Matt Cerrone at Mets Blog is reporting that Brian Schneider has been released from the hospital and is at Shea Stadium. Matt writes that Schneider is still in pain but he should be able to play vs Arizona on Friday.

Adam Rubin of the Daily News says the buzz is Moises Alou will be able to play by this weekend.

UPDATE: Adam Rubin reports that Alou is working out with the team and he quotes Willie Randolph about Alou “He looks good” “It’s good to see him.” Also, Brian Schneider is still in the hospital.

UPDATE: Again from Adam Rubin, according to Alou himself there is no fracture in his ankle and he will be ready to be activated Friday in Arizona.

First the injury update, according to Marty Noble of Mets.com OF Moises Alou had his MRI rescheduled for today because the weather delayed his flight. C Brian Schneider should be released today, Noble points out that even though the Mets say his condition (infected left thumb) is improving this is the second time Brian’s release date has been moved forward.

Roger Rubin of the Daily News writes because of the rainout yesterday P Nelson Figueroa’s next start will be skipped which will set up a Johan Santana start vs Arizona on the upcoming road trip. Rubin also added that manager Willie Randolph was not overly enthused with the extra time off:

“We’re playing pretty good ball right now and, even though we’ve been using our bullpen, no one’s really been overtaxed or anything like that,” he said. “(Aaron) Heilman and some of these guys have been struggling off and on but they’re not tired.”

With Moises Alou’s status still up in the air Ed Ryan of Mets Fever suggests 29 year old Mets minor league outfielder and former Marlins prospect Chris Aguila. Aguila is off to a great start with the New Orleans Zephyrs. The other day I ran across a recent Q & A Aguila had with Scout.com’s (Inside Pitch) Chad Bower. Aguila has his head on straight and is looking for any kind of chance to help the big club.

If you haven’t had your fill of the Carlos Delgado booing and curtain call saga than you can read the NY Post’s Kevin Kernan’s about face on the topic, or recent friend of Mets Blog’s Matt Cerrone, Bob Raissman of the Daily News and his break down of how the media has handled all of this.

According to Matt Cerrone of Mets Blog Jose Valentin will be in NY soon for an exam by team doctors and if the exam goes well he’ll report to Port St. Lucie for extended spring training.

Lastly, Flip Bondy of the Daily News has a great piece on Jane Jarvis, who for 15 years was the organ player at Shea Stadium.

Jane Jarvis is 92 years old and was a big part of Shea Stadium’s past. I haven’t heard of any plans of honoring her this season and there is no mention of anything like that in Bondy’s column. Sometimes it amazes me how Mets ownership misses stuff like this. For example Shea’s “Sign Man” Karl Ehrhardt, who has since past away, was the topic of a article in the NY Times from 2006, it took the Mets a long time to reach out to him and finally make him a part of the 40th anniversary celebration of Shea Stadium. The people and sounds that filled Big Shea bring back fond memories and should be a part of Shea’s last year standing. That is how you reenforce tradition. Common sense is not so common I guess.

Adam Rubin is reporting that Brian Schneider’s overnight stay at the hospital will be extended to Sunday. He’ll continue to be treated with IV antibiotics in hopes to remove his finger infection through non surgical methods. IE drugs.

Regardless of what Willie and Omar claim, I’m sticking by my theory: Brian was assaulted by a rouge duck at the Washington Memorial. I think we need to find this duck before he attacks again.

John Delcos reports that Brian Schneider will spend the night in the hospital, receiving IV antibiotics to treat his infected finger.

I’m no doctor, I’m not even the Hot Foot Medical Expert (that would be Dr Loran), but I kind of assume when a player is spending the night in a hospital bed hooked into an IV bag, that they probably belong on the DL. I’ve watched plenty of those doctor drama shows, and if was something minor we wouldn’t be told Schneiders name, and House would only talk to him for 10 seconds before making a quip and sending him home.

SI.com’s Jon Heyman spoke with WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog today.

Heyman on Carlos Delgado:

I was joking with one or two of the people in the Mets organization the other day and he said “Yeah, I think I’m gonna be sent out looking for a first baseman really soon”…Heyman continued, the scouts said his bat has really slowed down. They said it last year, they say he’s cheating quite a bit, getting this swing started early and that he’s swinging too soon and that is a sign that he knows it. He’s not gonna say it, he’s a proud guy. He could be nearing the end. I don’t think there’s any question about it. Some people on your show brought up steroids but this is a guy that everyone in baseball believes has always been clean. This is just a normal progression in baseball. He’s in his mid-thirties. This is the time guys normally slow down.

Heyman on the Milledge/Church/Schneider deal:

I liked that trade better than most people did at the beginning… Milledge is just not a contending player right now. I don’t think he’s a center fielder and I don’t think he’s gonna hit 30 home runs, so you’re talking about a corner outfielder who will probably hit .300 but I don’t think he’s ready to play.

Man, can we give the guy just a bit more time. This is actually making me root for Delgado harder, if that’s possible. Go CD shut everyone up. Oh, how I’d love to see that …or should I say hear that. Wait, you can’t hear people shut-up, this whole thing is making me crazy, Enough!

Adam Rubin of the Daily News Surfin The Mets Blog is reporting that Mets C Brian Schneider is back in NY because of a infected left thumb. Brian could wind up on the DL.

In his usual weekly spot Mets C Brian Schneider spoke with WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts.

• Brian said that he feels good and that he is not rushing back because the Mets are playing the Nationals, his old team. He said he loves playing at Wrigley and wishes he could have played in the last series. He added that he’s healthy now and yes, he definitely wants to play well against his old team but it’s also important to beat the teams with lesser records.
• His success in his career thus far against the Phillies he can’t explain. “Everyone has that one team they play well against, I don’t know why, on the road or at home I play good against them. I’m not sure why.”
• He doesn’t think there was a let down after the Phillies series. “We did get in late, but we can’t complain. We just gotta score more than two runs in two days, that ain’t gonna get it done… There are times when your gonna be streaky. There’s really no rhythm or reason.”
• He said the bullpen has been inconsistent but “we gotta be patient, it’s a long year and these guys, Heilman and Sosa have been out there a lot and they have to stay positive.”
• Brian thinks Nelson Figueroa is the real deal “He’s got good stuff, he throwing the ball well. This is not a fluke. I expect this out of him all year long.”
• Duaner Sanchez has been a pleasant surprise to Schneider, “He’s been great, he’s throwing the ball harder than I thought he might, in the 90’s, and his sinker and change-up have been great.”
• Schneider said he and his teammates definitely noticed the fights in the stands during the weekend series with Philly, “These fans were not afraid to throw some real punches. I’ll tell you one thing, the one on Saturday, the Mets fan definitely won that fight. After the game someone said “We won the game and we won the fight.”

Nice, great line Brian, I think I’m gonna go out right now and pick myself up a Schneider jersey.

According to Adam Rubin of The Daily News the Mets have signed 29 year old ex-Philly lefty Euda Brito to a minor league contract. Ed Ryan of Mets Fever gives us some details on Mr. Brito. He’s had some age issues (hello, Miguel Tejada) and has appeared in 11 games between 2005-2006, compiling a 2-4 record with a 5.68 ERA.

Rubin also reports Johan Satana is ducking the press big time. So much so that Adam feels it might come back to bite him:

Santana declined an interview with a prominent Philadelphia columnist at Shea last week who was trying to advance the ace’s matchup against Cole Hamels. Santana similarly blew off for two days in Chicago a Washington Post baseball writer who wanted to get his take on coming to D.C. to pitch. Why does it matter? Without getting on a soapbox, there are different variations of the truth that reporters tell, such as whether a player is 3-for-35 and in a rut or 3-for-35 but hitting in bad luck. Might as well get the benefit of the doubt by building goodwill.

Also Rubin expects C Brian Schneinder to be back in the line-up tomorrow night in Washington.

Marty Noble of Mets.com writes that the Mets were so worried C Brian Schneider had injured his forearm seriously (X-Rays were negative) that they started to make plans to call-up a replacement from the minors. Schneider took a foul tip off the bat of Phillies Chase Utley to his forearm and his right arm and fingers went numb. So much so that Billy Wagner said,

“I was hoping they got nobody on base, cause his throws back to me were barely getting there.”

Schneider said,

“It got me good. I can’t really grip right now, “When I got it hit, I looked up [at the scoreboard] and saw 97 [mph]. And I got all of it.”

Man, I’m assuming Brian won’t play tomorrow but I hope it’s nothing that will linger. He looked excellent behind the dish yesterday, making at least one memorable play on a ball in the dirt that saved a run, even ex-catcher/Fox Baseball analysts Tim McCarver was astonished by the play.

Mets Catcher Brian Schneider spoke with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts today on WFAN.

On Schneider’s fielding problems thus far:

“I went to a new glove, not making excuses, but I’m done with it. When you start to think about where in the glove to catch the ball then you gotta get rid of it. Going back to my old one. Also, getting used to new guys (pitchers) but like I said, no excuses.”

On Johan Santana:

“I think he’s thrown the ball really well so far. Just the big hits have been home runs and that is disappointing.”

On Oliver Perez:

“He just missed some spots. No, I don’t think he was rattled by the home runs (against Milwaukee). It’s tough you don’t wanna lose leads like that.”

Asked about Willie and Perez:

“I don’t see much of a difference in the way Willie treats Ollie compared with the rest of the staff.”

Asked how he handles pitchers:

“You have to handle them by their different personalties.”

On whether the players are missing some fire:

“It’s a long season, it may look like that when your not playing well but you have to pace yourself, there is fire don’t get me wrong. It’s tough for me because I’m so new here. Most of the leadership is done on the field, by example”.

On the negativity from the fans:

“There is always negativity when you are not playing well, when your not winning. But when guys are going well like Scott Schoeneweis is going well and still gets booed, that’s hard to understand. I mean three straight good appearances… No, we don’t talk about it, we already know, it effects guys”.

On Mike Pelfrey:

“I’m hoping we see some of the stuff he had in his last outing, too bad there were so many foul balls, it really got his pitch count up”.

On Aaron Heilman:

“His first couple of outings he had trouble with his release point but he’s worked with Peterson and he’s been sharp since.”

On facing his old club (Nationals) and upcoming lefties:

“I’m real excited, still have friends over there… I know with all three of these games being night games, I hope Willie leaves me in. I know I won’t be asking out.”

Mets catcher Brian Schneider with talk with WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts after 12 today. To listen online click here.

Your Friday night injury update, brought to you as always by Canadian rock group Loverboy.

Ruben Gotay is taking drills, and has not severed any limbs as of late.

Carlos Delgado feeling better, not actually hitting though. You win some, you lose some. He threw a bat, it did not maim Brady Clark. Yet.

Brian Schneider participated in a minor league game, but didn’t catch. He did respectable. He was two for four with a sac fly.

And lastly, Orlando Hernandez has claimed to have seen a six foot tall talking rabbit named Frank. He is believed to be on a mission to help prevent the end of the world.

Carlos Delgado is expected to play tonight. He was injured in the now infamous Brady Clark Broken Bat Rampage 2008. He received four stitches in his arm, and is contractually permitted to stab Clark with a bat if he so wishes.

Schneider and Castro will both remain out with various hamstring related infirmities, Robinson Cancel will catch. Spies report Paul Lo Duca was last seen sticking needles in two voodoo dolls, one of which looked kind of like Shrek but in a Mets uniform.

And lastly, John Delcos reports El Duque is throwing. A ball. In a fashion that vaguely resembles pitching, but apparently slower. Duqe might still be tired from this weekend, when along with his brother he attempted to rid Boston of evil by acting as avenging angels against members of the Russian mob.