Link: This article is beyond crazy

Read this: Santana is Flushing away his talent by Ian O’Connor …and then come back here.

Reading that article was akin to O’Connor reaching into my brain, ripping out all the journalism ethics and stomping on it with metal cleats.  Writing about what you assume a player would do if his water was spiked with truth serum?  This isn’t a Harry Potter novel (though I love those).

It’s one thing to suggest that Santana would have won on a different team or with a different rotation or players behind him, but to suggest that he thinks he is “flushing away his talent” by pitching in Queens is just wrong.  Truth serum doesn’t exist.  Both Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez said that they wouldn’t go back on their contracts or wished they signed elsewhere, but O’Connor simply doesn’t believe them.

Maybe O’Connor should spend more time perfecting his truth serum than making assumptions about what players might be thinking, because that article is a waste of time.

From commenter @TweetTheMets, who truly hits the nail on the head:

What's truly puzzling about this column is the timing. O'Connor writes this off a loss that almost entirely belonged to Santana. Sure, teams can be put in a 4-0 hole in the 1st inning and hope his teammates bail him out, but it's far from routine. (Well, unless you pay for the kind of lineup the Yankees routinely put forth.) As much as baseball is a team sport, the fact is the starting pitcher has the most influence over its outcome. Sure, fielding is important, and park factors, and BABIP. But it almost always comes back to the starting pitcher. Now, if the pitcher had 27 wins on an awful team (Steve Carlton, anyone?) he'd be "wasting his talent" on that team. If he couldn't get to 27 wins because he kept losing games 1-0 and 2-1, he, too, would have valid complaints. But how does it make sense for Ian O'Connor to be waxing poetic about Santana and his talent and how it's out of place on the Mets the day after a stinker? If it's July, the team is out of contention, and Santana is throwing gem after gem, go ahead, write about how frustrating it must be to be a great player having a great season for a terrible team. I'm sure that column has never been written before.

Guess the Met [Solved]

The rules are easy: I post a Mets player photo, but only reveal a tiny part of the image.  From there, your goal is to try and guess which player the photo is of.

No prizes, but pride and honor is on the line.

Here is today’s Guess the Met… Good luck!Who is this Met?  Post your answers in the comments!

Answer: This Met is… Jon Niese!

Manuel’s Musing

“We appeared unprepared. I have to
take responsibility.”

-Jerry Manuel on the Mets facing Livan Hernandez

Game Recap: Nationals 5 – Mets 2

Oh, Livan!

The Good

Jeff Francoeur continued his torrid hitting pace, with a triple and a single.  He’s now batting .476 on the season.  Oh yeah, and he walked again.  His OBP is .538.

Mike Jacobs homered.  Practically the whole reason Jacobs is still relevant is that he can mash, if and when he connects.  Well, he connected for the Mets only two runs of the game, a 2-run home run in the 8th inning.

The bullpen.  Raul Valdes made his major league debut and Ryota Igarashi and Francisco Rodriguez all turned in scoreless innings.

Johan Santana after the first inning.  From the second to fifth innings, Santana allowed only three hits and one earned run.  Too bad about the first frame.

The Bad & Ugly

Santana’s first inning.  A leadoff triple, two walks, a blast from Josh Willingham and some replay later, the Mets trailed 4-0 after a grand slam.  The Mets never recovered.

Josh Willingham is the newest Met killer.  The Mets should trade for him and stash him away in Triple-A forever.  Get Willie Harris, too.

The Mets offense.  Livan Hernandez tossed seven shutout innings, allowing only five hits and needing just 88 pitches.  When they got runners on, they did nothing with them.  “Punchless” is a good term to use.

This game was over in the first inning.

Game Ball

Raul Valdes, why not?

On Deck

Monday is an off day for the Mets as they travel out to Colorado for their first road trip starting Tuesday night at 8:15.

Game Chat: WAS @ NYM [Game 6]

Join in and chat with your fellow Mets fans!

Sorry, all. Meebo died today.

Rubin: Green could be headed to DL, Valdes could get call [Updated]

Update – 11:50 a.m.: Clint Everts has been DFA’d to make room for Valdes on the 40-man roster.

Update – 10:45 a.m.: It’s official.  Green to DL, Valdes called up.

Sean Green, who according to a team source, has been dealing with a torn muscle in his rib cage, could be heading to the disabled lists, writes Adam Rubin.  He notes that left-hander Raul Valdes, who is on loan from the Mexican League, could get the call to replace Green.

If Green has been dealing with a tear in his rib cage, why did he come north with the Mets?

Either way, good for Valdes.  Imagine that feeling?  One month you’re pitching for Tabasco in the Mexican League and the next, after a short and decent spring training, you’re on the brink of pitching in the major leagues in the biggest market in the country.  Crazy.

Lineup [Game 6]

1. Jose Reyes – SS
2. Alex Cora – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Jason Bay – LF
5. Mike Jacobs – 1B
6. Jeff Francoeur – RF
7. Gary Matthews Jr. – CF
8. Rod Barajas – C
9. Johan Santana – LHP

Question: Do you want to see the opposing team’s lineup, or is the Mets enough?

Game Recap: Nationals 4 – Mets 3

Willie F*****’ Harris.

The Good

Welcome back, Jose Reyes.  Reyes looked a little rusty to start, but made a nice play in the 9th and followed that up with a single to start a failed rally in the bottom half of the inning.  Just glad to have him back.

Jeff Francoeur is on a tear.  He went 2-4 with another walk today, scoring once.

Jason Bay scored twice, but failed to pick up a hit.  (See: Below)

Oliver Perez is batting .500 with an RBI after his single in the second inning.

The bullpen.  The Mets ‘pen continues to impress, combining for 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, including Ryota Igarashi getting Willie Taveras to strike out swinging with two runners in scoring position.

The In-Between

Oliver Perez’s 5 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs and four walks.  He struck out six.  He wasn’t great but he wasn’t awful.  Ordinary Ollie.

The Bad & Ugly

Tyler Clippard.  Clippard tossed three innings in relief and struck out seven Mets.

Willie Harris is a Met killer.  Another spectacular play to end a game, like he did a few years ago with the Braves.  Last time, I broke my plastic helmet in frustration.  Guess what?  I did it again.

Ducks on the pond.  The Mets left 12 runners on base.  Lost by 1.  Do the math.

K-Bay.  Jason Bay: 0-4, 2 K. 

Game Ball

Got to give it to Frenchy, again.

On Deck

Rubber game tomorrow at 1:10 p.m.

Game Chat: WAS @ NYM [Game 5]

Join in (with Jose Reyes…sorta) and chat with your fellow fans!
Chat removed, as usual.

Lineup (with Reyes!)

1. Jose Reyes – SS
2. Alex Cora – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Jason Bay – LF
5. Jeff Francoeur – RF
6. Gary Matthews Jr – CF
7. Fernando Tatis – 1B
8. Henry Blanco – C
9. Oliver Perez – LHP

Look who’s back!