Resulting move

To make room for Moises Alou, Gustavo Molina was optioned back to AAA. Brian Schneider will be available to catch if needed.

Game Preview: Mets @ Diamondbacks

The Mets start their west coast swing, starting in Arizona tonight. It's a 9:40 p.m. start, so get some caffeine in your system.

Lineup:
SS Jose Reyes
RF Ryan Church
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
LF Moises Alou
1B Carlos Delgado
C Raul Casanova
2B Luis Castillo
SP John Maine

Maine vs. Micah Owings

Here's the new preview style, blatantly ripped off from Scott Proctor's Arm:
Mets vs. Owings:
Reyes: 0-3
Church: 1-4, BB, 2 K
Wright: 0-3
Beltran: 1-1, HR, 2 BB
Alou: 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI
Delgado: 0-3, 2 K
Casanova: 1-3, 3B
Castillo: Never faced

Obviously, Alou is back, which means a roster move was made, but I'm not sure what yet. I'm assuming Gustavo Molina was sent down, and Brian Schneider will catch if needed. The Mets are 5-0 with Church batting second. I love this lineup.

Here, I'll start

With Willie Randolph getting closer and closer to the chopping block, at least in the fans eyes, I'll be the first to suggest this replacement.

Newly retired, former-everything, Julio Franco.

Why not?

Schneider almost back; can back up tonight

Adam Rubin reports that Brian Schneider has said he is capable of being a backup tonight in Arizona.

If this is true, and the Mets want to go with this statement, expect Gustavo Molina to be heading back to New Orleans while Moises Alou may be activated.

All speculation at this point, but it would be nice to have Alou back, as he might jumpstart this offense after their two hit performance after their finale at Shea on Wednesday.

The lefty lineup

When Moises Alou is activated, and Brian Schneider returns to the lineup, the Mets have an interesting decision in dealing with the lineup.

As of late, the lineup has been as follows:
Jose Reyes - Switch
Luis Castillo - Switch
David Wright - Right
Carlos Beltran - Switch
Ryan Church - Left
Carlos Delgado - Left
Angel Pagan - Switch
Raul Casanova - Switch
Pitcher

When Alou and Schneider return, it will probably be:
Reyes - S
Castillo - S
Wright - R
Beltran - S
Church - L
Alou - R
Delgado - L
Schneider - L
Pitcher

Obviously, stacking the lefties nearly in a row is not going to be good for business. That's all under the assumption that Willie Randolph sticks with his "gut" and keep Castillo where he believes he works the best.

My ideal lineup is as follows:
Reyes - S
Church - L
Beltran - S
Wright - R
Alou - R
Castillo - S
Delgado - L
Schneider - L
Pitcher

That makes the most sense to me, as it won't stack one side of the plate in row. Alou might not see a lot of pitches to hit with Castillo batting behind him, but that could be beneficial for the team.

It's not perfect, but it's worth a shot. Do you have your own lineup idea? Let's see them!

Before anyone asks

The answer is NO for Derrick Turnbow.

The call is getting louder

The demand is growing. People want Willie Randolph fired, and quick.

Check out this article in The New York Sun (via Faith and Fear in Flushing):

It's time for the Mets to fire Willie Randolph. They should fire him if his team sweeps the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend. They should fire him if his team wins all three games by a total score of 27-0. They should fire him if his team puts on such a display this weekend that the greater Phoenix area literally burns to the ground around them, lit by nothing but the intensity of their passion and brilliance. The man's time is up, and nothing can change that.

I don't subscribe to that fully, at least not yet.

If a team can take three of three from the best team in the National League and you fire the manager, you might have some explaining to do, but not in this case.

At this point, even if Randolph leads this team to the World Series, I think people will still want him fired.

SI attempts to predict the future

Sports Illustrated has a photo montage of the "All-Slump Team" through April 30. Robinson Cano is on the list, along with Ryan Howard, Ryan Zimmerman and many other players.

Two Mets on the list: Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.

Here's Beltran's blurb:

Carlos Beltran | Mets, OF
Coming off a solid campaign in which he hit 33 home runs, drove in 112 runs and stole 23 bases, Beltran has just two home runs this season and is hitting .211 with only two swipes.

Alright, understandable. The one about Delgado is a little more curious:

Carlos Delgado | Mets, bench
After Carlos Delgado dropped from 38 to 24 home runs over the past two seasons, Mets fans were hoping he would rebound by having a solid year. However, his start to the season has been troubling, given his paltry .198 batting average and 20 K's in the first 26 games of the season.

Bench? Is this a foul up, or a look into the future? Only time will tell.

Is FOX Sports trying to skew the results?

In Ken Rosenthal's article about which managers are on the hot seat, of course Willie Randolph is featured, FOX Sports has an embedded poll.

Here's a screen grab of the three choices:

Notice how Randolph's name is much bigger than the rest. I thought it was just a "preview" of who has the most votes, i.e. Randolph is leading, with Ron Washington in second and Gibbons in third, or something to that effect. Nope. Not so.

Washington is leading with 41 percent, Randolph in second with 36 percent, and Gibbons is in "last" with 23 percent.

So why is Randolph's name the biggest of the bunch?

Riddle me that, Batman.

Shea Stadium West

The Mets are heading to their second home, Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ.

Since Chase Field (previously BankOne Ballpark) opened as the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998, the Mets have played 34 games there. They have posted a 22-12 record overall, and have gone on a tear lately, going 11-1 since 2005.

1998: 2-1
1999: 1-2
2000: 2-1
2001: 1-2
2002: 2-1
2003: 1-2
2004: 2-2
2005: 4-0
2006: 4-0
2007: 3-1

If the Mets need to bounce back from a 13-1 spanking by the Pirates, Chase Field might be the best place for them, even if the Diamondbacks are piping hot.