David Wright and Carlos Beltran won their 1st and 2nd gold gloves respectively. Jimmy Rollins received the gold glove at shortstop.

So not only does Rollins beat us, he gets the gold glove. Salt to the wound. Anyway, good job Dave and Carlos.

Beltran has declinded to participate in this years homerun derby.  Wright participated (with Lo Duca pitching) and had a good showing, but didn't hit for power much in the second half.

Beltran has said though he will use his appearance at the All Star game to pick up tips, and plans to speak with Giants OFer Barry Bonds on what he does.  Bonds, who you may or may not be familiar with, is known to have the ability to hit the long ball.

Beltran has recently come out and admitted he's still having some issues with his quad, and while he says its not the cause of his plate struggles, chances are its at the very least a factor. We can blame part of it on less plate dicipline (a first pitch pop up?), but my years of medical training (watching House) makes me think the Quad is having some effect.

That being said, he's defense has not struggled, on top of which, we're not exactly overflowing with outfield options.  Lastings is one to two weeks from resuming running. And thats running. Add another one to two weeks on top of that before he'd be activated. And then at least another week in AAA before he'd have teh rust shaken off to be ready for a call up. Endy is gone, month minimum.  Alou is no closer to a return then he was when he was first placed on the DL. 

So that leaves the options as thus: play it out. Leave Beltran in for a bit more, assuming his injury doesnt get worse, and see if he gets out of his slump.  If not, start this thinking process over. Second: bench him. A radical move. But temporarily make Beltran the highest paid bench player in the game. He can do the Endy style pinch hit, late inning defensive substitute, but keep his playing time to the minumum.  In this scenerio, Gomez would probably get shifted over and Ledee and Easley could platoon in left. This keeps Beltran around, but puts less strain on him perhaps giving him a chance to heal. The third option, the DL. Give Beltran a full 15 days off, and roll the dice with on of the AAA guys who is still currently in one peice.  The primary options would be Ben Johnson or Chip Ambres.  Again, the question here isn't who replaces Beltran's bat, since he's slumping, but who replaces his steller D.

Food for thought for scenario 3: Chip Ambres is hitting .373 for the month of June, including a series against Iowa where he went 13 for 21. So far this month he has 4 HRs, 2 doubles, 13 RBI's, and 16 runs. Jesus Feliciano is hitting .315 overall, .371 for June, but with lower runs (8) and RBIs (3). Johnson is still struggling a bit since his return to the Zephyrs.

If I was in charge (a scarey thought, I'm no Omar) I'd go with option two. Call me crazy. Tell me you don't make a multimillion dollar bench player. But I think its worth a try. Put Beltran in the Endy role. Keep him active so we can put him out there to protect a lead (assuming we get leads), while letting someone else take the at bats. Shift Gomez to center. Could Ledee or Easley really do worse at the plate? And the shortened playing time would hopefully let Beltran get back to (or at least closer to) 100% without removing him as an option should the immediate need arise.

All this being said now, there is the other issue: Beltran seems to have fallen to the A-Rod Zone with some fans. Its been mentioned by others, elsewhere as well. No matter what Beltran does, he gets crap from the fans. If he plays hurt, he should sit because he's hurting the team.  If he sits, he's weak. If he's quiet, he's hiding something and needs to speak up.  When he speak's up, he's wrong too. Personally, I think there are very few reasons one should boo one of our guys.  So as long as Beltran isn't cheating, roiding, or getting caught doing coke off of a stripper, stop giving him a hard time. If my quad was hurt I'd probably take some time off, and I don't play a professional sport. Unless you count drinking as a sport. You don't? Oh well. He's out there every day, putting his body on the line for the team. So cut him some slack.

The Mets will again grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.  This week's issue will feature a story on general manager Omar Minaya and how he “welcomed one and all into his ever-expanding circle.”

Check it out here.

I am excited to grab this off the newstands and frame it next to last year's article on the Mets.  Of course, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Paul LoDuca, and Carlos Delgado were on the cover of that issue.

Alou's return will most likely be pushed back. He felt some soreness after running in the outfield yesterday and will be getting another exam from his doctor.

Just because you replaced Cliff Floyd, doesn't mean you need to be hurt as much as Cliff Floyd.

There's still no time table on Beltran's return.  He's day to day and will be back whenever he tells Willie he feels good enough to play. 

I feel comfortable with the defense of an Endy, Gomez, Johnson outfield. Even with the lesser experience (I think any one of our normal outfielders has more years than the three of them combined), they have the speed to make up for it, though we'll still see the occasional bad idea play from Gomez. Its more the offense. Gomez is almost 1 for 20 after his successful pinch hit yesterday.  Endy is doing alright, but seemed to be cold for a bit there. And considering they're replacing the three guys who were the most consistent this year.


That all being said,  for the most part they've proved able to come through when needed. Plus we still have the bats of  Wright, Reyes, Delgado , LoDuca.   Beltran's also shown that he only sits when he has to.  He seems to be a pretty stoic guy.  If he's doing well, he's quiet. And if he's a little sore, he's quiet then too,  and seems to play through it. So if Beltran says he needs another day, I think thats the sort of thing  we can trust. This isn't one of those Met teams from the  Bad Times,  these guys  seem willing to do  whats best for the team. So if Beltran is out again today its probably safe to assume he really needs one more to get back into playing shape.

Pedro Martinez is scheduled to throw off the mound for the first time early next week. He's been doing long toss but hasn't thrown from the mound since last season.

By law, there must be at least four Pedro updates a month.

Jose Valentin went 0 for 4 in a make beleive extended spring training game yesterday.

I assume it takes more than one game to shake off the cobwebs of not swinging the that for a few weeks. Though how long exactly can we call it extended spring training? It is June afterall. Its already beach season.

Carlos Beltran is scheduled for an MRI on his knee today.

If we have to throw one of our bloggers into a volcano or something to appease the Injury Gods, then I'm willing to make that sacrafice.  There's like 10 of us here at the Foot, they can have anyone but Sidd. What were teh odds though, Green, Alou and Beltran all at once? Did someone break a mirror by dropping it on a black cat? Or drink Jobu's rum? You think Omar feels like Llyod Bridges in Airplane getting all these injury reports.  Sitting at his desk, gets the call that Beltran's down now too…feeling like he picked the wrong week to quit sniffling glue.

Dave Lennon over at Newsday is reporting Carlos Beltran is still a bit sore in his left quad.  He sat Sundays game, the first game he did not start of the season.  Though back in the lineup last night, he went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts to drop his average to .320.

Its always hard to tell with Beltran.  He'll quietly go 4 for 5 with a homerun and a handfull of RBI's, and he'll just as quietly play through the pain if he thinks he's good enough to go out there. You know he'll be out there giving it his all quietly and doing everything he can.  Hopefully if he is hurt he'll say something to Willie and take another day.

That's what Mark Herrmann asks in his column in Newsday.  The answer?  You better believe it.  Pedro Martinez is curently rehabing his shoulder, while the Mets continue their spring training schedule.  A late July- early August return is believed for Pedro.

Many in baseball said that Pedro's contract was absurd.  He was a pitcher that was believed to be one injury away from retirement. Of course, this current injury he has could be just that.  However, if Pedro doesn't sign here, I fully believe Carlos Beltran isn't here, then neither is a guy like Billy Wagner, etc. 

Pedro (and Omar Minaya) helped make the Mets mean something again.  So, in my mind, I couldn't agree with Herrmann more that Pedro was well worth the money.

Julio Franco helped Carlos Beltran turn the corner with fans, coaxing him to receive their adulation at a time when he did not yet fell comfortable in his new environment. Well it seems like thats not the only thing Julio has helped Carlos with. Beltran tells Kevin Kernan in The New York Post that Franco found a way to get Carlos more comfortable with his swing as well.

Head on over to read Kernan's article to find out exactly what Julio taught Beltran to do to help his concentration at the plate.