Night and day, huh?
After annihilating the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright last night, the Mets have an opportunity to kick up a nice streak. The pitching matchup will be the very same of the 20-inning game on April 17-Johan Santana vs. Jaime Garcia.
La Russa has opted to throw a rather weak lineup out against Santana. A win tonight, and a chance to go for a sweep at noon tomorrow, would be huge-the Cardinals just came off a hot streak and they are a good, competitive matchup for the Mets if New York wants to be a playoff team.
On the player personnel front, it seems Jason Bay might follow Rod Barajas onto the DL after sustaining a mild concussion. His 2010 reminds me more and more of Wright’s 2009 season.
The Mets have called up Mike Hessman, A.K.A. Crash Davis, the Minor League career home run leader. I’m not sure who will replace Bay-perhaps Justin Turner.
The Mets continue to look for buy-low relief pitching, perhaps someone like Chad Qualls. Unless they swoop out of nowhere to pluck Roy Oswalt (like the Angels did for Dan Haren), it’s unlikely that they will pick up a starter. Every team seems to be asking for far more value than their pitcher is worth-for example, the Cubs want a top prospect for Ted Lilly.
I still wouldn’t mind seeing Castillo and Perez dumped somewhere. Perez in particular, because I believe his presence may not sit well with other players. He is making a ton of money and is not a hard worker at all. Perhaps the Royals or Cubs will take one or both of the two; for Farnsworth and Jose Guillen or Carlos Zambrano. Francoeur won’t be traded due to the injury to Bay.
I still hold the belief that the Mets are a playoff contender with the current roster, but as I said earlier, they could really use some improvement.
