The Metropolitans Thinks David Wright Is Good

Amazingly, the Mets are only 2.5 games out after yesterday's victory. Can anyone else think of the last time a last place team was only 2.5 games out of anything come September 5th? The Mets hanging around this late in the season has been a direct result of David Wright carrying this offense in the second half of the season. In case you missed this article that was pointed out to me by Benny, Jayson Stark thinks that David Wright should get some serious MVP considerations if the Mets make the playoffs.

DAVID WRIGHT: In case you hadn't noticed, no player in the National League has had a better second half than Wright -- who is first since the break in average, OPS, hits and RBI. Now consider that Mets team he plays for. They didn't even get to five games over .500 until Aug. 23. But suddenly, they look as if they might steal the wild card. If that happens, voters will be looking for reasons this team suddenly got hot. And those reasons start with David Wright. Period.

Let's take a look at David Wright's second half compared to everyone Jayson Stark names as candidates.

               2b  HR RBI  BB  SO  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS
David Wright   14  10  42  22  30 .371 .436 .618 1.054
Morgan Ensberg  8  11  30  30  38 .256 .374 .511  .885
Albert Pujols  14  13  31  33  22 .331 .440 .663 1.103
Derrk Lee      16  12  23  29  25 .284 .380 .568  .948
Andruw Jones    7  17  44  22  32 .269 .361 .611  .972
Miguel Cabrera 15  11  35  22  41 .317 .386 .575  .961
Bobby Abreu    11   4  28  29  44 .271 .372 .412  .784
Carlos Delgado  8   9  31  16  33 .298 .394 .620 1.014
Brian Giles     8   5  24  27  12 .310 .402 .468  .870
Chad Cordero - Yeah he's been ridiculous, but should 
               closers win the MVP?

It is just great to see David Wright earn that kind of press and with a huge September to get the Mets into the playoffs, I think he would epitomize the meaning of MVP and that is the most valuable player to their respective team. You take Wright out of the equation, and the Mets have no shot at the playoffs and is keeping their weakest aspect of the team afloat and that is offense. Throw on top of that some highlight reel catches and improved second half defense and you have what could possibly be the biggest second half for any player in the NL and what it meant to their team. If David Wright gets more RBI opportunities and gets moved to the three hole, he could do his best Carlos Beltran playoff impression and push this team into what most baseball experts would call an improbable run to the post season.

* * *

There are still some kicks in this dying mule. 35 year old Ken Griffey Jr. tied Mickey Mantle for 12th on the all time list for homeruns with 536. With all the injuries over the years, it is easy to forget that he was the best player in the universe through basically the year 2000. .

Sammy Sosa may just end up playing in Japan next season.

Keep your ears open around baseball, and you can hear some people speculating that former Cubs star Sammy Sosa will be lucky to get minor-league contract offers in the offseason after the poor season he has had in Baltimore. Any club offering him even $1 million to $2 million for 2006 seems a stretch.

So what will Sosa do? Some believe he will sign a contract to play next year in Japan, where he is still a bona fide celebrity.

As far as money is concerned, it appears Japan would be more lucrative for Sosa than any deal he might muster up in the majors. It could be sayonara to Sosa in the big leagues.

I guess he can take his Béisbol has been berry berry good to me routine overseas because people are sick of it over here. Also, with the lower level of competition in Japan and the lack of interest in over the hill guys like Sosa becoming an increasing trend, maybe Japan becomes the place the go to put up some decent numbers and make some more money after you have gassed out in the states.

Deion Sanders may be an annoying loudmouth, but he did dump a bucket ice water on Tim McCarver's head and he is trying to get athletes to donate money to the hurricane relief efforts and challenged them to help reach his goal of $1.5 to $3 million. Word on the street (by on the street I mean Kevin Millar) is Manny Ramirez is the cheapest guy on the Red Sox despite owning the second highest salary in Major League baseball. Maybe Deion can get him to chip in some cash since he is overdue on spending it on something.

ESPN.com names Anderson Hernandez as a potential call-up that could make an impact and the Mets look like their are poised to do so.

"I don't believe in having a lot of guys around if they're not going to be used," Randolph said.

He added that he would like to take a look at Anderson Hernandez, who is hitting .312 at Norfolk. He was moved from shortstop to second base this season. The team also might bring up an outfielder.

Of course that would be after the AAA playoffs of course. Today is the final regular season game and I'm not sure how long the playoffs are for AAA, but it is good to see they have their priorities straight.

Kaz Matsui had the best inning of his life in yesterday's game. He had a triple in his first at-bat and scored the games first run and followed that up with two excellent plays in the field in the bottom half of the inning. Overall, he went 3 for 5 with three runs scored.

"Kaz is looking much better," manager Willie Randolph said. "It might be the right time for him to get going. So that's good."

Insightful. I guess it's time to get Cairo in the lineup to get him his at-bats and keep him fresh.

"He's coming," Cliff Floyd said of Beltran after the No. 3 hitter came up with two hits, a run scored and two RBIs yesterday.

"I'm telling you," added Floyd, who got the Mets offense going when he lined a two-run homer to center, simply a wicked shot, in the third off A.J. Burnett. "Once that goes to the next level, I don't think it stops."

Minor update:

• The Norfolk Tides beat the Richmond Braves 2-0 behind an Angel Pagan solo homer, a Prentice Redman solo homer, and a Jason Scobie's sharp pitching performance. Angel Pagan went 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk, Prentice Redman went 3 for 4 with a double and a homer, and Jason Scobie went 2 for 2 and those three account for all of the Tides hits. Anderson Hernandez who is expected to be called up shortly to the Mets squad went 0 for 4. Dae Sung Koo started the game to get some work in and went three scoreless innings and Jason Scobie picked up the win in five innings of relief in which he allowed only one hits, no walks, and did not strike out a batter. Manny Aybar picked up his fourth save of the year and went one scoreless inning.
  
• Binghamton beat New Britain 4-1. Wayne Lydon went 2 for 4 with a double, Russ Triplett went 2 for 4 with two doubles, Bobby Malek went 1 for 3 with his fourth homer of the year, and Cory Ragsdale went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. Evan MacLane got the start and went 7.2 innings and gave up seven hits, no earned runs, one walk, and struck out eight. Anderson Garcia picked up his fifth save and pitched on inning of scoreless baseball.
  
• Vero Beach beat St. Lucie 12-6. Dante Brinkley went 2 for 5, Aaron Hathaway went 1 for 5 with a run scored, a double, and three RBIs, Jamar Hill went 3 for 5 with his fifteenth homer of the year, Derran Watts went 3 for 4 with two runs scored, a double, a walk, and an RBI, and Kevin Rios went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Blake Whealy had a rough day at the plate and went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts. Chuck Smith started the game and went six innings giving up four this, five earned runs, three hits, one homer, and struck out four and got a no decision. Felix Heredia picked up the loss in relief and went 0.0 innings and gave up three hits and four earned runs. Heredia appears to be poised for a call up and after all, he does have post season experience.
  
• Hagerstown beat Lexington 4-3. Ambiorix Concepcion went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, one double, a walk, and his thirty-fifth stolen base on the year and Jesus Flores went 2 for 5 with a run scored, a double, and two RBIs. Blake Eager started the game and went 6.1 innings and gave up five hits, two earned runs, one homer, and six strikeouts and picked up the no decision. Marcelo Perez picked up the win in relief and went 1.1 inning of no run baseball and did not allow a hit, struck out two, and walked one.
  
• Hudson Valley beat Brooklyn 3-0. Caleb Stewart went 1 for 3 with a walk and Drew Butera went 1 for 3. Waner Mateo got the start and went four innings, allowed one hit, no earned runs, and struck out four and got the no decision. Kyle Risenger picked up the loss in 3.1 innings of relief and allowed five hits, one earned run, no walks, and struck out two.

Aaron Heilman made up some ground after finding a role as a reliever and has the third highest inning total out of the bullpen and is only 7.2 innings behind Roberto Hernandez and only 4.1 innings behind Braden Looper. He has a 2-0 record out of the pen with a 2.72 ERA, 10.15 K/9, 1.15 WHIP, and a 4 K/BB ratio. On the other hand, Heath Bell and his 4.67 ERA has been a disappointment to say the least and looks like a thrower and not a pitcher so far. I hate that saying, but it really looks like it applies to Heath. He has some work ahead of him in the off-season

Huh?

Reliever Danny Graves, who was designated for assignment on Aug. 23 and cleared waivers on Friday, will be eligible to rejoin the Mets on Monday, and he is expected to be called up from Triple-A Norfolk.

"He'll be here in a couple days -- it might even be tomorrow," Randolph said. "There's nothing in his contract about it. We just told him we wanted him back. We want him to come back and help us."

Help you what? Not make the playoffs?

Mike Piazza still aims to make his return back to the Mets this season.