Diamond Dad

Too many trades are just to get somebody else - no matter who. Everyone seems to look better when they're not on your team. Huff doesn't look like a first baseman to me. 2005 he played mostly outfield -- some third base, and DH, with only 25 games at 1st. Not really a first baseman. Last year played mostly 3B and DH. This year's numbers -- .260 batting average, 26 doubles, 22 homers, 70 runs scored, 92 RBI in 575 AB -- not great. Better than Jacobs for 575 AB? Maybe not. Probably worse defensively than Jacobs. Discount the RBI numbers since he was in AL and had a team of rabbits ahead of him. I'm not jumping to trade good prospects in order to get this guy as an "upgrade" at 1B. Lugo is also not a sure thing. First off, he's a SHORTSTOP and we already have one. Switching him to 2B may seem like no big deal -- but I think we've been through that before, haven't we????? Last year he hit .295 and stole 39 bases while scoring 89 runs in 616 AB. Somehow those steals didn't translate into mega runs scored. Why? His On base percentage was .360, so that's not bad, but do we really want a 1-2 punch of Reyes and Lugo? It's not a terrible option, but again I would not be running to give up prospects and good players based on the idea that Lugo moving to 2B is going to be a great upgrade for us over our other options.

I'll be happy to have Heilman in the pen to start the season. Can always use him as starter if you get squeezed. No way we can dump Glavine, so we're stuck with him: Glavine Martinez Benson After that -- I'd be happy with Petit coming in as super rookie and any one of the other 4 as starters. Tracks is most consistent. Seo may have best upside. Trade the rest!

Go figure that Philly would have such a bounty of model athlete-citizens in it's fold. I'm sure that TO will be sending money for Urbina's legal defense fund. After all, he's just misunderstood.

For a hard-thrower who has been on the disabled list each of the last three years with arm problems, I'd be surprised if there are any GMs out there who are going to give him a guaranteed 4-year deal. I'd give him 2 years at $10 million per, with a guarantee for a 3rd year IF he appears in a fixed number of games (say, 55?) so that if he's on the shelf for any significant time, then the guarantee becomes an option. Then a team option for the 4th year with a buy-out.

OK, I cheated, so I won't post the answer -- but Never -- not in a million, billion years -- would I have gotten that one. not even if you gave me a list of all the players on the mets in history and I went down the list, one by one. Never. No way.

It is said that bad calls are part of the game. I wonder -- and I've never heard of it -- whether in the long and storied history of the game, has there ever been a situation where a player or a manager "admitted" that the ump had blown a call, and agreed to reverse the call and let the other side get out from under the bad call? Ever have a fielder tell the ump, "Na, I missed him, he was safe" after an out call? Ever have a batter say, "Nope, I didn't foul tip it" after getting a reprieve from a swinging third strike? Ever have a catcher or an outfielder say, "I trapped it" after an out call based on a clean catch? I've never heard of it. Only in golf do the players call penalties on themselves, and voluntarily admit to rules violations, even if nobody else saw it. Wonder whether the player or manager would be fined if they tried it??

Didn't know there was an Italian-American Hall of Fame. Where is it? Sounds like a nice Crane Pool group outing! Lee Mazzilli Is Bobby Valentine Italian? That's a head-scratcher, all right.

It's an ironic discussion, this. Jacobs was a first baseman in the minors who didn't hit well enough to be considered a true prospect as a first baseman. So, they told him to learn how to catch, because his bat would be more viable as a catcher than as a first baseman. Now, we're debating whether to put him back at first base, because of his below-average catching skills. As a catcher, he's going to make mistakes. I don't know how well he can call a game at the major league level -- few rookie catchers can. That's a big part of the game. He's also not great at blocking balls in the dirt (from what I've seen of him), which is also big at this level, where passed balls (or wild pitches that could have been handled) are just as bad as stolen bases. Few catchers out there throw out more than 25% of would-be base stealers. While it would be nice to have Ivan Rodriguez, I doubt that Molina will save many runs by throwing out runners on steal attempts, or pick off that many runners. I'm all for solid defense, however, and a catcher who can call a good game. My guess is that the organization has already made up its mind that Jacobs is not a good enough catcher to play the position regularly at the big league level, leaving only the question of whether he's a good enough hitter to play 1st. I like his defense at 1st, by the way.

I like Ausmus as an option if we think we've got a catcher in the organization that is a few years away from being a good big-league player (Joe Hiepus?) If not, Ausmus is just a band-aid. I heard that Brian Schneider might be an option. I think he's got some good years ahead of him, and he'll be cheaper than the higher profile guys.

Glass half full: Reyes and Wright are only 22 and while Wright can't do much better than he has done this year, he's likely to actually improve in some areas of the game, while Reyes has shown signs of having better plate discipline, can still learn to bunt for hits, and will be leading off for the Mets for the next 10 years. Willie won't be a rookie manager next year, and the players do seem to play hard for him. Beltran will be better next year. Pedro will be as good -- he's still only 35 We'll have a closer next year (note to Omar -- ) We'll have a better first baseman next year (Note #2 to Omar -- ) Glass Half empty: Trachsel will be a year older Glavine will still be here Kaz Mat will be making $8 million next year We still need to find a closer and a first baseman Cameron probably can't be traded now until next spring training after he proves that he can still play after his horrific injury Floyd just finished his first full year without a major injury in 5 years -- how likely is that to repeat itself? Plus, he slumped at the end, which may indicate that playing a full season isn't necessarily something he's able to do while keeping up an offensive pace Still -- happy to have had interest through Labor Day. Nice of the Mets to drop out of the race just in time for football season.

Ed Coleman says Piazza will not be coming off the DL on Thursday, when he is eligible

Woodward and Kaz? Interesting combo

Only the Yanks would take that salary in order to fill in a small defensive hole. Nobody blocked it, because nobody wants to pay Lawton

We need Moyer like a hole in the head. Omar's not that dumb

Big Sid Fernandez. Kind of a short-arm sling delivery, but hard to pick up. I'd love to see the Mets keep him and see how he develops

I love the idea that the Mets release a guy batting .178 in order to call up a guy batting .218 on level lower!But we love Joe, so great for him.

I'd love to see him pitch in Trenton next year for the B'Mets. Kid's got some stuff!

Nobody tell Traks that this isn't Pt. St. Lucie

that he's going to get run support.

Now, you're a Met pitcher, so you have to understand that you only get ONE RUN to work with. WE don't want to spoil you!

Nowt that the no-no is over, it's bed time

Not sure that we can blame borish fans on the cable news channels. To some extent, it has become more acceptable to boo the home town team, and to shout slurs from the stands. Time was when a nearby fan would shut you up (perhaps accounting for more fights in the stands??). I've seen the same in other cities. Some people are just less inhibited about shouting out at the players (home and visitor). Of course, they wouldn't say those things to their face in a bar, but from the safety of the stands, anything goes. I don't think most of these dickheads are really true fans, but even diehards sometimes have to let off some steam.I remember booing lustily when Doug Sisk walked in from the Shea bullpen. So, in every era, there are guys that you just want to see leave the team. This year, it's Kaz Matsui. He can't win.

I'm in! Let's Go!!!!!!!!

I recall seeing Reyes play in the "futures" game at the 2003 All-Star break. He hit a routine three-hopper to the shortstop and beat the throw to first for an infield hit. The shortstop played it flawlessly and made a good throw -- Reyes just beat it. Then he laced one in the gap his next at-bat and flew around the bases for a triple.I recall remarking at the time, "Man, that boy can fly, and he can play shortstop -- we should call him up NOW."But, I don't fault the Mets management -- they brought him up at a young age as it was, and he's had some growing pains. No compliants.

Is this the first sweep of the season??