I Officially Dub Thee.....

First Pitch Frenchy.

Hero to opposing pitchers everywhere.

Whew

Way to go Mets!

Very nice two game finish to an otherwise abysmal first half.

These two wins have bought you a few more weeks of hope.

Get back soon Jose!

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	1	7	11	0
N.Y. Mets «	1	0	4	2	0	0	2	0	x	9	16	0

W: M. Pelfrey (7-4) L: A. Harang (5-9) S: F. Rodriguez (23) HR: CIN - None NYM - B. Schneider (3), F. Tatis (4)

David Wright: My Wish Video

For those that haven't seen this yet, here's one more reminder of why we love David Wright.

Matt Vojack gets his wish granted by New York Mets David Wright, and of course, DW hits a homerun for the kid.

I think we need to start getting kids with great story's like Matt's in front of DW before every game if it will help him hit more homeruns.

I have a nephew with a club foot....hmmmmmmm!

Mets Add Jeff Francoeur in Terrible Trade

I am just stunned by this.

Francoeur has a .282 OBP this year, and a career OBP of .308.

Moreover, he has 5 HRs this year on over 300 at-bats, and an OPS+ of 68.

Last year, in 599 at-bats he hit .239 with an OPS+ of 72.

Let's see....

CAREER: 560 games, 77 HR, .307 OBP, cannon arm, 12 SB, 8 CS.

Wait a sec, that's actually Wily Mo Pena.

CAREER: 631 games, 78 HR, .309 OBP, cannon arm, 14 SB, 12 CS.

That's Frenchy.

But wait, there's more!

Jeff Francoeur, RF
1 year/$3.375M (2009)

Ryan Church, RF
1 year/$2.8M (2009)

Fire Omar...really.

Career: Batting | Fielding
SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	Atl	70	257	41	77	20	1	14	45	11	58	3	2	.300	.336	.549	.885
2006	Atl	162	651	83	169	24	6	29	103	23	132	1	6	.260	.293	.449	.742
2007	Atl	162	642	84	188	40	0	19	105	42	129	5	2	.293	.338	.444	.782
2008	Atl	155	599	70	143	33	3	11	71	39	111	0	1	.239	.294	.359	.653
2009	Atl	82	304	32	76	12	2	5	35	12	46	5	1	.250	.282	.352	.634
Total	--	631	2453	310	653	129	12	78	359	127	476	14	12	.266	.308	.424	.732

Jon Niese Named Intl' Pitcher of the Week

Bisons’ LHP Jonathon Niese Named International League Pitcher of the Week

Southpaw Delivered Complete Game Shutout Sunday in Rochester The International League announced today that Buffalo Bisons LHP Jonathon Niese was the league’s Pitcher of the Week for the period from June 29- July 5.

Niese was 1-0 with a 1.06ERA in two starts for the Bisons this past week. The southpaw struck out 14 batters and allowed just 10 hits in 17.0 innings of work.

Niese’s week was highlighted by a complete-game shutout of the Rochester Red Wings on Sunday night at Frontier Field. The 22-year old struck out a Bisons season-high 10 batters and allowed just five hits and two walks. It was Niese’s fourth consecutive winning decision. He also worked eight innings on Tuesday night against Charlotte and gave up just three runs (two earned) on five hits in a no-decision.

In his last six starts, Niese is 4-1 with a 1.04ERA for the Bisons. He has allowed just five runs on 30 hits in his last 43.1 innings of work (39 strikeouts).

Niese is the second Bisons pitcher to win the award in the past four weeks. RHP Nelson Figueroa was the IL Pitcher of the Week from June 8-14.

Missing Beltran: Enormous Impact

For all those Mets fans that still think Carlos Beltran isn't the most valuable member of the team, consider the following.

Since Carlos Beltran went on the DL:

The Mets have been shut out 3 times

The Mets have scored less than 3 runs 8 times

The Mets have scored 3 runs or less 10 times

That is a huge impact, and I for one believe it's causal despite the relatively small sample size (he's been on the DL 14 games).

Now here's the thing--I am telling you now to not give up hope.

We have to weather one more week of this and then...

Carlos Beltran comes back

Jose Reyes comes back

Ollie will be back this week, and I believe both John Maine and Carlos Delgado will be back within 3-4 weeks.

Then Putz....

Maybe Billy Wagner....

Pagan comes back soon to solidify the bench...

It is incredibly hard to be an optimist right now--and I'm not asking you for optimism--I am asking to not crucify this team right now...get to the break a few games out, and then let the health parade begin.

The Mets will win the division by 5 games.

Bookmark this and come back in late September.

I'll be here.

How Would YOU Build Today's Lineup?

If I were in charge....

Luis Castillo should leadoff today as he's 7 for 14 with a walk against Phillies starter Joe Blanton.

1. Luis Castillo, 2B
2. Ryan Church, RF
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Gary Sheffield, LF
5. Daniel Murphy, 1B
6. Brian Schneider, C
7. Jeremy Reed, CF
8. Alex Cora, SS
9. Johan Santana, P

Jeremy Reed hasn't had a lot of luck against Blanton, but we need his defense today---fly ball team against a flyball pitcher.

And just in--Jerry's lineup, which has Luis batting 8th:

1. Alex Cora, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, LF
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Ryan Church, RF
5. Nick Evans, LF
6. Jeremy Reed, CF
7. Brian Schneider, C
8. Luis Castillo, 2B
9. Johan Santana, LHP

Johan Can You Hear Me?

Can you shake off that 2-4 June in which you posted the 6.19 ERA?

The team needs you to get them a win.

3.0 games back of the Phils now, tied with the Braves, and also looking up at the Marlins.

Today marks the unofficial halfway point of the season--game 81.

The Mets will officially finish the unofficial first half below .500.

The Mets need you Johan, if there's any hope of getting to the All Star break at or above .500.

We're all tired of reading about the injuries, the fielding miscues, the lack of depth in the minors, and the black cloud that's hanging over the team.

Can you hear me Johan?

Go out and pitch a gem.