Around the Mets Blogosphere is what is often a familiar scent to the fans of the blue and orange: despair. defeat. desperation. mint. Well, maybe not mint.

Sure, we lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees. Also 2 of 3 to Philly. The most exciting player to watch in all of baseball is hurt, and at least a week from even starting rehab. John Maine has dead arm. Putz might not even have arms. Castillo is dropping routine pop ups. Keith is calling Delgado fat (he’s big boned Keith. big boned!). But despite all this, maybe we shouldn’t quit give up on 2009. So take two steps away from the ledge (backwards, not forwards) and bear with me.

For starters, the Mets can only get healthier. Between arm problems, leg problems, back problems, flu problems, and the standard case of Ryan Church and mid Springitis, the Mets have pretty much lived with half the roster on the DL and three players in that limbo between going to the DL and maybe back tomorrow all season. But those crazy Mets are actually getting healthier. Well, maybe not Ollie and Delgado, but the others. Beltran defeated his mystery ailment. Cora is back in action. Even Billy Wagner is making strides, and his trash talking and bragging are all ready at top form.

The B team doesn’t entirely suck. Yeah, I’d love to have a B game Reyes over an A game Cora or Wilson Valdez too, but as Donald Rumsfeld once said, you to into interleague play with the Mets you have, not the Mets you wish to have. We’re not seeing power numbers, but they are hitting. Granted its singles. Lots and lots of singles. But as we saw the other night, a series of well timed singles get us runs too. Murph and Fernando Martinez may not be hitting how we’d like, they’re learning. New players slump, but Murph will figure out how to hit the inside ball allowing him to return to being the patient batter who finds a way on.  Factor in that Murph is starting to look like he knows what he’s doing at his position, a position that fans were so worried about that not too long ago they were mentioning putting Carp there (with a straight face too).

Best bullpen in the majors. Despite neither Putz or Wagner, the Mets bullpen has so far been the best in the business. Feliciano found his groove, K Rod is K Rod, even Sean Green is doing well. Considering the bullpen was one of the major issues the last two seasons, this is major. Granted there’s an excellent chance Brian Stokes is chained to a radiotor in the bullpen, but Feliciano has learned enough Japanese to help ease Takahashi into regular use.  Factor in that the rotation is for the most part respectable, with improvements in Pelf and Redding and a spark of potential from Neise to mix in with Livians dependability and Johan (he’s Johan) and suddenly pitching isn’t that big of a problem. Will Big Pelf have games where he gets angry and the wheels come off? Sure. He’s young, it happens. Even Johan isn’t perfect, as we recently saw. But with the current pitching staff, both rotation and bullpen, I think we have a legitimate chance regardless of who is on the mound on any given night.

So sure, things aren’t all sunshines, rainbows and free shake shacks.  But its not all grey skeys and ‘you’ve been traded to the Royals’ either. There’s hope. We can do this. So lets calm down with the ‘Fire Jerry’ and focus our energy on something positive, like witty K-Rod shirts with ‘Frankie Says Relax’ slogans on them.

That’s right folks, Everybody’s hurt. Sometimes.  With Reyes and Putz recently DLed, Maine having some tightness, and what may or may not be swine flu slowly turning Met players into mutant half men half pigs, we’ve all been a bit busy. And by a bit busy, I mean panicing. Luckily there’s booze and cigarettes to ease our pain. But others, like to use the internet to vent. So lets take this lovely Sunday afternoon to see what those fine folks have to say:

Coop, blogging over at Ladies on the Field, Gangsta’s on the Bus, would like to ask  us all to not panic.

The worst has happened. Time to go forward and move ahead, like Devo would say

Hmm…well she quoted Devo. And I respect that. Coop also urges the Mets brass to not make an unwise trade. So check it out, and someone, please bring a laptop to whatever ledge most of the Hotfoot Staff is up on.

Over at Centerfield Maz, they’re taking a look at Beltran’s recent comments, and hope perhaps he can step up and light some fire.

Can’t read? No problem, Kerel Cooper is running a Vlog, On The Black.  Its like a blog, but with video. And if you scroll down a few posts, there’s video of Tony Siragusa making a Mets based Man Cave.

Amazing avenue takes a look at the daily routine of Met reliever Brian Stokes. A must read.

The wife of former Met reliever Scott Schoenweis, Gabrielle, has been found dead in their Arizona home. Currently a member of the Diamondbacks, ESPN is reporting that the pitcher has left the team and returned to Arizona.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Scott Schoenweis and his family.

The games may start late, but we can still blog at a reasonable hour.  At least till Bud Selig bans it.  So lets enjoy the daylight while we can, and see what our friends are talking about.

Long Island Met Fan is continuing his look at the 1969 World Series Mets, most recently Tug McGraw.  Though be sure to check out his earlier look at the Gil Hodges Mural.

If we’re going to study history, might as well get ourselves some culture too this weekend. Just think of it as better living with  Hot Foot. So lets direct ourselves to the west, where Mets Guy in Michigan continues his check list of baseball places to see. The most recent item, the Diamonds are Forever exhibit, featuring Andy Warhol’s Tom Seaver.

Mets Police supports what I feel addresses the biggest problem with the Mets: the black uniforms. I don’t know if we need to write the Wilpons or Charlie, Mets ruler of equipment. But lets get the blue back.

Now lets enjoy some nice Sunday afternoon bas….oh that’s right, West coast. Ten hours to go…

Now the the Mets have gotten their act together, we here at Hot Foot are doing the same. So its time to check in our friends round the Blogosphere, all of whom are on win streaks as well.

Looking to catch up on your Mets based reading? IMFM has a book review of Straw’s new book along with a recap of his experience meeting the ex Met slugger.

Now some of you are saying, ‘hold on there Dan, I just worked all day. I don’t want to read!” Well then this next links for you, as the one and only Metradamus recaps the weekend in Comic Book Form. If this is too much, hopefully we’ll find a link of the weekend recapped in paint by numbers form, but no promises.

Hairy Backman and the boys at the Wright Stache are still working their cause, now with T Shirts. So if you forget to get your mom a gift yesterday, nothing says ’sorry I forgot Mothers Day’ like a David Wright Mustache t shirt. And flowers.

And finally, for those who prefer outfielders, check out On Murph, the only site dedicated to Daniel Murphy. Where they rank the best Murphys and are currently giving away to one lucky reader, an autographed Murph ball.

Fernando Tatis will start today’s game for the Mets at second. The Fernando Tatis. Tatis has never faced Jeff Suppon, meaning his lifetime average against him is just slightly less than that of every day second basemen Luis Castillo’s career .154.

Tatis is 0 for 3 in 4 appearances this season, with an RBI.

Not sure if Castillo is just in need of a day off, or maybe Jerry figured Fernando needed some exercise. Tatis has probably received the least use of the bench players, with Cora and Sheff already having started games and Reed receiving the most pinch hitting at bats. If they didn’t give him some playing time soon, he wouldn’t have received his participation ribbon from the PAL.

Some other baseball items you might have missed while Johan lowered his ERA to a tiny tiny number.

The roster of the Washington Nationals are experiencing civil unrest, and have split into factions. Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman have declared themselvses a new team, the Natinals. That, or no one on the team can spell, as the two played in suspicious jerseys this weekend.  If only Lastings were still there to sort this all out.

In more relavent news, the Marlins beat the Nats and have the best record in the league at 10-1. Though considering half those wins are against the Nats (1-9), chances are they won’t keep it up. Unless they can just keep playing the Nats.

Meanwhile, the Braves got shutout by the Pirates as Jo Jo Reyes gets charged with five runs in his loss. Which wouldnt have been to bad, if it wasn’t for the other five runs the bullpen gave up. Its the fifth straight loss for Atlanta. Five is the theme for the Braves this year, as well as the predicted number of starts for Tom Glavine.

And lastly, to make you smile, the Yankees gave up 14 runs in one inning, the first eight off of Wang who now sports an ERA of 34.5. Which is actually pretty good, when you figure Anthony Clagget is at 43.2.  Somewere, Lino Urdeneta is smiling.

Our good friend Tommy Glavine probably won’t be joining the Braves as their fifth starter any time soon, as he was pulled from a minor league rehab start with shoulder discomfort. Much like Livian Hernandez, Glavine did not begin the season on the active roster since he was not needed right away, but its now looking like he isn’t quite ready to return from his off season surgery.

Glavine made his first career trip to the DL in 2008, but on the plus side at least the Braves will get to keep all that bonus money if he’s never on the roster.

Some quick hits from our friends around the East.

Former Met Minor Leaguer Anderson Hernandez will start the season on the DL.  The Nats middle infielder was likely to start the season as the team’s second basemen, but strained his hamstring running out a grounder. Which is odd, since the thing he seemed best at as a Met was running out grounders.

The Braves have agreed to a three year extension with Larry Jones. The Braves last won a World Series in Larry’s rookie season.  Not that we’re implying Larry and his weird nickname, Hooters waitress addiction, and baby named after the Mets is somehow cursing the Braves from within. But hey, here’s to three more years of the Braves not winning a World Series. Because of the Chipper Curse.

The Phillies have officially named Chan Ho Park as their fifth starter, in what one can only assume is part of a cunning plan to…yeah, I got nothing. Chan Ho Parking Lot? In a tiny tiny ballpark. Lets set the over/under on Park’s home ERA at 8. Chan Ho Park credits his making the roster through his hard work and his decision to not play in the World Baseball Classic. In a related note, Korea credits its World Baseball Classic success in Park’s decision to stay at spring training and work on making the Phillie’s roster.

And lastly, the Marlins have named second basemen Bonifacio as their starting third basemen. He replaces third basemen Jorge Cantu, who has been named starting first basemen. Cantu in turn replaced Mike Jacobs, who was demoted to AAA Kansas City Royals.

As we start to get closer to the start of the new season, its time to shake off the last of that spring training rust and get ready to blog for real, lest we be sent back down to the minors. Or, we could just check out what the rest of the Mets blogoshpere team is doing. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Sure to the make the roster, Brooklyn Met Fan, who recently looked at a once longshot now sure to make the roster, Daniel Murphy. BMF talks about the Murphys potential, and his everyman qualities.

Completely agree with BMF. He seems like he could be like one of those 70s Mets, one of the neighborhood guys who comes in, plays hard, and becomes a fan favorite. One of those guys who could embody the traditional Mets spirit.

Teuffel Stubble and Hairy Backman continue their quest, to get David Wright to grow a mustache over atThe Wright Stache. I’m staying on the fence here, but if they can sing a good NKOTB parody I think I could be convinced.

Will over at Mets Fan Forever did a sit down with GM Omar. Be sure to check it out.

Metsgrrl hit up Citi Field, and has advice to make your trip easier. From best places to enter, to tips on food, to pics of the fancy computerized ticket scanners.

I guess there goes my side job of making counterfeit tickets. Anyone want a few hundred fake tickets, cheap? They’re made of graham cracker.

And lastly, kill two birds with one stone, and head over to Mets Author Dana Brands site, and check out his review of Faith and Fear in Flushing, the new book from the guys behind Mets blog Faith and Fear in Flushing. Or, even quicker: Go to the bookstore of your choice, and pick up Faith and Fear in Flushing by Greg Prince as well as Mets Fan by Dana Brand. Or be even lazier like me, and just buy them online. Cause its scary outdoors.

Duaner Sanchez has been signed by the Padres, less than a week after getting the ole heave ho from the Mets. According to the AP he was given a minor league contract.  Sanchez will be a big boost to the Padres who had troubles with their bullpen. Now he just needs to learn to play outfield and hit .300 and the Padres should be set to take the NL West.

ESPN is now reporting that Nats GM Jim Bowden has resigned from his position. Bowden leaves the team as problems continue to surround the Nats farm system, with allegations surfacing that money was being skimmed from bonuses promised to Latin American prospects and just a short time after it was discovered their prize prospect lied about his age. Also, his name. Though on the plus side, all evidence shows that said prospect does in fact play baseball, so there’s that.  No charges have been filed against Bowden.

After the firing of his assistant earlier this week, it seemed like this was coming. They never would have had all these problems if they’d just stayed up in Montreal. Hopefully the Nats will be able to get a replacement in there that can continue the Nats trend towards respectability in hopes that one day they’ll be something other than ‘the team with the racing Presidents.’ Or I guess in this case ‘the team with the racing Presidents and the shady farm system.’

Mike Hampton, now an Astro, has been diagnosed with an irregular heart beat. According to the AP he has already undergone a procedure to correct it, and is expected to be back in camp end of the week. The former Met has spent most of his time since leaving New York injured, with just 25 games started since 2005.

Well, hopefully the schools in Houston are good at least. I hear they’re teaching science and other crazy things down there now.

Former Met reliever Frank Viola will return to the Twins, where he’ll serve as a special assistant to the pitching staff during spring training. Viola came to the Mets in a trade for Rick Aguilera, and went 20-12 with a 2.67 ERA during the 1990 season.

The Brewers are in talks with ex Met Braden Looper.  Like most of you, I first assumed it was in some sort of maintenance role, like mowing the outfield grass or repainting the walls in the bullpen. But according to ESPN, its to pitch. The Brewers are looking at some holes in their rotation with the loss of CC and Sheets, and since most of the good, decent, average and mediocre guys are already signed, Looper it is.

In other formet Met releiver news, Chad Bradford underwent shoulder surgery and will miss around four months. Currently with the Rays, he made 21 appearances with a 1.42 ERA after joining the team late summer last season. Bradford had a 2.9 ERA in 70 appearances as a Met in 2006.

And to complete our former Met reliever trifecta, Luis Alayawas signed to a deal by the Twins. Alaya came to the Mets from the Nats, in a deal for the magically named Anderson Hernandez. Alaya had a 5.5 ERA in 19 games for the Mets, while Anderson Hernandez is just fun to say. Anderson Hernandez. Oh, and he hit so poorly even the pitching staff made fun of him, at least until he got to DC. There he hit .333. Regardless, Alaya’s deal is for $1.3 mill and one year.

Andruw Jones is looking to extend his attempts to tarnish a once potential Hall of Fame career, this time in Texas. According to ESPN, the one time home run hitter has signed a minor league deal with the Rangers that could pay him millions…wait, make that million. Just one. Jones hit under .200 as a Dodger, and will most likely go down as the Jones on the Braves with the second most foolish first name.

In other Braves news, an offer has been made to Tom Glavine for one more year, but no decision has come from him yet. After a long career of being healthy, Glavine struggled all last season with injuries and made only 13 starts. It was the fewest games he started since his debut in 1987, with his next fewest being 25 in the strike year.

I’m sticking with what I said midseason, its time for Tommy to hang it up. I’m not saying he’s lost it, I’m just saying that…well cross that. That’s exactly what I’m saying. You’re a 300 game winner Tommy. You got to go back to your roots in Atlanta, play a few more games while spending days off at home with the family. Now retire from playing and talk the Braves organization from giving you a position as a pitching coach in the minors. Or a ’special assistant’ like we did with Rickie. One of those pop in once a week to tell Jair and Kawakami what they’re doing wrong, and the good places to party in downtown Athens.

David Newhan joins the ever growing list of former Met bench warmers to sign a minor league contract, as the Astros signed him to a minor league contract.  David Newhan, who we are legally required to remind you is related to baseball writer Ross Newhan, hit .203 in 74 at bats in his brief tenure with the Mets.  Last season he appeared in 64 games with Houston.

Of all the Mets bench players that batted to the Notorious BIG, he was my favorite.

Kyle Suire of the Brooklyn Cyclones has been suspended for a positive test for performance enhancing drugs. His suspension is for 50 games.  According to the AP, he tested positive for Stanozolol.

Suire was picked in the 35th round of the 2008 draft. In late July he was the Player of the Week while with the Kingsport Mets, where he ended up with a .297 average over 48 games.  He had no hits in just five at bats with the Cyclones.

Former Met Timo Perez has been signed to a minor league contract by the Detroit Tigers. Perez has spent the majority of the last two seasons with the Tigers AAA team, the Toledo Mudhens. Timo was signed as a free agent by the Mets in 2000, playing part of four seasons in New York. He hit .276 and at one point led the team with doubles, with 27 (the lowest doubles leader in a 12 year span). Plus you know, that play that if mentioned will probably make you throw something into your monitor.

Its an unfair world where Timo is still in baseball and Fonzi isn’t.

In other news regarding players you don’t miss: Chip Ambres signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox. Ambres appeared in three games for the Mets, with one hit and a RBI. He leads the Mets in all time appearances by a player named Chip.