Sound Decisions

On the pre-game show on WFAN yesterday, Willie Randolph said that Beltran will be coming back and forgoing surgery. However, by him coming back and passing the surgery up, it does not preclude him getting surgery after returning if it is deemed necessary. He will wear a protective mask and there will be some risk of further damage, but I guess it is not a large one.

"Our doctors feel Carlos is not at any risk," Minaya said. "I talked to him today and I told him we as an organization would support him whatever he wants to do. He is very convinced. He wants to be with his teammates.

"Surgery would have kept him out a week, maybe 10 days, maybe two weeks," Minaya said. "Without surgery, he might be able to play tomorrow."

Basically, there is still a bit of uncertainty. Of course, Beltran could come back and stick with the team for the rest of the year and I'm sure that has a strong possibility of happening, but for the jewel of your franchise, and a very expensive one at that, why even try? The guy would only be out for a minimal amount of time with surgery, why not just get it over with so there is no risk. There is buzz he can return as soon as today, but his concussion could still be lingering.

"I guess if it bothers me later on, I might get it done. But right now, I just feel I should be with the team."

Vlad Guerrero he is not. At least not this year, but it is not like the Mets are missing a Manny Ramirez type run producer. If the guy was such an integral part of the offense, then I could see how it is dire enough. However, the biggest problem as I can tell from him not being around is his missing his glove. They can close the gap between Ice and himself a bit with someone else roaming center, but the Mets seem reluctant to do that. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but if there is a chance that his return to the lineup may be short lived, I'm not seeing the point right now. The Mets did something similar with him earlier in the year when they did not DL him and it turned out to not make sense in retrospect and I hope this situation does not turn out the same way. The manner in which the Mets have handled injuries over the years has been horrendous and that is due impart to lack of depth in their upper levels of their system of impact players.

"You have to think twice about certain things, you have to think about your well-being later on," oft-injured left fielder Cliff Floyd said. "He's a reckless kind of guy. A lot goes into it. You just hope he's making the right decision."

* * *

Doug Mientkiewicz said he did not want to rehab in St. Lucie and if that was the case he would see everyone next year. Well it seems the Mets took a stand because he is going to rehab in St. Lucie. Why are these Major League ball players too good for rehab stints to take some cuts in some game situations? I'm not sure what has ballooned faster, egos or salaries.

"He knew he needed to get at-bats. There's no way he was going to be activated without getting some at-bats," Mets GM Omar Minaya said.

Jae Seo made a big statement with his second gem in as many starts since being recalled from the AAA Norfolk and Steve Trachsel's return to Queens has been delayed for now.

"It's just a matter of, right now, our rotation's pretty set," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "Jae Seo's been throwing the ball well and we're not going to go to a six-man rotation. The math is easy."

Nothing is easy for you Willie.

"What am I going to tell them? To put me in Pedro [Martinez's] spot?" Trachsel said. "We're in a good situation with six starters. I'm ready to go. That in itself is a big thing."

Steve is a professional, that's for sure. Anyone need a veteran that could help in a stretch run? I'm sure he passed through waivers since he has been injured.

"What am I going to do?" said Trachsel. "Tell them I'll take Pedro's spot?"

Kevin Czerwinski has a piece on Mike Jacobs on Mets.com.

One National League scout who has seen a great deal of Jacobs in the last three seasons says he has doubts about whether he could be an everyday player in the big leagues, going on to add that that he'd be a good backup behind the plate and at first as well as a solid bat off the bench.

"He can hit lefty pitching," the scout said. "If he can do that being left-handed he can fill a role coming off the bench for a club."

He dices, he slices, and he chops.

Minor update:

• Norfolk beat Columbus 9-0. Angel Pagan went 3 for 5 with a run scored and stole two bases notching his 25th and 26th on the year, Anderson Hernandez went 1 for 5 with two runs scored, a triple, an RBI, and his 21st stolen base in 47 games in AAA after stealing 11 in 66 games at Binghamton, Eric Valent went 1 for 3 with a run scored, an RBI, and two walks, Brian Daubach hit his 15th homer on the year and knocked in three runs, and Prentice Redman drove in two runs. Neal Musser bested Hideo Nomo who did not make it out of the fifth and walked five batters. Musser went six innings allowing four hits, two walks, no runs, and struck out seven. Tim Hamulack pitched a scoreless inning and now has thrown 31.1 innings in AAA and has given up twenty hits and eight walks.
  
• Binghamton dropped both ends of double header to Portland for the second day in a row. In game one, Binghamton lost 6-5. Lastings Milledge went 0 for 3 with a run scored and a walk, Wayne Lydon went 2 for 3 with a run scored, and Jonathan Slack went 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored. Mike Jacobs extended his hitting steak to 20 games by going 1 for 3 with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk. Jerrod Riggan took the loss by surrendering three unearned runs in .2 innings of work and walked three batters and allowed two hits. In game two, the B-Mets lost 9-3. Lastings Milledge went 1 for 3 with an RBI, Mike Jacobs extended his hitting streak to 21 games by going 2 for 3 with a double, and Bobby Malek went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Ivan Maldonado Oquendo took the loss and is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA.
  
• Hagerstown beat Hickory 1-0. Russ Triplett went 1 for 3 with a triple and the games only RBI. Michael Devaney picked up the win by going six innings allowing only two hits and a walk while striking out two. He is now 7-4 with a 4.08 ERA. Marcelo Perez got the save and pitched one inning of relief.
  
• Brooklyn beat New Jersey 3-2 in extra innings. Caleb Stewart went 1 for 4 and hit is eighth homer of the year and Matthew Anderson went 1 for 4 and hit his first homer of the year. Robert Paulk went two innings in relief and struck out three to pick up his second win and drop his ERA to 0.71.
  
• The GCL Mets lost to the GCL Marlins 6-3. Jose Castro went 3 for 4 with a walk and Yasmil Bucce went 2 for 2 with a double. Robert Manuel took his first loss on the year and got roughed up in 6.1 innings of work giving up nine hits, six runs, four earned runs, and struck out five. He is now 7-1 with a 2.31 ERA.

The Prospect Hot Sheet has returned.

11. Jeremy Hermida, of, Marlins (Double-A Carolina)
Hermida continues to be a walk machine. He now has 108 free passes in 112 games to go along with 17 home runs, 22 stolen bases and a near-1.000 OPS.

Some people use Playboy magazines when using their body like an amusement park and Billy Beane probably looks at that line of 108 walks in 112 games.

13. Lastings Milledge, of, Mets (Double-A Binghamton)
Continuing to transform from a tools king to a complete baseball player, Milledge has improved his plate discipline at Double-A, leading (not surprisingly) to more hits and better power (.547 slugging in August).

16. Yusmeiro Petit, rhp, Mets (Double-A Binghamton)
A physical doppelganger of Bartolo Colon, Petit has recovered from a slow start in the Eastern League by going 3-0, 1.57 in three August starts while allowing just 11 hits in 23 innings. Petit's 118-18 strikeout-walk ratio is among the best in the minors.

Nice.

Alex Gordon is seeking Stephen Drew money from the Kansas City Royals.

The club is believed to have offered a $3.8 million signing bonus, which is $400,000 more than catcher Jeff Clement, the No. 3 overall pick, received from Seattle.

Gordon appears to want a deal similar to what shortstop Steven Drew received in May from Arizona after negotiations dragged on for nearly a year — $5.5 million in guaranteed money, including a $4 million bonus spread over four years and an immediate spot on the 40-man organizational roster.

Every year the top pitcher and top hitter are going to point to previous season's picks and their bonuses and request that money regardless if their skill is comparable. I'm not saying Gordon is not as good as Drew in this case, but the draft is in dire need of MLB Baseball to step in as it is spiraling out of control. There are five or six guys looking for $4,000,0000 or more this year which is just absurd.

Cameron Maybin is seeking $4,000,000 and the Tigers are offering $2,750,000.

Lloyd McClendon sucks.

"He's a good kid. That stuff is over. I'm done with that."

My excitement just fizzled out. I was ready for some mudslinging.

The Mets inched to 3.5 games out of the Wild Card lead and Bob Klapisch tries to make sense of it all.

Is there really a September hot streak waiting to be hatched at Shea, the one GM Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph speak so optimistically about? Or are the Mets destined to finish out the summer at exactly their current speed - winning slightly more than half their games, showing occasional flashes of excellence, but otherwise dooming themselves with that sluggish offense?

Home sweet home.

The always honest Cliff Floyd speaks out about Beltran wearing a protective mask.

"I would think not, because the littlest thing on my hat throws me off," Floyd said. "A lot goes in to that. Richard Hamilton doesn't have to have no damn glasses on when he's playing on Sundays. What, are you not going to play him on Sundays? Saturdays? I just think it would be hard."

However, he does also commend him for attempting to come back so soon.

"It says a lot, man. In this game, a lot of things happen over the course of the season," Floyd said. "You have to listen to your body and he's listening to his body. His body is letting him know he's capable of playing.

"Instead of taking the easy way out and saying, 'I'll come back in spring training,' he's saying, 'I can help this team,' and it just goes to show you what type of person he is."

Aaron Hathaway is hot and Bill Whitehead has it covered.

No St. Lucie player is swinging a hotter bat right now than Aaron Hathaway, and the Mets catcher knows why: He's free of injuries.

"Injuries. That pretty much sums it up," said the 22-year-old Hathaway.