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That's not the argument. Can you deny Ibanez will easily be in the top 5 for MVP voting by the end of the year? We could have had that on our team, but that went to our biggest rival.

Jason Bay could provide some stability in the corner outfield spot. I'm not sure what his asking price will be and I have a feeling Boston will overwhelm him before he can hit the market. But he'd be the most reasonable fit.

I think Ibanez would have been realistic had we not had the false sense of comfort in Murphy playing LF. Him going to the Phils was a huge shift in the balance of power. We've been in a year long platoon in left while the Phillies might have the league's MVP there.

A few bitter recollections about the game: The non roughing call on Polamalu when he threw Barber when he was way out of bounds. The roughing call the Giants were on the wrong side on third or forth down, I forgot which. Pitt didn't punt the whole game right? Amani's non PI call.

If we could attain Reyes' heir in the trade would you consider it then? Think about it. A Future ace. A solid SS. And a future 1b slugger. Would you do that? It'd be tough to at least not consider.

It's the wind currents. Look at how many balls hit softly are landing in the first or second rows of of the stands. You could be partially right but it's obvious the ball is carrying at an unnatural rate.

I saw it. I can't believe how bad it actually has gotten. Right on the day after the Phils rack up 22 too.

I would keep guys like Cora who could be valuable if we resurrect in 2010. Sheff is really the only guy I would trade that would warrant at least something. I don't know what we're going to do this off-season. Our farm sucks, so we need to start stockpiling our draft picks. By doing that we can't keep signing prized free agents. I just want this team to go in a direction. And yes, I would listen to offers for Reyes. I wouldn't look to trade him but if we can get some serious value in return Omar should consider it.

Agreed. The only farmhand we got lucky with was Omir and that probably won't even last the rest of the year. Awful. At least you had '86

That's a bad comparison Jim. Maddon is living in manager heaven right now. A small market, some vets, LOTS of young talent that can develop without being in the glare of a harsh media. If Joe was in this situation he'd look a lot worse right now. BTW if it wasn't for a recent winning streak the Mets and Rays would be around the same record, so with a lot more talent and less pressure Maddon really isn't doing that good a job as you think. I'm just tired of talking about the manager. It's up to the players.

Seattle? They're quietly at .500

The only deal I'd shed an eye to is the one the A's are allegedly looking for in Holliday. A proven OF and a prospect like the Teixera deal last year. Beane is supposedly a fan of Church and maybe would like a Dillon Gee type. That's really the only headline deal I'd consider at this point. Otherwise I'm with you, I don't want to mortgage the future either.

The second he feels he can pitch again he should be thrown in the pen. His frame is too light to be a 180+ innings guy a year. He does have swing and miss stuff and does know what he's doing. I think he could be valuable in the pen. At least more so than 4 months of SP during the regular season.

Chris Perez was the Cards top pitching prospect and that's what it took to get him. Would you have traded Parnell and another prospect for him?

We're gonna have to start aquiring some fresh arms in the pen. Especially a lefty.

I'm worried that we're not gonna get Reyes back. For some reason I have a bad feeling he'll keep getting setbacks until he has to be shut down completely. Like wagner last year.

I love Victor Martinez.

Yeah. If we had a bopper in the middle of the lineup no one would care that Wright's power numbers were down. They'd probably be complimenting about how he's improved as an overall ball player and adjusted his game to the park he'll be playing in for the rest of his career. I'm going to be a broken record on this. Matt Holliday is the perfect antidote. We desperately need a right handed hitter that can put the ball over the fence any given at bat. I know his numbers aren't exactly staggering, but he's more of a threat than any other guy we have. Any thumpers out there that will be FAs in 2009-10?

I disagree. I don't think it's about playing good baseball anymore because a third of our daily starters right now will not be starting in October if we are to get that far. We have to muster up as many wins as possible, however they may come, and hope we're within 4-5 games of the WC and/or division by August.

Yet he's leading the league in hitting, has solid RBI numbers with nothing batting in front of him, and has 17 SBs. He's fine. God forbid we get some adequate support from him then his numbers would be better.

Putz was the one they should have made stay home. This whole thing pisses me off more and more.

I just think there is too much negativity surrounding this team right now. The next big losing streak could be a damning one and eventually break the squad down. I think this negativity gets alleviated by one thing: a big trade. Beane was supposed to be a big Church fan. Maybe he looks at Dillon Gee highly. And a young, raw prospect that's a couple years away but could be special. Could that get a Holliday deal done? Not sure, but I really hope Omar looks into making that happen. A power right handed hitting bat is what the Mets need. I think today proves this game is all about starting pitching. If Nieve got off to a slow start and gave up a few runs, do the Mets put together all these solid rallies today? Or do they press knowing they are trailing with a minor league pitcher against a team with a tough lineup in a little league park? Nieve was a godsend today in a game that was as big as any for an interleague battle in June.

After two years of failure even if the Mets knew the benefits would last one year they still had to give it a shot. With a relatively thin system and the third oldest team in the league I just can't believe we weren't really interested in him.

We can't score runs late it doesn't matter. Forget manny why didn't we sign this guy? Daniel Murphy that's why. We thought we were set with this guy in left.

This game is pissing me off tonight