Believe me when I say this, but I am not taking a drink of the Kool-Aid. I never expected the Mets to contend this season and don’t expect that to change. I still think over the next six weeks the Mets will attempt to shed payroll in the names of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Francisco Rodriguez. I don’t know what will become of David Wright, but I know they won’t, and can’t, trade him [...]

A local boy made good for the Mets when on this day in 1973 they used their first-round pick to select Brooklyn Lincoln High School outfielder Lee Mazzilli. Area kid, skilled and with movie star good looks, Mazzilli seemed destined to be a big New York star. Three years later he debuted with the Mets and played with them through the 1982 season after which he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Ron Darling [...]

David Wright is expected to have another X-Ray taken on his back today. Obviously, there’s no timetable for him, and there won’t be until the tests are completed. It bothers me it took so long for him to be diagnosed with the stress fracture. Blame him for putting the tests off and the Mets for not being insistent. There’s no reason why he played another month in discomfort. Meanwhile, Wright reportedly has spoken with owner [...]

The easy thing to do would be credit this afternoon’s startling comeback on Terry Collins’ blistering rant last night. Maybe Collins shamed them somewhat, but it didn’t seem that way from the outset when Mike Pelfrey gave it up early. I think falling behind 7-0 had more to do with sparking the Mets than anything Collins said last night. When you’re a professional athlete, sometimes it takes being pushed around to catch your attention, and [...]

The Mets wasted a sparkling performance by R.A. Dickey last night, but with their anemic hitting lately, that’s hardly a surprise. What I took out of last night’s loss was again a spotty, head-scratching performance from Bobby Parnell, who continually proves it isn’t how hard you throw it, but when and where. Parnell tweaked the radar gun at 100 mph., but was all over place, needing 32 pitches to get out of the inning, but [...]

The Mets have the minority owner they hope will be able to bail them out of their major financial mess in the fallout of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. David Einhorn, president of Greenlight Capital Inc., will purchase 49 percent of the team for roughly $200 million. The sale does not include any ownership segment of SNY. The $200 million will go toward paying down the Mets’ considerable debt, which includes repayment of a $25 [...]

GM Sandy Alderson said a $100 million budget is news, and he hasn’t spoken with owner Fred Wilpon about next season. Alderson anticipates a payroll between $100 million and $145 million. That’s a wide berth, and the spectrum ranges from being able to compete to being a bottom feeder. When he took the job, Alderson said expectations are high in this market and meeting them means spending. Alderson said it is not guaranteed the Mets [...]

Fernando Martinez is 22, still young enough in the sport where he’s graded most on potential. However, the past few years have been rough on his body and he’s lost more games due to injury than anybody his age should have the right to. At one time Martinez was part of a group of three Mets outfielders who were going to race their way to stardom. Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez and Martinez were three raw [...]

You’ll be hearing a lot of trade rumors from now until the July 31 deadline. Some will be true, some not, but most entertaining. This isn’t all that hard to figure out. If a player gets hurt or goes into a deep slump, figure his team might make inquiries. In fact, most teams are making calls all the time. Every team’s front office goes over players on other teams with its scouts on a continuous [...]

Considering how it began, you have to be satisfied with the Mets’ six-game homestand against the Giants and Dodgers. A split was about as good as could be expected, and that’s what the Mets got. Perhaps the most significant development coming out of the homestand was Chris Young’s second appointment to the disabled list. He was a gamble signing to begin with, so this really can’t be looked at as a surprise. The Mets are [...]