According to Kevin Czerwinksi of MLB.com, the Astros have signed ex-Mets SP Alay Soler to a 1 year $400K deal. 

The Cuban defector was signed by the Mets in 2004 to a three year $2.8 million deal.  After being ineffective for the Mets, he was released and signed with the Pirates where he was ineffective again.  Before being signed by the Astros he was playing in the Dominican Winter League.

Good luck buddy, I’m not sure why but I always liked him.

To everybody celebrating out there, Happy Passover.  I hope everybody out there celebrating enjoys their Festival of Unleavened Bread.

If you need a Passover laugh, head over Jib-Jab for a great Passover laugh, it’s a riot.

Oh, and don’t forget to leave a wine glass for Elijah…

Following last night’s win over the Phillies, Jayson Stark wrote an article for ESPN about how Johan Santana brings the Mets to a new level. 

Stark initially speculates at how vast the difference last year could have been if it were Johan pitching in our final game of the season.  He then asks:

How much of a difference might Johan Santana make this season in the life of the NL East? Well, it’s still about five months too soon to answer that one. But Santana gave quite the spectacular sneak preview Friday in a 6-4 Mets victory in which the score — and his final pitching line — bore no relationship to how dominating he actually was.

 He was so dominant last night it was phenomenal.  There were only a few pitches the whole entire night that were even possible to hit.  He was an artist last night and he was consistently painting the black.

Stark also leaves us with a quip about his feelings on the importance of this start:

So yeah, it was April. But if this was just another game on the schedule, Vegas is just another dusty town in Nevada.

So true, his starts tell us so much about his importance to this team.  Unfortuantely, he can only pitch every fifth day.  Hey - a win today counts just as much in the wins column as it does in September.  Let’s win ‘em now so that we’re not in a situation like last year.

Oh, and we’ve won four in a row and as I’ve said in the Hot Foot Bleachers - the lucky Mets tube socks almost always result in four game winning streaks.  So, the fate had been sealed on these last four game, so we’re back to fate today as the luck of the Mets tube socks wear off.  Maybe if we’re lucky, the momentum from the lucky Mets tube socks will drive us even further…

The Braves placed ailing SP Tom Glavine on the DL for the first time in his 22 season career. He was preparing to make his next start, but team doctors decided that his wounded hamstring needs more time to heal.

His DL stint is retroactive to April 14th. Taking his place on the roster is SP Chuck James from AAA Richmond.

My feelings are torn about Glavine, but all I can say for now is that even the best fall down sometimes.

Mets top prospect OF Fernando Martinez has had a cool beginning to the 2008 season for the Mets’ AA affaliate the Binghamton Mets.

He is batting .230 in 61 ABs with 1 HR and 5 RBIs.  He has struck out in 17 of his 61 ABs. 

Despite his struggles, it has been a bumpy ride with both ups and downs.  He has four multi-hit games including last night when he was 2-5 with an RBI.

Also of note, he is batting .111 vs. lefties, while he is batting .324 vs. righties.

He’s only 19, but from watching him in Spring Training I think we know the type of power he has.  He really has to improve his plate discipline though, K’s at the plate will come from power hitters, but he is also supposed to be a very strong average guy so his eye has to improve.

In this 1987 Mets promo, Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson and Roger McDowell (father of the Hot Foot), tell Mets fans to “Think Big!”

The 30 minute musical performance centers around the three Mets helping two younger friends win in a computer baseball game against a fictional team called the Megabats.

According to the players, Think Big is:

• Think about what you’re not doing and could be doing. (Gary Carter)
• Think big is like trying to better than your best. (Gary Carter)
• It’s like having confidence in yourself and knowing you can do it. (Mookie Wilson)
• It’s working together being a team. You know, two heads are better than one. (Roger McDowell)

Here is Part I of “Think Big”:

It’s endlessly funny, and it reminds me of how much I miss Mookie as a base coach, thinknig of him reminds me of winning the World Series. Plus, its a nice reminder that sometimes we should think big.

In case you don’t remember, on Sunday there was controversy surrounding the construction of the new Yankees Stadium, as a construction worker threw a David Ortiz jersey into the cement of the stadium.  To avoid a potential curse, the Yankees dug up the jersey.  For a full recap on the actions, head over to SI.

In a parody of that story, humor newspaper The Onion wrote an article titled, “Yankees Bury Bernie Williams Under New Stadium for Good Luck.”

The article reads:

According to team sources, the instant the 39-year-old Williams was completely submerged in the rapidly setting structural material, stopping his voice as his lungs and mouth filled with concrete, the sun broke through the clouds and shone on the yet-incomplete field. Yankees part-owner Hank Steinbrenner called the occurrence a sign indicating that the “Curse Of A Red Sox Fan’s David Ortiz Jersey” had been reversed, and that God was once again on the Yankees’ side.

Very funny, check it out, I couldn’t stop laughing.

The jersey is now up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds going to charity.

After being shelled in a few starts, Jose Lima has been released by the Kia Tigers of the Korean League.

Lima was 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in 21 2/3 innings of duty for the Tigers. 

As this Korean newspaper headline says, according to the East Windup Chronicle, “Not One Win Gathered…Lima is Kicked Out.”

Perhaps Lima Time was set off by the fact that Korean time is 11 hours before Eastern Standard Time, not that EST ever treated him so well.

The Mets beat the Washington Nationals 6-0 tonight.

• Mike Pelfrey was brilliant, allowing no runs and only five hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out two and 65 of his 100 pitches were strikes.
• Jose Reyes began the game with a spark, hitting for a single, double, triple in that order in his first three at-bats.  He failed to hit for the cycle, although he singled again in his fourth at-bat.
• David Wright was 3-4 with a 2 2Bs and a 2-run HR to start the game. He scored two runs and had five RBIs, and now has 15 on the season.
• Carlos Beltran was 1-4 with an RBI.
• Ryan Church batted 2nd, behind Jose Reyes while Luis Castillo batted 8th. 
• Duaner Sanchez pitched the ninth for the Mets, striking out one and allowing one hit.

Game ball definitely goes to Mike Pelfrey who had a fabulous outing.  He was in control the whole time and never got out of control.  He was phenomenal.

Reyes had a fantastic game, but his hammy doesn’t seem 100% yet.  If he was hustling the whole way, that 3B could’ve been an inside the park HR, and he was caught stealing in the first inning.  Take your time Jose it’s a long season.  It was also nice hearing fans chant the ‘Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose’ rather than it being blasted over the loud speakers.

Nice to see Wright getting back into the groove of things, a HR and a 2B, plus another hard hit ball to his former high school team-mate Ryan Zimmerman.

Aaron Heilman still doesn’t look like himself, but I still trust him with the ball in his hands…call me crazy. He got out of the 8th unscathed, but it was scary.

Awesome to see Duaner back in a real game again, he can be such a lift to this team.  Plus his goggles are pretty boss.  Also amazing to see how emotional he was after the game in the post-game interview, behind those goggles I swear I saw tears.

Finally, I told all my friends today it was a guaranteed win because I wore my Mets tube socks today.  Make fun of tube socks all you want, but they get it done for our Mets.  Everybody then asks, why I don’t wear them everyday and you simply have to understand that you cannot abuse the power of the Mets tube socks.  Might’ve been a bit early too early to bring them out, but this was a nice win and I don’t regret it.

By the way, Luis Castillo should bat ninth.