For those of you that missed it, there was a strange play that took place during the Detroit Tigers’ 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen anything like it before. Here’s what happened along with the accompanying video from MLB.com.

During the third inning with the Tigers trailing 4-2 and base runners Prince Fielder on third and Victor Martinez at second, Jhonny Peralta lined a single to right field to score Prince Fielder. It should have ended there, but Martinez rounded third and started chugging to third, opting to test the powerful arm of Jeff Francoeur.

The former Met fired a bullet to home that essentially made Martinez a dead duck. But instead of trying to barrel over Royals catcher Salvador Perez who had the plate blocked and was waiting for the slow-footed Tigers DH to make contact. Only a few feet from home plate, Martinez suddenly decides to make a hard right turn and proceeds to head to the dugout. The home plate umpire ruled Martinez out for running outside the baseline and there was never a play at the plate.

There’s something seriously wrong here. I get that the oft-injured Victor Martinez was probably thinking of trying to avoid another stint on the DL, but still… There’s something wrong here. Seems like fans were denied a good old-fashioned baseball staple – the play at the plate.

Things are looking up for the Mets right now and I just wanted to point out something quickly about an ex-Met. Remember Jeff Francoeur? It wasn’t too long ago that Jeff Francoeur sparked incredible debate over every single thing he did. No, really…every thing. There were fiery debates right here and I enjoyed watching all of them. Francoeur became the poster boy for “anti-sabermetrics” and I found the whole thing pretty amusing.

In any case, Francoeur was traded to the Rangers halfway through last year for a backup infielder, Joquian Arias. I wasn’t fond of this trade because I thought Francoeur was worth more – but the saber-heads thought it was a fair trade. He went on to bat .340 in limited time for the Rangers throughout the rest of the season. Francoeur, this season, has found a new home playing for the Kansas City Royals.

That might be a small sample size, but wow. He’s even walked 7 times. It seems like he’s having a field day with AL pitching. Prorate his stats to around 600 ABs and he would be posting over 30 HRS, 100 RBI, 180 H, 40 some walks and 40 2B. I don’t think it’s possible for Frenchy to continue this rate for the entire season but honestly, don’t tell me it’s impossible for him to do .280/25/100. Combine that with above average defense and you’ve got a productive MLB outfielder.

I wish Frenchy only the best in the remainder of his MLB career and I always will be keeping track of him – probably because if he shows any kind of improvement, the super-saberheads will explode due to “does not compute” errors in their minds. I know not every sabermetric supporter is a generic zombie who only reads numbers – in fact, there are quite a few people who use sabermetrics that I respect. But…everybody knows by now that I’m a traditionalist and I don’t like sabermetrics. Maybe I’ll read Moneyball someday soon, though.

All jokes aside, here’s a fun question to think about. Let’s say the Mets sold high on Angel Pagan and a few prospects and traded for a pitcher during the offseason – and resigned Frenchy to play RF. (Yes, that also means Beltran would have to handle CF). He would be batting about 7 in the lineup. How would you feel about that?

LGM and have a great day!

Updated 11/5 11:00 PM

This is starting to feel like an episode of the Sopranos. You won’t believe what the Daily News is reporting now. Apparently, KRod was holed up at Charlie’s place after he beat his girlfriend’s father and was ordered to stay away from his home. Also, Jeff Francoeur may not have been able to draw a walk, but nobody could accuse him of not being a great tipper. Anyway, read on:

According to law enforcement sources close to the probe being conducted by the Queens DA’s office and the NYPD’s Organized Crime and Control Bureau, the probe has revealed that Samuels:

* Received a $50,000 tip from outfielder Jeff Francoeur before Francoeur left the Mets for the World Series-bound Rangers earlier this season;

* Provided Francisco Rodriguez with a place to stay in his home after the closer was ordered by a Queens judge to stay away from his common-law wife following an altercation with her father at Citi Field in August.

* Once received a new Lexus from Mike Piazza, whose father had lost a bet to Samuels on how much weight the elder Piazza could lose.

So far the probe is centering on Samuels, who was also the Mets’ traveling secretary, but his relationships with players, including stars Johan Santana, Rodriguez and David Wright, are bound to raise questions about how deep the investigation will go. The sources, however, said K-Rod is not a part of the probe and that there is “no evidence so far that K-Rod did anything wrong, no gambling or anything else.”

Updated 11/5 2:00 PM

According to ESPN New York, Charlie Samuels has admitted to MLB officials that he indeed bet on baseball.

New York Mets clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels admitted betting on baseball, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Samuels made the admission to an investigator for Major League Baseball in the last few weeks, the person said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Also, the Daily News adds some additional discouraging information:

The associates were caught in photographs in $400 comped seats to Mets games provided by Samuels, according to the sources.

Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz declined comment when asked about the allegations Friday.

The News also reported that Samuels is suspected of using his access to Mets accounts to cover his gambling debts and of selling bats, balls and jerseys, signed by the players, without authorization from the club.

Updated 11/4 11:00 PM

The Daily News updates what was previously reported regarding the suspension of Charlie Samuels.

Mets’ clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels has been linked to an NYPD investigation into illegal gambling, law enforcement sources familiar with the probe confirmed to the Daily News on Thursday, leading club officials to suspend the longtime employee on Oct. 27.

The investigation is being conducted by the NYPD out of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office, according to the sources familiar with the investigation, and is expected to result in arrests within the next two weeks.

Samuels hired Kirk Radomski, the convicted steroids dealer who acknowledged providing PEDs to many major leaguers in baseball’s Mitchell Report, to be a Mets clubhouse attendant in 1987. Radomski worked for the Mets until 1994. A source told The News that Samuels’ suspension was not tied to any performance-enhancing drug distribution or usage.

Original Post 2:00 PM

This one is out of left field. From Adam Rubin:

Longtime Mets equipment/clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels has been suspended by the organization, the Mets confirmed. 

The organization offered no elaboration beyond the following statement: “Last Wednesday, the Mets suspended Charlie Samuels indefinitely without pay. As this is an ongoing personnel matter, we have no further comment.” 

Samuels has been the team’s equipment manager for 27 seasons. He succeeded the late Herb Norman, the original equipment manager as an expansion team, after the 1983 season after spending four years as an assistant.

Initially, a few beat writers thought he may have been fired, but the Mets released a statement calling it an “indefinite suspension.”

Wow, that’s kind of shocking to me.

Samuels has been with the team well over 20 years. I can’t help, but wonder what they mean by “personnel matter”.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers rotation is anchored by mid-season acquisition, and playoff ace, Cliff Lee. After Lee is CJ Wilson, Colby Lewis, and Tommy Hunter. Lewis has a 1.45 playoff ERA with 18 K’s in 18.2 IP. Wilson is 1-1 in three starts with a 3.93 playoff ERA. Lee has been his usual outstanding self. In three starts, Lee has pitched 24 IP with only 2 Earned Runs and an absurd 34:1 K:BB ratio. 34 to 1!!!

However, Tommy Hunter is the weak link in the rotation. He’s made two starts, never lasting longer than 4 IP. He still gets the K’s (12 in 7.1 IP), but has a bad WHIP (1.50) and ERA (6.14).

The closer is the electric Neftali Feliz.

You’ve probably heard of the Rangers offense. Leadoff man Elvis Andrus, 3B Michael Young, MVP Josh Hamilton, Who’s Your Vladdy, Boomstick, Ian Kinsler, Bengie Molina, 1B Mitch Moreland, and either David (don’t call me Daniel) Murphy or Frenchy.

I won’t go too in depth, but this offense is seriously freakin good.

The Rangers are in the World Series for the first time in franchise history; 39 seasons in Texas, 11 in Washington. The trades that were made this season were made with the intent that there was no tomorrow, which because of the ownership situation, there wasn’t. That’s why they were willing to deal Justin Smoak and Blake Beaven for Lee, and steal him out from under the Yankees. That may have won them the ALCS. It’s World Series or bust for the Rangers.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants win with pitching, pitching, pitching, and enough offense to take the lead. Timmy “The Freak” Lincecum anchors the rotation with Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner. For the past two years, the Giants have had a reputation as “The Team No One Wants To Make The Playoffs” because of their rotation. Lincy has been what you would expect. Cain’s shutout in Game 3 against Cole Hamels gave the Giants the series lead they would not relinquish. Bumgarner and Sanchez can really rack up K’s, but they also give up runs. Sanchez did not make it out of the 3^rd in Game 6. He could be the Giants weak link.

The closer is Brian Wilson and his beard.

The lineup is a collection of misfits that somehow work well together. Andres Torres (6^th in the league in Defensive WAR), Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff (4^th in the NL in WAR among position players…seriously the biggest bargain of the 2009 offseason), ROY candidate Buster Posey, mid-season pickup Pat Burrell, mid-season pickup Cody NLCS MVP Ross, Kung Fu Panda, mid-season pickup Mike Fontenot, Juan Uribe, and Edgar “I’ve been around forever but I’m only 33” Renteria. The lineup doesn’t pack the punch that the boys from Arlington have, but it’s a group of players peaking at the right time. All of these pickups and signings have done well since coming to San Fran.

The Giants have not won a World Series since moving out West, 53 seasons.

Fun Factoids

Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee were the two Cy Young winners in 08. The last time that the two respective Cy Young’s from the same year have faced in the World Series was 2001 (Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson, who both won it in 2001 and matched up that October/November).

Bengie Molina started his year by the bay, but was traded to Texas.

The first interleague game ever was between the Giants and Rangers in Arlington.

Hey Beltran-bashers, next time you want to bring up that called strike, just remember that both LCS’s this year ended with called strikes on the losing team’s biggest sluggers. On pitches that weren’t as nasty as Wainwright’s curve.

Either Guillermo Mota or Frenchy will be a World Champion soon.

Questions To Chew On

Who will win the series?

How many games?

MVP?

Who wins Game 1, Cliff Lee or Tim Lincecum?

Should Cliff Lee throw Games 1, 4, and 7?

Should Lincecum?

For Fun: Comparing the cities, who is the cooler law-enforcer, Walker Texas Ranger or Dirty Harry?

Long-time reader, first time poster (paraphrased from talk radio). I get most of my Mets news and opinion from Metsmerized without really contributing anything, but the recent Jeff Francoeur trade has me re-evaluating how I look at the game. I felt the need to weigh in.

When Frenchy came to New York, I was like most of you. Sad to see Ryan Church exit, but excited that a former star player Francoeur was joining the team. Yeah, he had a bad season or two but look how good he was in 2005, just a few years back. If he could regain that magic we’d have a great player and a great guy on the squad for years to come. I was ecstatic when he dominated in the second half of 2009. The offseason had me excited for a Frenchy breakout in 2010, and it made me happy to see him succeed since so many MMO people loved him. Joe D. was especially a big fan, and seemed to take particular pleasure in his success since it proved the stat-head people “wrong”, or whatever the appropriate word is. From this past February, “Jeff Francoeur Leads The Charge”:

“When the Mets traded Ryan Church for 25 year old left fielder Jeff Francoeur, the Braves as well as every saber-head in the universe said the Mets got hosed. Lately, they don’t chirp as loudly as they once did. I think they are lying in wait for one false move by Francoeur so they could jump out and proclaim, “You see! I told you so!”. I also believe they have a long wait ahead of them.”

I’ll admit I kinda got a kick out of it too. Some people think it’s all numbers on a boxscore so seeing stat-heads squirm as Frenchy racked up hit after hit, and even drawing walks was a little more fun than it should have been. There was also talk of a contract extension, which MMO supported, and I did too. From last September, “Mets To Offer Jeff Francoeur 3 Year Deal”:

“Noble correctly states that signing Francoeur for the next few seasons would stabilize two-thirds of the outfield and five-eighths of the starting lineup for next season. Francoeur is a warrior that wants to play every inning of every game, and even the torn ligaments in his thumb couldn’t keep him out of the lineup. The best part is that at 25 years old, the best is yet to come. We have a lot of work to do this off season, but signing Francoeur to a multi year deal is definitely a huge first step.”

Looking back, what a catastrophe that would have been! We’d have him for two (or more) seasons after this one. I love ya Frenchy, but not enough that I want to see you past 2010!

It broke my heart this season to see Frenchy struggle so much. He was trying so hard but after the first week of the season he just couldn’t get anything to work. The trade was inevitable, he wasn’t coming back next year anyway. I wish him the best in Texas, but I can’t really say I was thrilled with his overall tenure here. Great guy and all that, but I’ve come to realize that maybe that’s not enough. If I texted, I would have voted that I approved of the trade that sent him away.

I read the Francoeur farewell post from the other day by Joe D. It seems like the biggest takeaway from trading Jeff Francoeur for the MMO people was that “stat-heads” were mean to him. There was hardly a mention of his poor play on the field, or a discussion of what can be learned from the situation, so that next time around we’re not all fooled by a fun guy with a goofy grin and great personality:

“I understand that Francoeur wasn’t meeting the minimum expectations of these new-fangled baseball fans, but did Francoeur actually deserve to be mocked and attacked the way he was in over a thousand posts and tweets on Wednesday?”

Let me just say, I don’t think you have to be a “new-fangled baseball fan” to see that Jeff wasn’t a very good player. LOL.

Joe did follow up the next day with another post, “Jeff Francoeur: The Other Side Of Yesterday”, providing some further insight. In the post, he pointed out that no matter how nice a guy is, no matter how hard he hustles, what really matters is winning and being a good player. Manny Ramirez was the point of comparison. Manny doesn’t seem like a great team guy, but if the goal is to win ballgames no sane person would chose Frenchy over Manny. He also acknowledged that maybe the stat geeks were onto something:

“It don’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the saber heads had been screaming all along.”

Considering this statement, I have a suggestion, and I’ll prepare to don my fire-retardant suit and duck the tomatoes. Maybe next time we’ll pay more attention to what matters for winning ballgames. Maybe a closer look at some of the numbers would help us realize that if something seems to good to be true (Frenchy in 2009) it probably is.

I happen to now think that winning cures all ills, even sub-par clubhouse attitudes. Win and all is forgiven. Good suggestion or bad? I don’t want to come off preachy, and I fully agree that there’s more to the game than just numbers on a page. But it appears in the Francoeur scenario the numbers were just too terrible to be overcome by a good clubhouse presence.

I don’t have much time in my day to spend reading about statistics, but if people have suggestions of where to look for that please share. Maybe when I have a few free minutes I’ll learn about OPS or BABIP or whatever those crazy acronyms are. And maybe it’ll cut down on the hate of stat-heads that usually goes on here.

Even in the Francoeur farewell post there was much time spent to making fun of people who are interested in that stuff. I don’t see the reason for it. Keeping an open mind and learning new stuff is never a bad thing, in all parts of life. Why should baseball be any different? Thanks for reading.

- Nancy Flushing

This was a Metsmerized Fan Post submitted by one of our readers. If you have an opinion that you want to share with thousands of other passionate Mets fans, you are invited to submit a post by clicking here.

I have more respect for a player like Jeff Francoeur who gives it his all and busts his ass day in and day out, rather than a Manny Ramirez who is a tremendous athlete and one of the greatest players the game has ever seen.

Unfortunately, going full tilt and giving 110% is one thing, but performance is clearly something else. Effort is an amazing thing, but unless you have the production to match it, it doesn’t always translate into wins.

Over the years, we have seen and heard all the rants and all the reports on how lazy and lackadaisical Manny Ramirez is. His massive ego can easily overwhelm an entire clubhouse and if you so much as utter a simple word of advice to him, he will either pout and dog it even more on the field or he evolves into a highly paid clubhouse cancer that eventually must be cut out, leaving a bloodied and beaten team morale in its aftermath. Manny is the antithesis of a player like Jeff Francoeur… He is Francoeur’s polar opposite… And yet, if you were building a team, you would select Ramirez over Francoeur every time without any second thoughts.

Why is that?

Because in the end what matters most is winning. The Dodgers knew exactly what they were doing when they traded for Manny Ramirez, as did the Boston Red Sox when they signed Manny as a free agent in 2001. They both knew all to well what type of personality they were getting themselves involved with. They both knew there was a very good chance his tenure with the team would be oftentimes controversial and sometimes even detrimental to the team. But the reward was so much greater than the risk of his temperamental and volatile personality. In the end, the Red Sox got five post season appearances and two World Series rings out of it, and the Dodgers went to the post season twice in their two seasons with Manny. As I said, winning is what matters most.

And that brings us back to Jeff Francoeur.

Many mistakenly took my post yesterday to mean that I disagreed with trading Francoeur, and I’ll say it again, I was upset with the foul reaction to the trade and not the trade itself. While I was on Twitter Wednesday night, I actually defended the trade as a good one for the Mets and wrote via Twitter,  

“We traded a player in Francoeur who wasn’t coming back and got a 26YO 2B who is better than Tejada/Castillo right now. Nobody liked Francoeur more than me, but he was gone at end of season and we got a 2B who can hit better than Tejada & Castillo.”

After a tremendous start to his Mets career during the second half of last season, I thought Francoeur’s worst days were behind him and said as much repeatedly on this site.

When this season finally started and Francoeur, along with Barajas, was carrying the team throughout the month of April. I was absolutely ecstatic.

However, my enthusiasm would be short-lived.

As April turned into May things started to dissolve quickly for Jeff Francoeur… a two week slump turned into a one month slump… and then a one month slump turned into a two month slump… and finally it was August and Frenchy was batting .225 for the season.

It don’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the saber heads had been screaming all along. Francoeur had reverted back to his old habits and in the end, our friend James K. from Amazin Avenue put the cherry on top when he posted the following:

Frenchy’s final slash lines with the Braves and Mets:

Braves: .266/.308/.424
Mets: .268/.311/.423

It all came crashing down.

$5 million dollars is way too much money to pay for that type of production, and I now knew the writing was on the wall because there would be no chance in hell that the Mets would be bringing Francoeur back for the 2011 season. (Rightfully so.) 

As August wore on, Francoeur would eventually lose his everyday job in rightfield, and things really began to hit rock bottom for him emotionally as well as competitively.

That the Mets even got a player in return for him was rather surprising.

I thought Francoeur would just finish the season out and then get non-tendered leaving the Mets empty handed, so I applaud Minaya for getting us a 26-year old infielder who could eventually help the team in a variety of ways.

So is there a lesson to be learned in the aftermath of all this rancor?

Yes. A great personality and work ethic won’t take you very far if you can’t back it up with production. And the bottom line is that Francoeur’s production reverted back to the same level that caused the team who drafted him in the first round of the 2002 amateur draft to give up on him last season.

Hopefully Joaquin Arias will fare much better in the next few years than Ryan Church did.

I do have one redeeming grace… I was right about one thing…

Francoeur, as bad as he was statistically, was still outperforming Ryan Church who currently sports a slash line of .192/.249/.318 in 213 plate appearances. My buddy Mark owes me $50 bucks, and my cousin owes me a steak dinner at Peter Luger’s.

Small favors…

Keith Hernandez spoke out first and said “Hmmm”. Gary Cohen and Ron Darling were a little more enlightening, but still struggled to decipher the results. And even Kevin Burkhardt found it necessary to jump in and try to explain what we were seeing which he aptly did.

I think what many forget is that most Mets fans don’t blog or read blogs, or have a Twitter or Facebook account, and that the great majority of fans simply don’t over analyze and scrutinize every single at-bat and pitch the way the new internet savvy fans do. They don’t go to websites to read charts with a hundred or so different colored dots on them, or view graphs with a half-dozen squiggly lines that resembles the results of their last EKG. Some of the internet’s most popular baseball sites are centered mostly on statistical analysis, and dozens more are popping up every month. And although many of these sites have large internet and social media followings, their analytical views of the National Pastime simply does not resonate with the vast majority of baseball fans.

Many old school fans, especially those who still remember watching “The Hammer” John Milner, or Buddy Harrelson and Pete Rose going at it, still root for their favorite baseball players based on their personality and likability. Nobody ever threw a Coke bottle at Ron Swoboda because he batted .235 in 1969. They loved him and cherished him because he was one of the brightest personalities on the team. He was funny, clowned around in the clubhouse and kept everybody loose.

With a growing number of the new breed of baseball fans, there’s no room for personality and things like that. They can form opinions of players without even watching them throw a pitch or take a swing simply by looking at a boxscore. If a player can’t maintain their prescribed minimum statistical performance levels, then they have no use for that player. He is rendered obsolete and becomes the punchline of millions of social media jokes each one intended to one-up the other in a barrage of ever so clever one liners.

Now getting back to Jeff Francoeur.

I understand that Francoeur wasn’t meeting the minimum expectations of these new-fangled baseball fans, but did Francoeur actually deserve to be mocked and attacked the way he was in over a thousand posts and tweets on Wednesday? Couldn’t all the bad jokes and acrimonious insults be reserved instead for someone like Oliver Perez whose selfish acts actually hurt the team and he continues to be a malcontent that couldn’t care less about his teammates or the fans?

Why persecute a player who always gave 110% of pure effort every time he took the field? Why minimize the many good things Francoeur did, just so you could amplify your arguments and animosity against him? Not even Vince Coleman or Bobby Bonilla was treated this badly.

Reading all the negative posts yesterday really made me wonder about how Mets fans were evolving. I thought  the theory of evolution hypothesized that a species can adapt and improve as they evolved. Surely Darwin couldn’t have imagined that some day a baseball fan would blow his theory out of the water. Maybe we should discard the use of the word fan in some cases, because it know longer exemplifies the fanaticism for a team and it’s players that it once did. Or maybe not…

The one good thing that came out of that Toyota Text Poll, was that it showed me that true fans still exist – - and do so in great numbers.

It reminded me that although me and millions of others baseball fans debate, blog, tweet and opine about the game closely on the internet, that tens of millions more fans simply get their baseball fix by going to the games, tuning in religiously on radio or TV, and reading the back pages of the newspaper in the morning.

It was nice to see those Mets fans give Francoeur the sendoff he deserved by participating in a poll and letting Frenchy know:

Hey, thanks for always trying… and thanks for always hustling… but mostly thanks for being a great teammate and a good Met…

Take it easy Jeff, and good luck to you.

Francoeur had no hard feelings and in fact was grateful to the Mets for sending him to a team that will be heading to the Post Season.

Obviously, the Mets see that I don’t fit in the plans next year here. They’re giving me an opportunity and taking care of me, and for that I can forever be grateful. They’re not going to need me as a fourth outfielder. This is an opportunity for me to go play for a World Series.

There’s tons I’m going to miss, man. I wish everybody on this team the best. I have so many good friends here and so many guys that I respect, and hopefully they can get it turned around.

By the time he finished speaking with reporters, the Mets had already cleaned out his locker, and after a few hugs and hand shakes, he was gone.

In the closest game that the Mets have played in recent weeks, Mike Pelfrey pitched an eight inning gem and after Bobby Parnell got into trouble, Hisanori Takahashi closed the door and the Mets won 2-1.

Game Notes

Mike Pelfrey pitched a gem today, going eight innings giving up six hits and two walks and striking out four. Pelf was great today, after a long first inning buckled down and started retiring batters effectively and getting outs when needed. Mike Pelfrey is learning to pitch without his best stuff, and this Pelfrey with the mid-3 ERA may be the true representation of who he is.

Bobby Parnell came out for the ninth, and after striking out Hunter Pence, he became hittable. Parnell could’ve possibly been in a better situation, but an Angel Pagan fielding error allowed Carlos Lee to advance to second on a single. Hisanori Takahashi came in, and after allowing a Jason Michaels RBI single, got a pop-out to shortstop and got rookie Tommy Manzella looking. The bullpen isn’t getting regular usage, and its frighteningly humorous how it takes not having a true closer for Jerry to let his pitchers go deep into games

The offense barely existed today, and was fueled by plate discipline and smart baserunning. What that means is a shallow flyball by David Wright became a sacrifice fly, scoring Luis Castillo and an anemic-hitting Ruben Tejada walked with the bases loaded. Nelson Figueroa was wild today, but he only allowed three hits. The Mets have trouble hitting pitchers who don’t throw hard, as they’ve been eaten up by Alex Sanabia, Livan Hernandez and a bevy of other soft-tossers.

Not gonna recap the offense. Three hits all game shouldn’t win any team a game.

Ruben Tejada, 1-2 with a walk….for what its worth.

Turning Point

Jeff Francoeur throwing to home in the fourth inning, getting Chris Johnson caught in a run-down. It was a great play that saved a run, and was the last baserunner to get further then first until the ninth inning

Game Ball

Mike Pelfrey for his outstanding outing today. Even with the anemic offense, Mike pitched like an ace.

On Deck

The Mets will send Johan Santana to the mound and look to get him a win after his last 2 CG losses. He will square off against Brett Myers. Game time is 7:10 PM

We have seen how good Wagner has been this season.  If Wagner had not been injured in 2008, the Mets probably have an additional playoff appearance under their belt, the team is probably better in 2010 (subtracting Bay for Abreu/Dunn plus other addition) and now the team would not have to be gearing up for a fight with Rodriguez and the Players’ Association over plans to weasel out of part or all of the remaining money they owe the injured reliever.

It got me to thinking, and I started wondering the same thing about Carlos Beltran… What if Carlos Beltran never got hurt in 2009?

Let’s look at the landscape in the National League East on June 21st, 2009, the last game Beltran played before being placed on the DL two days later. He went 2-4 with a walk in that game despite playing through pain.

Even though the Mets had already lost their leadoff hitter Jose Reyes, and their cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado, the team was playing solid baseball and found themselves in second place only two games behind the front-running Phillies, and in the lead for the Wild Card by one game.

How could the Mets lose two significant pieces like Delgado and Reyes from their lineup and still be in contention with only two weeks before the All Star Break?

Two words… Carlos Beltran.

You always hear the old saying, as Reyes goes so do the Mets… Well not in 2009. That year, Beltran was primed for the best season in his career, and was practically carrying the team on his back. He was batting a league leading .336 and ranked second only to Albert Pujols with a .952 OPS. Beltran also led the league in runs scored, extra-base hits, and on-base percentage. He was in the midst of a monster season, and if the Mets were missing Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado after they got hurt, they sure didn’t show any signs of it thanks to Beltran’s mighty performance.

I wonder what might have been if Beltran had continued on that torrid pace, and how much better the team would have been if they still made the trade that landed them the red hot Jeff Francoeur in the second half of that season. It was about that time that Pagan started to emerge as a strong performer and Sheffield was a huge bat off the bench.

Daniel Murphy also got hot in the second half and posted a .798 OPS after after a dismal .677 OPS in the first half.

Also, when Billy Wagner returned from the DL later that season, he was throwing harder and better than before his surgery, and he would have bolstered a bullpen that was already holding its own with Fernando Nieve (2.95), Elmer Dessens (3.31) and Ken Takahashi (2.96) proving to be surprisingly effective.

The starting pitching was actually more effective in the second half than in the first half. From a WHIP standpoint, they were allowing fewer baserunners and had an increased strikeout rate, but of course the diminished run support proved fatal.

We’ll never know what might have happened if Beltran had never gotten hurt of course, but what we do know was that after Beltran was placed on the DL, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back and the Mets went into a downward spiral that they never recovered from.

I believe that losing Beltran impacted the team more adversely than losing Billy Wagner. While Brian argues that the aftermath of losing Wagner led to the signing of Francisco Rodriguez, you could also say that losing Beltran contributed to signing Jason Bay to what I consider a worse contract. That money could have been better spent on securing a top of the rotation starter like Roy Halladay or John Lackey last offseason.

A healthy Beltran who was in his prime and an MVP caliber performer, would have headlined a superior defensive outfield flanked by Angel Pagan in left and Jeff Francoeur in right to start the season in 2010.

It also would have meant a serious 1-2 punch in Johan Santana and Halladay/Lackey  at the top of the rotation, and Takahashi would have remained in the bullpen as the team’s setup man.

Sometimes, one injury could have a tremendous ripple effect on the present and long term future of a team. I feel that Beltran’s injury had more negative shock waves for the Mets than Wagner’s injury. The team had much more invested in Beltran financially, and Wagner was never considered part of the core group of players.

The Mets take the series opener against the Astros, 3-1. The last time the Mets took the road opener, was back on June 18th against the Yankees. Almost two months ago. Jon Niese had another great start but walks away with a no decision. The offense supplied some late inning support to win the game. The bullpen did their job for two shutout innings. Mets get back to .500 on the season.

Game Summary

Jon Niese pitched another gem tonight, but thanks to the offense only showing up after he gets pulled, he does not get the win. In his last three starts he has gone 21 IP, allowed three runs, and received no wins for any of his pitching gems. He got the ball rolling early getting a 1-2-3 first inning. He just seemed to cruise after that, and threw his curve more during the third time through the lineup. I’m liking that strategy of his. Niese goes seven strong innings, giving up one run on seven hits. He walked no batters and struck out five in the game. Jon Niese has had twelve starts giving up one or less runs in his rookie season. But with the offense only showing up after he leaves, he walks away with his third straight no decision.

Elmer Dessens and Pedro Feliciano combine to pitch the eighth inning. Dessens had one hit and one walk, while Feliciano had an error on a ground ball.

The big question after Frankie Rodriguez’s season ended earlier today, was who was going to be the closer. Before the game, Jerry Manuel said he’d give anyone but Oliver Perez a shot. Hisanori Takahashi got the call to save tonight and got a 1-2-3 ninth inning to get his first major league save.

The offense started off slowly, only getting one run on four hits for Niese’s seven innings. They rallied big time in the eighth inning to score two more runs and gave the Mets the lead and the win. Beltran and wright both had a multiple hit night, and Francoeur had a big hit on the night.

Carlos Beltran had quite the game today. He had some nice defensive plays and hit a Beltran Bomb in the fourth inning, his second of the season. He ended the night going 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

David Wright also had a nice game. Getting three hits on the night, scoring a run, and getting his 17th stolen base of the year.

Jeff Francoeur had a big RBI triple to give the Mets a cushion run in the eighth inning.

Pagan, Castillo, Hessman and Blanco all had 0-fers on the night.

The Mets defense was on the ball tonight. Nice plays by Wright, Hessman, Beltran and Pagan in the game.

More Oliver Perez sightings: Ollie hit a homerun during batting practice and everyone celebrated it. Except Alex Cora who doesn’t approve of partying…oh wait, they released him.

Turning Point

The Mets had a big eighth inning to take the lead once more and win the game for the Mets.

Game Ball

Niese, Beltran and Wright all had a great game. They each get a part of the game ball.

Up Next

The Ace, Johan Santana, starts game two in Houston as he looks to get his eleventh win of the season. The Astros will have a name that should be familiar to Mets fans, as Nelson Figueroa (3-1) starts his second game of the season tomorrow. Game time is 8:05 PM.

“A friend and I have a bet – I say Rony Cedeno, he says Chone Figgins. I know Yuni was your choice at one point last year, can you give us an update and settle a bet?”

His judgment of “The Worst Everyday Player in Baseball” goes by these qualities…

(1) Poor performance.
(2) Indications that the performance will never again improve and the team is trapped.
(3) All-around awfulness.

Here’s his choices; take a look at number seven on the list. You may recognize his name.

To me, the worst everyday player in MLB in 2010 discussion really comes to 10 players — I won’t pick a Least Valuable Player until after the season ends, but right now the nominees look to be these:

– Seattle’s Jose Lopez.
– Toronto’s Adam Lind.
– Houston’s Carlos Lee.
– Chicago’s Derrek Lee.
– Kansas City’s Jason Kendall.
– Kansas City’s Yuniesky Betancourt
– New York’s Jeff Francoeur.
– St. Louis’ Skip Schumacher
– Washington’s Nyjer Morgan
– San Diego’s Miguel Tejada

And here’s his explanation on why Jeff Francoeur is on his list.

Jeff Francoeur is simply not a good enough hitter to play every day in the big leagues. Nobody is happy about this. Francoeur is by all accounts a terrific guy, he plays hard, he cares a lot, he has some defensive value. But, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot make the adjustments. His .295 on-base percentage this year is not good enough to be an every day outfielder. Everybody who knows Frankie loves the guy, which is why he leads all of baseball in “Adjustment Could Pay Off This Time” stories. But after a rookie rush that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, he has now had more than 4,000 plate appearances with a .307 on-base base percentage.

I think calling Jeff Francoeur the worst everyday player in baseball is absurd. Just to be considered on the list is just an outright slight! He has been the reason the Mets have won three of their last four victories. His defense bolsters any club, and his hitting isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be. He currently has a .239 avg/.291 OBP/.381 SLG with 10 HRs and 47 RBIs. He may not have Angel Pagan numbers right now, but he did when the season opened. The everyday right fielder since his rookie season in Atlanta, is now the Mets split right fielder, and when Bay comes back, the Mets fourth outfielder.

I’ll admit, I wanted Francoeur to be traded to the Royals when the rumor was going around. Not because I didn’t want him around, but because the Mets could have gotten players who they needed more. He would have been an everyday player with the Royals for sure. That’s what Jeff needs to be in order to actually improve his hitting. He can’t do that in NY.

Also, everyone praises Ruben Tejada for his defense on this team. Yet the guy is hitting .186 in 118 at-bats. So what’s the big difference between Tejada having great defense and poor hitting, and Francoeur having great defense and poor hitting?

What do you think? Is Jeff Francoeur the “Worst Everyday Player In Baseball?” Should he even be considered? Who do you think should get that title on their record?

The Mets take game two against the Phillies in a tight 1-0 win. Johan Santana had a great start not giving up any runs, and not allowing a hit for the first five and two-third innings. Frankie Rodriguez pitched five outs to get his twenty fourth save and win it for the Mets. Jeff Francoeur supplied the only Mets run in the seventh with a solo homerun. This the Mets first nine innings 1-0 win this season. Also, it was the Mets major league-leading 15th shutout of the season. Mets get back to .500 on the season.

Game Summary

Johan Santana had another great start of the season. After the big debacle of Manuel pulling Niese out after seven innings, Manuel let Santana go out for an out in the eighth inning before having to take him out of the game. Santana was great early not allowing a hit for the first 5.2 innings of the game. He also had three innings where he got hitters out 1-2-3. However, Santana had to get pulled as the last two innings he pitched, you can see his fastball rise about 3 or 4 inches and hitters were able to get hits off of it. In the end, Santana pitched 7.1 shutout innings, gave up five hits and walked three but also struck out six batters. Not only was his pitching on point, but so was his defense as Santana shows off that gold glove of his making a nice out at third on a bunt play. Santana walks away with his first win since July 23rd.

Frankie Rodriguez pitched five amazing outs to get his 24th save of the season. He didn’t allow a single hit, walking one batter but struck out two. Nice to see Frankie doing his job as a closer without all of his antics.

The story of the Mets offense not supporting Santana much continues once more. Only one run scored for the Mets on seven hits. Mets offense were struck out thirteen times in the game, eleven coming from the starter Hamels.

Jeff Francoeur had one hit in the game, but the one hit was the difference maker with a solo homerun in the seventh inning.

Ruben Tejada was brought up to bring in youthfulness and for his defense and he sure didn’t disappoint. His defense was on point all night long with making three great plays in the game. Ike Davis also had a hand in helping out Tejada with one of those great plays. His offense is still a concern though, as he went 0-4 with two strikeouts.

Why is Angel Pagan bunting? Really Manuel?

Fernando Martinez was also called up recently, he went 0-1 in a pinch hit role.

Turning Point

Jeff Francoeur’s solo homerun in the seventh inning gave the Mets enough runs to win.

Game Ball

Johan Santana is still not getting much run support, but he has another great start and deserves the game ball.

Up Next

Mets will have R.A. Dickey on the mound for the Mets as he finishes the series in a rubber game against the Phillies. The Phillies will have their ace, Roy Halliday, will look for his fourteenth win of the season. Game time is 1:35 PM.

Likewise, some fans are lamenting trades that never happened or were close to happening at the deadline.  We talk mostly about the “core” and the parts of the team who are “untouchable.”  It was rumored that in the Houston Astros’ quest to find a suitor for pitcher Roy Oswalt, the Mets would have had to relinquish Jon Niese, one lovely surprise this season.  In other rumored trades, Josh Thole or Ike Davis were the “major league ready” talent at the very least.  According to the writers and sources “close to the Mets,” the major league ready talent were classified as “untouchable.”

Let’s think about that word for a minute.  Untouchable. One Webster Dictionary definition of “untouchable” means “not to be handled.”  In the baseball world, and in Mets terms, there are players who will not be moved around despite anything that happens to that player or the team while the player is there.

To a spectator, the core has been construed as Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana, with supportive “home grown” players Davis, Thole and Niese (Mike Pelfrey to a lesser extent, since who knows what happened to him recently).  Let’s take a look at two members of this core: Jose Reyes and David Wright.  These two young guys are under contract for a few more years, and are incredibly cheap by most standards (especially by Mets standards, who have demonstrated the ability to overpay for unsubstantiated talent).  Wright made his debut in 2004, Reyes in 2003.  By most accounts, these two were the cornerstones, the future franchises, the Mets’ position player versions of our own franchise pitcher, Tom Seaver.

In the years they’ve been here, the team has been plagued with management-turnover and instability issues (Art Howe, Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel have all been skippers of the team in those years), leadership issues (Carlos Delgado was considered the leader with his bat, yet would disappear after abysmal performances, setting up comments by teammates who noticed as well) and veteran presence (Cliff Floyd and Moises Alou, who were both prone to injury, and “Captain Red Ass” Paul LoDuca).

However, in the years since the Boy Wonders signed their extensions, the Mets went on an improbable run in 2006, making it to Game 7 in the NLCS, monumentally collapsing in 2007, falling apart at the end of 2008, no comment on 2009, to now: playing .500 ball 2/3 of the way into the season, which does not leave a huge margin of error down the stretch.  If you noticed, heartbreak is a more common theme than actual triumph in those years.

The only true “constant” they’ve had is that Omar Minaya has been the General Manager most of their years with the Mets and Jeff Wilpon has been around all those years.  It was Minaya himself who signed the “Dynamic Duo,” as they were heralded, to extensions in 2006, guaranteeing they would be Mets for several more years.

The Mets are projected to be a .500 team going down the stretch, and were so predicted by computers in the preseason.  The Mets also boast the fifth highest payroll in Major League Baseball at $132.7 million, and the third highest in the National League behind the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Clearly, payroll isn’t everything, since the Cubs are having their own nightmare of a season, and the Phillies are being bit by the same injury bug that plagued the Mets in 2009 (but they are still executing).

The Mets have been underachieving and accepting of it since, oh I would say June 2007.   It’s one thing to make moves and act like a big market team, which is clear they try to project on the ownership and management side.  However, getting the least out of the players and parts you have is another story.

I believe it’s a bit shortsighted of management to at least not consider offers for under contract players who are the supposed cornerstones of the franchise.  If ownership is truly committed to win and not by pure profit, then studying moves would be necessary to initiate a WINNING CULTURE.  Fans are getting restless, and I have to believe the players are as well.  They come to New York for fame, money and championships.  The current Mets may not exactly be the “Worst Team Money Can Buy,” but it’s certainly the most mediocre and blase team one can buy.

For $130-plus million, it can achieve a lot more.  Come October 3, 2010, this team may need to be reevaluated for those purposes.  If the players are the problem, and they are not executing, it’s time to get rid of them.  I want to state for the record: I am not advocating trades of Reyes or Wright.  Beltran has a no-trade clause; I’d also like to point out that Roy Oswalt did as well and waived it.  Moving right along, Johan Santana is a great “problem” to have.  For the record that I was not exactly “supportive” of trading away Niese or Thole or Davis for half-year rentals or even under-contract injuries-waiting-to-happen at the deadline.  However, if the Mets truly end up as a .500 team this season, why would there be so many untouchable pieces?  I am not saying a vanity move of trading Jeff Francoeur, who would not net a lot in return.  Cutting Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo outright would speak volumes; again, don’t see it happening.

I have to wonder what ownership is thinking these days.  Reporters need their “headlines,” and who better to talk to than Mr. Money Bags himself, Fred Wilpon.  Wilpon suggested that Minaya was safe for 2011 and that he believed Jeff Wilpon to be doing an “excellent” job.  Seriously, was Fred going to say something scandalous by suggesting Minaya could be on his way out or that he thought his son was doing a terrible job of managing the baseball operations?  However, it does bring me pause in the elder Wilpon’s thinking that if he believes things are going swimmingly, we can all expect more of the same in 2011.

MMO’s own Tie Dyed wrote a passionate piece on David Wright recently, projecting that if he walked, it could be devastating to the franchise like Tom Seaver’s trade was.  I see the comparison, but it would be a different environment since it would be contractual and not via trade.  Minaya is terrible at evaluating, dollars-wise, major league talent, what’s to say he would get anything of value for these guys anyway?  Perhaps it was luck that the Mets parted with such little in the Johan Santana trade (however, that was more Minaya overvaluing his own prospects…I digress).

All of this is hypothetical.  The Mets could possibly turn it on and go 44-14 in this next stretch and surprise us all.  Jeff Wilpon could say that Omar Minaya is being reassigned within the organization at the end of 2010, and that Howard Megdal is taking over the General Manager operations.  Come Opening Day 2011, we could all be high-fiving each other during the ring ceremony (yes, I still have a bit of Kool-Aid left).

If the path of .500 is enough to warrant that any player, no matter how good, is “untouchable,” then this team is in more trouble than the standings can ever point out.

After a great pitching outing from R.A. Dickey, Jeff Francoeur hit a tie-breaking home-run in the ninth inning and the Mets broke a two game losing streak to win the game 3-2.

Game Notes

R.A. Dickey went out today, and was wildly effective. Dickey gave up two runs on five hits with four walks, two strikeouts and he hit a batter. Dickey probably would’ve pitched more if he wasn’t lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh inning. Its great to see R.A. in form, getting batters out and getting out of trouble.

Pedro Feliciano came out, and gave up a hit and a walk in one-third of an inning. Pedro is either feeling the mileage on his arm, or he just isn’t confident. Whatever it may be, Pedro isn’t the same stopper he has been. Manny Acosta relieved him and pitched one and two-third innings, walking two and striking out one. K-Rod pitched a perfect frame in the ninth, earning his 23rd save on the season.

The offense had its opportunities against Derek Lowe, as his sinker wasn’t sinking much but they couldn’t muster a major inning. A Jose Reyes double in the top of the third scored Luis Castillo, and a pinch-hit single by Chris Carter knocked in Jeff Francoeur. Going into the top of the ninth inning in a tie game, Frenchy tee’d off against former Met Billy Wagner, sending a ball deep into the right field bleachers to untie the game.

David Wright went 0-4 today, and is 0-11 in the last three games with two strikeouts and no walks.

Luis Castillo was the only Met with more then one hit, and he went 2-3 with a run scored.

In unlikely events, Josh Thole stole his first bag of the season and Chris Carter was thrown out trying to take his first. If you would’ve asked me who were the two Mets least likely to steal, they would be in the top 3. Henry Blanco is more likely to steal.

Turning Point

Francoeur home-run was the adrenaline rush the Mets needed, if not for this game for them to carry with them into tomorrow.

Game Ball

Jeff Francoeur gets the game ball, but it may be too little to late. It would be phenomenal if he could carry some kind of consistency to the plate with Jason Bay on the DL. Frenchy went 1-3 with an HR and a walk

On Deck

The Mets will look to win the series, sending Mike Pelfrey to the mound and he will face-off against Kris Medlen. Game time is 7:10 PM

How good it feels to be home. Jonathon Niese went to the mound today and pitched six solid innings, getting out of trouble consistently and received plenty of run support as the Mets beat the Cardinals 8-2

Game Notes

Jonathon Niese went to the mound today and provided the Mets with some quality pitching to kick-off their trip home. Niese went gave up one run in six innings on seven hits with two walks and one strikeout. Despite him not striking out many batters, Niese was generating groundballs at nearly a 2.5 to 1 ratio. This was the case of his cutter eating up right-handed hitters and keeping the ball in play. Niese is solidifying his role in this rotation as a solid #3, and with that in tow the Mets may not have to make a major deadline deal for a frontline starter, and by just getting a mid-rotation guy they can have the pitching that they need.

The bullpen came out to preserve a large lead, and Manny Acosta did his best to do that. Manny Acosta pitched one inning, allowing one run on three hits. Raul Valdes would relieve Acosta and allow a baserunner to score, but even that was on a bases-loaded double play that scored the lead runner. Raul Valdes went one perfect inning. Since being called back up, Raul Valdes has allowed two runs in 12 1/3 innings, striking out eleven. Francisco Rodriguez came out for some routine work and pitched a clean ninth inning, striking out two

The bullpen has been good for the most part but lately has been taxed by a few extra inning games. It’d be nice to see the starters go eight innings or even the distance

The Mets offense struck while the iron was hot, scoring the first run of the game on an Ike Davis groundout that plated David Wright. With Jason Bay sitting out the game with a mild concussion after his phenomenal catch in the Dodgers series, Jeff Francoeur got the start in right with Angel Pagan playing LF and Frenchy made his presence felt, drilling a three-run home run in the fourth inning to put the Mets ahead for good. The Mets would plate two more runs in the 5th, on a David Wright sac-fly that scored Luis Castillo and then some aggressive base-running by Angel Pagan, stealing second allowed him to score on a Carlos Beltran seeing-eye single. The Mets would put the lead into another galaxy on a Jose Reyes blast into the Pepsi Porch in right field, making the score 8-1.

The Mets as a team drew 5 walks – with David Wright going 0-1 with 2 BB, 1 K and a sac-fly.

Carlos Beltran went 2-3 with an RBI, R and BB. Carlos looks like he may be getting more comfortable at the plate, and lets hope that rubs off into the field

Ike Davis went 1-4 with an RBI, R and 2 K’s. Even when Ike puts together good games, he racks up the strikeouts. Ike has NINETY strikeouts in 325 AB’s. Thats nearly a 27% strikeout rate.

Mike Hessman made his first appearance as a Met, and fouled out to third base in a pinch-hitting role.

Turning Point

The Jeff Francoeur blast invigorated a recently-stagnant Mets offense and lead to the explosion.

Game Ball

Jonathon Niese, for navigating around trouble the whole game and assisting in holding the reigning MVP Albert Pujols to an 0-5 line. Kudos also goes to Frenchy for hitting his first HR in exactly a month.

On Deck

The Mets look to keep the winning ways going, sending Johan Santana to the mound and he will face off against rookie of the year candidate Jaime Garcia. This is a rematch of the two starters who began the 20 inning epic on April 21st.

According to a person familiar with the team’s thinking, the Mets are naturally open to dealing Francoeur if a team presents an overwhelming offer, but view him as necessary insurance. The Mets do not want to be without a viable backup if Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan or Jason Bay were injured.

Francoeur told the Daily News on Thursday that he wants a chance for regular playing time. “If there was an opportunity to play more somewhere else, that would be great,” he said. “I love it here, but if they decide to go in a different direction, I would be happy to play somewhere else where there is more playing time.”

It’s one thing when the Kansas City Royals or Arizona Diamondbacks say that they would have to be overwhelmed to move Zach Grienke or Dan Haren. It’s another thing, when the Mets say the same thing about Jeff Francoeur. Geesh, even I know that…

If the Mets are going to continue to overvalue their players to the point of insanity, once again the trade deadline will come and go without no significant addition as in years passed.

Somebody pass me the Tylenol.

Updated 7/23 2:15 PM

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in a post to Twitter, the Kansas City Royals like Jeff Francoeur.

As I posted yesterday (see below), the Mets would like to trade Francoeur, and Royals GM Dayton Moore worked in the Braves front office when Francoeur began his major league career.

The Royals do have some interesting players the Mets might find useful and they could be compatible trade partners.

Francoeur is eligible for arbitration next season, but could be non-tendered this winter, thus making him a free agent any way. He is probably a platoon outfielder for most upper echelon teams, but could play everyday for many low market teams.

Original Post 7/22 7:00 AM

The 26-year-old told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork that he wouldn’t mind getting traded. Even if he stays in New York for the rest of the season, Francoeur may get a change of scenery this winter, since he’s a non-tender candidate. Francoeur has hit .247/.297/.380 this year, though he did post an .836 OPS after the Mets traded for him in 2009.

According to an exclusive report by Mike Puma of the NY Post, Jeff Francoeur’s days in a Mets uniform could be numbered.

According to an industry source, the team is trying to trade the right fielder, and could have a deal in place by the time the Mets finish their series in Los Angeles this weekend.

Francoeur would welcome a trade, according to a person friendly with the right fielder, if it gave him a chance to play every day.

Francoeur’s playing time has been diminished since Carlos Beltran’s return from the disabled list. Angel Pagan has assumed the starting right-field duties, with Francoeur coming off the bench for the first time in his career.

It’s not clear what the Mets would be able to get in return for Frenchy, but maybe they could come away with a reliable bullpen arm.

Beltran, who is scheduled to return on July 15 against the San Francisco Giants, went 2-for-4 with a single, a double, a walk and a run scored. He also made four putouts in center field.

“The knee is getting stronger and stronger,” Beltran said. ”Every day, I feel better.”

The return of the Mets gold glove centerfielder will pose a playing time problem for Angel Pagan who is batting .300 with five home runs, 39 RBI and 44 runs scored in 280 at-bats.

He could end up in some sort of platoon with right fielder Jeff Francoeur who is batting .259 with 8 home runs and 42 RBI. Frenchy (.348/.403/.853) is one of the Mets best weapons the Mets have against lefthanded pitching, but has struggled mightily against RHP, so a platoon could make the Mets more formidable at the plate.

Pagan has a .719 OPS against LHP, but against RHP his OPS (on-base plus slugging pct.) is over 100 points higher at .840.

Considering both of those facts, a Francoeur/Pagan platoon at RF coupled with the return of a healthy Carlos Beltran in CF, adds up to a significant upgrade to the lineup and one that could catapult the Mets to the top of the NL East for good.

Matthew Artus of the excellent Always Amazin blog on NJ.com, caught my attention with his post this morning. The subject was Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur, which is always a popular topic here on MMO. I figured that some of you might like to weigh in on his blog. Here is part of what he says, and you can read the entire piece here.

At the moment, Jeff Francoeur’s the everyday right fielder for the Mets because they simply do not have a viable alternative. F-Mart’s not ready. Nick Evans is forgotten. GMJ has ceased to be. And acquiring another player to fill that spot could unnecessarily block Pagan if and when Beltran returns. 

Frenchy might be a hell of a guy to know and truly look the part of a ballplayer. He might always be available in charitable endeavors or for a quick and interesting sound byte to pass on to the beat writers. He might be charming, a clubhouse leader, and exhibiting the type of character you want to see in all ballplayers.

That doesn’t make up for the fact that Francoeur still does not perform the two tasks asked of every hitter in any significant way. He does not hit enough. He does not walk enough. Instead, we’re left with this generation’s version of a poor man’s Rey Ordonez. Rey Rey will always be a fan favorite amongst Mets fans for his defensive contributions, but we were all more than happy to replace him with Alex Rodriguez when the opportunity presented itself.

And for as much as some like Francoeur’s presence in the lineup, we would welcome his replacement just the same.

I’m sure Artus will get plenty of love from the stat-heads with this, but I’m not so sure a great portion of Mets fans would be so quick to throw Francoeur overboard just yet.

I don’t see Frenchy as a poor man’s Rey Ordonez, but a couple of weeks back, someone in our chat room mentioned how similar he was in character to Ron Swoboda, the Mets rightfielder from 1965-1970, and how he was even better offensively and defensively.

In the last 28 days, Francoeur is batting .364 with a .912 OPS to lead the team. It seems like an odd time to be discussing preparations for his departure. He slumped badly in May batting just .211, but batted .286 with a .886 OPS in April and so far in June he is hitting .339 with a .867 OPS.

Since the 26-year old Francoeur came to the Mets in the trade for Ryan Church, he has played in 143 games encompassing 521 at-bats. During that span he is batting .292 with 17 homeruns, 32 doubles, 78 RBI’s and 72 runs scored while batting mostly in the seventh spot of the batting order.

I’m a little surprised that there’s still so many Mets fans that would like to see him jettisoned from the Mets roster, especially since he exceeded expectations since arriving. He is widely credited with shifting the tenuous and uneasy atmosphere of the clubhouse last season. At least that’s what David Wright and Jerry Manuel have said about Francoeur on a few occasions this season and last.

Thoughts?