Update 5:00 PM Jon Heyman of SI.com added some new information ands confirms the earlier report that the Mets and Rockies are talking about Luis Castillo. But more interesting than that, is his feeling that Mets hitting coach Howard Johnson “appears to be in some jeopardy” of losing his job. Regarding Castillo, a person connected to the Rockies says they are “not even close” to having enough money to afford Luis Castillo, and that the Mets would have to [...]

 I’ve always been a big fan of Joel Sherman of the NY Post, but I think he really must have been in the midst of a bad hair day when he penned this piece this morning. I warn you that this falls into the category of Wright and Reyes bashing, so if you want to turn the page by all means go for it. Sherman writes his intro as follows, Jose Reyes and David Wright [...]

As Jim Nabors in “Gomer Pile” used to say:  “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.”  He could have been pontificating cryptically on the present wafer thin condition of the Mets’ starting rotation.  A concern expressed by many since there was snow on the ground, and ignored by Omar Minaya, but coming to fruition as June bugs and Vultures are circling.   Yesterday John Maine lasted five pitches.  He was throwing a Tom Glavinesque 85 mph, sans the biting breaking ball.  [...]

Yesterday I read that perhaps there would be more Yankee Fans at Citi Field tonight than Mets fans.  I suppose that is possible, but I’ll leave it to the management to get those figures.    The Yankees haven’t sold out this year either- they’ve got all those empty seats behind home plate. Not sure whether it’s due to the economy or the price hikes generated by both the Mets and Yankees to pay for these ‘theme [...]

You always hear about struggling teams calling a “players only meeting,” right before they fall off the cliff. If you have the right people in the clubhouse, this moment can make or break your season.  I’m of the belief that you don’t call a player’s meeting unless you have your #1 or #2 starting pitchers going that night. This way if something doesn’t click in the meeting, you still have the artificial result by 1 [...]

The Mets ended a lousy 2-6 road trip with a 10-7 win over the Nationals yesterday. That’s the good news, but leave it to the Mets to upstage a solid pitching effort by a Raul Valdes and a ten run offensive outburst by conjuring up yet another public relations nightmare. After the drama that unfolded when Jerry Manuel removed John Maine after throwing just five pitches in the first inning, who knew that the best worst was yet [...]

AAA International League: Buffalo 3/7/0, Charlotte 1/6/0 Pat Misch had an outstanding outing tonight, and it may turn out to be extremely crucial, with the … scary gun readings and slow windup/delievery of John Maine today in Washington. Misch went 7, allowing a run on 3 hits and 4 strikeouts for his 4th win of the season. Ryota Igarashi threw a scoreless 8th on 19 pitches, continuing his rehab. Josh Thole and Ruben Tejada both [...]

Things looked bleak when John Maine was removed after throwing five pitches and walking the leadoff batter, but reliever Raul Valdes stepped up and gave the Mets five solid innings of relief, while the Mets bats exploded for ten runs topped by a two run homer from catcher Rod Barajas, his tenth of the season. The Mets beat the Nationals 10-7. Game Notes John Maine started, and I gotta tell you, I’m growing tired of [...]

I’ve never been a huge David Wright fan. That’s not to say I dislike him, not at all. I just have never owned a Wright t-shirt, and never been a “Wright Guy.” Truth be told, I’m a Reyes guy. Just as I did last year, I’m asking the Mets and the fan base to let David be David. So far, none of what I wrote about Jose has really happened, so I don’t expect this [...]

When the Mets ended the 2009 season, they had three main goals on the agenda; revamp the bullpen, sign a top of the rotation pitcher, and get a power bat to play leftfield, bat cleanup and give David Wright protection. Obviously, we never got the starting pitcher, it’s still too early to tell if the bullpen has been fixed (recent struggles would point to no), but the Mets did manage to sign Jason Bay after a [...]

Only a month ago, the Mets bullpen was being looked at as a big strength for the team as they led the league in ERA, Batting Average Against, WHIP and even strikeouts. They have quickly sunk to the bottom in many of those categories as the season wore on due mostly to some bad bullpen management, pitch counts, and an ineffective starting rotation. Jenrry Mejia, the youngest player in the Majors when the season started, came [...]