Fred Wilpon? Brilliant.

More Forbes fun.

The New York Mets were second at $824 million and the Boston Red Sox third at $816 million, the magazine said Wednesday. After that, there was a big gap to the Los Angeles Dodgers ($694 million) and the Chicago Cubs ($642 million).

Suck on it Boston! We're #2! We're #2!

The Yankees were listed by Forbes as having $327 million in revenue last year and a $47.3 million operating loss, up from a $25.2 million loss on revenue of $302 million the previous year. Forbes' revenue figure is after deducting revenue sharing payments, which the Yankees estimate at about $92 million. The team also paid approximately $24 million in luxury tax, which is reflected in the operating loss.

The Mets had an operating profit of $32.9 million, according to Forbes. Boston, according to Forbes, had a $19.1 million operating loss.

Wilpon is looking rather brilliant right now. At this rate, he is going to be up a billion dollars off of his initial investment very soon. A billion!!!!! Wilpon paid Doubleday $130 million for his 50% stake in the Mets back in 2002 roundabouts in October. According to MLB4U.com, Wilpon bought the Mets with Doubleday for $80.75 million in 1986. Let's round up there and say his portion was worth oooooohhhhh say $41 million. His cost basis for the Mets is roughly $171 million at this point excluding any other investment that he might have thrown into the pot.

$824,000,000 - $171,000,000 = a shitload of money. Since 2000, the Mets as a franchise have averaged a 15% growth rate in terms of team value. If that average continues, the Mets will be worth over a billion after the 2010 season and Wilpon will have made over a billion dollars in his investment after the 2011 season. You just expunged your coffee from your body through your nose? Don't worry, I did too.

Actually, all my crude math is very conservative because shiny new stadiums add a lot of value to franchise valuations. Sure, Wilpon put a lot of money into the stadium, but this is all still very, very impressive. Since he has been the sole owner, he has put another $23 million into the Mets bank account from profits while most likely taking a tidy paycheck for himself and his son as well. Wilpon has done pretty good from a business standpoint. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

* * *

Good teams take other team's mistakes and rub their faces in it. Last night was one of those games when it was hard to tell whether the pitching was that good or the hitting was that bad. Either way, Ronnie Belliard was playing a bit too deep even with a lefty up and booted a Ryan Church grounder that should have been an out.

A walk and a single later, Church crossed home plate and the game was tied. Some spectacular relief pitching and some timely hitting later and the Mets stood victorious. The Nationals are not horrible, but they are not all that good. Certainly sweeping them is nothing to brag about, but a sweep is never easy no matter who is on the other end. Even historically bad teams win 1 out of 3 games. Marginally bad teams do a better than that and the Nationals are surely not historically bad and are more towards marginally bad end of things.

The Mets are looking better these days and all the doomsdayers can settle down for the time being because this team is actually good. They are still the favorites to win the NL East and are still the most complete team in the NL East. With the Diamondbacks laying waste to everyone these days, I might rescind the statement that the Mets are the best team in the NL for the time being, but they could easily reclaim that top spot in a week or two. It is early folks, let's act like it and while we are at, let's stop booing whenever anything negative happens.

Whatever happened to the eternally optimistic Met fans? I thought we 'gotta believe' or some shit like that? I have thought the Mets were at least a fringe playoff team in every season since 2001 with the exception of maybe one season. How is that for optimism? I'm not all that old, but seeing the plethora of pessimism this year is certainly perplexing (say plethora of pessimism is perplexing three times really fast). The only negativity should be thrown towards Willie and the rest is all good so far and should only get better.

Klaw drops some perspective.

Wilson (NYC): 1 to 10. How bad was the Bannister-Burgos deal for the Mets?

Keith Law: At the time, I thought it made sense. Bannister couldn't and still can't miss a bat. If the argument is that he's going to be the one guy who defies the prevailing sabermetric wisdom about balls in play, well, I don't know how you can fault the Mets for not seeing that.

The deal looks bad now. Very bad. However, at the time, it did not look terrible. At least not to this Met fan.

Immy (DC): Great chat, Keith. Do you think Mike Pelfrey's start is indicative of his future development, or just a nice break from his disappointing 2007 and 2008 spring training?

Keith Law: I'm cautiously optimistic. He's been getting groundballs in his last two starts. That and throwing strikes are the two keys for him.

The 'ole compliment on how great the chat/book/hair is to get your answer taken. The oldest trick in the book! It did however work in this instance and it seems the Pelfrey meter has gone from cold to lukewarm.

Delgado looks done. Not can't play done, but done as a middle of the order beast. Though Willie hates to stack lefties, I would love to see Reyes, Church, Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Schneider, and Castillo trotted out there the majority of the time. Of course I am getting ahead of myself because Alou is not back in the lineup yet, but I'm just sayin'.

Martinez is all rainbows and unicorns.

"I am surprised with the way I am recovering," Martinez was quoted as saying. "It's going much faster than I thought. Everything is moving smoothly. The Mets know that I'm working and that I will not abandon them. I don't want it to be a long wait like everybody thinks."

No rush Petey. No rush.

Santana vs. Hamels? Fucking A!

"I don't even care," Hamels said. "The guy could have eight arms and it's not going to bother me."

Willie is gaining confidence in Smitty of late. However, is that at a good thing (he actually gets used) or is that a bad thing (he gets overused).

"Joe did a great job -- [he] got a big double play for us and made a great pitch on Zimmerman," Randolph said. "He's really whipping the ball in and going after people. I'm really happy with the way he threw. It was very similar [to last season].

"He looks similar to last year, but different. He's whipping the ball better, and that's key for him. He's able to pop the ball in there, use his slider. He's throwing well. ... When you're a submariner or sidearmer, the feel and rhythm of your delivery is so different. It's unorthodox. His mechanics were out of whack [in Spring Training]."

Right. He's popping and whipping. Everyone get that? That quote wreaks of someone talking about something they have no idea about.

It turns out Tejada is a bit older than his listed age.

The Astros' media guide lists Tejada's birthday as May 25, 1976. However, in addition to the birth certificate produced by ESPN, the Chronicle reported that Tejada's green card, driver's license and other legal papers in the United States list his actual birthday as May 25, 1974.

"Fact of the matter is that he plays like he's 25, so I don't think it really matters a whole lot," Astros GM Ed Wade told the Chronicle. "We're still trying to figure out Jose Cruz Sr.'s age."

Green card, driver's license, and other legal papers corroborate that he is indeed two years older? Don't you have to look at this stuff before you know...you start writing paychecks totaling $12 million a year? Not that I care or think it really matters all that much at this point. Maybe it would matter if someone just gave him a long term deal, but now? No es importante. Although, it does make Wade look a little dumber than he already did for trading for him right before he gets outed for roids.

Whether or not you think he should have traded for him is irrelevant and Tejada is still a valuable player, but Wade probably could have gotten him for a bit cheaper a few days after he did.

I like Ryan Church and he looks good in the two spot, but enough with the bunting. I get it. You can bunt when necessary, however, please do not get into the frame of mind that you are there to move players along. If you are going to do that, you might as well bat 6th or 7th so you can not feel the need to do that and swing away.

1st and 2nd no outs in the bottom of the 12th? Swing away baby. Swing away.

Can we talk about how weird it is to have your starter pitch from the stretch at all times and closer using the windup when no one is on base? When they brought that up in the telecast, I almost dropped my latest issue of Barely Legal.....almost.

Oh, and Figgy rules. One more thing, Willie did push the right buttons and he did a good job with the bullpen calling the right numbers at the right time and using Schneider at the end was a gamble, but it paid off. Good stuff!

Beltran is going to get boooooooooed this weekend.

There are two things going on there...

Manager Willie Randolph, an old-school veteran of the gang warfare between the Yankees and Red Sox, was not among the intermingling groups of front-office members and players. Not this week, and rarely.

To see one of his former lieutenants fawned over by members of the Mets organization probably makes every game against Washington an annoyance for Randolph. But that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon, and neither does the inexplicable chumminess between some Mets and the team that humiliated them only seven months ago.

"How does that happen? How does that become normal?" Randolph said. "I don't know. It's just foreign to me, that's all. I'm fine with, 'Hey, how you doing?' That stuff. I wish that we could enforce it more, really. They talk about it, but I don't really see anyone policing it. You can't force people not to talk to someone."

#1) I agree with Willie. Too much chumminess is not ok.
#2) Willie know quite well that the Mets front office would rather have Acta and is a bit miffed. Too bad.

Random Stuff 4-17-08

Johnny Baseball has not been horrible, but I think everyone has really, really high expectations for him in 2008. Since people have such high expectations, he has been a slight disappointment.

"It was the walks," Maine said of his unhappiness.

Indeed, the free passes continue to be a problem for Maine this year. He's walked 12 in 16 2/3 innings. No other Met has more than seven.

Maine (1-1) said he's not comfortable with his fastball.

"It doesn't feel 100 percent right now," he said. "Hopefully warmer weather will help it."

The bar has been set high for him this year and a mid-rotation starter would be a huge disappointment at this point for John Maine.

Also from the above link, Church likes #2.

In his second straight game in the two-hole, Ryan Church had two hits, including a solo homer. He had a hit and a walk in that spot on Tuesday, too.

"I love it," Church said. "I've been getting some pitches that I've been able to do something with."

Yesterday someone said in the comments (sorry, too lazy to look!) that Willie could be prepping for Alou and batting Church 7th is just nuts when you have Castillo in front of him. So, Willie could be doing some pre-Alou tinkering. If so...

Reyes
Church
Wright
Beltran
Delgado
Alou

Wow. That has some punch straight down to six and could do some insane damage.

As for Church, I was a believer. Now, it seems other people are coming around.

Joe Smith has looked amazing this season.

"I made a few changes in my delivery, subtle. I'm trying to stay crouched through the whole thing, trying to get to the lowest release point," said Smith, who opened with 151/3 scoreless frames last year before struggling and being demoted - an experience the 24-year-old learned from.

"I went through a little bit of everything. I started hot, went through the middle of the year struggling, got sent down, had to come back. Last year was a good year for me; I learned a lot from it," said Smith, who had a 6.43 spring ERA. "I was working on stuff, had a tough spring, but they showed faith in me. Now I'm going to do what I can to help the team win."

Smith is good.

Carlos Beltran, team leader? Believe it.

"As a teammate, I know, I see when somebody's not happy and I didn't think he was happy," Beltran said last night. "I tell him 'I want you to be the Reyes that you always have been.; "

First Los making bold claims and now this? Very good.

"I have to enjoy my game and be the way I am," Reyes said. "I can't worry about the other team getting mad because other teams they do that, what we do they do it, too. I don't care about that. I just care about this team."

Hmmmm...Methinks the Metsies are waking up. Maybe I'm looking into this too much, but I like what I am seeing.

"We don't care if these other teams get offended," Beltran said. "We're going to play the game like that."

Last night seeing Reyes at the top of the steps in the dugout going nuts felt right. I makes me smile like a five year old girl in a Barbie factory....or like a 43 year old pedophile in a Barbie factory with five year old girls... whichever you prefer.

Tim Marchman talks Forbes. Read it and like it.

It seems the guy might have been playing around.

So far, Beltran only has one homerun. However, he has 13 walks (good for 2nd in the league) and he has a 7 doubles (good for third). The patience is there and the pop is there, so the homeruns will be coming.

Jon Heyman goes over some baaaad deals.

Pavano's agent Tom O'Connell -- the fourth agent the right-hander has gone through in his career -- believes that Pavano would still be a desired commodity on the free-agent market this winter, even with his injury history. "Carl's a 1-2 starter," O'Connell said. "Those guys don't grow on trees. Those guys are very rare, 200-inning guys are very rare in this game, and they're the ones that make the money. And he did it two years in a row, before he got hurt, and I'm sure he's going to do it again."

Are you sure you are sure? I hate agents and their stupid spin. It generally seems as though they assume everyone is stupid. I get the fact that they have to say positive things about their player, but this makes both himself and his player that he is representing look stupid. How about just admitting Pavano had a rough time of it and is chomping at the bit to get back into the flow of things and is coming along great?

Is Tom O'Connell trying to be Scott Boras' evil twin? The sheer lunacy of such a statement wreaks of Boras.

Nelly Figs

I had posted this quote the other day about Nelson Figueroa.

"He pitched his butt off in front of Omar at the Caribbean Series," says one scout. "And he pitched like that all winter long. I know people see the name and wonder. But you see a guy pitch like that, and you say to yourself, 'Why isn't this guy in the big leagues?'"

He first appeared in the big leagues at 26 with Arizona and put up a 7.47 ERA in 15 innings with an ERA+ of 64. He followed that up with an 89 innings performance with an 108 ERA+. He got bounced around yet again and put up an 81 ERA+ in 93 innings, 132 ERA+ in 35.3 innings, and a 75 ERA+ in 28.3 innings. In 11 minor league seasons, he put up a 3.47 ERA, 8.38 h/9, 7.59 k/9, and a 1.23 whip.

Now, I do not pretend to be a genius, but I do know that Nelson Figueroa is worthy of an actual full time shot at the bigs. At first glance you won't see anything spectacular and you probably will not find anything spectacular no matter how much digging you do, but there are a lot of bad pitchers in the bigs. A lot.

         AAA            MLB
2002     3.63 (IL)     5.03
2003     2.97 (PCL)    3.31
2004     4.19 (PCL)    5.72
2005     No where
2006     4.38 (PCL)
2007     No where

You will pardon me if I just do not think he got a fair shot. He looks like a AAAA player, but his body of work in the bigs was not all that big with some bright moments speckled around. When you watched him pitch in his last start, you saw someone with a game plan who worked both sides of the plate and had the ability to pump his fastball up a mph or two as he did when he blew a 88 mph heater by Bill Hall.

The guy has a clue. Now, he is not going to win a Cy Young any day soon, but he can certainly pitch in the majors in this universe and quite possibly as a starter. While many people might be a little reluctant to think he is an answer to the Mets pitching depth issues, I believe he is. He is going to be like any other 4ish/5ish type starter with his ups and downs. When he is not in control of his pitches and getting a little help, he will get tuned up.

However, it is not a stretch to see many, many more capable starts coming from him. I do not think his Friday start was a one and done feel good story for one. I think he can produce quite a few more of those given a chance and is probably better than a sizable bunch of current big league pitchers.

* * *

Oh how much a different a day makes. Four hits for Reyes brings him up to a .273 BA. Sure his .298 OBP is ugly, but most of us know he is too good to not perform at an extremely high level. Wright is making things happen and is in MVP form already. Pelfrey goes seven and gives up five hits, no runs, and two walks while striking out four. He had one really scary inning, but he pounded the strike zone for the most part and is looking at a tidy 1.50 ERA in 2008. Duaner came back and threw a shut out inning and Heilman continued on his quest to prove to everyone he is actually good.

In a strange situation, the Mets fans booed Milledge. Booing Milledge? He gets treated like crap in New York and only tries really hard and he gets booed after getting traded in a trade that most fans hated? Weird. He did not seem to mind much, but it just really goes back to the fact that the Mets fans will boo anyone and everyone this season.

I was wrong. Castillo came back and despite Willie lauding him as the greatest #2 hitter ever to live, Luis found himself batting eighth. Of course, Church in the two spot was the surprising move, but if he wanted to bat Castillo eighth, stacking three lefties is a bit excessive especially when a lefty is starting. Also, having a guy who can poke 60 XBHs in the two hole is never a bad thing. It is unclear at this point how Willie will handle this post-Nationals, who are throwing a few more lefties out there, but this is encouraging.

Luis is the worst bat in the lineup right now and this team needs a spark. He is not going to provide that in his decrepit state.

Pedro is more optimistic than most, but there is no rush. The Mets have three really good starters and two that can do good job at holding down the backend.

Wow. That is absolutely terrible.

This one is actually not too bad.

Luis just came back and already needs a rest. He cannot play more than three or four consecutive games in a row at this point in his career and the Mets have him for four more years. I did not think he would be productive for all four years, but I thought he would be decent for two years. I am having extreme doubts about that at this point.

Sugary spin....

"Everybody in here knows Pelfrey has that in him," Wright said. "When he gets on a roll and pounds the strike zone, especially on a cold night, he's pretty unhittable."

I still believe!

"I feel like I'm getting more comfortable and more confident every time out," he said. "Even though the results didn't always show it, I felt like I was getting better."

Inane Parity Babble

St. Louis? Oakland? Baltimore? Kansas City? South-siders? Florida? Six of the top nine teams were supposed to be bad, right? I mean, small sample size aside, this season has been a bizarre season so far.

MLB           W  L   PCT  GB
Arizona       9  3  .750   -
St. Louis     9  4  .692 0.5
Milwaukee     8  4  .667   1
Oakland       9  5  .643   1
Baltimore     8  5  .615 1.5
Kansas City   7  5  .583   2
Chicago Sox   7  5  .583   2
Chicago Cubs  7  5  .583   2
Florida       7  5  .583   2
Boston       8 6   .571   2
LA Angels     8  6  .571   2
San Diego     7  6  .538 2.5
Toronto       7  6  .538 2.5
NY Yankees    7  7  .500   3
Pittsburgh    6  6  .500   3
Cincinnati    6  7  .462 3.5
Minnesota     6  7  .462 3.5
Tampa Bay     6  7  .462 3.5
Seattle       6  7  .462 3.5
Philadelphia  6  7  .462 3.5
NY Mets       5  6  .455 3.5
LA Dodgers    5  7  .417   4
Atlanta       5  7  .417   4
Colorado      5  7  .417   4
Houston       5  8  .385 4.5
Texas         5  8  .385 4.5
San Francisco 5  8  .385 4.5
Cleveland     5  8  .385 4.5
Washington    4  9  .308 5.5
Detroit       3 10  .231 6.5

In 2007 at the same point, the top nine was Atlanta, Arizona, San Diego, Detroit, the Mets, Minnesota, the Dodgers, Cleveland, and Boston. It is common to have some bad teams get off to good starts and maybe some of these hot teams in 2008 are not exactly as bad as we all thought, but this season feels different.

David Wright lays it out.

"Last year has nothing to do with not being able to make pitches," Wright said. "Last year has nothing to do with not being able to hit with guys in scoring position. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with our lack of execution. We're not putting away teams when we have the opportunity. We're allowing them to slowly get back into games. That's coming up to bite us."

......

As bad as things seem, the Mets' team statistics aren't horrific, either. They rank second in the NL in hitting with runners in scoring position (.310), trailing only the Brewers (.333). Overall, they are ranked sixth in the league in hitting (.265), seventh in ERA (3.84) and seventh in bullpen ERA (3.86) - all befitting a team teetering around .500.

The good news is the Mets will turn it around at some point and I am confident in that. They are under .500, but still have a rather comfortable run differential (yes, one win was a huge blowout) and join the Braves as the only NL East teams to own a positive run differential.

The craziness continues with the Rays scoring the most runs in the AL East while holding opponents to less run than the Red Sox and the Yankees. According to the Pythagorean record, they should be tied for first with the Blue Jays.

I do think things will start to right themselves, but this year marks the year of parity (or mediocrity depending how you want to look at it). It may be early, but you get the sense that some teams that you thought were going to be very, very good are not going to be quite that good and some upstart teams are emerging.

Gone are the days of Mets being the best bet to win 100 games. Gone are the days of Detroit being the team to beat. Gone are the days Tampa is everyone's whipping boy. 2008 seems like the year shit gets turned upside down and an inordinate amount of teams will be involved in a dog fight not just for the Wild Card, but for first place right down to the wire.

* * *

The players are taking notice.

Like Santana, catcher Brian Schneider was playing for a different team — in Schneider’s case, the Washington Nationals — during the Mets’ implosion last season. Before Sunday’s game, he said he was surprised by what seems to be the lingering bitterness among Mets fans.

“You can say it doesn’t bother you, but it gets to you after a little while,” Schneider said. “I’m not used to it happening on a regular basis like that. It was tough catching for Johan yesterday and seeing him get booed off the field. I didn’t think that was right; he’s a key factor for the team.”

The booing has become absurd. Any chance players choose not to come to Queens because the fans are douchebags? I'm not against a little booing here and there, but this is getting nuts.

Leave it to Timmy Marchman to lay it down.

By signing a contract, a player pledges "to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play, and good sportsmanship."

The American public, including that part of it that roots for the Mets, is bound by no reciprocal pledges to any players, and is under no obligation to observe any standard of conduct toward players that can't be printed on the back of a ticket. But that doesn't make it any less wrong to boo a player such as Johan Santana, who plays hard and well, keeps himself in shape, and behaves like a decent human being, and so does everything anyone has any right to ask of him.

I actually kind of feel weird to be associated with the many, many boobs out there rooting for the Mets. I like to believe Met fans are a better type of fan, but at this point, I look completely wrong.

Willie? Jackass.

"He's still a nice player, but let's not get crazy," Randolph said.

"He's not going to be in that tree all year," Randolph said of Pagan, who is also tied with David Wright for the team lead with 10 RBIs. "We've seen a lot of players come through the pike and do what Pagan's doing, so let's keep this in perspective."

From Willie to Angel. "I'm not impressed."

"I like Luis in the No. 2 spot," Randolph said. "He's still one of the better No. 2 hitters in the game."

Just let that one sink in. Wow....that is grounds to get fired in my book.

Petey is looooong long ways away at this point. I'm not terribly concerned either and I will speak more about that one tomorrow.

One of the best things about the baseball season? Joe Morgan chats!!!! I cannot wait to read his contradictory trainwreck.

Neyer checks in on Banny.

But Bannister has given up a .175 batting average on balls in play.

Major league pitchers typically give up a .300 batting average on balls in play. You figure a pitcher is really, really, really doing well if he can knock that down to .270 or .280. Anything under .250 is essentially impossible, at least for long.

Bannister has not yet allowed an extra-base hit. Yes, he's always been fairly stingy with the home runs; last year he gave up 15 in 165 innings. He also gave up 47 doubles and four triples.

Bannister's going to regress to the mean. On the other hand, Bannister's now logged 224 innings in the major leagues. He's 17-10 with a 3.66 ERA. Those are the numbers of a star. Maybe it's all been something of a fluke, but at some point we might look silly if we don't allow for the possibility that instead he's simply unique.

I was never a believer in Bannister, but it was nothing personal. However, not believing in him does not mean I am not loving every single second of this stuff.

Brady Clark? Banished to the Land of Wind and Ghosts.

Brady Clark is 35 years old and an eight year veteran. Basically, he has no excuse for making costly blunders. Your veteran bench guys are only there to play smart baseball. They are not expected to light the world on fire, but they are surely expected to know the game of baseball when they are in.

"I screwed it up," Clark said after the Mets ended up stranding three runners without scoring in that inning. "My instincts told me to go, and by the time I thought better of it, it was too late."

I get that people make mistakes. However, when you are in the position that a Brady Clark type player is in, you make the most of whatever small opportunities you get. Yesterday, he did not and made what seems like a game changing mistake. The Mets lost in many different ways yesterday so I am not pinning this all on him, but that was a pivotal spot where they had the Brewers on the ropes. In that position, he fakes breaking to home so he can draw a throw or takes a nice lead and breaks to home if Fielder goes to second.

It may be hard to concentrate at all times being this is a long season, but bench guys need to play smart ball to contribute because they are not always going to be able to do the things that more talented starters can do. Brady Clark failed miserably at that on Sunday. Double plays? They happen and you have to give some credit to the pitchers for executing. However, baserunning mistakes and hacking at first pitches while the pitcher is clearly laboring is inexcusable.

I can accept losing when you play the game smart. I can accept a starter getting roughed up every now and then when you play the game smart. This team did not play the game smart yesterday.

* * *

Sugar will be on Letterman tonight.

In honor of Jackie Robinson, the Mets will be wearing 42 tomorrow.

Every Met will wear jersey No. 42 tomorrow against the Nationals in honor of Jackie Robinson. Tomorrow is the 61st anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Cone will do fifty games for the YES Network and something about that feels so wrong. However, while we are on the topic of the YES Network, I just wanted to say they are a borefest. I jumped over the Yankee game on Friday  during commercials for the Mets game and holy crap was it terribly boring.

Boring stories, boring voices, boring play by play. Boring.

The infirmary report:

Reyes should be back Tuesday and Sanchez could be back later this week after pitching in back to back games.

More terrible rants...

"If Duaner Sanchez is activated tomorrow, I'll drive him to Shea rather than risk him taking a taxi."

Haha. Good one.

And the RANT OF THE WEEK!

"The Mets should have signed Carlos Santana instead. At least then they would get that eighth-inning song they're looking for."

Jackass.

Schneider feels the pain for his battery mates.

"It doesn't matter if I get four or five hits and have a couple of home runs," Schneider said. "It doesn't matter, if the team loses. Some people may not believe that, but it's true, because I'm back there battling with the pitchers, too. So when the pitchers have a little bit of a rough day, I do, too, because I'm back there working with them."

Overall, he and Church have looked great. Really good to have two solid all around players that can meaningfully contribute and represent upgrades in each of their respective positions from the 2007 squad. However, the Mets are neutralizing their upgrades by playing shitty ball. Not good.

Wow! LoDuca wants the Mets to lose? Why would a division rival want that?

Moises is coming back and is playing a rehab game in St. Lucie this weekend.

Also from the above link...

Fill-in Angel Pagan, who led off the past two games with Jose Reyes (strained hamstring) sidelined, lifted his average to .385 with a 2-for-4 performance Sunday against Milwaukee. Still, despite Pagan's success, Willie Randolph plans to return him to the No. 6 or 7 slot in the batting order once Reyes is healthy, rather than consider Pagan for Luis Castillo's No. 2 spot. Randolph predicted Pagan would be a reserve player when Alou is back.

Well, it looks like I was right. Not that Castillo did bad yesterday, he actually had some very good at-bats, but he is not a spark plug. Right now, this team needs a spark and it seems that Pagan has been delivering that whenever given the opportunity. Conclusion? I am no fan of Willie Randolph.

Greg Maddux says this is his last year and that is not good. I wish he could keep going, and going, and going... He is off to another great start and already has two wins. Seeing him hit 400 would just be flat out insane. At 349 wins that seems like a stretch, but you never know.

Jim Callis does a little Yu Darvish action.

"He has plus stuff, and plus command and control to go with plus makeup," one scout said. "If I had a big game, I would be comfortable with him on the mound. He's a No. 1 starter for me. Absolutely filthy last year, and he played most of the year at 20. We'll see what happens as the innings pile on his arm, but he would be 1-1 in the draft . . .

"We're not talking a 'blow them away with a fastball and knee-wobbling stuff' kind of guy. We're talking a kid with a projectable body who knows how to pitch and is still developing physically—and is really good right now. He still might end up with jaw-dropping stuff. He's still very young."

With Bannister continuing to defy all logic, I'm sure we'll see a new Banny Blog today so keep an eye out for that.