Metsblog.com is reporting that the Mets and Braves are swapping outfielders. Jeff Francoeur is Queens-bound while Ryan Church is heading down to Dixie.

Now, there aren’t too many times when I’ve lost my head while writing a post. But let’s add this one to that short list.

HOW IN HOLY HELL IS THIS GOING TO MAKE THE TEAM BETTER??????????????

HOW IS JEFF FRANCOEUR BETTER THAN RYAN CHURCH? IN WHAT WAY? FRENCHY’S OBP? IT’S AT .282. TWO-FREAKING-EIGHTY-FREAKING-TWO. HE’S OPS-ING .634. AS A CORNER OUTFIELDER. DEFENSE? CHURCH IS BETTER. POWER? CHURCH HAS A HIGHER SLUGGING. SIMPLY PUT, JEFF FRANCOEUR IS ONE OF THE WORST PLAYERS IN BASEBALL.

IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS JEFF FRANCOEUR BETTER THAN RYAN CHURCH? AND WHY WOULD THE METS MAKE THIS TRADE??? WHY??????????

…

Dear God, I am not a man of faith. But I pray that this is a precursor to another trade. Because quite frankly, there’s no other possible reason other than pure idiocy as to why any GM would make this deal. IT MAKES ZERO SENSE. NONE.

The New York Mets and LA Dodgers just played the worst baseball game I have ever seen.

In an extremely tight game that ultimately wound up in a 3-2 victory for the Dodgers in 11 innings, the Dodgers did just about everything possible to lose, in a conventional sense.  LA was outhit by the Mets 12-5, went 0-11 with men in scoring position, left 14 men on base, had five starters hit 0 for the game, and watched Cory Wade blow a save.

Amazingly, this "hit" by Sheff was an RBI single.

The only thing was, the Mets went above and beyond normal suckiness to achieve National Baseball Hall of Suck and Museum caliber suckiness.

At the end of the game, the scoreboard showed “only” 5 errors by the Mets, but the Mets made about every mental error it is possible to make, from Fernando Tatis giving up an easy out and foolishly coming home against speedy Juan Pierre in the first, to horribly failed bunt attempts, to miscommunication in the outfield, to Ryan Church scoring easily on a double to put the Mets on top 3-2, only to have the run erased upon appeal because he forgot to step on third base. Oops.

But nothing summed up the game quite like the decisive bottom of the 11th inning. First, Mark Loretta walked. Then Xavier Paul hit the lamest, easiest flyball to center that you ever saw, all high and floaty and slow and just begging to find solace in the warm embrace of a glove.

Naturally, Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan spent more time shouting at each other than watching the ball, which fell harmlessly between them and thus spurned, trickled mournfully away toward the wall. So now Loretta was on third and Paul was at second.

The Mets were of course in a desperate situation now, in a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 11th with runners on 2nd and 3rd and no outs, so they were forced to intentionally walk the mighty Juan Pierre and bring Beltran in as a fifth infielder.

Naturally, the Dodgers did all they could to kick that gift horse right smack in the teeth, with Rafael Furcal bouncing a lazy, tailor-made double play ball right to drawn in first baseman Jeremy Reed.

But the Mets would not be denied the loss they so desperately sought.  And Reed delivered with a miraculously sucky throw in the vague direction of home plate. With all the time in the world, and Mark Loretta still so far up the third base line, you wondered if he were even paying attention, Reed hurled a screwball so ridiculously far to the left of desperately diving catcher Ramon Castro that the degree of separation could only have been achieved by the intervention of a higher power.

And Vin Scully had the perfect call: “Marv Throneberry lives again!”

It was just that kind of game for the Mets and Dodgers: anything you can suck at we can suck at even more. Even when the Met’s scored a tying run in the 8th, it was on Gary Sheffield hitting the weakest, softest, most surrenderous seeing-eye grounder you ever saw.

You wanted to award both teams with losses.  And maybe give the Mets 2 or 3 losses, if not more.

But that’s the way baseball goes sometimes, and as professional ballplayers, these guys will have to block it all out and come back strong tomorrow.

“Don’t feel bad, guys,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre deadpanned to his shockingly victorious team in the clubhouse after the game. “Tomorrow we’ll beat them.”

I can’t speak for Mets fans everywhere and I’m not going to even try. There are far too many opinions and emotions, each to numerous degrees, for me to oversimplify it all. I can only speak for myself and that’s what I’m going to do. Because I need to get over it. The playoffs are starting and I’m a fan of the game first and foremost. My love for the New York Mets is secondary in comparison although I do forget that sometimes. So if I am going to be able to enjoy October – with or without Dane Cook (but hopefully without) – I need to get over most of the negatives that are going through my mind.

I went to three of the last four games at Shea. I was there on Thursday, Saturday, and yes, I was there yesterday. So let me explain everything in chronological order. I’ll write posts for each of the last three games for entertainment, therapy, and reminiscence.

I’ll begin with Thursday night’s game against the Cubs, which turned into my favorite Met game that I ever attended. And I warn you – this is a long one.

My seats were down at the field level. Section 103, box J, seats 3 and 4. It was the first time all year that I sat so close to the field. Before the first pitch, I was sitting alone in my seat (my brother would be coming later), trying to take it all in. The Mets were making their way to the outfield grass on the first base side, just beyond where the green met the infield dirt. First, it was rookie Daniel Murphy. Then journeyman Ramon Martinez, followed by Ryan Church, Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Delgado. I forgot how old I was and giddily watched them conduct their pre-game warm-ups right in front of me.

Then a group came and sat down in the box to my right. Cubs fans. A couple in the box to my left. More Cubs fans. And as I would soon find out, I was seated amidst what was possibly the most apathetic group of “Mets fans” the city had to offer. And those few that did express any emotion whatsoever simply berated the players for underachieving. Then I looked around the stadium as sprinkles of rain became visible in the lights above the upper deck. It wasn’t near full. The Mets were in a tight race for the playoffs. Four games left in the season. Four games left at Shea. And we couldn’t fill the stadium. I was, in all honesty, embarrassed, but for what I couldn’t explain. Were there so few Mets fans in New York? Were they unwilling to sit through some rain to cheer on their guys? Had the team pushed ticket prices so high that devotees couldn’t afford them? For whatever reason, we were at around 70% capacity.

But as these thoughts were passing through, Pedro Martinez took the mound. And while I cheered on as he threw his warm-ups, I knew we were in for a rough night. A lot of Met fans consider the Pedro Martinez signing to be an overall success. They say that Pedro brought a sense of “respectability” to the organization, and that thanks to him, other free agents were more willing to come play for the Mets. I’m not one of those people. Carlos Beltran did not become a Met because of Pedro Martinez. He came to Queens because that’s where the money was. And none of the other key players on the team signed as free agents. They were either drafted or acquired in a trade. What we got instead was one good year of Pedro out of the four-year contract. And it has been painful to watch his total decline. Read the rest of this entry »

Most things are looking up for the Metropolitans these days. By reeling off 10 wins in a row recently, the Mets have gotten themselves back into the thick of the NL East race. Carlos Delgado has rediscovered his stroke after a horrid start, the emergence of Mike Pelfrey and the re-emergence of Oliver Perez has solidified the rotation, and the bullpen is performing much better under new pitching coach Dan Warthen and the more adept bullpen management of new manager Jerry Manuel.

But the one place the Mets still have a gaping hole is in the outfield, where scrapheap find Fernando Tatis is manning right field and bench-player-at-best Endy Chavez has been pressed into fulltime service in left. This unfortunate situation has arisen due to the ailments of Moises Alou (which should have been foreseen), and the continuing concussion woes of Ryan Church (which the Mets badly exacerbated by rushing him back).

But regardless of the cause of the situation, something needs to be done, as the Mets can ill afford to miss out on offensive production from crucial corner spots in such a tight three-way race in the East. While it’s true that Church may eventually come back (possibly as soon as next week), and that Tatis may keep up his strong hitting (Alou on the other hand, is done for the year), the Mets can not afford to gamble on both of those things happening, and should go out and acquire a corner outfielder before the deadline.

Fortunately for the Mets, several of those appear to be available.

- What They Need Index -

The week six results for the UmpBump fantasy league are in. Time for quick look at who’s performing and who isn’t!

Sarah: This was a terrible week for the Somerville Green Sox. What sort of terrible? Well, my one save was taken away after the official scorer realized he’d made a mistake, making me the only one in the UmpBump league to finish the week without a single save. And then Vernon Wells, he of the 5 homers and 24 RBI, broke his wrist. That’s the sort of week it was. That said, my team did not play badly (except for a truly abysmal Saturday when they racked up the o-fers like they were on clearance). And in fact, of the 11 other teams in our league, there are only three who would have beaten me this week and only one that would have really kicked my ass. Unfortunately, that’s the team I was playing. After a week of intense back and forth, my men ultimately fell like fall leaves before the one-man onslaught that is Lance Berkman. (Seriously, a .741 OBP for the week? 25 bases? Two homers and two steals? Who can compete with that??) I fell from No. 3 in our league back to the five-slot. I finally admitted that Yovani Gallardo was not coming back this season, that I could never truly trust Kyle Lohse, and that Mark Mulder (still on the DL) was not going to solve my problems. I dropped all of them and picked up Dana Eveland, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Homer Bailey (call him up already!). Hot: Ryan Braun, Ian Kinsler, Andy Pettitte (for now, anyway) Not: Eric Gagne (I’m, like, soooo surprised), Johnny Cueto (tons of K’s, sky-high ERA—why?! WHY?!).

Alejandro: I cannot be stopped. I’m on a roll. Watch out. Actually, I’m not tearing it up exactly, but I did have a convincing 8-3 win over Pirates in ‘08!. I won 5 offensive categories and tied in the sixth, and I have to thank my superb GM skills for picking up Dan Uggla on waivers. I could use better pitching, as I only collected 2 wins (though I did rack up 4 saves), so I’m taking a gamble on Vicente Padilla, who’s 5-2 with a 3.02 ERA. I also rid myself of the disaster that is Kevin Millwood. I am now 1 game under .500. Next stop, league leader. Hot: Dan Uggla, Alex Gordon, Carlos Lee, Emil Brown (is he for real?), Josh Beckett, Tim Lincecum (man crush!). Not: Dustin Pedroia (trade anyone?), Fred Lewis (what was I thinking?), Gavin Floyd (but I can’t give up on him yet!), Kevin Milwood (DROPPED).

Paul: So ElDuquesInjuryReport keeps on truckin’. But I can’t seem to shake off Scott’s Utley’s Firm Quads, who’s only two games behind me in the standings. While it’s way too early in the season to be worried about much of anything (except for a Jorge Sosa appearance in a close and late game), I’m already wondering if this is going to be a tight race all year. As far as my roster is concerned, I had two tough decisions to make. With the respective returns of Shane Victorino and Scott Kazmir from the DL, I had to drop a pitcher and a position player. The decision on the pitching front wasn’t so difficult, since it’s becoming more and more apparent that there’s something wrong with Jeremy Bonderman. His strikeouts have plummeted and his walks have skyrocketed. So he’s out. But I spent a good three days mulling over whether or not I should keep Victorino or Ryan Church. Is Church for real? Or is this just a case of a guy who’s playing way over his head? Ultimately, I decided to just let the historical numbers tell me what to do, and let Church go. He then proceeds to crank out three dingers. And is now on Scott’s team. Awesome. Hot: The Greek God of Walks (5 HRs! 10 RBIs! 30TBs!), Ted Lilly, C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee. Not: Jhonny Peralta, Brian Roberts, Andy Sonnanstine.

Coley: Another week, another loss. At least this one was close. One more run and one more HR and we would have tied. Oh well. The good news is I was able to snag Milton Bradley as a free agent. Anytime you can add a guy with a .424 OBP for free, that’s a good day. I also picked up Guillermo Mota, in the hope that he becomes Milwaukee’s regular closer. After yesterday’s Soloman Torres implosion, I feel good about Mota’s chances. Hot: Josh Hamilton, Scott Rolen, Milton Bradley, Dice-K. Not: Jered Weaver, Brett Myers, Melky Cabrera.

According to this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog, the Milwaukee Brewers have designated OFer Kevin Mench for assignment to make room for Salomon Torres. As a result, the Brewers now have ten days to either trade him or release him outright.

No matter which way the Brew Crew goes, I can’t imagine that Mench will be without a team for very long. He’s the perfect platoon guy who crushes left-handed pitching. Since 2005, Mench has an OPS of .919 against southpaws over 400 ABs, while slugging .558. Needless to say, those are some very useful numbers, and the Mets recently traded for a guy who’s the exact opposite.

Newly acquired Ryan Church has performed very well over his career against righties, posting an OPS of .856 against them (but only a .742 against lefties). If you combine two outfielders – one who is above average against lefties and another who is above average against righties – what do you get, kids? Why, a position covered by an above-average hitter, of course!

But as with everything else, it’s simply not that easy. If the Mets feel that Mench (as the righty in a platoon) is worth what he made in arbitration last year ($3.4 million), then they may as well offer up a player to be named later to acquire him. If they take a wait-and-see approach and hope he hits the open market, it’s unlikely that Mench would sign with a team that can’t guarantee him 400 ABs, so a trade seems to be the only way to go.

If the Mets decide to go this route and are successful, they could possibly end up with a combo capable of OPSing around .850, which is roughly what you can expect out of far more recognizable names such as Nick Swisher, Bobby Abreu, and Alex Rios. Not bad, right?

I did not see this one coming. Not by a long shot.

It’s currently being reported that the New York Mets have dealt OF prospect and legendary rapper Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals in exchange for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church.

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Milledge has been dealt. His name had been bandied about in many trade rumors, often involving the Oakland A’s (either for Joe Blanton or as part of a package for Danny Haren). Now I have no inside knowledge of the Mets brass’ collective thought process, but to me this signals that Billy Beane had either soured on Milledge or was never as interested as reporters thought. If the Mets had a shot to upgrade their starting pitching via Oakland by trading Milledge, one would have to assume that Omar Minaya would have saved this bullet for the right time. Instead, Milledge is going to Washington where he should see a lot of playing time. Most scouts seem to still view him as an above-average outfielder in the future, if not future All-Star.

So why did the Mets do it?

First off, there’s something else here. In the last week or so, the Mets acquired three catchers – they resigned Ramon Castro to a two-year deal, traded for Johnny Estrada, and have now also acquired Schneider. Unless they’re planning on employing the first ever catching (righty-switch-lefty) trio, they most likely will be looking to deal one of the three.

But the bigger piece here is Ryan Church. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I actually like Church. Despite playing in a massive pitcher’s park, he still managed to attain a .813 OPS in 2007. In fact, he slugged over .500 away from RFK. I don’t expect his numbers to get that much better since Shea is just as much a pitcher’s park. But what he does offer the Mets lineup is the lefty hitter they’ve been lacking since letting Shawn Green hit the market. Church should slot in as the #2, 7 or 8 hitter in the Mets lineup (I’m not much of a fan of the idea of Luis Castillo in the second spot). While he had a .349 OBP in 2007, he performed better in that department in ‘05 and ‘06, so I expect him to bounce back into the .360 OBP level, which should be good enough to hit near the top of the order. Plus, he has much more pop than Castillo (who doesn’t?). Church should improve the Mets offense in the short term. Defensively, he’s nothing special, but he isn’t bad either. While he played mostly in left in Washington, he’ll most likely be a RFer for the Mets.

Overall, I think it’s pretty ballsy of Omar Minaya to trade Milledge to a team within his own division. Mets fans will get to see L-Millz 18 times in the 2008 regular season wearing that Nationals uniform and they’ll judge for themselves if he ever was going to be a star. I’m pretty confident that this (assuming that trading Milledge for good pitching was simply not an available option) improves the Mets chances in 2008. But we’ll all have to wait and see to know if this trade is a big mistake.

P.S: I expect the fans of Flushing to immediately want to burn Minaya for this deal. The press and blogs have talked SO MANY times about dealing Milledge for pitching that I think lots of people will look at this trade and think that Minaya took Church/Schneider over someone like Haren or Johan Santana. Me? I’m pretty sure that had such a possibility existed, Omar would have never looked in Washington’s direction.

UPDATE: Well, not really an “update”, but a clarification – I was just re-reading this and I think it comes off sounding a bit too positive from the Mets’ perspective. So instead of writing this over again, I’m just going to add that I’m not exactly thrilled with this trade. It’s not as bad as it seems on the surface, but it’s definitely not good. Just wanted to point this out.

Via Mudville.

Colorado’s Rookie League team in Casper, Wyoming, has changed its name.

The Casper Rockies are now the Casper Ghosts.

If you’re worried that Casper, who is a friendly ghost, isn’t tough enough to instill fear in opponents, don’t. The team has placed menacing looking ghosts on its caps. And better yet, the ghost emblems glow in the dark. Truly awesome.

I’m not sure how I feel about the Casper name change. But I suppose there are some towns that just demand certain names (see: Macon Whoopee). The ghosts were, I suspect, inevitable. Are the Butte (Idaho) Pirates next?