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.

The All Star voting is now open.  Now, I could use this space to tell you to head on over to mlb.com and vote as many Mets in as possible.  Partly, because they deserve it.  Reyes has a crazy amount of RBI's for a lead off hitter, tons of runs, stolen bases, and will probably end up leading the league in triples as well.  Wright has been playing great, Beltran should go again, the Stache rocks the defense, and Tom Glavine might have his 300 by then. But you're all Met fans, and you all know this.  And lets face it, even if they didn't neccasarily deserve it, as fans most of you would probably go vote for them anyway.

And this, is what brings me to the point of this article.  Its April. Mid April.  And most teams have played somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 games. Some starters haven't appeared for the third time yet. And with the weather the way its been, a lot of players around the league haven't quite hit their stride.  The All Star game is supposed to be the best of the league (and one representative of the Royals).  Whether you define that as the quickest, the best batters, the most powerful hitters, the dominating pitchers, or the best gloves after just a few weeks of play its too early to say who that would be.  To open voting this early is to just come out and admit what everyone has always known deep down anyway: the All Star game is a popularity contest.

Now I understand the game is realistically meaningless, but perhaps a step towards changing that would be to change how players are selected.  The starters should be selected by the league or manager or whatever, and then the fans of each club can select their representative.

It has been pointed out by some (well, most everyone) that Jose Valentin isn't quite carrying his weight at the moment at the plate. And this, is something even I couldn't argue. He's started nine of ten games, during which he's recorded five hits, four of them singles and the last a double, and five walks.  He's batted in three runners, and logged four runs. Throw in his 8 strike outs, and we have Valentin batting a subpar .167.  And here in New York, when you have an aged veteran putting up those numbers, and a rich farm system and a good though somewhat underused bench, well thats the sort of thing that starts the speculation towards if we really need him.

I however, think we do. When the Mets get into their groove, we have plenty of bats. Beltran and Reyes provide the speed to turn anything hit hard into an extra base hit. Wright and Green have proved able to get their way on base. Delgado has power.  Lo Duca, the willingness to sacrifice himself to move runners. Valentin, is here for defense. In his nine games, and 79 innings so far, Stache has committed 0 errors. During which he's contributed 27 put outs, 35 assists and participated in 11 of the Mets 17 double plays, and has a range factor of 7.06. He's got the experience to know where to play, allowing him to adjust to the pitcher and batters, giving us those diving stops that even if they don't produce outs, turns doubles to singles. 

Those contributions in the field, outweigh his struggling at the plate. Perhaps Newhan, who's never been a fulltime second baseman, could perform better at the plate, if given the chance.  But could he adapt like Stache did to being fulltime there, and contribute defensively? Probably not.  Perhaps Easley could fill the role in a platoon with Stache, though we have not seen enough of him yet to know if it would be an improvement.  He also hasn't put considerable time in at second since he was with the Tigers in 02.  Until such time Stache becomes a liability on the field, I think we should leave him where he is, as the every day second baseman.

Matt Cerone over at Metsblog is reporting that Donnie Baseball is currently holding a lead over the one and only Keith Hernandez in Rowlings Gold Glove voting.  You can help us fix this error on the part of baseball fans, by going here to vote.

Well, there's nothing I love more than to argue why Keith should be honored. Whether it be retiring his number (which needs to be done), put him in the Hall of Fame (I'm looking at you Veteran's Committee), or rename our AAA farm team the New Orleans Keith Hernandez's. But today, its about the glove. We can sit here and talk forever, but we all know that Keith was the best defensive first baseman in the history of baseball, and that all Met firstbasemen will be compared to him, and pale in his shadow.  So head on over to Rawling, because even Donnie Baseball himself thinks Keith deserves this.

Its a slow news day, with the team taking a much needed day off, and I'd like to use it to address the Hot Foot Nation with a topic of concern. I touched on it over in the Bleachers during the game yesterday, but today I'll go into slightly more detail. 

The problem?  A-Hern

Now before you blast on over to the comments section telling me of the tremendous defensive skills of what at one point was our starting 2nd baseman, or tell me that his hitting has actually improved, though he has not quite yet proved capable of maintaining a respectable average while playing on a major league level, my problem is not with the young Mr Hernendez.  Its with the nickname.

Anderson Hernendez is a long name, and I understand the desire to not repeatedly type out Anderson Hernendez when writing about him. Its the sort of thing that can cause carpal tunnels or bloggers cramp. Likewise, I've even seen the occasional reference to David Wright as D-Wright.  And when A-Rod became A-Rod, that style nickname became the rage. Its great for him, but here in Metsville, I think we're better than that. For starters, sharing a city with the Evil Empire, our players are already compared by the media to their counterparts in the Bronx, especially Wright.  Why increase this via the use of a similarly styled nickname?  And could you see past Met greats doing that?  K-Hern? W-Back? HoJo? Ok, ignore that last one.

Perhaps, in time, Wright or Anderson Hernendez will do something to earn themselves a nickname.  Something people will mention when talking about Mex, the Kid, Mookie, Nails, Fonzie, or the Franchise.  But if not, so be it. We'll never forget Ron Darling or Mike Piazza either, and they didn't need a nickname.

So I call to you, readers and fellow metsbloggers alike, put and end to the A-Herns, the D-Wrights, the F-Marts. Before its to late.