Giving up on the Mets?? Not me, not yet

Last night's 7-1 drubbing by the Cardinals could be explained by any one of: terrible, awful, disaster, gross, boring, ugly...so on and so forth.

I've heard many claims for trades to go down, to start selling the farm and some major leaguers in return for prospects with talent and futures.

Not me, not yet. And here's why:

It's the first of July. The Mets are 3.5 games back, and only three in the loss column. The Mets have the talent, but most of them are under-performing.

Here are some reasons the Mets won't make the playoffs:

• Pedro Martinez might be done. He just doesn't seem to have it, tipping pitches or not. His power is gone and he seems to be throwing batting practice on the mound.
• Moises Alou is old and injured. 15 games is all Alou has been able to play this season. He's on his way to returning to the Mets, possibly by next weekend, but how long will it last?
• The bench has been awful. Just...awful.
• Another concussion for Ryan Church and he's really in serious trouble. He has to protect that noggin.

Reasons the Mets will make the playoffs:

• Johan Santana is a second-half pitcher.
• Aaron Heilman is a second-half pitcher.
• David Wright is a second-half player.
• Carlos Delgado's days are numbered. He may not be cut, but his playing time will diminish.
• Omar Minaya will pull off another spectacular trade. I'm just waiting for it. I don't know who it will be for, but it will work in the Mets favor.
• Fernando Martinez will be called up in late August and have a Jacoby Ellsbury type of season.

I still think the Mets will make the playoffs. I know my father wanted me to rip into them, but I'm still confident in this baseball team, and probably will be until they're mathematically eliminated from contention.

Buy Dykstra's House

Do you have $25 million laying around? Want a new house...er..."compound"?

Well, you can buy Lenny Dykstra's house, now discounted from $27.5 million!

"It's a compound; it's not a house," said Dykstra, the former All-Star outfielder. "I can go for a couple of days and not see any other family members. I found out I had a tennis court I didn't know I had. And I had to buy it completely furnished. I couldn't afford to buy furniture to fill this place. Are you kidding me?"

Here's the link for the house. Happy bidding.

Oh, and if you do have $25 mil on hand, if you could shoot some my way, that would be awesome.

Early Morning Madness: Fatigued arm edition

Each morning, I wake up way too early, sit down in front of my computer, and rattle off the top three (or so) Mets related things that are swimming around in my head. All without coffee:

John Maine may have a dead arm.

Well that's just dandy, ain't it? Maine has struggled mightily for most of this year and while a dead arm can't be the cause of it all, it certainly could be a new wrinkle. Maine has only gone past the seventh inning once this season, and that was when he pitched into the ninth against the Dodgers on May 7.

Hopefully everything is all right. Losing him would be rough.

** * **

I wonder if he'll get paid minimum wage? Luis Castillo has apparently been tabbed as Jose Reyes' babysitter.

For a grown man to have someone around to keep his emotions in check is pretty sad. In the case of Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton, it makes sense, because he's struggled with addictions and it almost cost him his career. With Reyes, it's just that he's still very immature.

As I said before, I like the emotion from him, but instead of him using it to move forward and make the next play, he sulks and mopes around the field.

Castillo is expensive for the caliber of player he is now, but if he can keep Reyes in check and get him to perform at the top of his potential, he'll be worth every penny.

** * **

This article is just bad.

It's attempts at humor and wit are poor, to say the least. It doesn't even read like it was written in New York, for New York.

And for the record, I agree with Jerry Manuel that the Mets are the second team. It's common sense people. Not to get down on my knees and bow to the almighty Yankees, but they're a storied franchise. You can't deny what the Yanks have accomplished. Heck, I've watched them since I was a little kid at my grandma's house.

Some of their fans on the other hand...well, that's a completely different story.

Our second short tri-state nightmare is over

Andy Phillips, we hardly knew ye.

Phillips was DFA as the Mets called up Tony Armas Jr. to make Tuesday's start against the Cardinals.

Our first tri-state nightmare came when the Mets tested Abraham Nunez out to the tune of two AB's. Phillips was lucky enough to score five at bats with the Metropolitans, making me half right. Last Thursday, I predicted Phillips' tenure with the Mets would last ten at bats.

Good luck, Armas. Find some way to right this Mets ship.

TSTDIA: Cardinals 7 -- Mets 1

Let's see...
Starting Pitching: negative.
Relief Pitching: negative.
Defense: negative.
Hitting: negative.
Pinch hitting: negative.

When Andy Phillips scores your only run, I'm pretty sure it's not a good night for your team.

Steve Phillips should never call Mets games

Is this some sort of sick joke to torment Mets fans? Why must Steve Phillips analyze every Mets downfall this season?

ESPN exec: "Hey, we have a Mets broadcast coming up. Who do you think we should put in the booth?"
Other ESPN exec: "Haha! Let's give them Steve Phillips! They'll hate it!"
ESPN exec: "Genius!"
ESPN execs in unison: "Bwahahaha!" (manic laughter)

Seriously, Bristol? What do you have against us Shea Faithful?

Note to ESPN: Never ever put Phillips on a Mets broadcast again. You made a bad game even worse by making me listen to his "baseball mind" blab on about who knows what.

Ridiculous

The Mets are downright ridiculous.

That's all I have to say.

Halfway there: 40-41

With yesterday's win over the Yankees, the Mets completed the first half of their 2008 season exactly one game under .500.

The first 81 games were interesting. You never know what you're going to get with these Mets. One day you can get a pitching meltdown coupled with an offensive explosion. Other days it's dominant performances on the mound and a sub par effort at the plate.

The Mets will keep you guessing. So far their play has been decent, as shown by their record of 40-41. It doesn't seem new manager Jerry Manuel has done enough to light a fire under some of the players, but they do seem to be smiling and enjoying the game more.

The Mets really need to turn it on for the next eight games. They'll face the St. Louis Cardinals and their NL east rivals Philadelphia Phillies, both on the road, before coming home for a home stand before t he All Star break.

Their division is wide open and ripe for the taking. The Phillies, Marlins, Mets and Braves are all have a very good shot at winning the division. All four teams are within four games of first place. The last 10 games have seen the Phillies go 2-8, the Marlins go 4-6, the Mets go 5-5, and the Braves go 4-6.

With the Mets taking on St. Louis, the Phillies and Braves will face each other in the "I don't know who to root for" series. Still, I feel the Marlins are playing way over their heads and won't hold on for the whole season.

I'll come right out and say it: the Mets have a definite shot at winning this division. With tighter play over the next 82 games, the Mets can make the playoffs, and I think they will.

Remember me? The missing Mets

Have a good memory? See if you remember these Mets...

from left to right: Moises Alou, Orlando Hernandez, Matt Wise, Ambiorix Burgos, Angel Pagan

Honorable mention: Ryan Church, who returned to the lineup yesterday against the Yankees.

These five players have appeared in a combined 54 games for the New York Mets in 2008. Two of them have not appeared in any games...at any level.

Alou has played in 15 games for the team, and is looking to come off his third DL stint, possibly as early as this weekend. A habitual member of the DL and has appeared in only 102 games for the Mets in two years. Alou is often seen without batting gloves and may or may not be riding around in a Rascal Personal Scooter.

El Duque has appeared in a total of 47 games for the Mets since coming over in a trade from Arizona for Jorge Julio. He has not pitched at all, in any level of professional baseball in 2008 and has been in a protective boot for months. Look for the limp and/or high leg kick.

Wise came to the Mets as a free agent in before the '08 season. Two stops on the DL has limited his playing time to only eight games (seven innings) for the team, sporting a 6.43 ERA. He's lanky, and that's about all the info we have on him.

Burgos has only appeared in 17 games for the Mets since coming over on December 6, 2006 for Brian Bannister. Burgos is often seen wearing lots and lots of bling, if it has not already been stolen.

Pagan, who had a breakout spring training to catch on with the Alou-less Mets, registered 91 AB in 31 games for the team. He went down with a shoulder injury after making a spectacular diving grab into the stands on May 7th. He may need surgery, which would cost him significantly more time off. Pagan can be seen jumping into the stands and hitting one game winning hit for the team.

If seen, please call the New York Mets at 718-507-METS.

Early Morning Madness: Tantrum edition

Jose Reyes is still maturing.

Every time someone claims Reyes has finally matured, become a man, stopped being a baby, he goes out and makes a bonehead move, then mopes about it. This time it was a throwing error allowing a runner on late in the game. Reyes took off his glove, tossed it to the ground, and stood with his hands on his hips.

When the inning finally ended, Reyes' sunglasses and glove were on the ground again, which he picked up before slowly making his way into the dugout.

Though it's nice to see him get mad at himself for botching an easy play, he needs to shake it off and get back in the game rather than sulk and take it to heart. Just turn around, say "I'll get it next time," and keep your head in the game, otherwise more errors will come your way.

** * **

Oliver Perez was simply magnificent yesterday, and most of it stemmed from his brand new windup.

While it wasn't a drastic change, Perez now has a bit of a rocking motion, where he steps back, then forward and his whole body goes into the pitch. This is something new pitching coach Dan Warthen has added to Perez's delivery.

Here I was worried that Perez would completely fall apart if not under the watchful eye of Rick Peterson, and then he comes out in his second start under Warthen and pitches a gem. I feel that Peterson had Perez over-thinking instead of just throwing. Perez came out yesterday pounding fastballs, throwing 25 of his first 30 pitches for strikes, almost all of which were his heater.

** * **

And welcome back to Ryan Church, who picked up two hits in his return to the Mets.

As I've said a million times before, his bat and presence was sorely missed in the Mets lineup, and now that he's back and healthy, this team is poised to make it's move.

Also, I dig the new facial hair sprouting up around the Mets, especially on Church. Maybe it's time to regrow my beard.