According to Mike Nichols of Mets Blog Ramon Castro has been activated and Raul Casanova has been DFA’d.

Also, WFAN has been in contact with the Mets and they said tonight’s game will be played despite the inclement weather.

According to Dan Graziano of the Star Ledger, the Mets brass is planning on a reevaluation at the end of the month.

The team is disappointed that they are not playing up to their potential, and will look at the idea of replacing manager Willie Randolph. However, if the Mets remain in contention, Randolph will likely keep his job through the season.

Right now, I think its too early to replace a manager, we still have to see what we’ve got. Yet, if we’re still hovering around .500 come June, I’d be in favor of pulling the trigger on Willie. If we’re still around .500 come June, it means lots of the team is still under performing, like Carlos Beltran and Oliver Perez. Under performing, as well as having a fan base that seems like it wants to win more than the team wants to, is a sure sign that its time for a change.

Hat tip to Mets Blog for the link.

After Brian Bannister’s a sizzling start, which resulted in many people criticizing Omar Minaya for ever trading him, he has sunk back to earth.  Bannister was traded to the Royals for RP Amiorix Burgos prior to the 2007 season.  Burgos is now recovering from Tommy John Surgery

Bannister began the year with two earned runs in his first three outings, however since then has lost his last four starts.  He now has a record of 3-4 with a 4.46 ERA. 

Meanwhile, Lastings Milledge has been unimpressive thus far with the Nationals.  Milledge is batting .256 with with only one HR and 11 RBIs. 

When I heard this story on MSNBC last night like anyone listening, I laughed. But then I looked at the TV and realized the genius they were reporting on was sporting a Phillies jacket. So, since it is my duty as a NY Mets blogger to spread any news that may reflect badly on the intellect of Philly fans, here’s the story:

BENSALEM, Pa. - Police say they had no trouble tracking down a robbery suspect, because the victims had taken his picture while chatting with him at a bar a short time before the theft.

The suspect, Andre Smith, struck up a conversation with a group of women at a bachelorette party at the Bensalem Township taproom early Sunday morning, the township’s public safety director, Fred Harran, said Wednesday. The women were taking photos of each other when Smith jumped in front of the camera, Harran said.

Smith later was ejected from the bar for allegedly harassing customers.

When two women in the group left the bar to go to a nearby convenience store, Smith robbed them of their purses, Harran said. The women recognized Smith — who apparently didn’t recognize them — and gave investigators a copy of their photo, Harran said.

Later Sunday, a detective went around to local apartment complexes looking for Smith and spotted him, Harran said.

Smith was arrested on robbery and theft charges and is being held on $50,000 bail. .

via AP

Here is yesterday’s Billy Wagner Report with Michael Kay on 1050 ESPN Radio.

About the road trip:

“When you go .500 on a west coast trip that’s good but we could’ve easily went 4-2 on that trip. When you hit and pitch you win ball games, it goes hand in hand. I’ll tell one thing, Arizona has got a fantastic pitching staff, whoever they face in the playoffs is gonna have their hands full.”

On the aftermath of the Oliver Perez stuff and Willie Randolph’s reaction:

“Well, Willie didn’t know that I had spoke to Oliver before that. But how Willie reacted is understandable, he’s trying to protect his players. So, if he thinks it wasn’t handled right he’s gonna say something, Willie handled it correctly. He just didn’t know that I spoke to Oliver and settled it there and voiced my opinion. We had come to the conclusion that I handled it my way and he (Willie) would much rather it be handled a different way. But like he said, I’m Billy Wagner, I’m not the voice of the NY Mets and I don’t have any ownership or any command of that, but as a player I voice my opinion and that was it”

Will this incident muzzle you?

“No, I think they (the Mets) understand, that I wasn’t out there to say that I didn’t like Oliver Perez. I wasn’t trying to be critical personally. I was just saying from a player-team situation I felt we could have used a strong performance. There are times where you can’t go out and say things, you gotta handle it in house. There’s no doubt this was a situation where we were frustrated and felt like we needed a strong showing so I voiced my opinion and that’s all it was.”

Did Oliver ever say anything to you about what you said?

“Nah, no, nah, he never said anything and even though he didn’t fair too well in LA he competed. I mean he took a line drive off his stomach and honestly gave us a chance to win that game. He kept us in the game, with the opportunity to win. That’s what you want, you want to compete and he competed he went out there and gave us a great opportunity. So, after the game I get barraged by the media asking what I think and really it’s not my opinion it’s about what he did for our team. I mean he really stepped up. He could of very easily, after giving up some home runs and some runs, he could of shut it down but he went out there and competed and that’s what you really look for as a teammate. How much are you gonna give us. I know my day is coming when I’m gonna be criticized about a performance and I understand that and I can deal with that from up here from the experience of being a closer, it having been a criticized position.”

Every time Perez pitches the media is gonna ask you for a review:

“Well, that’s ok. That’s fine, we all have to be held accountable and your teammates are the best judge of how you perform and how you work. Your held at a higher standard by your teammates and you just have to be accountable.”

Do you think the fans are being ultra negative this year?

“No, I just think that’s just the nature of being a fan. I mean, when I blow a save they boo but that’s just the nature of the game. I think sometimes it can be malicious. When a guy is battling and trying to do everything he can, I mean you look at Carlos Delgado, the shift is involved and is a part of the game but I mean he hits the ball exactly where your supposed to. He’s been going up the middle and the other way. But he hits the ball hard and it’s right into the shift and a lot of times fans don’t see, he’s doing what he does. I mean if you don’t have that shift there he’s hitting .270/.280 and things are all happy go lucky. I remember in ‘06 before they really started putting that shift on him, he’s hitting .285/.290 and nobody’s saying a word. I mean the fans have to see he’s up there and he’s battling and competing. If the fans get on you to the point where everything you do is seen negatively. I mean Carlos Delgado is a great teammate. He works hard, he goes about his business as a professional. I guess its tough for me to see that type of player get that type of criticism. There are other reasons to boo, when you’re not hustling and you don’t show the effort. That’s when you boo. I mean the effort is there, he competes, he plays hard, he’s fantastic, I mean he really is. He doesn’t get his just do because of the average but you ask any pitcher, they don’t wanna go out there and have to face him. They can’t tell you how many times he hits a line drive right at somebody or a hard ground ball to a hole that the shift has taken away. I think he’s handled it a lot better than most.”

On the fans not forgetting about last year:

“I can understand that to. We should have won our division last year. I mean, the fans are
hungry, they want a championship. So do we, and until we go out there and get to the playoffs that’s not gonna be put behind us and we know that, we know that as a team we can’t let the crowd influence the way we play but we also know we won’t stop hearing about ‘07 until we play consistent baseball and get into the playoffs.”

What does Billy Wager do on an off day?

“Well, right now I’m outside with my kids (you can hear them in the background) who are waiting on me to hit ground balls and probably throw a little BP and just enjoy family.”

Do you bring it hard while throwing BP?

“They let me know when enoughs enough.”

Obviously, Billy’s trying to put the Ollie stuff behind him, he gave Ollie a lot of credit for staying in the Dodger game after getting hit in the stomach, but I get the feeling Billy was trying to take a bit of credit for Perez toughing it out and maybe he’s right.

His points about Delgado and the shift are good but only if the shift was employed often very late in Delgado’s career, Billy seems to think so, I really don’t know. But if Billy is right, that would seem to be tough, I can only assume to make an adjustment from a successful dead pull hitter to a go the other way (on the ground) type hitter has got to be hard. It makes sense, especially when your struggling to just automatically revert back to the things that got you here. I think when people say “just go the other way” or “lay down a bunt” they think it’s easy. We are talking about a guy who has had an extreme amount of success in his career and to ask him to become a different type of hitter, well, easier said than done. It takes a little more thought than “c’mon adjust”.

But that’s the problem with this whole booing thing in general. There is no thought process behind booing it’s pure emotion and immediate gratification. The player or team you root for is not coming through so BOOOO!… I’m not saying that everybody has to weigh all the pros and cons of their reactions at a ball game but if it affects the team you root for and spend your hard earned cash on, it seems to reason that if you can verbally have an effect on the players, positive or negative than you boo birds out there should give this some thought. At the same time that Wagner starts to say he doesn’t have a problem with the fan reaction he then goes into a long explanation about Delgado… No matter what they say, the effect is obvious… It is counterproductive. Be selfish, realize your hurting your team and with the media coverage, talk radio and the internet players know how every fan base reacts to their home team. SI’s Jon Heyman spoke about this exact point while talking about Mark Teixiera and where he may end up. To have a reputation as a “negative fan base” is not good no matter what the rational.