Is Tatis having a comeback, or does a jersey with the #17 somehow channel the energy of Mex and allow its wearer to fuel a team? The one jersey to rule them all if you will.

Pelf gave up a lot of hits, but managed to keep himself out of trouble. He kept his walks down (1), his strikeouts up (6), hit not batters, no wild pitches. He even went long, going a full seven, during which he only gave up two runs. Quite a nice effort for Pelf, who’s job is in fact on the line. Pedro is chilling in NY and scheduled to go in just a few days. At the very least, this could buy him some time, possible putting the hook back around Vargas . Unfortunately for him, he gets the no decision, as the Mets took their time to score. Dirty gets the win, pitching a 1, 2, 3 eight inning, and Billy gets his eleventh save of the season and three strikeouts.

Reyes stole a base and Delgado went 2 for 4, but who cares. All thats important, was the three run rally. After being shutdown scoring wise for seven full innings, the Mets did what needed doing. Wright doubled in the lead off spot, and in an effort to remind everyone why he hits next, Beltran homered to tie it up. Well played Carlos. Well played. Rather than spoil the fun, Carlos Delgado singled. Evans moved up a base in a PR situation, Schneider got intentionally walked, and using his all powerful jersey, Tatis once again had the game winner, a single into the outfield to score Evans. As my grandmother always said, victory is a dish best served by Fernando Tatis.

Delgado by the way, went 5 for 12 against LA after riding the bench for two days. Maybe he should just always bat angry.

For those who aren’t quite into my 17 theory, something to chew on: Keith Hernandez, the greatest Met in Met history, wore the #17, and belongs in the Hall of Fame. Tatis, in the #17, had his second game winner in a week, after being banished from baseball for quite some time, for being not good. David Wright, hit his 17th double to start the rally. Earlier in the game, Jose Reyes stole his 17th base. Joe Smith’s favorite magazine: Seventeen. Coincidences? I think not.

Matt Wise is going to fly out to Los Angeles to get a second opinion on his ailing right shoulder. The Mets Doctors say it’s tendinitis. But Wise wants to see Dr. Lewis Yocum. Yocum has preformed two surgery’s on Wise’ right arm in the past. MLB.com Jon Blau is reporting that Wise said:

If the prognosis from Yocum is consistent with what he’s heard from the Mets’ staff, then he will just resume an indefinite rest period. No matter what, though, Wise said he will check back with the organization’s doctors after receiving Yocum’s recommendation.

“I definitely trust the doctor here; it has nothing to do with that,” Wise said. “But this is my career we are talking about here.”

On Fox Sports MLB pre-game show Ken Rosenthal reported that “Willie Randolph is one losing patch away from being fired” and if that does happen Rosenthal said, “Howard Johnson and Rick Peterson will also be fired”.

Steven Colbert bashes MLB for enforcing licensing rules on little leaguers.

Video via Mets Grrl.

The first round of the First Annual Baseball Blogger Mock Draft has just been completed. Here are the results:

1. Tampa Bay Rays- Buster Posey, C, Florida State (Keith Law)
2. Pittsburgh Pirates- Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt (Bucco Blog)
3. Kansas City Royals- Tim Beckham, SS, Griffin GA HS (Royals Authority)
4. Baltimore Orioles-Brian Matusz, LHP, San Diego
5. San Francisco Giants - Justin Smoak, 1B, South Carolina (El Lefty Malo)
6. Florida Marlins-Kyle Skipworth, C, Patriot HS, Calif. (Future Fish)
7. Cincinnati Reds- Gordon Beckham, SS, Georgia (Reds Minor Leagues)
8. Chicago White Sox- Brett Wallace, 3B/1B, ASU (Zoner Sports)
9. Washington Nationals - Yonder Alonso, 1B, Miami (Nationals Farm Authority)
10. Houston Astros - Aaron Crow, RHP, Missouri (Kiley of Saber-Scouting)
11. Texas Rangers - Eric Hosmer, 1b, American Heritage HS, Fla. (Rangers Farm Authority)
12. Oakland Athletics - Ethan Martin, 3B/RHP, Stephens County HS, Ga. (Taj of Athletics Nation)
13. St. Louis Cardinals - Christian Friedrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky (Erik of Future Redbirds)
14. Minnesota Twins - Jemile Weeks, 2B, Miami (SethSpeaks)
15. Los Angeles Dodgers - Tim Melville, RHP, Holt HS, Wentzville, MO
16. Milwaukee Brewers - Brett Lawrie, 3B/C, Brookwood SS, Langley, B.C. (Patrick Ebert of Brewerfan.net)
17. Toronto Blue Jays - Shooter Hunt, P, Tulane (Pistol of Batters Box)
18. New York Mets - Jason Castro, C, Stanford (Andrew of Hot Foot)
19. Chicago Cubs - Casey Kelly, SS, Sarsota Florida (HS) (Joe from View from the Bleachers)
20. Seattle Mariners - Aaron Hicks, RHP/OF, Wilson HS, Long Beach, CA (David Cameron from USS Mariner)
21. Detroit Tigers–Joshua Fields, RHP, Georgia (Erik of Future Redbirds)
22. New York Mets- Ike Davis, 1B/OF, Arizona State (Hot Foot)
23. San Diego Padres- Andrew Cashner, RHP, TCU (Geoff Young of Ducksnorts)
24. Philadelphia Phillies- Tanner Scheppers, RHP, Fresno St. (Phuture Phillies)
25. Colorado Rockies- Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills HS, Chino Hills, Calif. (Tom of Up in the Rockies)
26. Arizona Diamondbacks-Allan Dykstra, 1B, Wake Forest (From RJ of Beyond the Boxscore)
27. Minnesota Twins-Conor Gillaspie, 3B, Wichita St. (SethSpeaks)
28. New York Yankees-Gerrit Cole, RHP, Lutheran HS, Calif. (River Ave. Blues)
29. Cleveland Indians-Tyson Ross, RHP, California (Bryan Smith, Baseball Prospectus)
30. Boston Red Sox-Reese Havens, SS, South Carolina (The College Baseball Blog

The Mets are in a very interesting position with their two first round picks. Our organizational depth has been ranked as low as 29th in the major leagues. So, that would tell you that we need to draft the best available talent to try and revamp our depleted system. But, we are also aging at Catcher, 1B, 2B, and SP with not too many minor league options to use as fillers on the major league roster, so that would tell you that we need to select more MLB-ready college players.

Castro is a 6′3″, 210 lb. junior catcher for Stanford. Castro, a left-handed hitter currently leads the Cardinal this season with a .373 batting average and 56 RBI. He is second on the club with 11 home runs. More impressively, he has thrown out 27 of 68 attempted base stealers.

I was not looking to take Castro at 18, but Minaya may be worried that the Tigers will snag him with the 21st pick. Being a former catcher himself, I can see Minaya leaning towards Castro with his first pick, and being a Stanford man, you can deduce that he will get along well with Rick Peterson in game planning.

Davis is a 6′4″ 205 lb. junior first baseman/outfielder for Arizona St. Also a lefty, he has drawn comparisons to Shawn Green. He is the son of former Yankees and Twins closer Ron Davis, who earned 130 saves over his 11-year career.  Currently, Davis is batting .381 with 16 homers, 69 RBI, and a .455 OBP. He is second on the team in all of those categories to 3B Brett Wallace, who we projected to go 8th overall to the Chicago White Sox.

Again, there were several very talented high school players available in Collier and Cole, but Davis is very advanced and could be playing first base at Citi Field by mid-2009. We are going to continue with the sandwich round and I will post who I select with the 33rd overall pick later today.

After a rough start, the Mets were winning, but then not so much. Or as was sung in the Mets musical, ‘The Circle of Mets.’

John Maine had a rough first, getting taken for three runs, then righted himself and gave up just one more over the rest of his time out there (another five). Everyones favorite whipping boy, Aaron Heilman takes the loss. He gave up four hits while recording no outs, threw a wild pitch, and gets credit for four Dodger runs, with some assistance via The Show. But at least Show retired three batters. For those who’s heads have not exploded yet, Chan Ho Park got the win.

When Chan Ho and Tatis face off, isn’t the result supposed to be unpredictable, wild, and mind boggling? It should be like an episode of Lost, but weirder. Not a groundout.

Luis Castillo homered, according to MLB guidelines, Kershaw must now be sent to the minor leagues. Reyes has now reached safely in 30 straight games. The Mets scored five runs, two via the Castillo homerun, all while just getting seven hits. Only two of which were for extra bases (Wright doubled). Seriously, Chan Ho Park. Three and one third inning pitched. Three walks, two hits, one earned run. Either the Mets offense is 100% dead, or Chan’s juicing. Someone check his locker for checks from Lo Duca.