Last night, as the Mets were on the precipice of their tenth walkoff loss of the season, Ruben Tejada may have made his strongest case for remaining the Mets second baseman even after Luis Castillo returns from the disabled list. With defeat knocking on the door and the winning run at the plate in the form of Mets killer and nemesis Willie Harris, Ruben Tejada saved the game with a remarkable pickoff that ended the [...]

Throughout my time writing for Mets Merized, I’ve always been one who preaches the rare virtue of patience.  The formula is straightforward.  Keep and develop your minor leaguers, complement them with a few key free agents, and over time you will have built a long lasting winning team.  It’s a simple theory but of course doesn’t always work.  Nor does significantly increasing payroll and having a roster of stars at every position. Especially after a [...]

AAA International League: Buffalo 12/13/2, Rochester 4/8/2 2b Justin Turner 3 for 5, 3 runs, RBI, .274 ss Luis Hernandez 1 for 3, run, .308 cf Jorge Padilla 1 for 4, 2 runs, BB, K, .345 1b Mike Jacobs 2 for 4, 2 runs, 2 2b, 3 RBI, BB, .257 rf Fernando Martinez 1 for 5, run, HR (5), 2 RBI (19), K, .250 3b Mike Cervanek 1 for 4, RBI, .232 lf Lucas Duda [...]

Atlanta Braves: (46-33; Leader) The Braves took two of three from the Washington Nationals and will open a three game series with the Marlins this weekend. J Hey was placed on the DL with a thumb injury, while he was 2nd in the All-Star voting in the OF. If he is not ready by then, the replacement would be at the manager’s (Charlie Manuel) discretion. More on this in the next paragraph. Philadelphia Phillies: (41-36; [...]

As you know today is Friday, and it is my favorite day of the week.  Most in part because it means the end of the work week, but also because today is my day to talk Mets with my Metsmerized buddies. So lets talk Mets and more importantly Mets trade deadline talk.  As you all know the Mets are in need of a front end starter, we have all read hundreds of posts regarding Cliff [...]

Last night, the Mets lost 2-1 after a ninth inning sacrifice fly by Ryan Zimmerman. It was the ninth time this season that the Mets have suffered a walkoff loss on the road. A hefty number considering they have just 23 losses on the road overall. On Tuesday, Jerry Manuel had no problem bringing Frankie Rodriguez, his best option, in the eighth inning of the game. However, he opted against bringing in Rodriguez in the [...]

Watching Sandy Koufax pitch was the beginning of my love affair with pitchers. They are special athletes who are more than just that – they are thinkers and planners as well. They are the linchpins of the field – the game is theirs and the wins and losses go on their personal records – forever. Pitchers used to be the kings of the hill, but the managers with all their print-outs and pitch counters are [...]

AAA International League: Buffalo 2/7/0, Rochester 0/6/0 2b Justin Turner 0 for 4, 2 Ks, .266 ss Luis Hernandez 3 for 4, run, 3 2b, .300 cf Jorge Padilla 2 for 3, BB, K, .353 dh Mike Jacobs 0 for 3, RBI, BB, K, .253 1b Val Pascucci 0 for 3, BB, K, .225 rf Fernando Martinez 0 for 4, 2 Ks, .252 3b Mike Cervanek 0 for 4, 2 Ks, .231 lf Lucas Duda [...]

Ryan Zimmerman’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning gave the Washington Nationals a 2-1 victory over the Mets, who wasted a solid start from Johan Santana. Game Notes Johan Santana rebounded nicely and gave the Mets all you could ask for pitching seven solid innings and allowing just one earned run. He let up six hits, a walk and struck out seven batters. It was nice to see him missing bats again, and the one good thing you could [...]

Peter Gammons of the MLB Network via Twitter is confirming Phillies second baseman Chase Utley will have surgery Thursday in New York to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. According to Comcast SportsNet, no timetable has been announced for his return, but typically a player needs six to eight weeks of recovery time before being ready for major league action. In his last 10 games Utley is hitting .395 (15-for-38) with 11 RBIs. He [...]