Ho-hum....another day and more baseless claims.

Mets vs. Phillies vs. Marlins

Len from Manhattan: And Delgado vs. Howard is closer than you think, no?

SportsNation Jayson Stark: (1:18 PM ET ) How is Delgado/Howard closer than I think? We're talking a 30-RBI difference (and 11 homers). And nearly an 80 point difference in hitting with RISP. Sorry, Len. Not seeing that one.

Sometimes something so painful has to be written. No matter how much you want to resist the urge, there is simply no other recourse.

Carlos Delgado has an OPS+ of 116 while Ryan Howard has an OPS+ of 113. Now, 10 out of 10 sane individuals would take Howard over Delgado no matter what the numbers suggest, but if you are scrubbing the teams against each other at this current juncture, then it would not be fair to be so dismissive of Delgado.

Furthermore, Howard's Warp1 is 2.7 while Delgado's is 3.3. Win Shares? Delgado has 9 and Howard has 12. While you can probably construct an argument for either side, I would just say both have been extremely disappointing and have been equally as valuable (or equally as bad). By my count, the Mets would win or push at all positions in the infield with the exception of second base.

Regardless, Stark points out the fact that the Mets have been outscored by the Phillies....but they were outscored by a whole eleven runs during the year. Whoooopeeeee! If you take away both team's home parks which are drastically different, the Mets have scored 271 runs in 53 games while the Phillies scored 248 runs in 49 games.

The notion that the Phillies are much better than the Mets offensively is completely and utterly ridiculous. This falsity that keeps getting perpetuated must end! The Mets rotation is vastly better while the Phillies bullpen can certainly mow down opposing batters more efficiently than the Mets bullpen, but we are talking about one component that is better than the Mets out of the big three components.

The teams might not be all that far off in terms of talent if you assume nothing from Pedro and Church, but at least the Mets have more room for growth and starting pitching on their side. I am simply not buying much growth for the Phillies and I'm not getting giddy over their offense which is more of a show of power than real substance. Side with the better offense and the rotation which is the Mets barring a disaster.

* * *

Mr. Billy Wags with arm trouble is a big deal. Very big.

Joe Blanton is facing the Mets tonight and nothing would be more deflating than the Mets pounding the new Philly acquisition that has come to help stabalize the rotation.

10 things to know about Joe!!!!

1. Blanton's wife, LeeAndra, is a die-hard fan. According to his blog on MLB.com, called "Big Joe's Bluegrass Blog," his wife has yet to miss a start, home or away. "She's a trooper, for sure," he wrote. "She pretty much goes on every trip with me - even though she's not crazy about flying." That's love.

Love or trust issues? We all know what happens on the road...

10. The Mets are the perfect team for Blanton's debut with the Phillies. He hasn't given up a run in 15 career innings against the Mets.

That just means the Mets are due.

Sugary...

"Everything you want to accomplish is right there in front of us," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "We just have to go out there and grab it."

The Mets don't neeeeed Pedro. It would be nice if he can be league average pitcher, but he is their #5 right now. The Mets season does not hinge on their #5.

Here is why you don't give 36 year old catchers big contracts.

"That's the biggest thing," he said. "I don't want to miss two years. I'm already flustered with this one because I haven't been 100 percent and I've been trying to play through a lot of pain."

The Mets have certainly changed how people perceive this team really quickly...

Carlos Delgado... Humanitarian, scholar, and all around good guy.

Peter Gammons is a bit overdramatic at times.

Some like to blame Carlos Delgado for not being Thurman Munson. Delgado will never be a baseball evangelist, just a fair, socially responsible man who never self-promotes. Recently, he apologized to Billy Wagner for Wagner's being left in a media storm (even though a family emergency forced Delgado to leave the park), he helped Randolph and Rick Peterson guide Ramon Castro through an experience with a new pitcher, and he pulled Reyes aside on the field during a pitching change to exact his focus. But somehow Delgado's bat speed and character have become blurred lines in the case of a very decent man.

Really? People blame him for not being Thurman Munson? He never did anything redeeming for this team? No one thinks he is a decent man? Strange stuff. What I really hate is when baseball writers blur some line between humanity and baseball skills. If I had a kid, I would let Carlos Delgado babysit it and I wouldn't even call in to check.

However, what does that have to do with baseball? What does him being an all around swell guy do for him being a run product at first base and not contributing negative value? He has a .215/.298/.387 line and though May has been better, it is still pretty damn bad. An 81 OPS+ and a .3 WARP is terrible. Just terrible.

The Mets are struggling and something needs to happen. This is not about charity and respecting that Carlos Delgado was a borderline Hall of Famer for his service in Toronto and being a man who stands by his convictions. This is about keeping a $140 million team from becoming a complete disaster.

Let us not confuse why Met fans are over Carlos Delgado. When things are going bad, you look at ways to fix your team and using Delgado in different manner is a place to start or getting someone to share a significant amount of playing time would be another. Cutting him out of the picture might help, but there are a few guys who could be kicked off before he does so for now, I will not call for him to be cut. From Buster:

Scott Hatteberg was cut loose to make room for Bruce on the roster, and first baseman Joey Votto was sorry to see Hatteberg go. Heard this: The Mets would like Hatteberg, but they'll try to go after him if and when he clears waivers, so they don't have to pay him his full salary.

Scott has been bad in limited time this year, but was fairly productive in '06 and '07. Though older than Delagdo, he seems to have aged better and would be a bigger contributer to this team in 2008.

* * *

It is early, but you have to think that Jesus Flores stands a good chance to be one of the top five catchers in the league when you factor in offense and defense in a few years. I do not blame Omar because he was an A-ball catcher, but that hardly lessens my disappointment.

Chase Utley has 1,000,000 homers this year. His home road splits are nuts, but overall, the homers numbers overall for the Phillies are basically the same home and away. 

What is that sound? Brian Bannister and his 6.00+ ERA in May coming back down to planet Earth.

Pedro Martinez looked decent again A-ballers, but he was beaten by uber prospect David Price.

Wallace Matthews trying to write something positive?

But what the Mets did Wednesday night happens about as often as Jay Horwitz wears an orange blazer to work or Luis Castillo hits a baseball out of the park. Both happened Wednesday night, and consequently, for only the second time in 25 attempts, the Mets won a game they were trailing after seven innings. For the first time all season, they won a game they were trailing after eight. And for the one of the few times all season, they actually left the field looking like a team that cares about winning and cares about each other.

He also ties in some comedic relief into his article...

The end almost, but not quite, erased the memory of what had happened so many hours before. First, the Mets announced that Ryan Church would not play again until he regains his mental focus, a casualty of his second concussion of the young season.

Unfortunately, they could not make the same announcement about Perez, the cause of whose loss of focus is as yet undiagnosed. All the Mets know is that it is a persistent, even chronic condition, immune to all known forms of treatment and liable to recur at any time.

Baseball was better off letting Cuban buy the Pirates since the Cubbies do not need a shot in the arm, but I will take it.

I agree with the Mets course of action here...

With Pedro Martinez expected to start next week in San Francisco, the Mets are considering a plan that would keep Mike Pelfrey in the rotation, shift Claudio Vargas to the bullpen and demote reliever Carlos Muniz. The front office is worried about losing Vargas if they expose him to waivers, but also reluctant to demote Pelfrey, believing it would be best if he continues to develop at the major-league level.

While on the topic of Carlos Delgado, it seems Willie is on board. Hopefully Willie can make these little tweaks to maximize this team and start turning this thing around.

The surprise teams this year are young and exciting while the disappointing Mets still look like the old recycled product sent out in the past.

If the Mets do not step it up and pay out the nose for the best prospects left on the board during this upcoming draft, I will be angry. Not that me being angry matters or will help anything, but I will be angry.

Getting Late Early

Oh, it is getting ugly.

In balance, this was a good day for the tattered relationship between the Mets and their fans. But because it was played in the cauldron of coiled anger and hatred that Shea has become, it had its ups and downs.

Most of them centered on Carlos Delgado. They booed when his name was announced as a member of the starting lineup. They cheered after his first home run. They asked for a curtain call after his second, and he refused. Some of them booed then, but most seemed to understand.

There's a lot of work to do here. The Mets and their fans are going to spend this season in couples counseling, and both sides are going to have to do their part. The team can help by grinding out workmanlike wins like the ones they got the past two days -- against the Braves, with clutch hits, solid defense and good late-inning relief work. The fans could help by occasionally letting the team know, with the odd "Let's Go Mets" chant or even an unrequited demand for a curtain call, that they still do want to see them do well.

It is never a good scene when the fans and players are at odds. It has happened with Beltran before when he refused curtain calls and it is happening now and I would tend to think Delgado is not alone in his displeasure with the fans. Sure, the Mets have been disappointing so far, but they are still in 2nd place and in striking distance of first place.

Some guys seem to think that a .500 team 25 games into the season is an egregious thing. Give it time. If they are still wallowing around .500 and looking average in another month, then maybe it is clear some things need changing.

One person familiar with Fred and Jeff Wilpon's philosophy says "the honeymoon is over" for both the manager and general manager. That means the Mets have to do more than simply remain competitive with a mediocre field in the National League. With a $140 million payroll, the Mets should be good enough to run away from the rest of the East; that's the consensus from the franchise's highest echelons. That's why a win over the Braves was symbolically important to the Mets, because it reminded everyone in the clubhouse what efficient baseball feels like.

They have allowed the 9th fewest runs as a team in the bigs and are 6th in the NL. They have the10th best run differential in the big leagues and the 7th best run differential in the NL. The Mets offense has been very disappointing, but Reyes got off to a slow start and I think that aspect of the Mets has some significant room for growth.

My perfect season would go something like this:

1) Mets continue to be average
2) Willie gets fired after 50 games
3) Oberkefell or Carters takes over
4) Mets play .600 ball thereafter with Alou in the lineup and Pedro in the rotation

I think the fans need to throttle back and put things in perspective a bit. The last thing any Met fans need is the players not liking the fans and having some bad blood. I get that people are upset because of some high expectations that are not getting fulfilled, but did I miss where the Mets stunk it up completely? I think Delgado and Heilman have flat out sucked, but I think drawing the ire of the fans this early and in this manner is a bit ridiculous.

Delgado could have tried to repair the situation by acknowledging the crowd, but he did not and I think that is a mistake. Also, he might want to start hitting better if he wants the spotlight taken off of him or Willie really just needs to burry him in the 7th spot until he proves Sunday was not a fluke. Regardless of how shitty Delgado is playing, booing a 2nd place team should not get done. I think this divide between the fans and the team is going to wider unless the Mets go on a tear soon which does not seem likely right now. We will know things have gotten bad if Wright stops being Sugary about the topic and thankfully we are not there yet....the operative word there is yet.

* * *

John Smoltz is having some issues.

If 20 strikeouts in his previous two starts seduced some into thinking John Smoltz might go on like this forever, Sunday served as a reminder that it can't.

Even the bearded Braves icon can't ignore pain and keep mowing down hitters in perpetuity. Now he'll have his sore shoulder checked to see how bad the wear and tear has become and whether he needs to take some more time off.

He was so good prior to Sunday that some of the fears about this shoulder had been allayed, but the concerns are back. If the Braves are going to have any shot, they need him to be healthy.

We all should just forget that Alou exists.

Ooooooo boy.

The central question: Do the Giants continue to let Barry Zito get his brains beaten every time he takes the mound, or do they take what certainly will be an embarrassing public-relations hit and remove their $126 million pitcher from the rotation and try to get him right?

.336 BAA, 1.95 WHIP, 7.53 ERA, 3.45 k/9, and .73 k/bb. That could of been the Mets $75 million dollar mistake so everyone take a deep breath and thank the baseball gods.

The Phillies #2 is not looking like a #2.

Normally, the righthander's fastball tops out in the low-to-mid 90s. For most of the season, including yesterday's loss, it hasn't cracked 89.

"I haven't seen a fastball," Manuel said. "It topped out today at 89. Myers is usually 92-95, somewhere in there. I haven't seen the fastball since the start of the season."

His 5.11 ERA is ugly.

Sure Delgado had some spin, but he has been around for a while.

But Delgado spoke with David Wright, wandered over and sat down next to Carlos Beltran, leaving the fans hanging until they sat down, too. So even on a day that was his best of the season and a win that the team needed, the questions still hung in the air – where was this tenuous relationship headed?

"First, it surprised me," Delgado said. "Is it for me? What did I do? The way I look at it, fans here are passionate. Sometimes you never know what they're going to do. You hit a home run [and] you have respect for the game. You shake hands with your friends. You don't want to show anybody up. The game goes on. That's the way I felt. I hit a solo home run in the seventh inning. We had a two-run lead and went to a three-run lead. Yeah, it's a big run, but what are you going to do?"

He gets the idea of a curtain call and that is not showing anyone up. That is between you and the fans. Nice try, but I ain't buying what you are selling.

Delgado insisted afterward this was no statement. But it was the strongest one yet to define this current reality: Met fans don't like this team too much and the players don't like the fans, either. If there are more days like yesterday and more weekends such as this one, when the Mets recover from a Friday loss to beat co-aces Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, perhaps the relationship can heal.

Winning a lot heals all, but the players will probably not forget.

"To some extent it is overdone," Billy Wagner said of the disapproval at Shea that comes quickly and loud. He added, "I think it gets a little malicious with no reason for us."

As Sherman said, at the first sign of trouble, the booing commences. It could be in the first inning and it could be when the team is winning in the fifth. However, when there is a sniff of some trouble, you can be sure that that the fans will turn.

Ryan Church can flash the leather.

Mike Carp is enjoying a nice rebound season.

"It's been fun. I've always had a rough time in April since I signed," said Carp, a ninth-round pick out of Lakewood (Calif.) High in 2004 who had a .232 average during the opening month of his first three full pro seasons. "This year I wanted to prove to the Mets last year was a fluke."

He has been hitting lefties just as well as he is hitting righties, which is a great sign. The six homers he has hit this season in 24 games is more than half of what he hit in 98 games last season and it seems that he is back on track.

The Downfall of the Big Guy

Carlos Delgado is batting .217/.245/.543 this month and the worst thing is this is not even his worst month. He has a .188/.262/.260 line in April and has only been Delgado-like in May. Despite all of that, he has only spent 33 at-bats out of the four hole and only 8 at-bats lower than the fifth spot. When Moises gets back, Delgado should honestly be dropped down to 7th in the order.There is enough time he could recover to put up decent numbers this month and finish with a .260/.330/.500 line on the season, but he just does not seem like he is close to turning it around.

I still do not believe he is this bad, but it should noted that in 2006 he only had one month at these levels when he put up a .208/.300/.406 line in May and no full months in '05 approaching those levels. It may bring comfort to know that he did put up a .194/.313/.344 line in May of '04 and a .207/.286/.488 line in April of '04. It is possible he still finishes the year with respectable numbers that approach 2004 and 2006 numbers, but he is not instilling much confidence in many people these days. He simply does not look like he is having any bad luck or anything like that contributing to his atrocious start.

He is on pace to hit 25+ homers and 100+ RBIs, but it is hollow 25+ homers and a 100+ RBIs. He has a .197 batting average with runners in scoring position and has 3.7 runs created per game which is down from 7.0, 9.3, and 7.3 from the past three years. In fact, check out the stats for when him when the Mets need their big guys to step up. He is struggling in close and late (.219 BA), runners on (.220 BA), runners in scoring position (.197), and man on 3rd less than two outs (.133). If he is still struggling when Alou comes back, he simply must be slid down to 7th in the batting order if not 8th. This team is proving it does matter who bats where. The entire team will not be firing on all cylinders at every point in the season and having a 4th or 5th hitter with an OBP under .300 just is not going to cut it.

* * *

So we are finally here. Mets vs. Yankees in Yankee Stadium with both teams heading in completely opposite directions. If the Mets plan to have a shot this weekend at taking the series, they have to win tonight. What better piece of motivation than Roger Clemens. He could very well be the most hated pitcher in the bigs by the Met fan base and though the team has drastically changed since 2000, it should still be fresh in their minds.

On July 8, 2000, Piazza was beaned by a Clemens ball and knocked out. That event came a month after Piazza smacked a grand slam off of him during interleague play. Of course we cannot forget Clemens throwing the bat at Mike during the Subway Series and then saying it was the baseball, which didn't make sense either because you do not peg people with baseballs to record outs.

Today would be a good day for the Mets to wake up with a resounding win over the Yankees.

Mets Starting Pitching ERA as of Thursday Afternoon:

1  San Diego      3.38
2  Arizona        3.63
3  NY Mets        3.73
4  LA Dodgers     3.74
5  San Francisco  3.75
6  Chicago Cubs   3.78
7  Milwaukee      4.18
8  Houston        4.26
9  Pittsburgh     4.37
10 Colorado       4.47

1  San Diego      2.21
2  LA Dodgers     3.39
3  Atlanta        3.59
4  San Francisco  3.67
5  NY Mets        3.73
6  St. Louis      3.79
7  Milwaukee      3.83
8  Arizona        3.85
9  Washington     3.96
10 Chicago Cubs   4.09

Rick Peterson is very high on himself.

"I'm truly disguised as a pitching coach," Peterson said. "I know pitching inside and out, I've studied pitching my whole life, but probably my real interest is helping people untap human potential."

It's hard to argue with him.

"It's like if you walk in the kitchen and you've got all these marvelous ingredients laying on the counter, but you don't know how to put those ingredients together and make a gourmet recipe out of it," Peterson said. "I'm looking at these ingredients and I'm saying, 'Wow, this is not scrambled eggs. You've got something much better than this.'"

It would be nice if a website was devoted to simply following Peterson's analogies.

Wasn't he supposed to be the difference making in the NL East? The Phillies wouldn't really be that much better off (if at all) with him in the rotation.

I have a general rule of thumb that when you repeat something 100 times in a few seconds, there is something much deeper going on and you do not actually believe what you are saying.

"This is a test, gentlemen," Willie Randolph said after Wednesday's loss. "An early season test. An early season test."

Willie is trying to keep a cool head about this recent downturn in the Mets play, but at some point a slump becomes something more.

"I think for us we should be using that as motivation to play well, to kind of see where we're at," Billy Wagner said. "The way we've played over the last 12 games, people look at it different ways ... but good teams rise to the occasion and you play well. We haven't really shown we're a good team in this stretch."

Again, they are still going to win the NL East in my eyes, but some things about this team were exposed. The bullpen needs to get solved and the offensive forces in this lineup need to get healthy and gain some consistency.

The Incredible Dissapearing First Baseman

Is Carlos Delgado injured or is he healthy?

Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado has hit only three homers — four fewer than Damion Easley, who began the season as the team's backup second baseman. Delgado's slow offensive start might be related to the surgery he underwent on his right wrist last Oct. 23. "You never know how long a hand injury is going to take," one Mets official says.

Is it his wrist? Did he lose a bit of his bat speed? Is his batting eye way off? Is he having trouble in the bedroom? What is clear is that something is going on with Carlos Delgado. What is not clear is what it is. Delgado has been largely silent during this slump so it's not too obvious what is going on in his head.

But a .214/.294/.321 line with a .168 batting average against righties forty+ games into the season is disturbing. May has been better with Delgado putting up a .254/.342/.413 which is way better than the .188/.262/.260 line he put up in April and it also bears noting that he is still on pace for 91 RBIs, but at some point, people are going to get really concerned.

Delgado is a borderline Hall of Fame bat. He is also a below average fielder and with no offense and a sub-par defense, he is a not really adding much outside of veteran leadership, which Julio Franco provides plenty of. What if he is injured? Would he speak up? If he is injured, they need to let him heal. Put Green at first and let Endy and Carlos tear it up and play stupendous defense in the outfield. However, there enlies the problem. No one seems to know what the issue with Carlos Delgado is though people seem to think he is turning a corner. He was huge for this Met team last year and carried them at times while being a beast in the playoffs. As good as this team is, they need Carlos to be Carlos.

* * *

The Duque is on his way back and Jason Vargas will inevitably be the odd man out of the rotation.

Orlando Hernandez threw a simulated game in Port St. Lucie, Fla. on Sunday, throwing 72 pitches in five innings and coming through the session feeling fine. Hernandez is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in the next few days and could be slotted into the rotation for the series in Florida next weekend.

The Mets are still kicking some ass in the run differential department.

NY Mets         57
San Diego       32
Chicago Cubs    30
Milwaukee       22
Atlanta         21
LA Dodgers      17
Philadelphia     8
San Francisco    7
Houston         -4
Florida        -10
Cincinnati     -10
Arizona        -13
Pittsburgh     -31
Colorado       -57
St. Louis      -62
Washington     -63

Out of the bigs, only Boston has a bigger run differential and they seem to be running away with that category. The Cubbies seem to be the big surprise here being the only team with a losing record and a run differential in double digits and they are #3 in the NL overall. Lou Pinella might have a stroke before this season is over.

Phil Humber had another rough outing for New Orleans and gave up four earned runs in five innings to raise his ERA to 4.59. In fact, only three pitchers have an ERA under 4.50 on the Zephyrs and one is future Cy Young Award winning Jorge Sosa. The others are Mike Pelfrey after one start and Willie Collazo. Though the park factors say that New Orleans is a pitcher's park, I'm having a hard time believing that. I wouldn't be surprised to see Humber pitch better in the bigs than in the PCL.

Sammy Sosa is quietly putting up some nice power numbers and is on pace for 36 doubles, 36 homers, and a .507 SLG%. Not bad for a guy who has been out of baseball. What is bad is his .319 OBP but for $500,000, he's certainly earning his paycheck.

It looks like Big Z. is going to hit the market and you can be sure he'll fetch a ton of money even if he finishes with a 5.00 ERA.

The D-Rays have it down to Matt Wieters, Josh Vitters, and David Price. Only Price is a pitcher and with a team like the Devil Rays being desperate for pitching, it is beyond me how they can pass up a pitcher. Although, there have been statements made that Price may be the best pitcher in the draft, he is still not as refined as you would like from a college pitcher and will not rocket through the system for some quasi-immediate help. One has to wonder if Rick Porcello is the better choice for Tampa though he is further away from helping.

Griffey hit his 572nd homer on Monday. Just go back and look at what he did back in the 90's and his first season with the Reds. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer as is, but just imagine if he didn't get hurt? Easily a 3000 hit, 2000 RBI, 700 home candidate. He will get to 600 homers early next season and has an shot at 3000 hits still, but his career has gotten lost in the shuffle somewhat. He was hands down the best player in baseball for a long time.

Courtesy of DG...

Tattooed on the newest Marlin's buttocks is the phrase: "I (heart) Billy Koch." Koch, a former reliever who spent time with the Marlins, paid Miller $1,000 plus picked up the $80 tab from Mom's Tattoos in Dunedin before the 2004 season for the advertisement. Koch felt so bad for Miller's wife, Jessica, for "having to see it every day," that he gave Jessica an additional $500.

Ollie Ollie Ollie....what can you say? 3.00 K/BB, .202 BAA, 1.09 WHIP, etc. John Maine is on track for 100+ walks and Oliver Perez is on track for 58 this season. He looks to be official.