The Shit Has Hit The Fan

...and splattered all over your walls, hit your dog in the eye, you slipped in it and subsequently rolled around in it, and it landed in your pot of chili and ruined it.

An ultrasound taken Friday identified an artery near Glavine's left shoulder as the source of the trouble with his ring finger, which remained colder than his other digits yesterday. Glavine spoke as if a clot is the likely culprit, but it's also conceivable that the artery has a "knot," which likely would require season-ending surgery. Glavine said doctors have assured him his situation isn't life-threatening, though it wouldn't be prudent to pitch with the condition and possibly jar loose a clot. An angiogram planned for early this week should offer a concrete diagnosis.

Make no mistake. This is bad. Glavine was starting to pitch better and was starting to look more like the pitcher from earlier this season. However, it is far from over for the Mets and their World Series aspirations. The lynchpin to the entire playoff pitching picture is Pedro Martinez. If he can get healthy enough for the playoffs, he will be the clear go to guy. Though the Mets lose playoff experience, it is arguable that their rotation for the playoffs might be better now.

It was clear that Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, and Orlando Hernandez were going to make the playoff rotation because of their current status in the rotation and their playoff experience. Steve Trachsel does not have any playoff experience, but has been pitching better of late and is second in the league in wins. Also, Trachsel does not translate well into the bullpen since he takes a long time to get ready. I really do not think they were going to include John Maine into the playoff rotation despite the fact he has been the best pitcher in the rotation since June 1st by miles.

I'd be lying if I said this was not a big deal. Pitching depth is crucial to the playoffs. However, heading in there with Pedro Martinez, John Maine, and Orlando Hernandez is not too shabby provided John Maine and The Duque keep pitching like they did in their last starts and Pedro is in fact healthy for the playoffs. As for who replaces Tom Glavine in the rotation and then gets shifted into the bullpen come playoff time will most likely be Brian Bannister or Oliver Perez. However, Omar Minaya also had mentioned Alay Soler and Phil Humber. The intriguing guy here is obviously Humber because of his stuff. Come playoff time, he could be a pretty devastating in one inning appearances.

* * *

Yesterday's game was nothing short of amazing. The Duque pitched a gem and showed why a lot of people were excited to nab him for the post season. He showed poise and cojones the size of casaba melons. Though not the most dominating series of three batters I have seen by a Met pitcher this year, it was certainly my favorite. In the top of the fifth, The Duque had runners on second and third in a one out game. He struck out Clint Barmes looking, Jason Jennings looking, and Jamie Carroll swinging. It was a spectacular series of batters and obviously huge being that it came when the Mets were up 1-0 at that point.

"He's a guy that bounces back," Willie Randolph said. "He knows what he needs to do. Sometimes you're going to have a stinker."

"Pitching behind in the count, bearing down with men on third and second, he's a master at it," Randolph said.

I've been getting the Mets Sunday package since 2002 and I have never been to so many good games and entertaining games. Watching this Met team play has been a fucking swell treat and there are a lot of positives to be taken from this team lately. Carlos Delgado seems to have woken up and the Mets desperately need his bat. Lastings Milledge is looking better. People have been unjustly down on him, but he has been swinging the bat better of late and actually used two hands on a fly ball yesterday. Aaron Heilman has also looked like he has been pitching with his ass on fire. In August, he has had eleven appearances and has given up runs in only one of them while striking out more than a batter per inning with fifteen in 12.2 innings of work with only five hits allowed. This team seems to be running on all cylinders now and gelling at the right time.

Fantastic.

A Klein High School baseball star drafted this year by the New York Mets was arrested Sunday morning after allegedly assaulting his father, a former Major League All-Star and Astros coach, during an argument at their Spring home, sheriff's deputies said.

Jeremy Barfield, 18, was arrested shortly after 8 a.m., when family members reported to authorities that he had pushed his father, Jesse Barfield, 46, down a flight of stairs.

The Mets picked up Guillermo Mota for a player to be named later from the Cleveland Indains in an effort to bolster their bullpen.

"Up until last year he was one of the better setup men in baseball," Minaya said. "Our staff, especially (bullpen coach) Guy Conti and (pitching coach) Rick Peterson, I think they did a great job with Jorge Julio, who had a bad year last year and right now is doing a very good job for the Diamondbacks. We feel very comfortable with our coaches and our staff being able to turn Guillermo Mota around. It's a move that has some potential upside and really is not going to cost us much."

You know I like prospects too much, so I'll hold off as to whether or not it is a good thing. He's been struggling for a while now and one has to wonder if his electric stuff can be harnessed in a month and a few weeks to be a factor for the Mets in the playoffs.

Zorro and Ramon Castro could be back tomorrow.

Randolph said it's possible that second baseman Jose Valentin (hamstring) and backup catcher Ramon Castro (ribs) could return to action Tuesday against St. Louis.

Omar is making some progress on the Shawn Green front.

While Omar Minaya added another power bullpen arm, yesterday, trading for the Indians' Guillermo Mota, the Mets' GM has also made progress in importing Shawn Green from Arizona to play right field, The Post has learned.

Cliffy is back to baseball after his injury and spending the last week in Chicago mourning the death of his 21-year old sister.

Floyd's parents adopted Shanta when she was 6. Floyd had a health scare of his own in spring training when tests indicated he was suffering from a kidney ailment - his father had a kidney transplant 18 years ago - but further tests cleared him.

Floyd went on the DL on Aug. 9. He is expected to report today to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to rehab his Achilles.

From TheJournalNews.com:

This was the Mets' eighth sweep, and this was their eighth straight home win, their longest streak since 2000.

The Giants are opening up their wallets for a big international signing.

Until this weekend, when the Giants forked over a reported $2.1 million for third baseman Angel Villalona (whose name had been incorrectly reported earlier by Baseball America). Ragazzo said the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Villalona has the highest ceiling of any player the Giants have signed out of Latin America since Liriano. The deal is the largest for any international signing since Joel Guzman signed with the Dodgers for $2.25 million in 2001.

Oliver Perez has put up two very encouraging starts back to back for the Tides. From BA:

Mets lefthander Oliver Perez has found the strike zone in his last two starts for Triple-A Norfolk. And the inconsistent lefty even flirted with a no-hitter Saturday, taking his bid into the seventh inning, at which point Charlotte shortstop Jorge Velandia led off the inning with a single. Perez threw seven innings, and allowed no runs and just one hit in the Tides’ 1-0 win. Perhaps more telling, he threw nearly two-thirds of his pitches (59 of his 94) for strikes.

Perez, 25, has struck out 18 and walked three over his last two starts, contrasted with eight strikeouts and nine walks in his two starts before that, which were his first two for Norfolk since coming to the Mets at the trade deadline.

Brian Bannister threw up another solid outing after his eight inning gem last week. The Tides won 4-1 behind Bannsiter's six inning performance. He allowed one a homer, one walk, and six hits while striking out five.

Fernando Martinez went 1 for 2 with a double, two walks, and an RBI in the second game of a double header on Saturday after going hitless in the first game. The Mets split the doubleheader with the Brevard County Manatees.