Look at that scoreboard and count all of them zeroes!

What an amazing game tonight by the ace of the staff Matt Harvey who tossed nine scoreless innings tonight as the Mets beat the Chicago White Sox by the score of 1-0 on a tenth inning walk-off double by pinch hitter Mike Baxter.

The Mets phenom took a perfect game into the seventh inning until Alex Rios hit a grounder deep in the hole to Ruben Tejada who turned fired to first, but not in time as Rios beat the throw by half a step. Damn it!

Still, it was just another dominating performance in what has been a season full of them for Matt Harvey. The young right-hander struck out a career high twelve batters on the night and was absolutely electric.

The Mets offense was silenced most of the night by White Sox starter and Newark, New Jersey native Hector Santiago who was matching zeroes with Harvey and going toe to toe with him.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the tenth that the Mets broke through after a walk by Ike Davis who was then sacrificed to second on a perfect bunt by the rookie, Juan Lagares.

Terry Collins called on Mike Baxter to pinch hit and he quickly laced the ball into the right field corner as Ike Davis raced home and scored the winning run.

It was one of those games that you were happy to not have missed and hopefully all of you were tuned in and as amped up as I was. This one gave me goosebumps!

The Mets wrap up their short two game series tomorrow evening at 7:10 PM with Jeremy Hefner on the mound.

According to the Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the White Sox have acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays.

It’s a straight waiver claim, so the Blue Jays will receive nothing in return. Says Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi:

“This allows us to get out from under a contract and do more to address our club.”

ESPN is now confirming.

Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios has been claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox, sending him to a contending team and giving Toronto financial flexibility.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi announced the move Monday night, about 30 minutes before the Blue Jays were scheduled to play the New York Yankees. Rios was in the initial starting lineup when he learned the news.

Toronto did not receive any compensation for the two-time All-Star, who is batting .264 with 14 homers and 62 RBIs in 108 games.

Chicago began the night three games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

The 28-year-old Rios is owed about $60 million dollars over the next six years, which will take him through the 2014 season with a club option for 2015.

I think you all know my thoughts on Alex Rios, so I won’t go there. Needless to say, I am very disappointed. I guess this proves that the Mets and the Wilpons are flat broke.

UPDATE: Thanks to Amazin86er, for letting me know that waivers goes last to first per league, and not overall. So, the Mets couldn’t have claimed him unless he passed through the AL first. That said, in July I wrote that Rios could be had for a marginal player as the Blue Jays wanted to shed his contract. The Mets could have gotten him for nothing at the deadline and didn’t, so it’s clear that the money was an issue and will continue to be an issue from now on.

Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that a waiver claim has been placed on Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Alex Rios by an unknown team..

The 28-year-old Rios is batting .261 with 12 homers and 58 RBIs this season. He has a hefty contract that is paying him $5.9 million this season, $9.7 million in 2010, $12 million in 2011, $12 million in 2012, $12.5 million in 2013 and $12.5 million in 2014.

Once a player is claimed on waivers, they have on of three options.

• They could work out a trade with the team that claimed him.

• They could pull him back from waivers, and keep him for themselves the rest of this season.

• They could simply allow the team that claimed him to take him, at no cost.

The early speculation was that either the Red Sox, Giants or Mets were the mystery team, but according to Joel Sherman via his Twitter account, the Mets are not involved whatsoever.

A high-ranking Mets official assured me it was not them.

I didn’t think the Mets would be interested simply because it would have made too much sense for them. In case you haven’t noticed, common sense hasn’t exactly been one of the Mets’ strongest suits this season.

Too bad…

The Blue Jays have until Tuesday to decide which way they want to go.

Joe D. wrote extensively about Rios back on July 3rd when the Mets still had a fighting chance. He writes,

The Blue Jays are strapped for cash and at the same time the team wants to make an offer to their ace pitcher Roy Halladay who wants to finish his career in Toronto. Rios has a huge contract that they need to unload, and it’s for that reason that he wouldn’t cost much in the way of prospects or players in return.

In his last three full seasons, Rios has hit .296 with 56 homers, 245 RBI, 64 stolen bases, 273 runs scored, 123 doubles, and 21 triples.

Currently he is batting .260 with 19 doubles, 9 homers, 37 RBI, 38 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases. He is just 28 years old.

How can anyone say that this one bat would not make a difference?

Plus, he wouldn’t be a rental player as he is signed through 2014 at an average of $12 million dollars annually. He will only be 33 in the final year of that contract, and there is an option for 2015. 

He can play rightfield, and also plays a solid centerfield and can give Beltran’s knee a rest when needed to keep him fresh for the stretch run. 

Alex Rios’ career numbers are actually quite similar to Beltran’s numbers before he was traded to the Astros.

All I’m trying to impress on you is to forget that notion that one trade is not going to help. One player has made the difference plenty of times in baseball, and this could be another one of those times.

Let’s not gamble on the unpredictable returns of Reyes, Beltran and Delgado, and hope we are still in what has now become a four team race in the NL East.

Let’s do the right thing and give these fightin’ Mets a chance now… while they still have an opportunity to take this division in July.

We have fought too hard, and endured too much to just leave our play-off hopes to the slim chance that more reinforcements will arrive in time.

With a 44-49 record, the Mets are in fourth place in the National League East, a full 10 games behind the first place Phillies and within striking distance of the Braves and Marlins.  While they are closer to the Wild Card lead than the division lead, trailing the Rockies by 6½ games, the Mets have to pass eight teams to wrest the lead away from Colorado.  This puts them in a precarious situation, where they’re not officially out of it, but they also know the road to the 2009 playoffs is covered with plenty of potholes and detours that could very well cause the Mets to miss the boat, regardless of what they do.

There appeared to be some discussion about Roy Halladay, although no names were actually bandied about.  I don’t think acquiring Halladay would make much sense for the 2009 season.  Halladay will probably make no more than 13 or 14 starts between now and the end of the season.  He is an excellent pitcher, but no one would expect him to go 13-0 or 14-0 in those starts.  Assuming two or three no-decisions, at best he’d go 10-2.  By himself, he would not be enough to push the Mets past the Phillies, meaning they’d also have to get more players in the deal or in a separate deal.  That would surely deplete the farm system of all its talent.  The Mets would be better off showcasing Jon Niese in the majors for the rest of the season and hope he continues his strong pitching with the big club.  Then, if Halladay hasn’t signed a long-term deal with whichever team he winds up with, Niese would become more attractive in a deal and the Mets might not need to part with four or five prospects to get him before the start of the 2010 season.

The list of pitchers who can file for free agency after the 2009 season does not have many top starters.  Some pitchers, like Josh Beckett and Cliff Lee, have reasonable club options for 2010.  Cliff Lee is an intriguing pitcher.  He is currently pitching for the underachieving Cleveland Indians.  As with Halladay, the Mets might have to part with a number of prospects to acquire him.  The Mets would be better off waiting until the offseason if they want to become serious players for Cliff Lee.

If the Mets think they have any chance of making one last run in 2009, they should focus more on hitters than pitchers.  With the way the Phillies are playing, it is clear that the Mets cannot wait for their hitters to return from the disabled list.  Although they are good players, the Angel Pagans and the Daniel Murphys and the Alex Coras are not going to lead any team into the postseason alone.  They need players who can drive the ball for extra base hits.  It’s clear the Mets are not a home run hitting team, but the team they’re putting on the field now isn’t even an extra base hitting team.  The Mets might hit for average, but when that average is boosted by a string of singles, it’s going to take three hits per inning to score just one run.  That’s not going to help any team contend.  Just to throw some names out there, perhaps an Adam Dunn or an Alex Rios could be acquired.  They won’t cost the Mets the farm system and can help the team beyond 2009.

Some people might not like Dunn because of his high strikeout total.  He does strike out quite a bit, but doesn’t it seem like more Met rallies have been killed by double plays than strikeouts?  All year, the Mets have been at or near the top of the league in fewest strikeouts, even with David Wright racking up all those frequent whiffer miles.  Dunn is much more of a fly ball hitter than ground ball hitter, so there’s less of a chance for him to end a rally with a double play ball.  Although I never want to see a Mets player strike out, I’ll always take a strikeout over an inning-ending double play.

Alex Rios is another player who can drive the ball into gaps, as evidenced by his 22 doubles, two triples and 10 HR this season.  As a bonus, he has been gifted with excellent speed and can beat out more than his share of potential double play grounders.

Both Dunn and Rios are playing for teams that are no longer in contention.  They will not be dealt for a bag of marbles, but the Mets won’t have to empty out their farm system for them either.  As each day passes and the Mets continue to watch the Phillies and Rockies put up Ws, their playoff hopes are becoming more bleak.  Even if the Mets continue to lose ground before the trade deadline, they don’t have to be sellers.  However, if they are going to be buyers, it’ll have to be for players who will help them for more than just the remainder of the 2009 season.  Otherwise, there’s no point in being either a buyer or a seller.  Class dismissed!

On Monday, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that Blue Jays GM, J.P. Ricciardi is willing to listening to offers for the ace of their rotation, RHP Roy Halladay. Needless to say, before long the blogosphere was buzzing with all sorts of hypothetical trades. As one of our readers wrote, when someone like Halladay comes along you don’t think about it, you go out and get him.

Ken Davidoff of Newsday, spoke to the Blue Jays GM and confirmed what Rosenthal first reported.

“Halladay is signed through next year, and there’s very little chance that he’ll stick with the Jays after that. Toronto is not going to make the playoffs this year. So, he’ll listen to offers.”

Obviously, besides the Mets at least a dozen other teams have interest in Halladay. The Blue Jays reportedly want at least three top prospects according to several reports. Matt Cerrone guessed it could take Fernando Martinez, Wilmer Flores and Brad Holt.

Toronto will not trade him within his division, so the Red Sox and Yankees are out, but the Phillies are already in contact with Ricciardi.

Last week the Blue Jays also hinted that they would trade both Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, so that they could free up money to sign Halladay, so something must have transpired for the Blue Jays to shift their position so quickly.

Last week I wrote extensively about how the Mets should go after Alex Rios.

In his last three full seasons, Rios has hit .296 with 56 homers, 245 RBI, 64 stolen bases, 273 runs scored, 123 doubles, and 21 triples.

Currently he is batting .260 with 19 doubles, 10 homers, 46 RBI, 41 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases. He is just 28 years old.

How can anyone say that this one bat would not make a difference?

Plus, he wouldn’t be a rental player as he is signed through 2014 at an average of $12 million dollars annually. He will only be 33 in the final year of that contract, and there is an option for 2015. 

He can play rightfield, and also plays a solid centerfield and can give Beltran’s knee a rest when needed to keep him fresh for the stretch run. 

As for Roy Halladay, a 1-2 punch of Halladay and Johan Santana would be the most lethal in baseball. It would certainly give the Mets the edge in any short series in the post season. He would certainly be a difference maker. The question is are we willing to give up F-Mart, Brad Holt (or Bobby Parnell), and Wilmer Flores to acquire him.

I’ve seen enough of F-Mart to know that while he might be an above average player in five years, the Mets are a “win-now” team. By the time F-Mart or Wilmer Flores are ready, Carlos Beltran and K-Rod will be gone, Johan will be on the downside of his career, Reyes would be a free agent, you get the picture.

Do you want to win now, while Wright, Beltran, Johan, K-Rod and Reyes are in their prime?

Or do you want to keep F-Mart and company and wait a few years for another golden opportunity to present itself?

The Mets would be lucky if just one of those prospects actually made it, let alone all three.

Can you recall the four top prospects we gave up for Johan?

Surely you haven’t forgotten our former top ten prospects Deolis Guerra (4.63 in AA), Philip Humber (6.69 ERA in AAA), Kevin Mulvey (4.17 ERA, 1.51 WHIP in AAA) and Carlos Gomez who is batting .218 for the Twins…

These days, the Mets are not only faced with the challenge of battling the opposing team, but also must contend with the ghosts of two collapses, a media that loves to pour on the heat, and a fan base that has become far too impatient and angry. That’s a lot of things they have to overcome each time they take the field, and yet they manage to do it with a team comprised mostly of backups, aging veterans, and players that were called up from the minors long before they were major league ready.

And despite these overwhelming odds, the Mets find themselves just one game out of first place as they begin a crucial three game series against their latest arch rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Don’t expect the Mets to get much brotherly love in this city, unless we can get as many Mets fans to attend these games, as there were Phillies fans the last time these two teams met at Citi Field. The Phillies took two of three back then.

As much as I love the incredible toughness this team has shown, I have doubts as to whether they can continue to stay afloat in this race without some help. The brave souls who defended the Alamo showed amazing toughness and heart too, but that wasn’t enough for them to hold down the fort. By the time the reinforcements showed up, it was unfortunately too late.

I find that the Mets are in that same situation, and it’s not just the Phillies that worry me, it’s the suddenly resurgent Braves and the always pesky Marlins that the Mets must overcome as well.

The Mets need some help now. That silly, and in my opinion ignorant, argument that one trade isn’t going to help the Mets does not hold water with me.

The addition of a big bat in this lineup would make a big difference. It made a difference for the Dodgers(Ramirez) last year, it made a difference for the Astros in 2004 (Beltran), and it made a difference for the Mets when they traded for Donn Clendenon who helped them win the division and then hit three big homers in four games in the 1969 World Series.

One bat will also allow the rest of the team to breathe easier, especially David Wright who has taken the world upon his shoulders at 26-years old.

Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN writes,

An MLB executive familiar with the Mets’ thinking tells me that the Mets have no plans to make any major trades right now. They feel as if they will improve themselves before the July 31st trading deadline more than anyone in baseball. By then, the Mets think that Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, John Maine and Oliver Perez could be back. In August, Carlos Delgado could return.

The Mets might actually believe that all these players will return sometime this month, but what if they’re wrong? It’s no secret they the Mets have a terrible track record when it comes to forecasting an injured players return.from the disabled list.

Would it be that terrible to go out and get a guy like outfielder Alex Rios who is on the block and seems to be perfectly suited for a park like CitiField?

The Blue Jays are strapped for cash and at the same time the team wants to make an offer to their ace pitcher Roy Halladay who wants to finish his career in Toronto. Rios has a huge contract that they need to unload, and it’s for that reason that he wouldn’t cost much in the way of prospects or players in return.

In his last three full seasons, Rios has hit .296 with 56 homers, 245 RBI, 64 stolen bases, 273 runs scored, 123 doubles, and 21 triples.

Currently he is batting .260 with 19 doubles, 9 homers, 37 RBI, 38 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases. He is just 28 years old.

How can anyone say that this one bat would not make a difference?

Plus, he wouldn’t be a rental player as he is signed through 2014 at an average of $12 million dollars annually. He will only be 33 in the final year of that contract, and there is an option for 2015. 

He can play rightfield, and also plays a solid centerfield and can give Beltran’s knee a rest when needed to keep him fresh for the stretch run. 

Alex Rios’ career numbers are actually quite similar to Beltran’s numbers before he was traded to the Astros.

When Carlos Beltran does come back, we can simply slide Rios over to leftfield so that we can use Sheffield off the bench or platoon him with Ryan Church in right field.

All I’m trying to impress on you is to forget that notion that one trade is not going to help. One player has made the difference plenty of times in baseball, and this could be another one of those times.

Let’s not gamble on the unpredictable returns of Reyes, Beltran and Delgado, and hope we are still in what has now become a four team race in the NL East.

Let’s do the right thing and give these fightin’ Mets a chance now… while they still have an opportunity to take this division in July.

We have fought too hard, and endured too much to just leave our play-off hopes to the slim chance that more reinforcements will arrive in time.

Hey Omar… Remember the Alamo!