MLB.com has opened the voting for Comeback Player Of The Year. Get on over there and vote for Carlos Beltran.

Unfortunately theres no option for a write in vote, in which case i'd go with Jose Valentin.

Carlos Beltran leads all of baseball in Win Shares, tied with Albert Pujlos, with 27.

Win Shares is a very complicated statistic that takes all the
contributions a player makes toward his team’s wins and distills them
into a single number that represents the number of wins contributed to
the team, times three.

Sabermetric Godfather, and Boston Red Sox consultant, Bill James, is the inventor of the “Win Share”

Paul LoDuca hit .410

Carlos Beltran hit 10 homers and 32 RBIs

John Maine, had a 1.63 ERA, 8 walks, and 21 Ks in 27.2 innings of work

Carlos Beltran smashed his third grand slam of the month today against the Atlanta Braves.

His second-inning slam was his 31st homer and New York's
record-tying sixth slam this month. The drive gave the Mets a 7-0
lead and broke the club record for most homers by a center fielder
in a season. Beltran came up in the third with the bases loaded
again and struck out.

Beltran became the ninth player in major league history to hit
three grand slams in a calendar month, according to the Elias
Sports Bureau. Devon White was the last major leaguer to accomplish
the feat, doing it for Milwaukee in May 2001.

The Mets' six slams this month matches the major league record
set by the Montreal Expos in April 1996 and matched by Cleveland in
May 1999.

Mike Cameron's 30 homers in 2004 was the Mets' previous
single-season record for a center fielder.

Beltran hit 2 home runs today as well as in yesterdays game, the last time a Met had back to back 2 home run games was 21 years ago, in 1985, by Gary Carter.

Baseball Prospectus compares two of the Mets offseason acquisitions to the players they replaced and finds that the Mets probrobly could have kept what they had and got similar production, for far less money.

2006 VORPPlayer         Age      PECOTA       Actual        SalaryDelgado        34        37.1         12.3        $13,500,000Mike Jacobs    25        24.6         17.6           $327,000

2006 VORPPlayer        Age     PECOTA      Actual        BS        SalaryWagner        34        17.3        12.4         4        $10,500,000Looper        31         5.0        11.4         1         $3,500,000

Personally, I think Delgado's value is more than just what he has provided so far in offense. He has had a huge effect on Carlos Beltran and that is something you can't really put a price tag on. That is a butterfly effect that improves the entire lineup. Delgado cannot be expected to continue slumping for long and his numbers here are skewed from the black hole he currently resides.

As for Looper, you cannot possibly go into this season with Looper as your closer. The team's psyche would simply be unable to take that. I have no problem with the Mets going with Wagner, even if he's only a slight improvement over Looper in actual numbers.

Newsday provides updates on several injuries.

Single Season HR Record: 41 (1996) - Todd Hundley
Carlos Beltran's pace: 48
Carlos Delgado's pace: 42
David Wright's pace: 37

Single Season Runs Record: 123 (1999) - Edgardo Alfonzo
Jose Reyes' pace: 139
Carlos Beltran's pace: 128

Single Season RBI Record: 124 (1999) - Mike Piazza
David Wright's pace: 136
Carlos Beltran's pace: 132

Single Season SB Record: 66 (1999) - Roger Cedeno
Jose Reyes' pace: 72

Single Season OPS Record: 1.024 (2000) - Mike Piazza
Carlos Beltran: .994
David Wright: .961

Single Season SLG Record: .614 (2000) - Mike Piazza
Carlos Beltran: .606

Single Season Doubles Record: 44 (1996) - Bernard Gilkey
David Wright's pace: 40
Carlos Beltran's pace: 37

Single Season Triples Record: 21 (1996) - Lance Johnson
Jose Reyes' pace: 22

Single Season Win Loss Perecentage Record: .870 (1988) - David Cone
Tom Glavine: .846

Last night, New York Mets All Stars Carlos Beltran and David Wright did everything they could to help their National League team win, but their efforts were ruined by a blown save by Trevor Hoffman in the bottom of the ninth inning. David Wright hit his first All-Star homer in his first at bat and Carlos Beltran went 2-4 with a key stolen base that helped give the NL a 2-1 lead. However, Michael Young's two-out, two-run triple in the ninth resulted in a 3-2 AL win.

David Wright was quoted in The New York Daily News as saying he received many congratulations for his performance in the Home Run Derby, including one from Cliff Floyd who admitted he underestimated the young slugger.

Just a few years ago, Wright had to sneak into the locker room to meet his heros after the Futures Game. Scott Rolen, who Wright greatly admires, recalls how Wright came up to him to show his appreciation. The New York Post quotes Rolen.

Wright had a bumpy ride to the game, as described in The New York Post

Wright had a choice to roll up with the rims scraping on the road or walk the rest of the way. Wright opted to walk.

Tom Glavine had high praise for Wright.

It was quite surreal watching Scott Kazmir pitch to Carlos Beltran. I felt a twinge of pride and naseau all at once.

I must admit myself that I got some satisfaction watching Wright homer off of Kenny Rogers who I imagine David had watched walk in the winning run in the 1999 NLCS. I would imagine Wright felt he got some satisfaction in paying back Rogers for ruining a great comeback win in 16 innings off the bat of Robin Ventura's grand slam single the previous night, the greatest game I ever attended at Shea Stadium.

Wow. Its been a long time since I felt this bad after a Mets loss. Its been a season of mostly good times and happy recaps but tonight felt like a punch in the gut. I am of the belief that you need to prove yourself against a team like the Red Sox. I know this is a short series, and its tough to judge this over a small sample but the Mets just looked outclassed over these past two games and I would be lying if I didn't say I was worried. Lets hope this is an abberation, and they can make the proper adjustments to prepare themselves next time they're put in the position where they need to step up and beat upper level competition. Its only the end of June but if the Mets plan on taking this season as far as it can go, they're gonna have to show they can hang with the big boys. Lets go over a few things…

Milledge. Maybe its a little overwhelming to throw a guy just out of AAA into a situation like this. I have to say though, I didn't really like his body language when Beltran saved his ass and nearly hurt himself diving for a ball Milledge should have caught. I might have misread it but it looked like he was uneffected. Carlos looked annoyed.

Pedro might have been a little too emotional, I hope thats the case and not something more. The only way to tell is to see how things go next time around. He didn't have it from the second pitch of the game on. It was really sad to watch, in a game where he could have made a nice statement.

Oliver continues to do a great job in long relief. Hats off to him for doing a great job at keeping the pen fresh as he eats up innings.

Mets get a F for their first big test against the Varsity. Heres to hoping they do better next time around. Theres plenty more games to play, plenty of time to learn from the lessons and make the changes necessary. It would be huge to see Glavine step up and stop this from being a real mess. Its tough to call it a must win tomorrow in the middle of the season with a huge lead, but it kind of is. For the sake of showing they're worth their salt and with the Highlanders on deck, this is a big game for keeping our pride.

Yes, its Sabermetrics day at the Foot. If VORP is the filet mignon of statistics, Win Shares is the pork. How many games has this guy contributed to winning for his team? I mean, what could be a more telling sign of value for a player than Win Shares? I present to you the current Win Share rankings by way of The Hardball Times…

1. Puljos            20
2. Beltran          18
3. Berkman       17
4. Abreu           16
4. Granderson   16
4. Wright           16
5. Mauer           15
…
6. Reyes            14

VORP.

Value over replacement player.

What the hell is he talking about???

VORP is the moneyball of statistics. Sabermatricians (you know, the folks running the Red Sox these days) swear by it. They claim it is the best way to judge the true value of a player to a team's success over an average major league player. If you're looking for a literal definition check here and here.

Why am I telling you this? Its leading up to how the Mets stack up in VORP….

Player                   VORP
1. Travis Hafner       45.5
2. Albert Pujlos        40.3
3. Vernon Wells       40.1
4. David Wright     39.7
5. Miguel Cabrera    38.3
6. Joe Mauer           38.2
7. Grady Sizemore   36.6
8. Carlos Beltran   33.8
9. Derek Jeter          33.6
…
15. Jose Reyes      31.9

In case y'all were wondering how good the Mets' Bats have really been.

As of today, Reyes, Wright, and Beltran rank 3,4,5 throughout the MLB in total offense
(Runs, HR, RBIs, SBs, Average, & OBP and Errors).

No need to adjust ure monitor, yes, Reyes is batting .302. Can we get some Reyes MVP Talk.. guy leads league in runs and bags..

According to Yahoo Fantasy, these are how the top six players in baseball stack up in total offense, thats right folks Reyes leads both Beltran and Wright…

In Adam Rubin's Daily News “Blog”, he gives a lengthy rundown on Lastings Millidge

Milledge had the least experience in right, which can be tricky at
windy, on-the-water Harbor Park, the Tides’ home. He slammed into the
wall hard going after one foul ball, but came away unfazed.

GM Omar Minaya has said he wouldn’t hesitate promoting
Milledge if needed, though that’s not expected soon, especially with
Beltran’s MRI coming up clean after being reviewed in New York
yesterday. Had Beltran needed to go on the DL, Willie Randolph said it was more likely the Mets would have recalled Victor Diaz and used Endy Chavez
in center. Still, Milledge could be up before September, though an
injury likely would be required, since he’s not going to sit on the
bench.

Center field has become perhaps the deepest position for the Mets’
organization, with the top three prospects all leadoff hitters, too.
Double-A’s Carlos Gomez, also 20, is a rawer version of Milledge, but thought of just as highly. And 17-year-old Fernando Martinez,
signed for $1.4 million last summer, is hitting .333 at low-A
Hagerstown despite being the youngest player in any organization on a
full-season minor-league team.

Rubin gives updates on some other notable folks in the Mets minor league system including Mike Pelfrey, Henry Owens, Chris Shelton, Willie Callazo, Evan Maclane..

Heres a list of the organizations leaders…

Average: Lastings Milledge, Norfolk, .396; Brett Harper, Binghamton,
.382; Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, .367; Corey Coles, St. Lucie, .340;
Fernando Martinez, Hagerstown, .333.

HR: Nick Evans, Hagerstown, 3; Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, 3.

RBI: Bobby Malek, Binghamton, 11; Nick Evans, Hagerstown, 10; Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, 10.

Steals: Carlos Gomez, Binghamton, 9; Ambiorix Concepcion, St. Lucie, 7; Lastings Milledge, Norfolk, 4.

Wins: Willie Collazo, Binghamton, 2; Evan MacLane, Binghamton, 2;
Jonathan Niese, Hagerstown, 2; Marcelo Perez, Hagerstown, 2; Kevin
Tomasiewicz, Hagerstown, 2.

ERA: Carlos Muniz, St. Lucie, 0.00; Alay Soler, St. Lucie, 0.60;
Orlando Roman, Binghamton, 0.93; Eddie Camacho, Binghamton, 0.96.

Strikeouts: Henry Owens, Binghamton, 21; Mike Pelfrey, St. Lucie, 18; Alay Soler, St. Lucie, 17.

Saves: Carlos Muniz, St. Lucie, 4; Henry Owens, Binghamton, 4; Heath Bell, Norfolk, 3.

Check it the entire article here.

From Mets.com…

The Mets' center fielder, who played hurt and not at his accustomed level through much of his first summer with the Mets, injured his right hamstring on Saturday as he began to run to first base in the third inning.

The muscle tightened, and Beltran was removed in the eighth inning. He felt soreness when he awoke Sunday.

“I don't feel 100 percent,” he said just before game time Sunday. “I hurt my quad last year and tried to play with it. It really didn't help.”

The Mets medical staff told Beltran the injury “isn't major” — his words. “They said I have to be smart and not make something major out of it,” he explained. One member of the Mets' staff said the club hoped that, by sitting out Sunday, Beltran would be available for the three-game series against the Braves, which begins on Monday night.

Read the entire article here.