Gone Fishing

No baseball for me this weekend and that is probably a good thing. While the Braves have not exactly dominated the Mets this series, it took two nice comebacks to make it interesting. Bookied pointed out the other day that David Wright wondered if any team won a division and lost every series to the second place team?

That is a pretty damn good question and one that is of concern. While many people may not fear the Braves, there is enough games to be played between the two that continued dominance on the Braves part could lead to an unfavorable ending. Sure, the Wildcard is probably coming out of the NL East, but that surely is not a slam dunk and the only sure way of heading into the playoffs is by taking first place.

The Mets are 8-4 against the Braves so far with seven games left. The Mets are 3.5 out and if the Braves continue at this pace of kicking the Mets around, they will take 5 of the next 7 between the two thereby erasing any deficit and essentially putting this race at a tie.

I'm not sure why popular sentiment is the Mets will post a better record than the Braves in the non-Met/Brave games. Since June 1st, the Mets are 30-32 and the Braves 30-30. If you ask me, this division might not only be heavily influenced by their remaining seven games, but may be decided by those seven games.

It is inexcusable to be pushed around by them at this point and the Mets need to wake up and smoke them in their remaining seven games and absolutely have to

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Craptastic.

Reporters screamed out questions, but all he managed to say was, "I'm Matt Murphy from Queens, N.Y."

And surprisingly, Bonds is the Anti-A-Rod.

"I just hope he didn't get hurt," Bonds said after the game, which the Giants lost 8-6 to the Washington Nationals. He said he had no interest in getting the ball back for himself.

"I don't want the ball," Bonds said. "I've never believed a home run ball belonged to the player. If he caught it, it's his."

Of course, A-Rod asks other Gold Glove winners for their mitts and collects them so it stands to reason he would like to have this momentous piece of history in his collection.

But back to Bonds' ball, the kid who caught it might keep it! I can only hope this is posturing trying to shake up someone who has the hots for the ball because if

I guess BP solved a problem for a lot of people. But what they are really saying is nothing is comparable like Buster said in his blog. Comparing what Aaron did to what Bonds did is like apples and oranges. Bonds is the best hitter that we have seen with our stupid little eyes and we should enjoy the ride as baseball fans and respect the man’s accomplishments. Unlike McGwire, his legacy is not just homers.

With Beltran back tomorrow, it would seem that Milledge is the odd man out. I think most of us believe there isn't much Milledge can do.

Milledge is hitting .400 since July 21, but that's not going to be enough to unseat Green, apparently. I think Willie's position is going to be that Milledge doesn't have the arm to play right. He said this last year after Milledge threw that seed to third base in one of his first few games. As if Green is Roberto Clemente in the field, wearing those cement shoes.

I did not get a chance to see today's tough loss, but my friend called me and said that Anderson playing in center attributed to the loss. He said at least one run scored that should not have with a real center fielder there, the Braves were taking extra bases on him, and his dive that injured him would have been unnecessary with a real centerfielder there.

Aside for the normal rest (which in the case of young players should not be much at all), Milledge should be in there everyday. Period. I'm not sure what is so confusing about this?

Swellicious...

The New York Mets announced today that they have signed international free agents Cesar David Puello Santana and Wilmer Alejandro Flores. Puello, 16, is an outfielder from the Dominican Republic, while Flores, a 16-year-old infielder, hails from Venezuela. Both players will report to the Mets Instructional League in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

I guess people offered Flores more, but the puberty-ridden Flores chose the Mets. I wonder if it was the Latin influence in the front office or just the all around goodness of the Mets.

Rough crowd.

How can you not love it?

By the time the latest Redneck Games ended Sunday, more than 54 arrests and citations had been issued on charges ranging from public intoxication to speeding, according to the Henderson County Sheriff's Department.

Do not fear the unknown. Embrace it and try and learn.

If you have not seen the Jake Brown exploding shoe fiasco, check it out.

Pedro got rocked, but you have to keep things in perspective. It was his first start back and he topped off at 89. He threw strikes and was working on stuff rather than trying to get kids out. If he is still getting shelled in his third or fourth start, then I would start to worry.

The scenario...

Smoltz is on the ropes.
Willie sends up Anderson, but doesn't announce him anticipating a pitching change if the lefty goes up.
Not wanting to waste his favorite pinch hitter, he pulls Anderson back and sends out Ruben Gotay.
David Newhan sits on the bench.
Pitching change occurs and Easley is sent up.
Easely walks...yada...yada...yada...Mets win.

My first thought was that Willie out Willied himself. My second thought was, "oh how cute! Willie is trying to manage". A solitary tear rolled down my face....but while Willie's thought process was correct to try and keep as many bullets in the holster as possible and not waste a good pinch hitter, why not use David Newhan? Why waste the guy who is arguably better than the one he did not want to waste. I can only think that Willie wanted to keep Anderson and was unsure of Cox's next move.

If Willie puts Newhan in as the waste bat and Cox doesn't make a move, Willie does not have a favorable match-up going on. At least with Gotay at the plate, he gets a good batter in there and then saves his new favorite pinch hitter. I guess the point is that I truly hope he did not send Gotay up there knowing he was going to be wasted and thought there was a shot Smoltz would get one more batter. If he did send him up with no thought that he was hedging his bet, his disdain for younger players is clearly clouding his decision making process to alarmingly high levels.

I'm off to Lake George for more beer and grilled meats than is fit for human consumption. I'll be back on Monday and I certainly hope the Mets will have been able to at least add a game to their lead on the field in the NL East.

The Mets' Fancoeur

A bit ago it seemed unthinkable for Mr. Wright to jump past Jose Reyes on the MVP charts. However, with Reyes cooling off a bit and Wright driving the offense at times of late and playing a solid hot corner, he has moved past Reyes however so slightly and may very well be the top candidate for MVP if he keeps it up.

Since April when he hit .244/.370/.311, he has hit .320 and slugged .563 while hitting 22 doubles, 19 homers, 61 RBIs, and stealing 22 bases. He is slugging close to 1.000 after the break and doing all of that in something the voters love. A push for the playoffs. Right or wrong, wins get looked at for the Cy Young Award and team wins play a role in the MVP race unless someone is so much more overwhelming, which Miguel Cabrera is pretty damn close to being.

As BP stated, he is getting more ink for his weight than his play, but just as an aside check out his comps through age 23:

1. Hank Aaron (959) *
2. Orlando Cepeda (933) *
3. Frank Robinson (925) *
4. Joe Medwick (920) *
5. Mickey Mantle (914) *
6. Ken Griffey (907)
7. Andruw Jones (907)
8. Hal Trosky (905)
9. Vladimir Guerrero (900)
10. Al Kaline (900) *

Scary how good he could be for a long time. If Wright and Cabrera both keep their current production up, it would probably be Wright that edges out Cabrera but whether he will edge out the rest of the field is another question. One thing that I'm pretty sure of is that Wright is probably going to finish in the top five at his current pace. In his rookie season, he finished in the top twenty. In his second season, he finished in the top ten. This season, he should almost certainly finish in the top five. He is a safe as bet as any to win an MVP award in the next five or so years.

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The Mets are just emitting feel good vibes all around of late and that good feeling just keeps rolling with Tommy getting his 300th victory. I know I have lost some faith in his abilities this year, but as Rob Neyer pointed out, 2004 was strikingly similar and he was able to reinvent himself and turn things around. However, it is hard to not see him struggling a bit more this season than he did back in '04. Unless Atlanta offers him a sweetheart deal, I can see him retiring.

Ha!

Rick SD: Do you think there is often too much weight and kudos given to individual stat data accomplishments in what is supposed to be a team sport?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: (11:48 AM ET ) Finally somebody that understands the game. You're right. Statistics are overrated. What you do to help your team win is what it's all about. These stats like OPS, it doesn't tell you what you do for the team. To my opinion, to help the team, you drive in runs or score runs. That helps the team. That's how you should be judged.

The Yankees want the 500th homerun baseball for a signed jersey. But hey, they are also willing to give 'a lot of things at their fingertips' and they 'think Clemens would give some stuff'. That roughly leaves the gap in value approximately $99,000 to $399,000. Sounds like a good trade to me! God forbid some poor guy gets to make some bank on a lucky catch. A-Rod can get in line like everyone else and being that he makes $25,000,000 a year, I think he can afford it.

Note to Johan...maybe Terry Ryan knows how to run a team better than you do.

One was play a day game after a night game, which Casilla can do because he's young and doesn't have the chronic leg and hip problems Castillo does.

The other: Castillo was Sir Slap-a-Lot. Casilla can drive the ball some.

Big Barry Lamar Bonds tied the all-time homerun record and though many feel strongly about it, I am extremely ambivalent. I do think it is a shame that he is not getting as much due as he deserves for being one of the greatest hitters and all around baseball players in the history of the game. However, that was to be expected as he is not an endearing character and he is not free of questions. Also, that Bud Selig with his hands in his pants gag was utterly ridiculous.

Pedro makes his first start on Wednesday.

Not so encouraging words about the Mets top two pitching prospects.

Fran (Flushing): What is your take on Pelfrey/Humber as it pertains to their prospect status? Any other prospect tandem fall as far this year?

Bryan Smith: No, I don't think they have suffered some huge fall this season. Pelfrey wasn't Major League ready and his profile was reading a bit high, but he'll be OK. I think I said it in a previous chat, but his fastball command and movement is going to allow for a lot of good starts, even with fringe secondary stuff. Humber is also probably a back-end guy, but I think Rick Peterson is going to really help get the most out of him. There are pairs that have suffered more this season, I promise.

...and...

Seth (Cambridge, MA): I'm not sure he's really expected to be a leadoff man in the longterm, but how does Carlos Gomez's top-of-the-order potential rate? I know he's blocked by Reyes, but I'm curious, for s's and g's.

Bryan Smith: If I was evaluating Gomez as a leadoff guy, I would worry both about his walks and his strikeouts. The walks are the biggest problem, as he falls into the Doug Glanville Rule 5 trap from my series. His strikeouts are acceptable, but I think the Mets might be best off trading Gomez and keeping Lastings Milledge for the outfield. Gomez comps too well to the bad column.

Well, that is certainly interesting. The Mets have a glut, but unless something really good gets put on the table, what's the point? The Mets would be looking for young pitching and that just does not get traded anymore.

This will make your head spin.

Ugly game by the Mets and that is all I'm going to say about that.

I went to the Muse concert on Monday at MSG with the Cold War Kids opening up. The Cold War Kids were decent enough, but Muse was simply a grand display of awesomeness. It was quite the show and it really reinforced my belief that Matthew Bellamy is flat out one of the best musicans out there. Sheer genious was spewing from that guy throughout the entire show.