Edgy MD

Well, there'll be redundancy either way. I would imagine if he doesn't get dealt, it won't be doubts about Harvey so much as Alderson not getting the deal he wants.

You really want Kendrys Morales? He's a DH and occasional first baseman in the midst of a disastrous season.

This proposal makes me mad. And I illogically blame Tom Verducci. And maybe Frank DeFord.

The Tigers and Rangers seem to like making high-profile deals with each other. They're like the more muscular version of the Mets and Pittsburgh.

And since we can't go to Milwaukee without fondly recalling one of the finest tracks ever discovered at the Crane Pool. [youtube:1r7afcqq]PNaEM54nfK4[/youtube:1r7afcqq] "You grabbed me and said, 'Come on back from the ledge for a spell.'"

Phillies also have coughed up two Papebon-protected wins in as many days. I appreciate their commitment to last place, but we need them to help us pick off teams ahead of us over the next six weeks. With regards to Papelbon, I stumbled across an online dude recently who demanded the Mets show they're serious by acquiring a "proven closer." I felt an urge to strangle the internet.

Notes on standings: Los Angeles has ceded first place in the West to the San Franciscos, who don't look so hot on paper and deserve a lot of credit, so they are now your Wild Card co-leaders along with the Braves. The Pirates, who were directly in front of the Mets when we last updated, have come out of the break swinging their cutlasses, leapfrogging a lot of red seas in the last week, passing St. Louis and Cincinnati. The Reds are now what the Mets and their supporters need to fix their gaze on. Those very same Redlegs have lost six in a row, including three to these division-leading Brewers we're about to up against. They take their scarlet hosery back home next to host the Nats. So if we TCB against the Brewers (no small task), we'll gain in one race or the other. The Roxx, who we could do almost nothing against when we visited them earlier in the season, opened the second half by dropping five straight, allowing Philadelphia, Chicago, and Arizona to all pass them. They now have the worst record in the league, and you can hardly blame rival GMs hoping to pick some meat off of their corpse. Rumors speak of bitter philosophical differences between manager Walt Weiss and the suits over him. Something's likely to give soon in the leadership, and one wonders if playing personnel could follow any leadership change. Mets have lost one game (but only one game net) in the Eastern Division standings since the new season started. Tough time to be going up against a hot division leader like Milwaukee as they fight for their continued existence, but it's a competitive business. The good news is that they've treaded water in the GB column and gained an invisible but very real game and a half in the NGB column in Wild Card standings. Hopefully Sandy notes that. TeamWLPCTGBNGBWashington5544.556��Atlanta5546.5451.01.0YOUR New York Mets 4853.4758.015.0Miami4753.4708.516.5Philadelphia4358.42613.034.5 TeamWLPCTGBNGBAtlanta5546.545��Los Angeles5647.544��Pittsburgh5447.5351.01.0St. Louis5447.5351.01.0Cincinnati5150.5054.010.0YOUR New York Mets 4853.4757.022.0Miami4753.4707.524.5San Diego4456.44010.542.5Arizona4458.43111.549.5Philadelphia4358.42612.053.5Chicago4158.41413.062.5Colorado4160.40614.072.5

This is going to get interesting. You've got to think a gaggle of teams were watching this game closely to determine whether Colon actually came up sick in the San Diego start or was just bad and losing it. Alderson is going to have a mini-auction in his office the next couple of days. He clearly doesn't want to weaken the team down the stretch, but Colon's contract's value is probably never going to be higher than it is this morning. One imagines Sandy'll be torn two ways and maybe more.

Headley heroix aside, the last few nights have give us a pitcher who can't throw to first, and a grounds crew who can't get a tarp down. Don't want to glory in anybody else's struggles, but man, how much bitter damnation would these guys have gotten from George Steinbrenner?

Buy a pickup truck and you can live vicariously through your bull's sex life. That one is on all the time on mlb.tv.

Tuned in just in time for the last pitch. Seattle announcers said he left it hanging and implied that he got lucky. I thought it was high, but it had some bite. And it was off the plate and in the hands.

Guy wants to show his game even as he starts every third or fourth game, and that means being over-aggressive. Nonetheless, safe and plated Dmurphy's double. Mets lead by a run.

Our senses had been dulled. With Milledge's meh arrival shortly before his, and continuing backwards, Alex Escobar's failure to launch, Brian Cole's death, and Jay Payton's career taking shape only after 17 years of injuries, we had lost all faith in the viability of the Much-Ancitipated, Multi-Dimensional, and Transformative Outfield ProspectTM. A 21-year-old Willie Mays could have landed in our laps and we wouldn't have seen him for what he was until it became so obvious so as to shame us.

Make it count, EY.

Ashie62 wrote: Taijuan Walker is top prospect who had arm surgery last season. This may be a showcase outing for him... Bortolo Colon is broadly understood to be on the trading block and pitched mostly ineffectively while reportedly sick his last time out. With the deadline near, this is definitely a showcase outing for him. But let's win this one for the Mets' sake. I'm a Colonist! How 'bout you?!

Yeah, the problem isn't the person but all the paint on the person.

I'm with the Knot on this one.

They were below when I typed it. I should have included an "expand the rotation" option.

Mets, caught up in the culture of the times, continue to wring hands over their marginal success, torn in internal (but leaky) discussions over limiting Jacob deGrom's innings. Wheeler's too. And among their potential replacements, Rafael Montero and Noah Syndergaard would be looking at eventual shutdowns too, under the general philosophy. You saw that coming. Please pick a selection [crossout]below[/crossout] above that best represents your general attitude. Feel free to elaborate below.

Also worth noting is that, what prospect watchers didn't know --- and largely couldn't know --- is that deGrom would be learning and eventually mastering a changeup taught to him by Johan Santana. Now a big pitch in his arsenal that helped him a lot last night against a lefty-stacked lineup.

Keith Law ranks 'em as the #4 system in beisbol. But tomorrow never knows.

Makes it fun, though. Forecasts are forecasts. Besides, people grow in fits and starts. Wheeler may still pass him. Syndergaard may pass 'em both. But that's certainly not where the trend lines are going. Where the hell did David Cone come from?

Ceetar wrote: Matt was with Shannon Rusbuldt and others in a private karaoke room. Katy shouted hi to them and Matt got flustered or broke concentration or something. Just scathing stuff. Whoever ran to the press to report that tidbit has a bright career in journalism ahead of them. Try and dodge that, Frayed Knot! HA!

Well, somebody was paying attention at pitchers fielding practice.

Frayed Knot wrote: Sooner or later we're actually going to have to face a good pitcher; how many K's do you suppose we'll ring up then? Not to excuse anything, but I think, between the Pads and M's, they've faced some pretty damn good pitchers.