For those of you hoping to see Zack Wheeler build upon his last start, tonight’s results will come as a disappointment to you. Unfortunately for Wheeler, he never seemed to find his comfort zone, and he walked a season high six batters tonight and failed to complete the fifth inning before Wally Backman had seen enough and pulled him from the game. His overall line left a lot to be desired, as he allowed four [...]

Another game, another highlight. That’s what the season has been like for Mets catcher John Buck who belted a grand slam and scored two runs last night against the Twins. Buck is now batting .351/.350/.865 with an incredible 1.215 OPS on the season with a National League leading six home runs and 19 RBI and tied for tops in the Majors with Baltimore’s Chris Davis. The RBIs put him in some impressive company: Terry Collins is [...]

This is the T-Shirt Tuesday design for the April 23 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, honoring Mets catcher John Buck. It bears a striking resemblance to Blitzen. In 31 plate appearances so far this season, Buck is batting .393/.387/.464 with four home runs and an NL leading 14 RBIs in eight games. Buck did not hit his fourth home run of the year last year until May 13 (25 games) and did not drive [...]

The 2013 season is officially underway, and you all know what that means, our annual MMO preseason predictions. Each year our tireless staff of writers send in their predictions for the 2013 season, and the player with the most votes gets our pre-season nod for all that shiny MLB hardware. Later today, we will have the NL Awards and in the coming days will have plenty more of fun and interesting predictions! So without further [...]

The Mets signed Jonathon Niese at the perfect time early last April, inking the left-hander to a five-year extension worth just over $25 million. The contract the two sides agreed to kept Niese a Met for his final pre-arbitration years (2012), all three of his arbitration years, and at least one year of free agency. The best part of the deal may be the two team options, which total $21 million and would keep Niese [...]

We have all heard the phrase good things come to those that wait, but the phrase really only works if you seem to have a plan for the future that you intend to wait for. Patience works if you have a plan. But I see no plan at work with this organization. Many have tried to tell me the plan was to rebuild the “AWFUL” minor league system. But that plan was usurped the second [...]

The idea has been beaten to death: The Mets bullpen is the worst in baseball and has been the major reason for the team’s skid to open the second half. But looking a little deeper, it may not totally be the bullpen’s fault. In fact, the pen, mainly Jon Rauch, Josh Edgin and even Manny Acosta since being recalled, has actually been somewhat decent recently. Granted, the bullpen certainly has contributed to the second-half slide, [...]

With the first half of the season is just about in the books, it’s finally time to separate the contenders from the pretenders. There are four teams that I believe are completely out of the playoff picture (Chicago, San Diego, Colorado, and Houston). All four will be sellers in a few weeks, attempting to unload salaries in return for prospects. The remaining 12 teams will be classified into three tiers. The first all have a [...]

The NL East Report is published every Friday and takes a look at the other teams in the division. The reports covers the latest news and notes, injuries and transactions, divisional records versus the Mets, and updated NL East Standings. News And Notes Atlanta Braves: Rookie right-hander Trevor Bauer made his major-league debut Thursday and pitched four innings allowing two runs, five hits and three walks before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning. Bauer, [...]