After a third of a year's worth of absence, I have come back with a renewed hope that the Mets can bring its fans some happiness once again.

Once again, Steve Phillips has continued to reconstruct the entire Mets team by letting go of home-grown favorite Edgardo Alfonzo and leaving a void at the hot corner.  We also won't be seeing the stunning defense of Rey Ordonez at shortstop anymore.  The sparse crowds of Tampa Bay will now enjoy this one-man highlight show as he practically traded himself by allowing the ever-so-dangerous New York media to grab a hold of his degrading comments about the fans.  With the left side of the Mets' infield gone, and none of the spectacular infield foursome from '99 remaining, the Mets are in quite a bit of trouble.

That is, unless you take into account the offseason acquisitions.  Phillips did do something right this winter.  By signing free agent pitcher Tom Glavine, the Mets were able to strengthen a very needy rotation, as well as weaken their top rival in the past decade - the Atlanta Braves.  With the 1-2 punch of the Braves rotation finally broken up, this could be the year that the Mets finally put an end to Atlanta's 11-year NL East Dynasty.

With the outfrield being near the bottom of almost every offensive category, the Mets were in desperate need of a productive bat.  How did Phillips solve this problem?  He did so by signing free agent left-fielder Cliff Floyd.  A career .284 hitter, Floyd had 28 homeruns and 79 RBIs last season while batting .288.  Not too shabby considering the man whose job he'll be taking.  And speaking of Roger "the Outfield Adventurer" Cedeno, the Mets' problems with him aren't over.  There have been rumors of moving Cedeno to center field and using Timo Perez as a backup off the bench.  In almost everyone's mind, the question will linger - "How can someone who can barely play left field take over center field and become the captain of the outfield?".  The Mets will have to rely on a little more fairy dust from Phillips if they're going to have any hope of avoiding last year's fielding debacle.

As for the bullpen, Phillips has taken care of the issue already by signing former Yankee Mike Stanton.  This veteran right hander with years post season experience virtually replaces Mark Guthrie, whom the Mets declined to offer arbitration to.  If Scott Strickland can return to his regular form, and David Weathers dominates the same way he did before All-Star break, then the Mets would have as solid a bullpen as any other team in baseball.

As for right now, the main concerns sit at 3rd base.  There is a possibility of filling the shortstop hole with super prospect Jose Reyes.  However, by doing so, the Mets may run the risk of ruining the prospect by overexposing him before he is ready to surface at the big league level.  There is also the option of letting utilityman Joe McEwing play shortstop for half a year, in hopes that by then Reyes will be ready for the big promotion.  He could also share 3rd base duties with Ty Wigginton, although Wigginton would have to earn the spot at Spring Training. 

With all the speculation afloat, one must not overlook the fact that the offseason is only halfway over.  There are plenty of trades and acquisitions to be made, and knowing Steve Phillips, we are better off keeping the welcome mat out.

Mo Vaughn showing us why he needs to lose some serious weight this offseason.

Where are the New York Mets?

It takes a lot of patience to put up with the current situation the Mets are in.  After seemingly finding new life with the recent trades, the Mets have dropped 4 straight games, 3 to the Diamondbacks.  It seemed the Mets would get lucky again, as they would only have to face 1 of Arizona's dual-ace pitching artillery in this 4 game series.  Earlier this season, the Mets had the luxury of avoiding both Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in a 3 game set in Arizona, a series in which the Mets took full advantage of the less reliable back end of Arizona's rotation by taking 2 out of 3.  This home series however, the outcome would not go as predicted.  The Mets could not take any of the first 3 games against Arizona.  During this 4 game losing streak, the Mets find themselves behind the Dodgers, Giants, Reds, and now the Astros in the Wild Card race, as they are now 6.5 games back.  As bad enough as that is, neither of the 3 games against Arizona featured Johnson or Schilling.  The best chances of the Mets taking any games of this series have already been lost.  The Mets and their fans need to prepare themselves for the high possibility of a sweep when the automatic Johnson takes the mound against Estes, who despite having 3 consecutive solid starts, is no match for the 4-time Cy Young Award winner.  However, the Mets do seem to have a bit of luck against Johnson.  In 2000, the Mets were the only team to beat Johnson twice in a season.  In one outing, the Mets knocked Johnson out of the game before he could even record a strikeout, the first time in over 10 years.  Hopefully the Amazin's will come out again with another miracle, but even so, taking 1 out of 4 is nothing to celebrate. 

The way I see it...

Regarding the recent trades, you can't help but wonder whether Steve Phillips was influenced too much by Jeff D'Amico's horrendous outing to make the deals he made.  There was no doubt that D'Amico could no longer remain in the Mets starting rotation.  There were many logical adjustments that could have been made, given what the Mets had.  However, in a hasty move, Phillips opted to go with the familiar Mets trading philosophy of acquiring players who make their 2nd home on the disabled list.  Phillips traded centerfielder Jay Payton, pitcher Mark Corey and  minor leaguer Rob Stratton to Colorado for starter John Thomson and outfielder Mark Little.  Although the Mets got a starting pitcher, which is what they needed above all else, they have done so by trading away their hottest hitting outfielder in the month of July.  Many see this trade as a good deal for the Mets as they do not see Payton as a player of any value.  However, Payton is still a "prospect" in the sense that he has the makings of becoming a dangerous hitter.  He has the power to hit 20 homeruns a year and the speed to beat out groundballs and steal 30 bases.  He has had a tremendous July and as a result he once again became the Mets regular starting centerfielder.  The Mets had a no lose situation with Payton.  They could've kept him in the lineup for as long as his bat was hot.  If his struggles ever began to resurface, he could always sit on the bench and have either the struggling Burnitz or Cedeno fill his void.  Instead, the Mets are now supposed to rely on Mark Little to provide as a backup for Cedeno and Burnitz, both of whom are playing like backups themselves.  As for Rob Stratton, the label "minor leaguer" may obscure his value a bit.  Down in the minors, he had 20 homeruns this season and had the potential to carry that power into the majors in the near future.  Perhaps this was not one of Phillips' better moves. 

As for the need for another starter, the Mets may have been able to find a solution without abandoning Payton's Place.  Mike Bascik has pitched well in his 3 starts, as well as his lone relief appearance.  There was no reason to send him back down to Norfolk and keep D'Amico.  Bascik could have easily filled in the #5 spot in the rotation which would eliminate the automatic losses that D'Amico carried with him.  If Bascik were to eventually hit a wall, the Mets would hopefully have Grant Roberts off the DL to replace him.  Roberts has had a poor stint as a starter in 2000 which cost him his stay with the parent team.  However, this season in the bullpen, Roberts has been nearly unhittable.  A promotion to the starting rotation for the short remainder of the season prove almost no harm to a struggling pitching staff.  Instead of trying to work from within the Mets ballclub, Phillips decided not to take that road and trade a true Mets farm product in Payton for the unproven, injury-plagued Thomson.  Perhaps 1 start for Thomson with the Mets is not enough to judge him.  Maybe we will see a more efficient pitcher in Thomson in his later starts.  But for now, it seems as though that trade may have been a step backward.

Eye for an eye

Just when it seemed like the Mets were down and out after a devastating 16-3 loss Tuesday night at Shea Stadium, the Mets have us back in our seats only 24 hours later.

The only sigh of relief for the Mets on Tuesday night came on the final pitch of the game, in which half of the starting lineup had already hit the showers 4 innings earlier.  The Mets did the only thing they could do in that game -- wait for it to end.  After the game, Bobby Valentine said that it was a game to forget about and all they should think about is the next game.  The Mets did just that as they anxiously awaited the first pitch to be thrown on Wednesday night.  Shawn Estes, who has been keeping us at the edge of our seats since the start of the season, proceeded his first pitch with 3 consecutive outs, retiring the side in order to give way to the vengeful Mets offense.  Before even 3 outs were recorded by opposing pitcher, Dave Mlicki, we saw Roberto Alomar batting in the same inning he lead off.  By then, the Mets have already pounced on Mlicki for 7 runs on 7 hits, including a 3-run bomb to centerfield by Jeromy Burnitz.  Before the end of the 1st inning, we saw Nelson Cruz relieving Astros' starter Dave Mlicki after he allowed an Alomar RBI triple, which was the 2nd triple of the inning, for the Mets' 7th run.  The punishment continued the very next inning when Jeromy Burnitz was hit by a pitch to load the bases with 1 out.  After Roger Cedeno struck out, Rey Ordonez came up to bat with an opportunity to add insult to injury.  Rey was not ashamed to kick the Astros while they were down and he did so by taking a 1-1 pitch by Cruz into left field and clearing the bases for RBIs 33, 34 and 35 to top off his 4-RBI game.  That proved to be the end of the game as Shawn Estes and reliever Mike Bascik combined to pitch a 2-hit shutout en route to a 10-0 victory at Shea Stadium.  Revenge is sweet indeed. 

Last Minute Tweaking - Just before the 4pm trading deadline today, the Mets made some changes to their roster.  They traded reliever Bobby M. Jones, minor league pitcher Josh Reynolds and minor league outfielder Jason Bay to the San Diego Padres for veteran reliever Steve Reed and right handed pitcher Jason Middlebrook.  Reed, being the key to the acquisition, is posting a 2-4 record with a very impressive 1.98 ERA.  He will be a valuable asset to the overworked Mets bullpen as he can allow Guthrie, Weathers and Strickland to reduce their work load.  However, as opposed to the job reliever Mark Corey has done, Reed will provide quality innings without giving up many runs at the same time.  This was one of the best deals made by Phillips all year, as he improved his ballclub without sacrificing anyone of significance.

In addition to the Padres, Phillips worked out a deal with Colorado as well.  After a season of fighting, trying to win back his centerfield position, Jay Payton finally began to put up the numbers worthy of a starting outfielder.  As his reward, he found himself at the end of the business aspect of baseball.  He was traded to Colorado, along with aforementioned reliever Mark Corey and minor leaguer Rob Stratton, for right-handed starter John Thomson and outfielder Mark Little.  Thomson comes with a 7-8 record with a 4.88 ERA.  Although a pitcher with his numbers would not necessarily impress any major league scout, keep in mind that he pitched his career in the thin air of Colorado.  Last season, Pedro Astacio posted a combined 8-14 with an ERA of 5.09 while pitching for Colorado and the Houston Astros, who play in a field which features some of the smallest outfield walls in the major leagues.  This season he continues to prove that those numbers came with the ballparks by pitching like the ace of the Mets starting rotation.  All we can hope for is that Thomson will follow a similar path and with D'Amico bumped off, Phillips is confident that Thomson will fill in the back of the rotation with a more solid and reliable arm. 

--edited by sarahxhunny

Mets come away with another 1-run victory

The Mets gave us another hint of life on Sunday afternoon when they rallied from a 4-run deficit into the 6th inning to win by a score of 6-5. 

The Reds scored 4 runs, including a Griffey's 3rd  home run of the year, in the first 4 innings.  Starter Steve Trachsel labored a bit, especially in the 4th, which was nothing more than a tough-luck inning.  He made solid pitches and succeeded in jamming the hitters inside but unfortunately for Trachsel and the Mets, those bloop hits fell in fair territory and the Reds were looking at a 4-0 lead.  Mo Vaughn, who has slowed down a bit this series since his 2nd half rebirth, hit a sacrifice fly to put the Mets on the scoreboard in the 5th inning.  Two innings later, Rey Ordonez lead off with a bunt base hit.  After Jeromy Burnitz flied out for starting pitcher Steve Trachsel, Roberto Alomar put Ordonez on third with a base hit to center.  Timo Perez followed with a base hit of his own to left field and drove in Ordonez to make it a 4-2 game.  However, left fielder Russell Branyan made an error on a routine little league roller through his legs which opened the flood gates for the Mets.  Instead of runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, there were runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Then catcher Jason LaRue mishandled a pitch by reliever Scott Williamson to allow Alomar to score and Timo to advance to third.  After a vital strikeout of Mike Piazza, Williamson opted to walk Mo Vaughn to put runners on first and third for John Valentin.  The Mets had a 28-inning extra base hit drought snapped when Valentin drove a double off the left field wall.  Perez scored easily and watched Vaughn lumber from first to home with what resembled a fall rather then a slide.  Nonetheless, it gave the Mets a 5-4 lead, much to the delight of the Shea faithful.  In the next inning, Roger Cedeno showed us why he still plays for the Mets.  He hit his fourth home run of the year, a solo shot which was his first since June 28 against the Yankees.  In the 9th inning, the Mets closer Armando Benitez took the mound with a 2-run lead.  Benitez, who is notorious for making games a lot more exciting than they need be and not in a good way, wasted no time in doing just that when Russell Branyan took him deep to lead off the inning.  However, he proceeded to retired the next 3 batters to earn his 26th save of the season and to give the Mets a 3rd place tie with the Reds in the Wild Card race. 

With both teams in serious contention for a playoff spot, this series was an all-out effort by both teams.  This was the 3rd consecutive 1-run game, the 2nd in which the Mets came out on top.  The Mets won their 3rd consecutive series since the All-Star break and have taken 4 of 6 series while tying the other 2.  So far, it looks like the Mets are in the midst of their 3rd straight 2nd half run.  Last year, the dissappointing Mets made an unbelievable run which had the Braves worried.  This year, they seem to be pulling the same routine, only the Braves are probably too far to catch.  However, the Wild Card is within reach of the Mets.  They are now tied with Cincinnati and are behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants.  The Mets have the benefit of the Dodgers and Giants playing each other through much of the remainder of the season.  To raise optimism, the Mets can look forward to playing a downhearted Florida Marlins team, and the underachieving Montreal Expos. 

The Wild Card is by no means a guarantee for the Mets.  They have two weaknesses which no team can afford.  They have two starting pitchers in Jeff D'Amico and Shawn Estes who are a combined 8-16 and have ERAs of 4.85 and 4.75.  If the Mets are to make a serious run for the post season, they need to either acquire another starter, upgrade a reliever from the bullpen, possibly Grant Roberts, or hope that D'Amico and Estes begin picking up their games like they have in their last starts.