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Switcheroo

As there have certainly been rumblings throughout the Mets blogging community, we finally have some "confirmation" that the Mets may also be thinking about moving Jose Reyes back to shortstop next season and sliding Kaz Matsui over to second base. In today's New York Post, Mark Hale notes:

When the Mets signed Kaz Matsui before this season, they moved their incumbent shortstop, Jose Reyes, to second base. But a source confirmed the Mets have had preliminary discussions about switching the duo the other way for the 2005 season.

In a word, Matsui has been underwhelming defensively at shortstop thus far. Two months does not make or break a player, but the consensus seems to indicate that his defense, particularly his range and his throwing arm, are not as advertised. His 10 errors at shortstop are tied for the Major League lead with Jose Valentin of the White Sox.

Mets No No-No Info

Mark Simon of ESPN Research has his daily "Baseball Tonight Extra" column today featuring Mets no-hitter near misses. If you don't already, you should definitely check his column out regularly. The hosts of BBTN may be utterly useless and unwatchable, but Mark and the rest of the research department are top notch.

Mets.com also features a list of the 27 one-hitters in Mets history.

Even Steven

For a team that is desperate to prove that they should be taken seriously, the Mets needed to sweep the Rockies this weekend. Matt Ginter stuck around long enough on Friday to pick up his first National League victory. He didn't pitch particularly well, but the Mets pounded out nine doubles in winning 9-7. The biggest story of the game was Braden Looper finally giving up an earned run -- in this case two of them. He picked a good spot for them, as they only brought the Rockies to within 9-7.

On Saturday, Tyler Yates showed a) why he was sent down to Norfolk in the first place and b) That his one start while down there didn't really teach him anything. Yates looked pretty horrible against a makeshift Rockies lineup that included three Major League-quality players (Castilla, Johnson, and Burnitz), and rookies/scrubs. The Mets were on their way to a 4-3 loss when Ty Wigginton cracked a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth to give his team a 5-4 lead, one that Braden Looper would protect.

Sunday's game was terrific...Tom Terrific. For the second time in three starts, a Kaz Matsui leadoff homerun was all Glavine would need to rack up another W. He lost a perfect game in the 7th and a no-hitter in the eighth, but he held on for the one-hit shutout and, more importantly, a victory that brought the Mets to 22-22, .500 on the season. Almost as important, Glavine gave the overworked Mets bullpen a day off that, with tomorrow's scheduled off-day, should give them plenty of rest for their upcoming series' with the Phillies and the Marlins.

Speaking of which, the Mets next 12 games are against those two teams, right now sitting 1-2 in the NL East. The Mets are in third, and are no longer the perennial whipping boys they once were (thank you, Expos). These games will not be easy, but they will go a long way towards revealing what kind of team these Mets really are. Al Leiter is on the disabled list, Mike Cameron should be with him instead of flailing away uselessly at the plate, and the Mets still don't really have a fifth starter. Their bullpen, despite its growing stack of AARP cards, has been among the best in the league.

The Mets may be joined within the week by one-and-future-shortstop Jose Reyes, who is currently playing rehab games for class-A Port St. Lucie. After going 4-for-7 with two stolen bases on Friday and Saturday, Reyes went 0-for-5 on Sunday including a double-play. His performance is not as important as his health, which appears to be stabilizing. He has apparently shortened his stride, which may have been the cause of some of his leg problems.

It may all wash away two weeks from now, but I will enjoy basking in the Mets warm glowing warming glow.

Reyes Update

The New York Daily News reports that Jose Reyes could be playing rehab games sooner than expected.

REYES OF HOPE: A Mets official said it's expected that second baseman Jose Reyes will be playing in Class-A Florida State League games before the middle of next week, possibly as early as the weekend.

If this is true, the new leg specialists the Mets hired must really know their sh*t.

Yates Moves Forward

In his first start since returning to AAA Norfolk, Tyler Yates pitched 5.2 no-hit innings in picking up the W. He allowed three walks and struck out five in the Tides 3-0 win over the Rochester Red Wings (Twins AAA affiliate). Gerald Williams added his third homerun and Craig Brazell miraculously only struck out once.

Yates appears to be taking his demotion well, probably realizing that a handful of good starts at AAA will have him back with the big club.

Roberts Will Have Surgery

According to the New York Daily News, Grant Roberts will indeed have surgery on his frayed labrum. The Mets have yet to confirm this fact, though the Star Ledger reports that they have given Roberts permission to seek a third opinion on his shoulder.

This whole thing has turned into a ridiculous soap opera, and I think Roberts is as much to blame as the Mets. This could have been handled much more smoothly by all parties, with Roberts simply having the surgery performed in the offseason when he was given permission to.

If he does have the surgery now, the Mets may have caught a break in being able to retain his services. His injury likely scared off other suitors as he passed through waivers, and if he fully recovers and again pitches in the low-to-mid 90's, he could be a valuable asset, either to the big club or, if the relationship is irreparable, as trade bait.

Ungodly

That's about the only thing I can say to sum up the feelings I have about this game. Let me start by saying, unequivocally, that this was the worst officiating I've ever seen in a three-game series. Angel Hernandez, the home plate umpire for Saturday's 7-4 loss, should probably be suspended for the game he called. His strike zone ranged from the neck to the ankles, and its only consistency lay in its atrociousness. Follow that up with second-base umpire Larry Young's incomprehensible botched call in the sixth inning of today's game, and you have my perfectly reasonable explanation for my neighbors as to why there was so much cursing coming from my direction this afternoon.

If you didn't see the play, here's what happened. With Morgan Ensberg on first and Jeff Kent on second, Brad Ausmus hit a grounder to Kaz Matsui. Matsui didn't field it cleanly, but knocked the ball down and threw to Danny Garcia covering second. The throw was late, but Ensberg fell over onto Garcia, his foot clearly leaving second base and his body clearly interfering with Garcia. Garcia, while being mauled by Ensberg, tagged him while his foot was off the bag. Larry Young, standing no more than three feet away from the play, insisted that Ensberg was safe. Tom Seaver, providing color commentary for the game, was correct in saying that Ensberg should have been out on no less than two counts: being tagged out, and interfering with the fielder.

The normally-flaccid Art Howe came out of the dugout to argue, and was eventually tossed. He had this to say:

"The guy definitely beat the throw but he overran the bag," said Howe, who added that Young refused to ask third base umpire Angel Hernandez for help. "Obviously it wasn't the viewpoint of the second base umpire. I thought the idea was to get the play right. I guess that was not the case.

"I think maybe in the back of his mind, he knew he missed the play and he was giving me an opportunity to leave. At that point, though, there was only one way I was leaving."

Nice to see some balls on Howe with a statement like that. With the bases loaded, Roger Clemens came through with a two-out single, scoring Kent from third base. That set the stage for Mike Piazza's 9th inning heroics. With Eric "I Gave Up Meat" Valent on second, two outs, and a 1-2 count against ex-Met Octavio Dotel, Piazza took a fastball the opposite way for a two-run, game-tying blast into the Astros bullpen.

Needless to say, I was going apeshit at this point. The Mets had spoiled Roger Clemens' brilliant game and handed him his first no-decision of the season in the process. Goggles Phillips smacked his first homerun of the season in the 13th inning and Dan Wheeler, miraculously, didn't give up a single run in two innings to pick up the W.

Let's remember that the Mets would not have been in this position if their pitching hadn't kept them in the game while Rocket was mowing down hitters. In his first Major League start, Matt Ginter gave up one earned run, struck out four, and walked only one in 5.1 innings. Ricky Bottalico pitched lights out again, striking out three while retiring all four batters he faced. Braden Looper K'd three in two scoreless innings and still hasn't given up an earned run this season. Mike Stanton nearly gave me an aneurism as usual, as he allowed one hit and three walks while striking out zero in two innings of work. And, in a minor miracle of sorts, Dan Wheeler somehow managed to keep the wheels from falling off as he struck out three while scattering two hits in two innings of work.

Plainly stated, the Mets stole this one. They may not ever play "meaningful" games this season, but I will be a happy camper if they keep bringing us games like this one. Despite striking out 17 times as a team, this game felt like the playoffs to me, cold sweats included. I was so excited when the Mets pulled this one out -- something I haven't really felt about the Mets in a long, long time.

Cliff's Back

The long-awaited return from injury of Cliff Floyd will apparently happen tonight in Arizona. Floyd has been out since he pulled up lame running to first base April 11 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Floyd's presence will immediately be felt by everyone, some more than others. Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia will likely return to the platoon roles they barely grew accustomed to during the first week of the season. Unless...

According to this article in the New York Post, Garcia took grounders at first base yesterday, and Eric Valent will soon do the same. This potentially sets up a scenario where Floyd would play left field, Spencer or Valent would play right field, and Valent or Garcia would play first base, with Jason Phillips now-feeble bat taking its rightful place on the bench. With a little practice, Garcia could certainly be as serviceable as Phillips was at first, and would provide an immediate boost in range at the position.

In other injury-related news, in light of Jose Reyes' continued struggles rehabbing his hamstring, the Mets have hired two "leg" coaches. One, leg specialist Mark Lindsay, will work almost exclusively with Reyes in Port St. Lucie, and actually began treatment on Tuesday. According to an article today in the Bergen Record:

Reyes almost immediately began to sense a difference.

"This person knows what he is doing," Reyes told Greenberg on Tuesday night while the two had dinner.

"Those were Jose's exact words," [Reyes' agent Peter] Greenberg said.

The other specialist, Vern Gambetta, was recommended by Mets Assistant GM Al Goldis, who, while a member of the White Sox organization, hired Gambetta in 1987. Gambetta worked with the White Sox until 1996, and was a consultant with the U.S. men's World Cup soccer team in 1998. Goldis said:

"This guy is here for complementing and enhancing strength and quickness and prevention by making guys stronger. His strength is evaluating individual players and setting up a conditioning program for each player."

When asked if the new hirings had anything to do with the Mets rash of leg injuries, GM Jim Duquette responded, "It is a little bit of a factor." I'll say.

Just Enough

Tom Glavine pitched another gem (I never thought I'd be saying this last season) and the Mets offense did just enough not to lose in beating Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks 1-0. Kaz Matsui led off the game with a homerun, and Braden Looper recorded the final four outs to pick up his first save April 22 and extend his scoreless innings streak to 19 innings to start the season.

Glavine struck out three batters, all in the third inning, while giving up only three hits and two walks, bringing his record to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.05.

For the third straight game, the Mets jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first and, for the first time in three games, their pitching staff elected not to give it right back. A step in the right direction to say the least.

Despite the low 1-0 score, the game was actually very exciting. In addition to watching two staff aces trade blows, you got the feeling that every at-bat was crucial and that the game could turn in an instant. I'll take a few more of these and a few less of the previous two games.

A Letter From Jeff Pearlman

Jeff Pearlman, author of The Bad Guys Won, has asked that I post the following memo from him RE: factual errors in the book.

Mets Fans:

It's me—Jeff Pearlman, author of The Bad Guys Won about the '86 Mets. Have a favor. Book has been out for two weeks (good reviews and good sales, I might add) and I have a favor. For anyone reading it and/or anyone who has read it or plans on reading it, I'd love to be made aware of any factiual screw-ups found. Three relatively small ones have been brought to my attention thus far. It's very important, because things can be altered in the paperback.

Anyhow, I can be e-mailed at sedrictony@yahoo.com. Help, as always, hugely appreciated. Also dig good/big feedback.

Thanks.

Jeff Pearlman
sedrictony@yahoo.com
www.thebadguyswon.com

Not Good

James Baldwin made his first and, if we're lucky his last, start for the Mets last night in Arizona, and didn't fare too well. In the worst Baldwin performance this side of The Shadow, brother James gave up 7 hits, 6 earned runs, two walks, two homeruns, and nary a strikeout in two-plus innings pitched.

Lost in Baldwin's atrocity was that Dan Wheeler, who relieved Baldwin in the third inning, actually pitched worse, giving up 6 runs, 6 hits, and three homeruns in 1.1 innings. Ricky Bottalico and Orber Moreno pitched very well, especially considering the dry, thin air in Arizona, limiting the D'Backs to one hit over 4.2 innings.

Though the Mets gave up five homeruns, three to Luis Gonzalez, it was pretty clear from watching the game that at least three of them were aided by the dry Arizona air. Gonzalez' first homerun was legit, and Chad Tracy's was borderline. Gonzo's second homerun would have been a liner into Karim Garcia's glove at Shea, and his third probably would have been a long single off the wall in left. Steve Finley's shot to centerfield would have fallen harmlessly into Mike Cameron's glove.

Ty Wigginton had a great night, going 5-for-5 in his first career five-hit game. In the process, he raised his average from .179 to .246. Those five hits were half of the amount Wigginton had going into last night. Jason Phillips went 0-for-5, and looks as useless at the plate as ever. The Mets hottest hitter? Eric Valent, who went 3-for-4, and is now hitting .314/.417/.549 for a team-leading OPS of .966.

The Mets have three more games in Arizona, two of which are against Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb. Not good.

Roberts Injured

The saga of Grant Roberts continues, as the pitcher has revealed that he has been bothered by shoulder pain. Roberts will see Mets team physician Andrew Rokito this week for an MRI. The Mets designated Roberts for assignment last night, but this puts a bit of a wrinkle in those plans. Check out the Star Ledger for the rest of the article.

Best Of A Bad Situation

The Mets could very easily have lost today's game. Instead, they won it 6-5 in 11 innings on an RBI double by the slumping Kaz Matsui. Matsui started the game on the bench, but came on as a pinch runner for Jason Phillips in the 8th. Steve Trachsel pitched effectively again, but John Franco and David Weathers combined to give up three runs in the eighth, turning a 3-2 lead into a 5-3 deficit.

The Mets didn't play particularly poorly today, but were the unfortunate recipients of some unlucky breaks. It looked like Franco would get out of the eighth unscathed, but ex-Met Brady Clark blooped one into centerfield for a two-run single. Scott Podsednik followed with a high-bouncing bunt that landed in between Mike Stanton and Phillips, scoring the Brewers fifth run.

The Mets could have rolled over and died, but rallied to tie the game in the eighth, eventually forcing extra innings. Art Howe once again gets a gold star for using his best reliever, Braden Looper, in a tie game to shut down Milwaukee in the 9th and 10th. The Mets eventually broke through in the 11th on a walk to Todd Zeile, and infield hit to Karim Garcia, and Matsui's game-winner.

Home plate umpire Marvin Hudson was definitely the LVP (Least Valuable Player) in this game. His calls were very erratic and inconsistent, as hitters and pitchers from both teams were often left shaking their heads. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the Mets salvage the third game of this series. The Mets fly to Arizona tonight to begin a three-game series against the Diamondbacks tomorrow.

Yates Down, Baldwin Up

I just tuned into the WB for the start of the Mets telecast, and Dave O'Brien announced that the Mets have sent Tyler Yates down to AAA Norfolk and have called up James Baldwin. Baldwin was 3-2 with a 2.90 ERA and a 24/5 K/BB ratio in 31 innings. He has given up three homeruns and has a WHIP of 1.26.

UPDATE: James Baldwin is actually the scheduled starter for tonight's (Monday) game in Arizona.

Regression

After a mighty four-game winning streak, the Mets have regressed to the mean, losing two straight to the Brewers, in fairly miserable fashion I might add. On Saturday, the Mets drew nine walks off of Brewer pitching, but that had more to do with a wild staff than it did with Mets plate discipline. They also managed only two hits in losing 6-4 to Milwaukee. The wind also might have cost the Mets as many as four homeruns, but it was their lousy hitting coupled with another ineffective start from Tyler Yates that cost the Mets in this one.

Hopeless optimism turns to blistered realism very quickly around these parts. It is unwise, yet fantastically easy, to let one or two games sway my opinion of a season's promise. Two days ago, I was all, "Yea, two games under .500. We're in a weak division, anything can happen". Now, after back-to-back suckfests at the hands of the Beermakers, I'm more like, "Yep, these are my Mets. Love 'em. Hate 'em. Love to hate 'em".

You see, I have an acute case of BPBS, or Bi-Polar Baseball Syndrome. I take heavy doses of medication to keep it in remission, but some times external forces conflict with the meds and I find myself once again subjected to its every whim.

Despite almost hitting a homerun yesterday, Ty Wigginton had one of the worst at-bats I've ever seen, as well as a "turning point" at-bat. After falling behind 3-0 on Mike Cameron, Matt Kinney came back to strike him out. Great, one out, bases loaded, and Cammy can't cut down on the swing and put the friggin' ball in play. Not to be outdone, Wigginton struck out even more uselessly, flailing away at pitch-after-pitch well out of the strike zone, causing me to erupt into a tourette's-like, curse-laden rant that, amongst other things, scared the hell out of my dog.

Eschewing the now-popular Moneyball mantra of treating outs as precious commodities, the Mets are the Mother Theresa of MLB, casually giving away their precious outs as if there were an endless supply.

Though it was a good story coming out of Spring Training, Tyler Yates is clearly not ready for the big show. He needs more seasoning, and a trip down to Norfolk is right around the corner. At this point, I'd be willing to give James Baldwin a shot, just to see somebody different out there. Hell, bring up Shawn Sedlacek, what do I care?

One last thought before I go to sleep: If Ricky Gutierrez is still wearing a New York Mets uniform at the end of May, you can begin directing your web browsers to www.sabersox.com, as this will officially become a Red Sox site, and I a proud member of the Red Sox Nation. Good night.

The Shea Hot Corner

No offense to my buddy Norm, the REAL Shea Hot Corner, David Wright, is making it known with his torrid play that he wants a taste of the big show sooner rather than later. The Daily News has a nice article on Wright today.

After play last night, Wright was hitting .356/.472/.635 with 17 extra base hits, 17 walks, and 12/15 in stolen bases.

Animated Artie

Almost as exciting as Mike Piazza's walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th last night was not one, but two animated displays of emotion from Art Howe. The first was after David Weathers struck out Pedro Feliz on a borderline 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to end the top of the 11th. The second was after Piazza's shot to win the game.

Howe has no doubt heard the whispers that he's too laid back and isn't really a good fit in New York. That said, his emotion last night didn't seem contrived in the least, and was real, genuine elation. Howe summed it up best when asked by Matt Laughlin about his oft-stoic demeanor, he replied something to the effect of, "When you're losing, there's not much to get emotional about." A good point, as much of his tenure has been marred by seemingly-perpetual losing streaks and countless public relations snafus.

Poor Lonely Jose

There's a good article in the New York Times today about Jose Reyes' rehab for his recurring hamstring injury. It paints a very sad picture of a lonesome Reyes longing to be with his team.

There's also some info about how the rehab is/should be handled. Thus far, it has been overseen by Mets' team physician Andrew Rokito. After reinjuring his hamstring during batting practice on March 31, the Mets gave Reyes permission to visit New Orleans-based fitness expert Mackie Shilstone, who has worked with other athletes' hamstring injuries. Reyes' agent Peter Greenberg urged his client to go, but Reyes elected not to, saying:

"I wanted to stay here where I'm relaxed. They do the best job here with me."

Okay, so the kid is comfy with the Mets training staff, no biggie. The article continues:

Shilstone has said he could have solved the problem at the root of Reyes's injury in three to seven days. But Rokito was dismissive of that assertion, noting it was made by someone who had not examined Reyes or studied his medical records.

"Where else in medicine can that take place?" Rokito said. "You would never have a medical expert making those statements from a thousand miles away."

"I've never met Mr. Reyes,'' Shilstone responded Wednesday night. "I was only speculating. But I sure did raise something that made them defensive, didn't I?''

Rokito brings up a good point, and it's clear that Shilstone was being purely speculative about the treatment of Reyes. If the Mets OK'd the visit and his agent thinks it's a good idea, someone should smack Jose upside the head and have him go see what the "expert" has to say.

A Tough Choice

ESPN.com's baseball page had/has a poll question that, unlike most of their silly polls, is actually very thought-provoking. The question goes like this:

If you only had one Hall of Fame vote, who would you give it to?

a) Barry Bonds
b) Roger Clemens

Very interesting indeed. Which of these ridiculous freaks of nature gets left off of the ballot? On the one hand, you have, in my estimation, the third greatest hitter ever (behind Ruth and Williams). On the other hand, you have one of the best pitchers since WWII, right up there with Tom Seaver. Thoughts?

Big Bats

The Mets big bats came through yesterday en route to their third straight victory. Aside from Piazza's record-breaking homerun, SaberMets man crush #2 Shane Spencer hit a three-run bomb in the eighth, following two batters later by Mike Cameron's two-run dinger, robbing Braden Looper of a save opportunity.

The Mets bullpen was strong again, pitching 4.2 innings of no-hit ball (one walk, four strikeouts) in relief of Jae Seo, who split the fingernail on his right middle finger. Seo suffered a similar injury in this game against the Marlins last season. The Fish managed only one hit against the Mets, a Juan Encarnacion single that was quickly erased when he was thrown out stealing second. For the first time in franchise history, the Mets faced the minimum 27 batters in beating Florida 5-0.

Tangent aside, Seo pitched terribly following the injury in 2003. At the time, June 17th, Seo's ERA was 2.66. After his start on August 16th, roughly two months later, Seo's ERA had soared to 4.32, giving up four or more runs in 7-of-10 games during that span. We'll see how serious the injury is this time around, but we can only hope he fares better than last season.

#1

After months of trying, Mike Piazza has finally passed Carlton Fisk as the most prolific homerun hitting catcher of all time, with 352 taters while playing behind the dish. This record will likely stand for a good long time. Congratulations to Mike. Hopefully this will help him settle down a bit, as he was pressing for much of this season.

Talent vs Hustle

Jim Caple of ESPN's Page 2 has an article up today about players who hustle vs. players who are talented. We can all agree that given two players of equal talent, the player who hustles is the more desirable of the two. The problem arises when you have to choose one over the other.

While I think hustle is great, it is in no way a replacement for actual talent. ESPN.com readers apparently think otherwise, at least according to polls:

ESPN.com has polled readers a couple times with a certain line of questioning. In one of these polls, we asked readers to pick the worst offense a baseball player could commit, and more respondents (21 percent) said not hustling was worse than betting on baseball (19.5 percent). In another poll, we asked what the worst offense in all sports was, and more readers (18 percent) said not hustling was worse than taking steroids (14.9 percent).

Pretty astounding, really.

The Glass

Kaley at Flushing Local has a great article today about the Mets crowded outfield picture when Cliff "Glass" Floyd returns to the lineup. Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer, current SaberMets man crushes #1 and #2, are both playing extraordinarily well, offensively and defensively. But the Mets can't very well play four outfielders, with Mike Cameron (the second coming of Whiffy McStrikeout) a staple in centerfield. Kaley thinks they might not have to:

Floyd's bat has to be in the lineup every day. That's non-negotiable. Floyd protects Piazza and vice versa. But does Floyd have to play LF? Perhaps Glass could do like Mikey and dust off his old firstbaseman's glove. He hasn't played the position in a big league game since 1997, but he has played 116 career games at 1B.

I just have to say that I LOVE this idea. As long as Jason Phillips couldn't hit dirt if he fell out of a tree, there's no reason not to try this out. When Piazza needs a day off of catching, then either Spencer or Garcia can sit for a game, depending on the platoon.

Wiggie On The Mend, But Who Cares?

Ty Wigginton is getting ready to rejoin the Mets, but should he be allowed to start? When he landed on the DL on 4/23, Wigginton was batting a robust .188/.216/.333, for an OPS of .549. He had three extra base hits (two homeruns) and two walks. He didn't strike out much, only five times in 13 games, but everything he hit he did so into the ground, sporting a 1.83 groundball/flyball ratio. He was also last among ML third-basemen in P/PA (pitches per plate appearance), looking at only 3.02 offerings before grounding out.

Meanwhile, his replacement Todd Zeile has been a man possessed. Zeile is hitting .322/.414/.458 with nine walks, a homerun, and leads ML third-basemen with 4.73 P/PA.

Zeile has also been better in the field than Wigginton (based on rudimentary ESPN fielding stats). He holds an edge in RF (Range Factor) of 3.27 to 2.31, and an edge in ZR (Zone Rating) of .744 to .676. Not that Zeile is a defensive whiz by any stretch, he has just been superior to Wigginton, and would likely continue to be so.

Until Zeile stops hitting altogether, I see no reason to put Wigginton in there unless Jason Phillips is taking a day off. Wigginton can only help the club as trade bait or a placeholder, though he no longer seems qualified for either.

All Or Nothing

A few months ago, Baseball America and ESPN.com joined up to give ESPN Insider members exclusive articles and info on players around the minors. Among others, Craig Brazell is mentioned in this week's "Around The Minors" column by Chris Kline:

Triple-A Norfolk first baseman Craig Brazell is leading the International League in homers with nine. The lefthanded hitter is batting .289-9-20 despite continuing his career-long lack of discipline at the plate. Brazell, who also is mixing in some outfield play this season, takes big swings early in the count, allowing pitchers to get ahead of him. He has struck out in bunches in the past and already has 21 (with just three walks) in 83 at-bats this season.

For those of you who are Insider members, the entire article can be found here.

More Anti-Mets Sentiment

Lawrence Rocca, The Star Ledger's answer to Jon Heyman and Friends, wrote a touching piece entitled "Mets are robbing their fans of quality baseball". I'll let you read it yourself, as it's nigh 500 words about how the Mets aren't as good as the Yankees, etc. It's shabby journalism, with numerous loaded statements and overexaggerations. Here's one of my favorites:

One good faith effort probably would have fooled Mets fans this winter, just one.

[...]

They have repeatedly passed on Alfonso Soriano, who could have played second base until Jose Reyes returned and then moved to right field, where the Mets have Whiz Kids Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer, who should have been released for their spring training fight with the pizza delivery boy but were not purely for budgetary reasons.

As of today, Garcia and Spencer have combined to hit .320/.358/.503 with five homeruns while Yankee corner outfielders Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui are hitting .289/.400/.422 with four homeruns. Of course, the Yankee outfielders are making $28 million dollars this year. The Mets? $1.5 million. Maybe the stats won't look like this in September, but it's pretty interesting, even a month into the season.