Matt over at Metsblog is reporting that Baltimore is shopping for pitchers, and NO Zephyr Chan Ho Park is one of their options. While with AAA he's gone 3-1 with 7.29 ERA and given up 17 earned runs over 4 starts. In a brief stint with the Mets, he lost. Lost big time. His Mets ERA is 15.75, with 4IP, 2HRs, 2BB and 7 earned runs with 6 hits.

First, I can see Duquette making this deal. He seems to love guys that we don't want. I'm looking at you Benson and Rain Delay. Eventually Baltimore will have an entire roster of failed Met Pitchers. That, or Duquette will get fired. Its a tough call on what happens first. Secondly, if I'm Omar any sort of one for one trade involving Park would get my stamp of approval. Take Park, give us any player in your AAA system you don't want, lets call it a deal. I wouldn't package up any of our better prospects as part of the deal, but I'm sure we have a couple of guys who could be packaged off. I don't know Baltimore well enough to know what they need aside from pitching. But lets face it, if Baltimore will give us enough crab cakes to feed the Mets active roster dinner for one night, that'd be worth guaranteeing Chan Ho Park will never wear a Mets uniform again.  Not like he will anyway.

For those who haven't heard, Ricky Henderson has been inspired by the Rocket, and wants back into baseball. My favorite quote from all of this:

Sometimes I'm not entirely sure if Ricky is being serious or not. Maybe hanging out on his 500 acre forest isn't that exciting.  Fishing, raising cattle, running the tractor, fist fights with bears, racing mountain lions….I could see that getting dull. Plus he needs to challenge Julio Franco for some of these 'oldest player to x' titles.  Either way, he's ready to lay the smack talk down.  Hey, in Rickeys day he had to steal bases while going uphill, in the snow, at night games in stadiums without lights.

Since the team is still out west, resulting in a game that starts somewhere around 2am EST, I'd like to address something:  that Gatorade commercial.

Now, I have no problem with Harvey Keitel.  He's a bit creepy, but it works for him. And his role in said commercial is good, though it feels like the just lifted his image out of a Tarrantino movie.  I just take offense at the use of Yankee captain and mildly above average short stop Derek Jeter.

The premise of the commercial is that Harvey (as I call him when we watch games together in Queens) is like the bad little devil telling Jeter to steal second, while using Yiddish words for genitalia towards the Angels staff. One would think that since the commercial focuses around base stealing (and gatorade) that the selected Jeter due to his immense skills on the base paths and tendency to swipe bags. You would be wrong.

Jeter stole 2 bases this season, which puts him on par with Shawn Green. Last season he had a career high 34, or about half of Reyes.  Now I get it, maybe Jeter is a bigger name than our very own Jose Reyes.  Maybe Jeter needs the endorsement money more, after all he owns like 50 cars and is dating 12 actresses at any given time. Reyes is more a man of the people, likes to keep it real, just some money for the family, some bling, and maybe a clip so he doesnt lose his necklace while pulling off a stand up triple on a drag bunt. But seriously, there has to be someone better at basestealing than Jeter already on the Gatorade endorsement staff. Peyton Manning stealing second would be more believable, and he hasn't been in a commercial in like…minutes. Throw the dude a bone. What about Beltran, he's one of the biggest names in baseball. He can steal bases.  If it must be a Yankee I'm sure we can find someone more adept at the art of base stealing than Jeter.  Like…everyone else, except maybe Posada. Catchers can't steal bases, it just wouldn't be right. I think its in the catchers oath or something.

While most everyone remembers getting El Duque from Arizona for Jorge Julio, primarily because shortly thereafter he pitched an amazing game and has added some quality starts this season, its often forgotten we got one of our other Mets last season from the Backs too: Shawn Green. 

Primarily thought of as a Dodger, most fans seem to vaguely remember him coming from there or being picked off waivers, but Green too come from the desert, brought in trade for minor league pitcher Evan MacLane.  Personally, I think this is another one of Omar's steals. Lets look at it:

Shawn Green, normally a slow starter, is batting .348 with a .407 OBP.  His 39 hits include four homeruns and nine doubles. He also has 20 runs and 18 RBI's, and somewhere along the line stole two bases.  He's had 13 multihit games while only having 5 days with no hits, two of which he still drew walks. All while batting towards the end of the order, during stretches where the heart of the lineup was often struggling. His average has steadily remained over the .300 mark, and his prime liability is his lack of speed. All and all, pretty respectable, especially considering in March most fans were questioning if he should even be starting.  While his fielding may not be anything to write home about, he's made just one error, and a small handfull of what may not be errors, but are realistically poor choices.

What we lost, Evan MacLane. MacLane is still down in AAA Tuscan. While he had a hot streak while in our farm system, he has since cooled down a bit. He's 1-2 for the season, over 5 starts, with a 5.54 ERA.  He's given up 24 runs, 16 earned, while striking out 8 and walking 6.  Last season he made just one appearance for Tuscan, and went 9-8 overall with the Tides. While he is still starting, the word is that the Diamondbacks are looking to eventually use him as a lefty specialist. Based on his current numbers, were he still with the Mtes organization, he'd still be in AAA, as an option most likely behind Sosa and Humber, but possible above Vargas.

Just some thoughts on the Mets starters, now that we've gone a whole month into the season.

As you know, coming into the season, the age of our first two starters was put to question.  Many in the media felt Glavine was close to done, past his prime. At his age he'd be good for five innings, then back to the clubhouse for Murder She Wrote and a tv dinner. He's now 3-1, but has a no decision that was a win blown by the bullpen. He's given up 11 earned runs, for a 2.80 ERA and has 18 strikeouts.   Glavine is some sense has been better on the road, where his ERA is lower at 1.93 (its 4.5 at Shea), though he's issued 10 of his 13 walks on the road, as well as hit 3 batter. Overall, Glavine's been solid. He's had a few shakey starts, but tends to correct himself as the game goes to recover. Just as important as all this, Glavine serves as the mentor for the young starters.  Someone such as Maine, Pelf, and Perez don't always know what needs to be done to improve, and Glavine is there to help them along.

John Maine: Well he's your NL Pitcher of the Month. He's 4-0, has a low ERA (1.35) and really doesn't give up runs.  If theres any cause for concern, its that he is is a pitcher for whom the ball is often in play. Maine has strived quite well with the Mets defense behind him, and could end up suffering if Gotay and Easley prove to be much less talented at second base than Stache.  I haven't seen much of Gotay, but Easley has not yet shown any Stache worthy performances.  He has so far had slightly more fly outs than ground outs (41 to 30), though hasn't given up the long ball that much so far. One could say he's a bit overdue to give one up in the winds over Shea.  He has yet to throw a wild pitch or hit a batter, and gave up just 18 hits. If he can keep his focus, he should be able to continue to perform well.

Remeber like, a minute ago when I made fun of everyone who said the Mets pitchers were old and would fall apart?  Well, El Duque is old and fell apart.  He will miss at least one more start, but its probably safer to assume that it will be awhile. At his age his healing time will probably take longer. So lets just assume he's out of the picture.

Oliver Perez, the Mets man of mystery. At 3-2 we've seen both Ollies.  We saw him go seven innings and give up 1 run on five hits.  And we've seen him go less than 3 innings, walking seven.  The good news is that the evil Perez is showing improvement.  Today was the first start in which he issued a walk since his meltdown on April 11th.  He has gotten his strikeouts up, and has proven the ability to go long, throwing 120 pitches in a loss in his start at RFK.  The improved Perez so far has been decent, but chances are inside still lurks the bad Perez.  I'd expcet to see more meltdowns, but for a number 4 pitcher there's no complaints.  If he can win more than he can lose, and keep the score to something in which our offense can reach, then thats about what we can ask for. We might want to be a bit concerned that chances are Ollie is now our #3 pitcher. But given last year that was Trax, is it that worrisome? Trax too would have his poor days where everyone in a jersey that didn't say Mets seemed to be able to get a hit or a run.  But he ate innings while doing so. Aside from his one horrendous start, Ollie seems able to do that. If he can go 7 innings in a loss and keep the score down enough where we have a fighting chance, then he's better than most of our other options.

Mike Pelfrey: Pelf brings to mind Monty Python.  After his first few starts, the fans had him slung over their back with Omar bringing his cart.  But yesterday he called out and let us know, he's not dead yet.  Lets not sugarcoat it: his first three starts were bad. 12 earned runs bad. Just six strikeouts bad. He didn't seem to have control. He was overthrowing. And in none of those first three did he make it to the end of the 6th, his shortest start lasting just 3 innings.  The good side, he seems to be improving.  He had a shaky 1st inning yesterday, but then figured things out and was fine and went 6 and third, his longest start for the Mets this year. His bad first inning killed him though, giving him another loss (he's 0-3 with one no decision).  But he passed the 100 pitch mark for the first time, and he's young. He seems to be slowly adjusting to the big leagues, but slowly adjusting is better than not adjusting at all (I'm looking at you Chan Ho park).  Due to the injury bug's visit to Shea, chances are Pelf will get more time. Even if Duque is back after the minimum time on DL, they'll keep Pelf around till they're sure he can pitch.  Hopefully he'll see his first Met win soon though. Just remember, he doesn't need to be Tom Seaver or Pedro, he needs to be a decent fifth starter.  His role is to be able to give us a chance when he pitchers, as opposed to the ace who should be guaranteeing it. Previous people in his spot have been Jose Lima, and Victor Zambrano.

Chan Ho Park. I am not writing about Chan Ho Park, because I don't forsee him being a Met come the teams trip to Arizona at weeks end. I would assume, like everyone else out there that Jorge Sosa will be the next one to get the call. I know I have preached patience for Pelf in the past, but I don't have the same faith in Chan Ho. He was weak in AAA. He was weak in spring training. He was bad Monday at Shea. So insert your own joke involving his last name and where his pitches are hit.

After yesterdays mishap, Alou is off getting tests done and presumable will not play tonight. Currently listed as day to day, the question arises: what if its more?  Alou afterall is the new Cliff Floyd, and the old Cliff Floyd was a bit familiar with the DL.  More familiar then we would probably like.  Its pretty much a given, Endy Chavez will be starting in left if Alou is out for a few days, and should it be a DL worthy injury, Chavez will most likely become the everyday outfielder.  But who will be on the bench?

Most of you probably want Gomez. He's hitting .301 with 13 stolen bases, and is rumored to be faster than Jose Reyes. With Lastings and Ben Johnson both hurt, he's also the clear top outfielder down in New Orleans. Its a very tempting package should Alou need some time to heal. One must remember though, he's young. He was down in AA Binghamton not too long ago. Chances are he's your Met outfielder of the future, but I think the future is still just that.

The more likely man, Ricky Ledee.  Now Ledee doesn't have Gomez speed or bat. He doesn't have Alou's power.  He may be shaky, unimpressive, and given a minor league contract for reasons that no ones incredible sure of. But its hard to see Omar playing the Gomez card this quickly.  Last season Lastings was brought up to fill in, earlier than planned, and was found to be still a bit immature and not quite ready for the show. Its hard to see Omar risking his other prime prospect in the same situation, especially this early in the season with his other big outfield prospect out hurt.

Make no mistake, Gomez is more talented. But like it or not, Ledee will be your next NY Met Bench guy should Alou's tests come back this afternoon in the bad way and not the good way. The best hope is that Ben Johnson heals quick or that Alou is just sore and will be returning by weeks end.

Mark Raimondi over at SNY poses the question: Can Reyes steal 100 bases?

Raimondi discussses the overall drop in steals in the last twenty years, but feels Reyes has the most potential, and will easily set the new Mets record.  He sees Reyes as the most likely to have 100 steals, which would make him the first player to do so since Vince Coleman in 87. Ricky Henderson's opinion:

I know he's on pace to get quite up there, but I don't see it happening this year. I think this is the year he sets the new Mets stolen bases record.  No question there in my mind. But as for 100…maybe next year. With his recent rash of multi steal games, and his solid hitting, and improved ability to draw walks, its not out of the question. But I think as the season goes on we're going to see more and more pitchers keeping an incredible close eye on Reyes. I'd love to be proven wrong, and for him to break 100. But I just think its too big a jump for it to happen this year.

Aside from the injuries to Lastings and Johnson, some might be wondering what else is going on down in the farm system.  So lets take a quick look.

Ricky Leedee, who was kind of briefly a Met last season, had a grand slam earlier in the week as part of a 4 for 5 day that helped the Zephyrs beat the Isotopes (Marlins AAA) 17 to 8.  Leedee followed this up by striking out five times Thursday and twice on Friday.  He's now batting .314, the slam was his sole homerun so far. Just remember, one bad diving catch by Alou, and he'll be in blue and orange.

Victor Diaz had four RBI's, which would be much cooler if he was still with the Met organization.  Now a Redhawk, he helped the Rangers AAA team defeat the Zephyrs 5-1. Mike DiFelice had the sole Zephyr RBI in the game, which took place yesterday.  It was his 8th RBI of the season,  he's now batting .360

Carlos Gomez went 0 for 4, this ended a 21 game streak in which he reached safely.  He's stolen 10 bases so far, getting caught 3 times.  The speedy Gomez has an OBP of .366, including 9 walks.

Robinson Cancel has been moved from the B-Mets to the Zephyrs to replace Lastings on the roster.  I…don't know anything about him.  Anyone?

Ruben Gotay has hit in seven straight, including a 4 for 7 day in Tuesdays romp. He's currently looking like the most likely option should we need second basemen (ie, Stache or Easley gets hurt).  Anderson Hernendez is..well, playing like Anderson Hernendez.

Up on the mound Chan Ho Park continues to survive thanks to the Zephyrs offense.  After Tuesdays win, he's 3-1 with a 7.29 ERA after 21 IP.  He's given up six homeruns and 17 runs total. I think the chances of us seeing Park promoted get smaller and smaller as the season goes on. We'll see Dave Williams first.  Jorge Sosa is the current cream of the crop.  3-0 with a 1.38 ERA.  He's given up just 4 earned runs, while striking out 24. 
should Pelf continue to struggle, I'm guessing Sosa will get the first shot at the 5 spot.

In todays Daily News, Rubin reports that reliever Joe Smith is fitting in well in the clubhouse and enjoying the life of a Met.  Rubin cites Smith's willingness to learn from the veterens around him, as well as his enthuisasm and drive as what's helping him fit in both on and off the field.  According to fellow reliever Aaron Sele:

Smith has continued to impress, especially considering his age and lack of experience.  And the fact that it seems he seems to have seamlessly fit in with the rest of the guys in the bullpen is just as important as how well he's done out on the mound.  Especially after the rumors of problems with Lastings when he came up as the rookie phenom last year. The Mets have always been a bit of an eclectic bunch, and for Smith to get bumped up to the roster and adjust so easily to the guys around him, and playing in the NY spotlight, makes you hope to see him as a Met for years to come.  Now if he can just figure out all the NYC parking laws, he'd be set.

Adam Rubin reports in his blog that Dave Williams is throwing and could be ready to pitch by end of May.  Williams had surgery on his neck back in January.  In five starts last year he went 3-1 with a 5.59 ERA.

Dave Williams is a blur.  A hazy memory from the mass of starters we had last year after the various other staters starting getting hurt of melting down.  I vaguely remember him being not quite at the same level as Brian Bannister, but an improvement over Gonzolez or Jose Lima.  Even if Williams is back and healthy, I'm not even sure where he'd fall into the rotation.  Ahead of Chan Ho Park, but behind Humber and Sosa? Trade bait packaged with Lastings? Someone to just go hang out with DiFelice in the 'it will take a major injury to call me up' club in New Orleans.

Jerry Crasnick over at ESPN has named Jose Reyes the top lead off man in baseball.  Crasnick cites Jose's speed, patience, as well as his increased maturity and guidance from other players (Beltran, Delgado) as reason's behind his success.  Other players making the list include Grady Sizemore (2nd), Ichiro (4th), and Hanley Ramirez (8th).

Well we can't really argue with this.  Reyes keeps improving, he seems to be more patient this season then last, and can probably easily finish with a much better season than last.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him break a few more Met records in 07.  The fact that Reyes always seems to be enjoying himself when he plays I think says a lot too.  I am surprised Crasnick didn't give a mention to the time Reyes spent with Rickey though, who has spent the last few springs in camp sharing his wisdom with Reyes amongst others.

Dave Lennon reports in his blog at Newsday that Lastings Milledge has been placed on the DL with a strained ligement in his right foot.  Lastings had started out slow when returning to playing every day in AAA, but had since heated up.  He was batting .333 with 5 RBI's and 5 stolen bases.

It seemed Lastings was just getting into his groove too.  Finally shook the rust off from sitting on the Mets bench, was hitting every day, and then…right back out. 

In the comments section the other day the question of how much rope does Willie give to Pelfrey, before he eventually gets the pull.  An interesting question, especially after todays game, and one I'm willing to take a stab at.

The short answer: a lot.

Pelfrey earned the fifth spot by outperforming Chan Ho Park, and others, in spring training, but since then hasn't exactly distinguished himself. But there's a lot of other things to consider. First of all, the team itself is winning.  The Braves are the only team that seems to have caused a major problem, as they've pretty much beaten up on the rest of the competition.  When you're winning 65% of your games, many by large margins, how concerned should you really be about the young fifth starter.  As long as Glavine, El Duque and Maine are holding up, we can afford to lose games behind Pelfrey.  He needs the experience, and as much as we'd prefer the wins, we can live without them.  Its April. If its July and things are getting tighter and he's still not pitching, well thats another story. 

The situation is also important.  Todays loss is partly poor pitching, partly tied Mets.  Every single position player put in time, as well as almost every available bullpen member. Sans the guys who pitched Monday night, and Sele under the unsaid assumption that he would have to expect to go long today since he didn't pitch yesterday.  But after yesterdays 12 inning, seemingly never ending 2-1 game, the previous hot Castro went 0-4.  Delgado and Wright continued their slumps, a combined 0-7 with 1 walk. It took the Mets offense six innings to figure out the Rockies, a team thats never done well playing in Shea.

We also have to ask ourselves, if we pull him, then what?  Chan Ho Park? His ERA is about the same as Pelf's (Park has a 7.29 after 4 games), but thats against the lesser hitters of the Pacific AAA league. Would that 7.29 be a 10 if he pitched against the Braves or Phillies instead? Phil Humber, the PCL Pitcher of the week, probably is showing more promise, but has even less experience than Pelfrey.  Would we just be resetting the clock and get the same few shakey outings we just got.  Do we really want to jump in the full panic mode of pulling up Humber like our rivals cross town are doing to their AA pitchers?   I'm sure many of you are tossing trade ideas out there, but lets face it: if Omar had someone worth getting he'd probably have done it.  The fact that he didn't means that either no one of quality was available, or that the cost was too high. 

At 0-2 after three starts Pelf hasn't impressed us.  But its only 0-2 after three starts.  For the time being, In Omar We Must Trust, and to Pelf we give more time.  Its a long season, and most of its still to come. While he still be our fifth man in the rotation come August? Its too early to say.  But its too early to start calling for his head too.

Peter Abraham over at LoHud has an article today about the continued development of Jose Reyes.  In it, Abraham feels Reyes continues to improve and is on path to be an MVP, and best all around player in baseball.  He gives much of the credit to the new Mets management, who made sure there were veterens around Reyes to show him the way.

Its always good to see the media noticing Jose Reyes.  He's not the goto marketing guy we have in Wright, but if he continues to improve as he does he will be a far superior player.  Its almost unthinkable as I watch Reyes play now that only a few years ago people were gettign ready to write him off.  I remember going into the mall and seeing Reyes jerseys on clearance.  And now, he's the most exciting player to watch, not just in a Met uniform, but probably in the game.