball and being sharp. That is the nature of their job and they do not have the benefit of doubt.

Craig Brazell should be getting the first base nod over Offerman if a need arose. He's a guy who's options you do not care so much about, but this is what the Mets do. This is why they are so frustrating to me. People might say having Ice on the roster or Offerman is no big deal, but if you look at real playoff team rosters, no one has two players of this caliber on their team. Maybe I'm fooling myself and the Mets have no shot at the playoffs, but give me a young guy who can play just as bad as an old, washed up player any day. Brazell, in fact, would look better than Offerman. He fields better for sure and can hit with some power and look just as bad not hustling down the line if he wanted too. The errors I can swallow, but a guy like Offerman can not afford to not play his heart out every at bat and not running that ball out was ridiculous. He is fighting his way back to the Majors and needs to make the most of his opportunities. There has to be a zero tolerance rule for something like that. I hope Beltran got reprimanded for his no hustle play and Saturday and Offerman needs to be demoted for his no hustle play yesterday. On a team that needs some energy right now in a series in which they looked flat, people need to spark the team, not deflate it.

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The Mariners have eight days to trade Brett Boone or he becomes a free agent.

"I think Bret still has something left," Hargrove said. "But sometimes you need to go someplace else. Why? Why does a fresh cold shower in the morning feel refreshing? It's not that he was too comfortable here. But sometimes new scenery invigorates people."

If they can trade Kaz for Boone, would anyone consider it?

Dave Littlefield has said the Pirates will most likely be sellers in what was one of the more surprising statements of the year. This is about the thirteenth year in a row the Pirates have been sellers. Perhaps even more astounding is that Dave Littlefield has a job after not having a winning season since 1992.

Minor update:

• Nofolk beat Syracuse 7-5. Anderson Hernandez continues his hit parade and went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, a triple, and two RBIs. He has .415/.442/.659 line with six RBIs in his first ten games at AAA. Eric Valent, Benito Santiago, and Ron Calloway each picked up two hits each and Santiago drove in two RBIs while Calloway drove in three.
  
• Akron beat Binghamton 2-0. Brian Bannister was the hard luck loser as Aarom Baldiris and Bobby Malek registered the only two hits by the B-Mets. Bannister went seven innings, gave up five hits, two earned runs, one walk, one homer, and struck out seven. He has a 9-3 record with a 2.23 ERA.
  
• St. Lucie beat Vero Beach 5-3. Lastings Milledge went 1 for 3 with a run scored and a walk. For Lastings, that was hit nineteenth walk of the year. Dante Brinkely went 2 for 4 with a run scored, Blake Whealy went 2 for 3 with a run scored and two RBIs, and Shawn Bowman went 2 for 3 with a run scored, two RBIs, his fourteenth homer of the year, and a walk.
  
• Lakewood beat Hagerstown 6-2. Ambiorix Concepcion went 1 for 3 with a double and two RBIs and Gaby Hernandez went 5.1 innings giving up four hits, one earned run, no walks and struck out eight. He dropped his ERA to 2.57 with another great performance.
  
• Brooklyn beat New Jersey 4-0. Caleb Stewart went 1 for 3 with a double, two RBIs and a walk.
  
• Kingsport beat Johnson City 7-6. Sean Henry went 1 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs and Nick Evans went 2 for 5 with a run scored and two RBIs.

David Cone is interested in some part-time broadcasting for the new Mets' TV network and that would be a great thing. Cone is very similar to Al Leiter and is very solid in the booth.

The D-Train ran over the Mets and Zambrano pitched well going eight innings and giving up three earned runs. Aaron Heilman came in to pitch the ninth and did a great job stranding a leadoff double.

Omar deserves the credit he is getting for some of the success of Washington this season. He helped put in a solid foundation for a team that has surprised everyone this season.

Floyd got snubbed, but it was a tall order for him to make the All-Star team.

Kaz Ishii starts it off for the Mets four game series against the Nationals and he battles John Patterson, who has been great this year.