Luckily, I only caught a few innings of today’s Mets-Phillies game. But in the innings I did see, I saw once again why the Mets are a below average team right now. I realize the team is injured, and is lacking in the talent department. What cannot be excused is the continued lack of fundamentals that this team displays day in and day out. Today, David Wright let a ball drop in foul territory, and Omir Santos dropped a pop fly behind home plate. If you were wondering, no he was not using two hands. After giving the Phillies two extra outs, Shane Victorino singled up the middle to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead, and had Mets fans scratching their heads once again.

At this point, I am not sure what can be done. You can either catch flyballs or you can’t. If your counting at home Omir Santos, Luis Castillo, Gary Sheffield and Daniel Murphy have all dropped easy fly balls this year that they were under and ready to catch. I understand errors happen, but when does it become too much? The Mets base running is also atrocious. I had never seen so many runners thrown out at 2nd and 3rd in my life before this year.

Are the Mets not talented? No, every player is on the team for a reason: because they have talent. Unfortunately, some of the players make huge mental blunders that just make you sit there dumbfounded sometimes.

With Fernando Nieve struggling with his command for the second straight start, is it time to think about calling up Jon Niese? John Maine is no where near ready to coming back tothis team, and it could be awhile before Maine could make an impact. With that being said, I believe it makes sense to give Niese a shot. In his last five starts for Triple AAA Buffalo, he has allowed five runs in 34.1 innings. In those last five starts Niese also has a 29-8 K/BB ratio.

Nieve has been a great story, but is he really the answer to the rotation? No, which is why I think he would be better suited for the pen, and would give the Mets another setup arm while JJ Putz recovers from elbow surgery. Of course, all of this means nothing if the Mets can’t acquire any offense (hint, hint Omar).

A few days ago, I wrote of my unhappiness with Fernando Tatis. Today, Tatis went 3-4 with a single double, two run homer and 2 HBPs. Hopefully this was the turn of the corner for Tatis and he will be able to help this team going forward. Today, I am going to voice my displeasure with a man named Tim Redding.

Redding was awful today, allowing five runs in 2.1 innings. He had no control, and let a team of no names knock him around. Redding’s ERA now sits at 6.99 on the year, and I’d imagine Manuel’s patience is wearing thin with Tim. With Oliver Perez’s return right around the corner, Redding will most definitely be the one to get bumped to the bullpen. He will probably get moved to the long man role and will bump one of Bobby Parnell or Elmer Dessens from the big league pen. If Redding is used as nothing but a long man, that is fine, but I do not want this guy pitching in late game situations as a righty out of the pen. Redding had a decent start against the Cards two starts back, but still allowed four runs. He was cruising in his last start against the Yankees, but then hit a snag and completely unraveled.

Redding was brought here to be the longman, but with Livan Hernandez pitching like he is, and the emergence of Fernando Nieve, Redding looks to be the odd man out. Hopefully Jerry sees Redding as nothing but a longman, because he is what he is: a journeyman right hander who received a few million off a mediocre season in no pressure Washington.

After Tuesday’s debacle, in which Fernando Martinez fell flat on his face, Johan Santana was ineffective, and the Mets lost to a pitcher named Mike Burns to fall two games under .500, Jerry Manuel called a meeting. Manuel described the meeting as a “family talk” to get some “things in order”. Since then, the Mets have won two games by a single run, got a clutch pitching performance from Mike Pelfrey, and some much needed offense from Ryan Church and Fernando Tatis.

I haven’t been much of a Jerry supporter of late, but maybe a coming together is what this team needed. The team took a bus to yesterday’s game together, and won a huge game for the team’s psyche. The Mets got nothing from Tim Redding today, but the offense picked him up. Francisco Rodriguez blew the save, but once again Church provided the game winning hit for the second straight day in the 10th to pickup his teammate.

The team is riding high going into a big three game set with the Phillies, and they must feel very good going against a Phillies team who has struggled mightily of late. Let’s Go Mets!

According to ESPN, former Met OF Lastings Milledge, along with RP Joel Hanrahan, have been shipped to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for speed demon Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean Burnett.

Milledge has been hurt for most of this season, after posting an impressive line of 14 homers and 24 steals in 2008. Morgan, a rookie, had two homers and 27 RBI, along with 18 steals, for the Bucs.

Wow, how Milledge’s stock has fallen. He went from being the key piece in rumored deals for Manny Ramirez and Roy Oswalt, to being dealt for a speedster with limited offensive upside.

I still believe that at the time when Milledge was dealt for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider, that if Minaya was patient he could have netted more from another team, but it is nice to see that the deal has not come back to bite us as I thought it would’ve…

The Mets (37-37) travel to Milwaukee to visit the first place Milwaukee Brewers (40-35) for a three game set starting tonight at 7:05. Both teams are coming off losses on Sunday and are looking to bounce back.

Here are the pitching matchup:

Game 1: Fernando Nieve (3-0 1.31) vs Braden Looper (5-4 5.16)

Game 2: Johan Santana (9-5 3.08) vs Mike Burns (0-1 3.72)

Game 2: Mike Pelfrey (5-3 4.67) vs Yovani Gallardo (8-4 2.86)

• I believe the Mets have the clear advantage in the first two games, but face an uphill battle in the third game against Gallardo, who threw six shutout innings against the Mets earlier this year.

The two headed monster of RyanPrince FielderBraun has combined for 35 homers and 126 RBI on the season. It is only June 29th but both the Brewers young sluggers are off to great starts this year.

The Brewers lost their young 2B Rickie Weeks in May, but the Brewers haven’t lost much. Casey McGehee is hitting .336 in 107 ABs this year while filling in for Weeks, with four homers and 17 RBI.

The Brewers closer, Trevor Hoffman, has had an outstanding year closing games. He has a 1.99 ERA  and 17 saves.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Chorizo will win the sausage race tonight, but the Brat will take the victory tomorrow and Wednesday.

Let’s go Mets!

There comes a time when being well liked and a good presence in the clubhouse isn’t enough for a guy to stay on an MLB roster. In my opinion, that time has come for Fernando Tatis. He cannot field, cannot throw and can no longer hit a fastball. It is a sad thing to say, as Tatis was such a vital part of this ballclub last year but he is doing more harm to this team then he is doing good.

After seeing Tatis hit .392 with runners on base last year and .357 with RISP, his 2009 numbers are extremely disappointing. Tatis is hitting only .195 with runners on base this year, and .188 with RISP.

Tatis has also been  a double play machine this year. He has grounded into a team high 10 DPs. He continually rolls over balls on the outside part of the plate and refuses to go the other way, something he did so well last year.

Keith Hernandez pointed out on an earlier broadcast that Tatis’ swing from last year is different from this year’s. Maybe Keith can give Fernando some pointers  and help Tatis get the bat through the hitting zone faster. Tatis’ separated shoulder from last year could also be pointed to for his struggles, but no one really knows.

At this point I’d rather see Nick Evans out there as he certainly has more pop than Fernando these days, but unfortunately if a guy makes an error he gets benched for the next three days. Sorry, Nick. Have to play a perfect 1B!

Here’s to hoping Tatis gets it going soon, because if he doesn’t Omar might be forced to demote him in favor of a better hitter.

ESPN is reporting that IF Mark DeRosa has been dealt to the Cardinals in exchange for RP Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

Perez,  regarded as the closer of the future for the Cardinals, had a 4.18 ERA and a 1.35 ERA for the Cards in 2009.

DeRosa, a super utility man who has played for the Braves and Cubs during his career, was batting .270 with 13 homers and 50 RBI for the Tribe.

OK. I’m just going to say it. Omar will, and SHOULD take some serious heat for missing out on DeRosa. Chris Perez? He is that relief pitcher we touched up for two runs in no innings on Wednesday. Omar certainly missed the boat on this one. Very, very depressing.

The Mets collected one run and four hits the last two nights against Yankee pitching.  Led by AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia, the Yankee arms befuddled the lacking Mets lineup and  made them look silly. However, don’t be alarmed Mets fans, Burnett and Sabathia are not your ordinary pitchers. They are bonafide aces and both had no hit stuff the last two nights. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the pitcher, as both these guys were on the top of their game.

Tomorrow, we face Chien Ming Wang, then in Milwaukee I believe we face Mike Burns, our old pal Braden Looper and Dave Bush. These guys are no Sabathia, nor are they as talented as Burnett. If the Met bats come up empty against mediocre arms like that in the next few days, then I will be alarmed, but for tonight let’s just take the last two nights for what they were: masterfully pitched games.

Adam Rubin at his blog for the Daily News is reporting that John Maine felt pain in his throwing shoulder during his bullpen session yesterday. He received a cortisone shot and hopes to be ready shortly after the All Star Break.

At this point, you can’t count on anything from Maine from this point forward. I hate to say this, but Maine’s shoulder looks like it could be a lingering issue for years. This news should allow Fernando Nieve to stay in the rotation through the all star break, as well as Tim Redding.

With this news, it also makes the recovery of Oliver Perez that much more important. I’m loving this Nieve story, but there is a reason he was on waivers. Tim Redding has been better of late, but he’s also better suited for the bullpen. Get it straightened out Ollie, we’re going to need you in the second half…

When Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph last June, I was excited. I wasn’t a complete hater of Willie, but the team needed a change and Jerry looked like he’d bring some extra fire to the managerial spot. More than a year later, I’m sorry to say that Manuel has not gained my support as manager of the Mets.

Some of the moves Manuel makes really makes me scratch my head. Whether it be batting Fernando Tatis cleanup, his mismanagement of the bullpen, or hit and running with a pitcher, Manuel has made his fair share of managing blunders this season.

I understand that the Mets have lost almost everybody and Manuel has kept the team afloat, but without some of Manuel’s inadequate decisions, this team could even be higher up in the standings that it already is!

The players love Manuel, and rightly so. He seems like a great guy with a great personality, but what it comes down to in baseball is results. I bet not everybody loves Tony La Russa, but year after year he puts his team in a position to win.

I’d like to hear others opinions on Manuel, so feel free to add your opinion in the comments section!

Adam Rubin at his blog for the Daily News is reporting that Ken Takahashi has been optioned to Triple A Buffalo, and that lefty Pat Misch will be the latest arm to try and help a beleaguered Mets pen. Rubin also speculates that Carlos Beltran could be headed to the disabled list with a sore knee, and that Fernando Martinez could be back up with the club less then four days after being demoted. Elmer Dessens is also a possibility at this point.

Courtesy of Matt Cerrone at Metsblog via Omar Minaya…

Dessens, FMart, and Misch are up.

Beltran to the DL, and Wilson Valdez and Takahashi have been demoted.

OK, is this some kind of sick joke? Are the baseball gods angry with the Mets? It was tough enough to lose Delgado and Reyes but if the Mets lose Beltran, who I believe is the most indispensable player on the Mets, for any significant period of time it could spell doom for the Amazins.

Fernando Tatis will bat cleanup with the absence of Beltran, and Jeremy Reed will man center field. Here’s the rest of the lineup…

• Cora SS
• Murphy 1B
• Wright 3B
• Tatis LF
• Church RF
• Santos C
• Reed CF
• Castillo 2B
• Redding P

If it were only spring training, that lineup wouldn’t look half bad.

That’s all you need to know folks. When Fernando Tatis, who has been an auto out for a few weeks now, is batting cleanup for your team you know that they have hit rock bottom.

No wonder the Mets are slumping lately. It must be awful tough for manager Jerry Manuel to win with a four man bullpen, consisting of KRod, Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano, and Bobby Parnell. There are three other arms out rotting in the pen, named Stokes Switzer and Takahashi but they don’t get used much. Before today’s game, Takahashi had not appeared in a game in a week, Stokes had only appeared in one game this week, and Switzer also had not pitched in a week. Stokes has only appeared in THREE games since June 5. THREE. Switzer has only pitched twice since being called upon nine days ago. Takahashi has also only appeared in three games since June 6.

Yes, I know some might say “Takahashi that bum cost us the game against the Phillies last week”. He did give up a big homer, but Takahashi has been more than steady for the Mets when called upon, shown by his 3.18 ERA. The thing that really bugs me is Manuel pulled Stokes after just one inning today, in favor of the now very hittable Parnell. A blind bat could see that Parnell had hit a wall, and that he clearly needed a few days off. Instead, Jerry went to the same well and got burned again. BJ Upton hit a towering shot into the second deck and that was all she wrote for the Mets.

Feliciano has now appeared in 40 of the Mets 67 games. Parnell and Green have appeared in 36 and 33 games, respectively. I hope Jerry starts using some other arms before the arms of the aforementioned three relievers fall off.

Endy Chavez, now of the Seattle Mariners, tore his ACL in last night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and will need surgery to repair the damage.

Chavez was batting .273 with the Mariners after being dealt away by the Mets in the JJ Putz deal.

We here at the Foot wish Endy a speedy recovery so he can hopefully get back to robbing some more home runs, just not against the Mets.

OK, so after tonight’s debacle, it’s safe to say the Mets have had their fair share of errors that have cost them multiple games this season. Let’s take a look back and see just how many games the Mets have “shot themselves in the foot”…

April 12- Johan Santana strikes out 13 Marlins, allows no runs, and loses. Daniel Murphy misplays a ball in left field, allowing two unearned runs to score in the inning. Mets lose 2-1.

April 21- The Mets are tied in the eighth against the St. Louis Cardinals. Carlos Beltran advances to third base on a flyout, but procedes to home after the throw gets away from 3B Joe Thurston. Beltran fails to slide, and is tagged out. In the bottom of the inning,Murphy misplays a ball in left field and the Mets are defeated 6-4.

May 18th- Mets are riding high, fresh off a 3-1 stretch against the SF Giants. They are tied 2-2 in extas against the Dodgers, and are poised to take the lead when Angel Pagan slams a double to the right centerfield gap. Ryan Church scores, but his failure to touch third base results in an end to the inning. In the bottom of the 11th, Jeremy Reed throws home to try and tag out the winning run, but the throw goes awry and the Dodgers win 3-2.

Tonight- The Mets are up 8-7 with Francisco Rodriguez on the mound. Rodriguez gets Alex Rodriguez to pop up to 2B Luis Castillo, but Castillo drops the ball. Mark Teixiera scores from 1st and the Mets are defeated 9-8.

…feel free to add any other games in the comments section…

There is so much talk about the Mets need for a hitter, or a starting pitcher, but they also need a second lefty specialist. Ken Takahashi is not the answer, as he pitches better to righties than he does to lefties. Jerry Manuel gambled and it blew up in his face, when Raul Ibanez served a Takahashi into the bullpen to the dismay of many Met fans.

Feliciano is a rock against lefties, but he cannot do it all himself. The Mets face the the Phillies at least 10 more games this season, and without another lefty reliever who actually pitches well against lefty hitters, the Mets will find themselves in a pickle all year long.

I hate all this “moral” victory talk also. I love that they are playing well, but who cares? Theystill lost two of three to the Phillies and have now dropped four games out of first place heading into Yankee Stadium.

Jose Reyes now has a slight hamstring tear, in addition to his strained calf. While this is crushing news to the Mets hopes for 2009, it gets worse. JJ Putz has “sharp” pain in his elbow whenever he tries to throw his splitter or two seam fastball and will be flown to NY to decide whether he will need surgery as well.

Update 1:33 Putz will have surgery on his elbow and will miss 8-10 weeks.

While Reyes’ tear is small, a tear in a hamstring is a tear in a hamstring, and you have to figure he’ll miss at least a month, if not more. We all knew Putz was hurt, as this was not the guy who saved 40 games just two years ago for the M’s.

Call me a pessimist, but with the injuries to Reyes and Delgado, two of the Mets best hitters, I just feel it will be tough to keep up with that Juggernaut of a llineup that the Phillies, and now even the Braves, can throw out there on any given day. In my opinion the team would be better served in building toward 2010 instead of trading away the farm system for say a Jermaine Dye, Carlos Lee, or a Matt Holliday. Holliday could always be signed during the offseason anyway, and would not cost any prospects.

Here’s to hoping that I’m wrong and somehow this team pulls something out of it’s you know what. At this point, I’m just not sure if there IS anything that can salvage what we’ve lost already.

Remember Darren O’Day? The reliever who threw in four games for the Mets before getting designated for assignment? The reliever who was then claimed by the Rangers and had to wear a Kason Gabbard jersey in his first game as a Ranger because they did not have one ready for him?

Well, O’Day, to the dismay of many Mets fans, is sporting a 1.13 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 15 appearances for the Rangers. He has recorded a 2-0 record and four holds.

I think most of the Met fanbase was opposed to giving up on O’Day, because he obviously had alot of talent with his side arming delivery. Unfortunately he became a part of the numbers game and was sent packing. He would sure look nice in the pen instead of say Sean Green, no?

With their glut of catchers and a pending activation of Brian Schneider, the Mets have sent C Ramon Castro packing, sending him to the White Sox in exchange for RHP Lance Broadway. Broadway will report to Triple A Buffalo.

Sad news, as I was a big fan of Castro’s. I feel that although he was not an everyday catcher, the tandem of he and Santos would have been a better way to go than activating Brian Schneider off the DL, but hey what do I know. It’s not like Castro was hitting terribly, as he had three homers and 13 RBI in only 79 ABs.

Now for a little scouting report on Broadway. According to my friend who has seen Broadway pitch he features a fastball, slider and change. He is a 25 year old hardthrower who has a 5.63 ERA this year in the minors. He was starting down on the farm, but had made eight appearances as a reliever for the White Sox this season, sporting a 5.06 ERA.