While most players were enjoying their brief all star hiatus, the Mets fifth starter spent his break in the hospital with a serious ailment. Numbness in the fingers of Dillon Gee’s right fingers led doctors to a blood clot in the pitcher’s shoulder. While it appears Gee will ultimately be fine, original reports that he would miss only two starts have evolved into potentially season ending surgery this morning. As a result, it’s a fairly safe bet that the Mets will eventually turn to the unproven Matt Harvey who’s arrival at the big league level is as anticipated as they come. The issue remains that there is no guarantee that Harvey will excel at the highest level, and could very well struggle, leaving the the back end of the rotation in its worse state of the season, while further taxing an already questionable bullpen.

Questions in the rotation can be added to other, much larger concerns, which loom with regards to the aforementioned bullpen and the bench. The end of July will be an illustration of exactly how committed the front office is to the 2012 campaign. The Mets have a legitimate opportunity to play in October, but aren’t without faults. If Sandy Alderson doesn’t address these needs, the team will suffer as the year drags on. The reality of the situation is that mid-season trades usually include prospects, which are an extremely hot commodity in Alderson’s world. While I do not under any circumstance think the team should/would trade their top guys, personnel moves are necessary. Just how hesitant Sandy is to make those moves could determine this particular teams fate.

The final issue I’ll discuss is that the team simply needs to be better in the second half if they’re going to play October baseball this fall. That may be a tough order considering how well everyone thinks the first half of the season went. It’s easy to point our fingers at the bullpen, as it is the worst in the majors, but the team’s defense and over all decision making will have to be better over the next few months. With any luck, the rest that most players got these past new days will cure what ails them, but it’s obvious that the next few weeks leading up to the trade deadline will as important as any other three week stretch this season.

When the Mets take the field tomorrow night, they should do so refreshed and refocused. Their mission is clear, but the route to that goal got a bit cloudy in recent days. Will they rise up in the face of adversity as they have done all season, or will this be the injury that finally fractures the limits of the roster’s very limited depth? The team must take a step forward in the next few weeks, lurch themselves to the forefront of the playoff race and prove to their general manager that 2012 is worth the leap of faith that will be required to fill this roster’s holes. With half the season in the rear view mirror, there are still numerous questions in what lies ahead. Tomorrow night we begin to get our answers.. tomorrow night we’ll start to find out once and for all exactly how much fight the 2012 Mets have left.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83

This scenario could actually be helpful for the Mets when you take a deeper look. It has been rumored that Reyes could get Carl Crawford money when he becomes a free agent this off-season.

However, this latest injury could impact his chances of getting that kind of a cash windfall. Reyes has made many trips to the disabled list in his career and some people believe that he is injury prone.

With his latest injury, it only gives teams more reason to believe that Reyes will continue to have issues.

This is a fact that will help the Mets greatly when it comes to negotiating with Reyes and his agent this off-season. Reyes’ price will likely drop down to a range that the Mets can afford as many teams will be hesitant to sign up to a long-term deal.

Reyes will likely miss between two to three weeks as a result of this current injury.

With the Mets out of contention this year, they have no need to rush Reyes back. He will take his time getting healthy. This missed playing time also works in the Mets favor.

That time off of the field will definitely cost Reyes money and he could lose out on millions of dollars as a result of this injury

Reyes has undoubtedly been the Mets MVP when he has been healthy this year and if the Mets wish to succeed in the near future, it is important that he is on the team’s roster.

Losing Jose Reyes or any player to an injury is never a good thing, but there may be a  silver lining in it for the Mets if it increases the chances of them keeping their All Star shortstop for the 2012 season and beyond.

The Marlins’ Scott Cousins collides with Giants catcher Buster Posey in the 12th inning Wednesday.

It’s always tough to see a young player with such a promising career getting injured, especially when the injury was avoidable. Masked behind the Reds-Phillies’ 19-inning debacle, a serious injury occurred to promising young player, raising many safety concerns in baseball. The San Francisco Giants were working on defending their World Series championship, when it took a huge left turn when their ROY catcher, Buster Posey, went down with a serious ankle injury in the 12th inning of Wednesday’s 7-6 loss to the Marlins.

Posey was run over by the Marlins’ Scott Cousins and was in pain on the ground before having to be helped off the field, unable to put weight on his left foot. He was taken for X-rays but the results have not been revealed. Posey is also scheduled to undergo an MRI today.

“A catcher’s so vulnerable there,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s the toughest play in baseball. (A runner is) bearing down on you. You hate to see it. He’s our guy behind the plate, so hopefully you get good news there.”

This play has raised red flags with some people when it comes to the safety of players, and knowing the MLB Players Association, they’re gonna want to take action on it. Last year I wrote a piece about keeping the safety of players during injury avoidable situations when Kendry Morales had an ankle injury and had to go to the disabled list when the Angels celebrated his walk-off victory. Similar occurrence last year when Indians’ young catcher, Carlos Santana, injured his left leg after a collision at the plate with Ryan Kalish.

Buster Olney, of ESPN, talked about this issue on Twitter this morning saying:

In the big-picture question of risk/reward, the play of blocking home plate, to save one run, is just not worth it. Not even close. blocking home plate. The answer of “That’s the way it’s always been done” is not a good enough answer. Have catchers tag runners like 2B, 3B. MLB and the Players Association should step in and ban the play of a catcher blocking home. It’s just not worth it, for anyone involved. Agent for Buster Posey will call MLB and raise idea of rule changes regarding collisions between runners/fielders.

I have to agree with this, as other players agree like Braves reliever, Peter Moylan, agreed on his Twitter account.

Managers don’t want their outfielders diving into walls and getting injured, like Bay and Pagan have, or wanting pitchers to use their bare hands to grab a line drive near them. However, they expect their catcher to just stand there and get blasted by a player running as hard as they can at them, with the sole purpose of running them over and deliver a jarring blow to knock the ball out of their hands. Baseball is known as a very limited contact sport with the only contact between players is tagging a runner out or a slide tackle at second base.

There are plenty of alternatives to having a catcher stand his ground and allowing a runner just run him over. It would have been better to just wait for the runner to get closer to the plate, taking a step forward, and applying a sweeping tag on the runner. I remember playing catcher in high school and the rules banned catchers from blocking the plate and also banned runners from running over the catcher on purpose. Of course this is not the rules in the majors. But Bud Selig can’t just ban one without the other. And this is not a change in rules that will affect the views of baseball, as this type of play happens rarely, maybe once every two weeks.

Also, the fact that the Giants working on getting the NL West division and defending their World Series championship possibly being diminished as their cleanup hitter having a possible season-ending, career-ending injury for a run in a game in May. A little different if it was game seven of the WS. The only positive thing I can think of coming out of catchers blocking and runners blasting them, is showing that they will give up their bodies for their team, but when you have to go to the disabled list for weeks or months, quickly becomes a negative.

Just thought I’d bring up an issue of safety to reduce the number of players, and great players, on the disabled list. So should MLB and MLBPA take action to change the current rules, or is the culture of this sport just too important to change a rule that applies to an occurrence that happens maybe three times a month for all of baseball?

Shades of the 2009 Mets are already apparent here this season. Though that team was more talented on paper, it was ravaged by the injury bug which gave Jerry Manuel very little to work with on a day-to-day basis.

Well, it seems that injuries already have played a role this season.

Last year’s breakout player, Angel Pagan, is on the disabled list, though he will hopefully return shortly.

The Mets were forced to put their top reliever, Rule 5 draftee Pedro Beato, on the disabled list due to elbow tendinitis. That’s a tough blow for Beato, who was pitching some of the best baseball of his life.

Of course, the Mets are dealing with the absence of ace Johan Santana. Though there were good reports about his progress this week, he still has a long road ahead.

Injuries are part of the game, but the Mets seem to be cursed.

In 2006, one of the NL’s best setup relievers, Duaner Sanchez, was injured in a car accident that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. Would Sanchez have made the same pitch that Aaron Heilman made on the home run to Yadier Molina in the NLCS? We’ll never really know, but it would have been nice to at least put our best foot forward.

There have been few occasions over the last two seasons that the team has played completely at full strength. In a division including the Phillies, Braves and Marlins, a healthy team is the only way the Mets can compete.

The lineup is one thing, but just think if Santana was healthy.

He’d be the ace, while Mike Pelfrey would have less pressure on him as the No. 2. That would also push back R.A. Dickey and Jon Niese, with Chris Young and Chris Capuano providing rotation depth.

Pelfrey would still have to go out and compete even if Santana was there, but he probably would have benefited from Santana’s calming presence.

Once Pagan comes back, the team will have the makings of a contender, assuming everyone performs to their potential. The Mets have dug themselves a hole early, but nothing that can’t be overcome.

The days of seeing both Willie Harris and Scott Hairston in the same lineup should hopefully be over soon.

Follow me on Twitter @JMMancari.

But what I’m getting at is this….we haven’t had injuries to key players like David Wright, Jason Bay, Davis, Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Pedro Feliciano, or K-Rod…or to any of our catchers.  Last year, it was like we were legitimately cursed with the injury bug. So with the core of the Mets in the lineup and on the mound each day and each week, and with the team playing just about as well as it’s capable, second place and 1.5 games out on June 23 doesn’t seem so ridiculous.

And seriously, after last year, we were due for some better luck both with injuries and with the performances of our regulars.  Now, if the tides turn and David Wright rolls his ankle running the bases tonight, I’ll take the heat that’s coming to me.  But I think we’re in for a wild (and hopefully successful) run toward the playoffs this season.

As of right now Johan Santana will be pitching once again on 6 days rest which gives him an extra day off.  Normally this would be a good thing but Johan is not a typical pitcher.  For some reason Johan has trouble pitching on extra rest.  It’s somewhat dumbfounding but that is the case with Johan.  The Mets have to know this by now so of course they are going to pitch him with the extra day’s rest.

With Johan’s troubling record with an extra day’s rest I have to ask the question: is there something wrong with Johan?  Is there a physical reason why Johan needs extra rest?  Johan is coming off of elbow surgery but according to him and the team he’s fine and at 100%.  Johan did not have good numbers during Spring Training but what was most troubling was his velocity.  Johan was having trouble reaching 90 but on Opening Day he had a good outing and the velocity was good.

Sunday’s 1st inning against the Nationals saw Johan struggle.  Johan would eventually allow 5 runs in that game.  Sunday’s game showed that Johan is not good on extended rest but that is not stopping the Mets from resting him again. This team has brought it on itself that I have to question their motives and reasoning.  We have heard that if Johan is hurt than this team has no chance and that is 100% true.  The team in the past have put their own needs ahead of their players.  We saw that a bunch of times last year.

Hopefully this is just more mismanagement from Jerry Manuel and not a way for the Mets to hide an injury because that fallout is something the Mets just don’t need right now.  Hopefully Johan will perform like the Johan of old or this season is truly lost.

K-Rod had a nice season, but his dip from 62 saves in Los Angeles the year before to 35 with the Mets was both a reflection on the Mets having a bad season and him being a bit inconsistent.  His 3.71 ERA was also way inflated from his 2.24 mark the previous season.  Putz was pitching pretty well before blowing out an elbow and being put on the DL about a third of the way into the 2009 season.  And Parnell was great at times, and a gas can at others.

So now, how do you feel knowing that K-Rod is coming off a sub-par season, with Parnell, Kelvim Escobar, Jose Feliciano, Sean Green, Pat Misch and Ryota Igarashi behind him?  On paper, this bullpen is almost as much of a question mark as the starting rotation is.  That’s not to say they can’t overachieve and keep the team in games, but how likely is that?  And the rotation is not exactly the kind of group that will give the bullpen long stretches of rest at a time.  To the contrary, they will be called upon to pitch 2-3 innings each night.

So I ask you, how do you all feel about this bullpen?

“When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets.”

In 2008 Putz was ineffective due to injury in his pitching arm.  Can anyone name a franchise in any other sports that runs a team like this?  Before a player comes to your team you give him a complete physical, especially when he has a known injury. The Mets have one of the best medical staffs in the country and yet they continue to not use that staff in the way they should.

Unfortunately for the Mets and us fans Putz also revealed something even more troubling.  Putz says that he continued to feel pain and the Mets forced him to be quiet and tell the media that he felt fine.  I don’t know what is more worrisome, the fact that the Mets acquired a player who had a known injury and did not give him a full physical before completing the trade or that they are now in the practice of encouraging players to lie to the media.

I have often question the Mets integrity and accused them of not telling the truth and it seems I was right to do so.  I am not happy to be right about this as I now have to question whatever the Mets say for the foreseeable future.

That leads to this season with the Mets coming into 2010 with a lot of question marks.  Are they telling the truth that Johan Santana is feeling good and will be ready by Spring Training?  Is Johan lying to the press on how he was feeling after last week’s mini camp?  Yesterday Jose Reyes had a training session which he ran and afterward said he was feeling like the old Jose Reyes.  The Mets said they were encouraged by this workout but once again I have to question if they are being 100% truthful.

The Mets did release a statement that went by the numbers yesterday saying:

“J.J. underwent an exam during Spring Training and an additional exam and MRI before he was cleared to play in last year’s World Baseball Classic.”

While the Mets didn’t say it they are pretty much calling Putz a liar.  With all this incompetence it makes sense that free agents are avoiding the Mets like the plague, would you really want to play for this team?  I would like to take the side of my team and agree with them that Putz is lying but after seeing the way this team has been operating over the last couple of years I think I have take Putz’ word on this one.  I am surprised however that the Mets didn’t just go and blame a beat writer for this.

Go back to last year and the press conference from hell where Omar Minaya called out Adam Rubin and accused him of trying to obtain a job with player development. The announcement that the Mets decided to fire Tony Bernazard should have been a simple one.  The Mets could have easily put out a press release informing the media that after Omar Minaya’s “investigation” the organization decided to part ways with Bernazard.  Instead the Mets made a bad situation worse and added another distraction to the team.

As school children I’m sure a lot of us would ask why we need to know history and the answer always was “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I guess the Mets never heard that saying because last week was another example of the Mets not learning from history and to top it off the recent history of last year’s Bernazard disaster.

It’s been almost a week and there are still a lot of questions regarding how Carlos Beltran’s surgery occurred.  The bottom line for me and I’m sure most fans is a simple one: Carlos Beltran had surgery on his knee, he will not be able to resume baseball activities for at least 12 weeks and he won’t be back for awhile.  All the Mets had to do was tell the press and the fans why he had surgery, the result of the surgery, and when they expected him to be back on the team.  The Mets did not need to put it out in the universe that Carlos Beltran went out on his own and got surgery on his ailing knee.  Now the Mets have started a war of words with their Center Fielder and his agent.  Like many wars this war was unnecessary.  Beltran had the surgery, it was done, and the Mets even if they did not approve of the procedure should have simply lied and put on a happy face to the public.

It’s 19 days into the 2010 and already there was a scandal and unfortunately with the current way the club is run I’m sure there will be many other embarrassing moments to come, hopefully the Mets will prove me wrong.

Last week Danny Krieger posted a blog about Yankee pitcher A.J. Burnett and his habit of shaving cream pies after a big win, if you like you can read that post here.

Danny mentions how A.J. has brought fun back to the Bronx and how that fun translated into the Yankees winning season and perhaps winning a 27th World Series title.  It got me thinking to the 2006 Mets.  The 2006 team had a lot of fun while playing the game.  They were always smiling, always joking with each other.  Everyone remembers the handshakes that Jose Reyes would do whenever someone hit a homerun out of the park or the bubble gum hats we saw that year.

There was a lot of criticism towards the Mets, specifially the never ending smiling Jose Reyes.  Opposing teams hated the handshakes and dancing in the dugouts.  It made them want to beat us even more.  Teams would hate to play us knowing that you couldn’t erase that smile off of Jose Reyes’ face.  The opposing team knew whether Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright and any other Met hit a homer in 2005 that there was going to be a fun handshake and celebration in the dugout.  Reyes even had a different handshake and dance with every Met on the roster.

The press and the radio shows, especially that blowhard Mike Francesa seemed to always get on Reyes and the Mets for the celebrations.  That seemed to be the start of the end of the fun in Flushing.  We all know even if this year there were a lot of bad media moments the Mets front office don’t like any negative press about their players.  They expect their players to be smiling, polite gentleman.  There were reports going around that Willie Randolph told Jose Reyes to cut out the celebrations after the homers.  Management was said to see the reactions to Reyes’ behavior and decided that the press was right, the Mets needed to be more like the Yankees, not smiling, not having fun, showing up and being businessmen.

If you look at 2007 the fun stopped.  The fun disappeared long before the Mets collapsed that year.  They were no longer smiling or easy going like they were in 2006.  It looked like they wanted to have fun but were holding back and as 2007 was coming to an end that attitude took it’s toll.

2008 was no better.  Carlos Beltran tried to get Reyes to have fun, telling him to be himself but the entire team was on edge having to answer questions about Willie Randolph’s job security plus the press reminding them everyday about 2007 collapse.  They were even more on edge then the year before.  Unfortunately the same result happened.  The Mets failed to make the playoffs yet again on the last day of the regular season.  No fun was had during the season and no fun would have fun in October of 2008 either.

2009 seemed to be a little different as far the Mets demeanor heading into Spring Training.  While they were not dancing in the dugouts they looked like they were having fun again, trying to get passed the last 2 seasons.  We all saw opening day the 24 different handshakes Johan Santana had with his teammates.  The team looked to be having fun for the first few weeks until all the injuries took place.  Gone was the fun, in came the dread of another bad season.  We all know how 2009 ended up.

In conclusion teams that have fun seemed to win a little more.  Obviously you need talent and the Mets do have talent.  I hate to use the Phillies and Yankees as examples but both teams had fun playing the game this past season, they obviously have talented players and they are both in the World Series. It’s time to stop worrying about what writers and idiot radio guys like Francesa think, go and have fun.  If Jose Reyes wants to celebrate with a handshake and groove a little with his teammates let him.  Lets see the smiling Jose Reyes of 2006.  2006 was a great season for him and the Mets.  Lets see David Wright take the pressure off himself to hit more homers and just have fun.  The fans enjoyed watching the games and going to them in 2006.  Part of the fun was not just seeing the Mets win but seeing them enjoy the game, seeing what new handshakes and dance moves they would come up with.  2006 the Mets had fun and just missed going to the World Series.  In 2010 lets have some fun and get to the World Series!

“most of the injuries happened while the team was on the road and that the team relied too heavily on other team doctors”

Jeff Wilpon also mentioned that the Dodgers team doctors had made the original diagnosis that Jose Reyes had a calf injury.  The Dodgers were not happy about this and felt that Wilpon was wrong when he made that statement, they released a statement of their own saying that:

“the Mets have official documentation showing that the correct diagnosis of Mr. Reyes was made here in Los Angeles in May.”

According to the Dodgers, Dr. Neal ElAttrache examined Reyes and concluded that Jose Reyes did have a partly torn accessory hamstring tendon.  The Mets decided to have Jose play in one game during that series in which he lasted only a couple of innings, he ran to first, came up lame and did not play another game for the Mets for 2009.

The Times asked the Mets to respond to Dr. ElAttrache’s diagnosis Mets public relations guru Jay Horrowitz said:

“The Mets and Dodgers doctors have spoken.”

This is so typical of this team.  The Mets have shown this whole season that they refuse to take responsibility for anything that they do wrong, always trying to blame it on someone else.  We saw that earlier this season when Omar Minaya had to fire his friend Tony Bernazard he tried to discredit Adam Rubin, saying Rubin wanted a job with the Mets and once again Jeff Wilpon is now blaming the Dodgers and their medical team in the mishandling of Jose Reyes’ injury.

Word going around is that the Dodgers are not happy about the Mets making these false statements and now there is a rift between the Dodgers and Mets.  I’m not surprised in the least, I wonder how the Mets will try to spin this latest mistake, they will probably embarrass themselves and most Met fans I’m sure.

Fred Wilpon reiterated in the press conference as well as on the radio with Mike Francesa that the Mets are dedicated to delivering a championship-caliber team next year.  He also said that what happened this past season was disappointing and unacceptable.  Jeff made statements that make for nice sound bites and encourages fans to buy season tickets for 2010.

However, there are some things that Jeff Wilpon said that shows what is wrong with this organization.  Instead of admitting their mistakes and fessing up to what went wrong this season Jeff continued to make excuses.

On The Handling Of Injuries: Jeff said that the reason for the mishandling of the injuries was that most of the injuries happened while the team was on the road and that the team relied too heavily on other team doctors.  This is without a doubt a big cop out.  They could have easily put the injured player on a plane back to New York and got them looked at by their own doctors.  He even said on WFan that Jose’s calf injury was misdiagnosed while on the road and they didn’t learn of this injury until he got back from the West Coast.  One of your star players, you don’t send to a team doctor to get checked out?  You wait until something else develops?

Free Agents/Trades/Budget/Jerry Manuel:  Jeff put all this responsibility solely on Omar Minaya.  When asked about how much the budget will be and how agressive the Mets would be with free agents and the trade market he said over and over it depends on who Omar wants to make this team a championship calibur team.  He never gave an exact number or for that matter an estimate on what ownership has in mind for a budget, just “as much as Omar needs.”  What a way to throw your General Manager under the bus one day after the 2009 season and well before the 2010 season starts.  Him putting this all on Omar pretty much will make them avoid responsibility if 2010 goes the way 2009 went.

This is exactly what is wrong with the Mets.  Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything that happens, they blame it on the most convenient person(s).  Look at how Omar handled Tony B’s firing this summer, he blamed Adam Rubin on wanting a job with player development in exposing Tony B’s bad behavior.

Until this organization steps up and takes responsibility for their actions we will never be in the position to win championships.  You know they have at the very least a ballpark figure they would like the budget to be at yet Fred Wilpon doesn’t say that.  So if they don’t sign or trade anybody Omar is the one who takes the beating in the press.  You see what Jeff Wilpon has done now?  He actually has me feeling a little bad for Omar.  Shame on you Jeff, shame on you!

What a series for this Mets team, that is simply on fire. Who would have guessed at the start of the season, Johan Santana would have 20 wins in August?? True indication of why he is our Ace. Maine and Big Pelf earned wins this weekend as well, earning them each their 15th wins. And Frankie “K-Rod” Rodriguez earned his major league-leading 42nd save on Saturday, keeping his no blown save record in tact.

David Wright and Carlos Beltran went a combined 22-for-36, belting out two homers each over the four games. Jose Reyes continued his one-man marathon, swiping 6 bases, including a steal of Home in yesterday’s 13-0 blowout victory. Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo also contributed, driving in 7 runs and 5 runs, respectively.

In fairness to the Phillies, the team has been plagued by the injury bug since the beginning of the 2009 campaign. Ryan Howard having hip surgery, Jimmy Rollins out with a bad leg, and Shane Victorino out with a badly bruised knee, have definitely not helped this Philadelphia team. Pedro Feliz was the only core player in there every day, but he too is now out with a concussion suffered by a pitch he took in the head last week. Even the backups to the backups have had their share of injuries, and so has the starting pitching.

And just today, the Phils announced that their Ace needs season-ending elbow surgery and they traded one of their closers to the Red Sox, for two players to be “disabled” later. Personally, I would have kept the guy they got rid of and let the other closer go.

Regardless of how good or bad a manger Manuel is, that will all be overlooked because the team has an excuse to play bad. Imagine if this Philly team had all of it’s players on the field, day in and day out, healthy, and playing up to the capabilities we know they have? The Mets may have had a force to be reckoned with in the NL East this year.

But such is the luck of the Philly Phans. Guess we, er, they, will just have to wait until next year.

No, Mets fans, I was not drunk when I wrote this. It’s to prove a point to the Philthies and their fans, and to those Mets fans who have given up on our team. Sarcasm seems to be the theme this week, so I couldn’t help but jump on the bandwagon. Oh, just humor me, will you?

What also bothers me is back in Spring Training there was a lot of concern and unsurprisingly a lot of miss communication over Santana having an injury with his pitching elbow.  The Mets decided in their great and infinite wisdom not to have him visit a doctor nor get an MRI.  As April and May came and went it seemed like the injury was nothing to worry about but then June came and went and Santana’s velocity was down and he was having a hard time getting through games.  I wonder what an MRI and perhaps a visit to a doctor in April would have detected?  I think the MRI would have shown that something was wrong with the elbow, notice he only had 2 really good months followed by another 2 months of decent but not Santanaesque performances.

As Joe D said last night in his post about Santana’s injury the Mets have known that Santana has suffered from elbow pain since June.  That is 2 months ago and did not send him for an MRI, didn’t make him miss a start to see if there would be any improvement of this injury.  He has not pitched any bullpen sessions since then and had to beg to miss out on his next start because the pain was too much to bear for him.

Sadly this isn’t the first time in the last 2 years that this has happened.  Last year the Mets let Ryan Church fly across the country to Denver even though he had suffered a concussion not just in Spring Training but days before that trip.  They let him hit in those games before finally shut him down.  Fast forward to this year and it’s more of the same.  Carlos Delgado injures his hip but the Mets do nothing and let him play though he is in constant pain for almost a month before he is shut down and allowed to have surgery on that injured hip.  The Mets seeing that A-Rod had hip surgery earlier in the year and saw that he was back to the Yankees in about a month decided to lie to us yet again and tell us that this injury and surgery Delgado was getting was what A-Rod went through and they told us to expect Delgado back for this season.  As of today, August 25, 2009 Delgado is nowhere near coming back, though the Mets would have you believe it’s because of an oblique injury he suffered while rehabbing. Jose Reyes suffers a calf injury and is just told to sit on the dugout and relax the injury.  He was rushed back before his calf was healed and injured it more.  Then he was rushed into rehab games and injured his hamstring with a “slight” tear.  As of today there is no timetable on Reyes’ return to the Mets and he has not been scheduled for surgery nor is he rehabbing.  Carlos Beltran suffers a bone bruise and is forced to play through the pain, making the bruise even bigger, shutting him down most likely for the rest of the season and possibly forcing him to have surgery that could end his playing career.

This organization if you can call it that is simply a joke.  As usual the Mets don’t do anything right and now Santana is done for this season and with an elbow injury like this it sounds like Tommy John Surgery is in his future and next season is in jeopardy.  Jerry Manuel the gangsta said he didn’t know how bad the injury is.  He is the manager, he should be on top of this, how in the hell does this guy not know his best pitcher is in agony?  The manager’s job is to look out for his players especially with ownership and the inept GM that is Omar Minaya at the helm.  Speaking of looking out for Santana where exactly is Dan Warthen, the pitching coach in this?  Shouldn’t he be looking out for the wellfare of his best pitcher?

The Mets put a muzzle on their doctors and trainers over this situation with Santana but it has come out anyways.  I’m sure when Omar holds a press conference and is asked he will blame a reporter, perhaps Adam Rubin or maybe this time he’ll blame another beat writer just to spice it up a little and get himself on the backpages because whether the press is positive or negative he likes to see himself on TV and the papers.

This past weekend Dodger fan Mets owner Fred Wilpon said that Omar will be brought back and that Jerry was “his guy” so none of this foolishness will be corrected and we can expect more of this in 2010. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that this guy cannot run the team after all he let Bernie Madoff scam him out of 700 million and his real estate business has been in the dumps for the last few years as well.

I hope the players union investigates the way the Mets have ignored injuries this season and fines them heavily.  Take as much money as you can away from the Wilpons because we all know that is how you get their attention.  They have not protected players, they have lied and scam their fans this season and it’s time for them to pay the piper.  I for one am tired of defending this joke of an organization and want some justice for the players as well as the fans!

“What we saw in [Martinez] was a 16-year-old kid with power, great ability and great character, above everything else.”

F-Mart was considered to be a “five tool player” meaning that he could hit for average, power, excellent at running the bases, excellent speed, excellent fielding and an amazing throwing arm.  For the last 4 years other clubs in the majors have wanted the young outfielder in trades but the Mets put F-Mart on untouchable status.  There was no player nor any situation that would warrant a trade for the young outfielder.

At the age of 19 he was assigned to the Mets Double A team.  There were some concerns however.  Martinez has proven to be injury prone.  In 2007 he missed part of the minor league season with an injured wrist which resulted in having surgery to remove his hamate bone.  2008 Fernando suffered another injury, this time he injured his hamstring twice that year.  Early this year playing winter ball F-Mart injured his elbow, though no surgery was required, just some rest.  Now in 2009 he is on the disabled list with a bad knee.

F-Mart started the year in AAA, playing for the Bisons.  Before being called on May 26 he was batting .291 with 8 home-runs, and at the time he was leading the international league with 25 extra base hits in just 42 games.  He knew that the eyes of the baseball world were on him when the Mets, having no choice due to the injuries that they have suffered over the first half of the season, called him up.

2009 so far has not been a great year for F-Mart as of yet.  He has played so far 29 games.  He has had 91 at bats and is currently hitting .176 with 14 strike outs, an on-base percentage of .242.

I think it would be fair to say that F-Mart has been unimpressive in his early career with the Mets. He has looked over-matched at the plate for most of his appearances.  Recently, he struck out in twice in the same game by swinging at strike 3 that was thrown at his eyes.  I think his work in the field still needs work as he does not always get a good read on the ball though he does recover quickly to make the out.  Plus, I don’t know if the maturity is there yet either, to be a big leaguer.  I hate to keep bringing it up, but let’s not forget the pop up that he did not run out that the opposing catcher dropped.  Had F-Mart been running to first he would have been on base.

Personally I do think it’s too early to judge him.  I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that the Mets have for some reason rushed him through the system.  It seems that they wanted to justify as soon as possible that he was worthy of turning down trades for some big names that have been offered to the Mets.  This season with all the injuries the team has suffered and the lack of depth in AAA, all eyes were on him more than they would have been for him to perform well.  He has lost time developing due to the injuries he has suffered over his short career so far, which is something to also keep in mind.  If you remember, this year the Mets originally did not plan to bring him up this early.  They were talking after the All-Star game at the earliest, not the end of May.

The Mets have a habit of rushing their top prospects through the system, I think that is what’s happening to F-Mart.  He should have been down at AAA playing for the Bisons this season.  I know seeing him strikeout is frustrating considering how long he has been touted as the future of this team, but we have to remember that he’s just 20 years old, has not had a lot of minor league experience, and is still developing.  I know some are calling him a bust, but it’s too early to make that judgment right right now.  I do think F-Mart can be a good player at the major league level, but it will take time and patience.

“Reyes back in NYC. Got another cortisone shot. Shut down again for a few days. Not good.”

On Beltran the news is not that encouraging either as Lennon says:

Beltran only riding bike. No baseball activity. Will be re-evaluated at AS break. Probably won’t be back until late July – at earliest.

Doesn’t sound like these guys are going to be back right after the All-Star game as promised, I’m shocked, just shocked at that (please note the sarcasm).

April was highlighted by the opening of Citi Field, the third ballpark the Mets have called home.  Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza were called upon to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.  The Mets went on to lose their home opener to the San Diego Padres by the score of 6-5.  The winning run scored on a balk by Pedro Feliciano.  During the game, a cat found its way onto the field, running close to the Mets dugout before scampering away.  It wasn’t a black cat, such as the one that apparently jinxed the Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium in 1969, but it didn’t seem to bring much luck to the Mets that night or on subsequent nights.

The month did not end on a high note for the Mets, as J.J. Putz blew a 3-2 eighth inning lead against the Marlins on April 29.  Johan Santana had started that game, pitching seven brilliant innings before handing the ball over to Putz.  J.J. proceeded to give up two runs in his sole inning of work and the Mets eventually lost the game to the Marlins by the final score of 4-3.  It was their fifth one-run loss of the month and left them with a 9-12 record.  The Mets were sitting in fourth place, four games behind the division leading Marlins, hoping that May could begin a turnaround for them.

The Mets recovered nicely in May, taking advantage of the Marlins’ slump and taking a two-game lead in the division on May 15.  However, this was also the month that injuries to key players began to surface.  Oliver Perez, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes were all placed on the disabled list and their stay atop the division was short-lived.  They were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine before recovering with a series victory in Boston, capped by an instant replay aided two-run HR by Omir Santos against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon on May 23.

Santos came up huge playing for the injured Brian Schneider, who missed the majority of May with an injury.  His clutch hitting provided numerous late-inning victories and led to the trade of Ramon Castro to the Chicago White Sox.  The Mets finished May with a 19-9 record.  Their overall record was 28-21 and they were a mere 1/2 game behind the Phillies for first place.

When the calendar turned to June, so did the Mets’ luck.  The majority of the month was spent dealing with the endless additions to the disabled list.  From J.J. Putz to John Maine to All-Star Carlos Beltran, the lineup of the walking wounded continued to grow.  To make matters worse, the Mets were entering their toughest part of the schedule, with games looming against numerous playoff contenders such as the Phillies, Yankees, Rays, Cardinals and Brewers.  The ReplaceMets had a difficult time playing up to the challenge, beginning the tough stretch of games with two heartbreaking losses to the Phillies at Citi Field and ending the month with a five-game losing streak against the Yankees and Brewers.  They appeared overmatched at times and finished the month with a 9-18 record, prompting Jerry Manuel to call for a team meeting.  The Mets were two games under .500 (37-39) but were still only three games out of first place in the National League East.

July has started out like June ended.  Although the Mets showed some moxie in their comeback victory against the Pirates on July 2, that didn’t translate into more victories.  They did not take that newfound confidence into their biggest series of the season against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.  They failed to hit in clutch situations and the Phillies capitalized, sweeping the series from the Mets to drop them into a third place tie with the Braves, four games out of first with a 39-42 record.

The Mets are now in an awkward position heading into the second half of the season.  While they are still close enough to first place to consider themselves buyers at the trade deadline, they will be getting back most of their players within the next month or so.  Oliver Perez returns on Wednesday and the Mets are hopeful that their core players (Beltran, Reyes, Delgado) can come back soon as well.  Maine and Putz are still iffy as to when they will be deemed fit to come off the disabled list.  There is also the possibility that Billy Wagner will be able to return to the team in August.

Although it should not be expected that they will all come back and perform to the levels expected of them, it is also not expected that all of them will hinder any potential second half resurgence by the team.  The Mets will certainly be better once the veterans return to the team.  The question is whether the team currently on the field can stay competitive long enough so that the season can still be salvaged.  Omar Minaya will have to assess all of these problems in the second half and act accordingly.

Last year, the Mets also had a losing record at the midpoint of the season (40-41), but recovered to go 49-32 in the second half.  Although they did not make the playoffs, they overcame their sluggish start and rode their big bats into September with the lead in the division, ultimately falling short because of their depleted bullpen.  As they learned from last year, injuries to key players will hurt the team in the long run.  Last year, Omar tried filling the closer’s role with Luis Ayala and failed miserably.  This year, Minaya is faced with a similar dilemma, but knows that the injured players will all be back, unlike Billy Wagner, whose injury ended his season.

The success or failure of the New York Mets this season will rest on the capability of the injured players to come back and perform once they are healthy enough to do so.  If they cannot come back soon or if they do not perform well, then Omar Minaya has to make a deal to fill in those holes.  As much as I hate to say it, Minaya might be the key player for the 2009 Mets.  He’s in a very unenviable position.  Does he play the waiting game as he has over the past few months with his injured players or does he make a move before the trade deadline to fill the glaring weakness the Mets have in their offense?

The Mets are unsure of their identity and are playing like it on the field.  They only have half a season left.  It’s time to stop using the “it’s early in the season” excuse and start producing on the field.  Oh, I did mention the Magic 8-ball at the beginning of my rant, didn’t I?  Okay, let’s shake it to see if the Mets future looks bright or not.  Surely, it’ll be able to give us an answer…

The Magic 8-ball never lies.  Let’s hope Omar Minaya and the return of the injured players can bring this team back to the excellence we expect and deserve from them.  It’s the least they can do to reward those fans who have gotten fed up with this team’s performances and finishes since the end of the 2006 season.  The future can be bright with this team as long as they don’t do their best to darken it up for themselves.

Yesterday the Mets announced that they are holding yet another 8th inning sing along contest.  Also earlier in the season the Mets conducted a survey via email asking for opinions on the teams uniforms.  The fact that the Mets want to get info from their fans is good but is too much being ignored or am I just looking for an excuse to pick on this team?  I just think that there are some more serious issues this team needs to address such as the training and medical staff and their constant mistakes of diagnosing the severity of injuries or applying the proper treatment to said injuries.

Another concern is the manager, he just doesn’t seem competent to do the job he has been entrusted with. His players are not playing at level that is acceptable for players at this level such as the 3 errors the infield made in one inning last night.  The bats are very inconsistent and the team does not bat well in key situations.

Another priority this team needs is to get everyone on the same level regarding news.  One team official says a player is healthy, the same player says that he is feeling pain in an injured area, this is not good, it makes them look stupid and it shows there is a communication gap that needs to be changed.

I’m probably just reacting to last night’s beating the Yankees gave the Mets and the surveys are minor distractions if a distraction at all but I just wish that this team will just worry a little more about the important issues that are hurting this team right now.

For the last 4 years we have been hearing about Fernando “F-Mart” Martinez.  The 16 year old was praised as the future of the New York Mets.  F-Mart was the 5 tool player that the Mets were going to make into their next superstar.  There were growing pains of course, the last couple of seasons F-Mart was injured.  Some were wondering if F-Mart would live up to his expectations.

The 2009 Mets as we all know are walking M*A*S*H unit.  The Mets on May 26, 2009, decided to call up Fernando Martinez from Triple A Buffalo when they put Ryan Church and Jose Reyes on the disabled list.  This was not considered a permanent promotion.  The Mets needed someone in the outfield and they wanted to see how F-Mart could perform at the major league level.

It was a bumpy ride for F-Mart’s first major league assignment.  In his first game he went 0-3, 2K’s, was hit by a pitch but he did drive in an RBI.  There was of course that pop up fly ball that was dropped and Fernando Martinez didn’t run it out and as a result he was thrown out at first on a play in which he should have been safe and the Mets would have had a runner on base.

F-Mart showed some potential but it was obvious that he needed some more seasoning in the minor leagues.  He hit only .207 and he could not recognize breaking balls.  The Mets last week made the right decision and sent him down to Buffalo.  It was the right move as he would play everyday and now the Mets could give the Bisons’ manger and coaches a detailed account on what they wanted them to work on with F-Mart.

Fast forward to Monday, June 23, 2009, Carlos Beltran joins the other 8 players who are on the Mets disabled list with a bone bruise.  The Mets have no choice but to recall F-Mart.  This time it’s not a test for F-Mart, it’s not an assignment just to get a look at the progress F-Mart has made and to evaluate the potential as a major leaguer he has.  Carlos Beltran is out for at least 2 weeks, sounds like it could be longer and F-Mart is going to need to produce.

F-Mart is young, he has potential and it looks like he needs to start utilizing some of that potential for this Mets team that is having a difficult time staying healthy.  He is going to have to grow up faster than most would like.  Situations like this show the make-up of a ball player.  He knows the expectations the fans, the organization, and the media have for him.  F-Mart can either sit in a corner and just try to perform or he could show us that the Mets were right in not trading him and billing him as a superstar of the future by taking advantage of the injuries and performing the way we know he can.

The Philadelphia Phillies will be needing a new bat in the lineup for at least two weeks.  SI.com is reporting that Raul Ibanez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin.  He is eligible to return from the DL on July 3, but Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is unsure whether Ibanez will be ready to play then.

“It may be longer.  But it’s to the point where we needed to shut him down and get him healthy. We’ll find out as he goes through his rehab and the things he needs to do to get it calmed down. We’ll monitor it, and hopefully he’ll heal properly and be ready in 15 days. That’s the plan. That would be great, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

Ibanez had been off to a flying start with the Phillies in the first year of his three-year, $31.5 million contract.  His 22 HR rank second in the National League to Albert Pujols and his 59 RBI trail only Prince Fielder.  He had been deadly to the Mets this season, producing three HR and nine RBI against New York in only seven games, including a game-winning three-run HR against Ken Takahashi on June 11.  It now appears that all this production had been accomplished in pain.  Amaro went on to say,

“It’s been bothering him, I guess, a little bit off and on since the beginning of April.  Really not that much of an issue for him until more recently. It probably started bothering him more during the course of the last long road trip.  He’s not pleased. I know he wants to play.  He’s got a chance to really damage the groin if he continues to play on it. And if he does that, he could be out for a very, very long period of time, and that doesn’t make sense to us.”

Ibanez’s absence leaves a gaping hole in the Phillies’ lineup, as his spot on the roster will be filled by John Mayberry Jr.  Mayberry was hitting .257 with 8 HR and 31 RBI at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, a far cry from the MVP-type numbers being put up by Ibanez.  Mayberry is prone to striking out, as seen by his 56 strikeouts in 183 minor league at-bats.

It looks as if the Mets aren’t the only team to have players play through injuries until they have to be placed on the disabled list.  You would think the Phillies would have learned by watching the struggles the Mets have been through due to their improper handling of injured players.  Now the Phillies will be left without their team leader in batting average, runs scored, home runs and runs batted in for a minimum of 15 days.  Let’s see if the Mets can capitalize on this latest setback for the Phillies.

By the way, for those who think one great hitter on a team full of hitters doesn’t make much of a difference, the Phillies lost to the Blue Jays today by a final score of 8-7.  They had the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first base when the game ended.  How did it end?  John Mayberry Jr. popped out to second base to end the rally and the game.  I wonder how things would have played out had Ibanez been in the lineup.