Now, Minaya saying this and actually adding parts are completely different things. But the fact is that this team has failed because of injuries mostly (and Luis Castillo dropping a pop-up) so it isn’t like they’re in a terrible position for next year. To be honest, I highly doubt the Mets will act on Minaya’s word, but still, it could happen.

I’m not a Mets fan, but I know some of our readers are. Mets fan or not, I’d love to hear someone justify this to me, or simply vent their frustration as one more problem with the Mets.

First, it is important to note that the Mets received cash in the deal, roughly $270,000 so the difference in the two player’s salaries is a non-factor. But what I see in this trade is a change of scenery for one player, Francouer, and then just moving a mediocre player in Ryan Church. Church isn’t a bad player by any means, but he’s 30-years old, so its not like he is going to start hitting his stride anytime soon. If you start Church everyday, you’re going to get a .270 hitter who hits 12-15 HRs. Fine, but not exactly a major contributor to a playoff contending team, and he wasn’t necessarily a key part to the Mets lineup.

On the other hand, we have the struggling Jeff Francouer. Through 82 games this season, Francouer is batting .250 with 5 HRs and is walking at an extremely poor 3% rate (roughly). He’s slugging just .352, and he is supposed to be a power hitter. No doubt, Francouer is having a rough time. But Francouer also has shown flashes of brilliance during his young career, hitting 29 homers in in his 2006 campaign at the age of 22. Francouer has always been seen as a guy with power, but one that will unquestionably strike out a lot. But that doesn’t mean that at his current age that he is done, or anything close to it. In trading for Francouer, the Mets picked up a high-upside guy. Granted, he could crash and burn, but the high power, high K rate formula does work from time to time, just take a look at Ryan Howard.

Really, this deal was about risk. The Braves picked up a basically a no-risk player and know exactly what they’re getting out of him. Considering the Braves are trying to figure out if they want to make a run, and don’t want Francouer to bring down the ship. The Mets on the other hand are struggling, and figured the move for Francouer probably wouldn’t hurt them, might help them this year, and has a pretty good chance to help them in the future. Sometimes rolling the dice pays off.

As soon as the question came up, the man on the show went on a way-over-the-top yell fest about how bad the Mets are. Note to man on show: firstly, you are not the first person to notice this, actually even David Wright was before you, and second, no one is arguing with you, so tone your voice down.

More importantly however is the fact that this dude said the Mets are literally a “AAA baseball team” that doesn’t have a chance in the world of making the playoffs. Oh wait I’m sorry, what AAA team does Johan Santana pitch for again? And since when did being 4.5 games out at the All-Star Break make a team have zero chance of making the playoffs.

Look, the Mets are playing terribly right now, but the entire team has been hit by the injury plague and they are only 4.5 games back. If they can inject some health back into the team, they’ll be right up there contending like they should be, so relax Mets fans, things are bad, but not that bad.

1. They did a Not Top 10 just for the Mets. I love Not Top 10s, but a one-team special is awesome, as long as it’s not the Red Sox. I love how the more and more pathetic the Mets get, the less confidence they are getting on that poll we have on the front page. It’s pretty representative actually. 5th place has received 3 votes.

2. Apparently in Finland they had the annual wife-carrying competition. Obviously. The winner won his wife’s weight in beer. The funniest part about this was the risk/reward scenario each man has to think about before choosing his perfect woman…

Update: Here’s the Not Top 10

Today, it got worse. Mets closer Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez started brawling with Yankees reliever Brian Bruney during batting practice, allegedly over comments Bruney made about the Mets loss on Friday. “It couldn’t happen to a better guy on the mound, either. He’s got a tired act,” Bruney said. The two relief pitchers had to be separated.

This is not what the Mets need. A team that already has put a lot of pressure on itself to win is making it even harder. And with J.J. Putz hurt, a K-Rod with volatile emotion is probably not what is the best thing for the Mets bullpen, something that fans are surely wary of after previous season’s collapses.

It would probably be good for the Mets to get some new blood in their clubhouse to shake things up, because right now, they do not look capable of making the playoffs. With Philadelphia and Atlanta both looking good, the Mets are going to have to step it up, and fast. Look for the Mets to make a play at Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny, though its unclear what they would trade in return.

And if things weren’t bad enough, the Mets lost today’s game 15-0 to the Yankees today. Oh, and did I mention that Johan Santana was pitching, and gave up nine runs? Things are looking dicey in Queens.

AL East

Current Leader: New York Yankees

Division Winner: Tampa Bay

The Rays are still my pick to win the AL East despite being back 5 games at the moment. Mariano Rivera’s age will stop the Yankees from winning a few games, which will be costly in the long run. The Rays need to pick someone up to enhance their bullpen, but David Price is only going to get better and better and so will the rest of the rotation. Jeff Niemann has proved fairly reliable and if Kazmir can recover from his injury and remember how to pitch well they will have an excellent rotation. I see Boston beating out New York for the wild card after they make a couple moves to get a better defensive shortstop (Jack Wilson?) and a hitter to replace Ortiz. Toronto will fall out of it. Their rookie pitchers will be good soon, but not yet, the flashes of brilliance we saw in the beginning were exactly that, flashes. Aaron Hill is for real though.

AL Central

Current Leader: Detroit

Division Winner: Detroit

Detroit is going to win this division by default. The Royals semi-hot start has dropped off, and probably won’t be reinvigorated until next season. The White Sox would have been contenders had they completed the deal for Peavy, but they didn’t, and I can’t see them recovering. The Twins are the only team that has a shot here I think, and it rests on Francisco Liriano’s left arm. If Liriano can be as great as he was a couple years ago, the Twins can challenge, though I still don’t know if they would catch the Tigers. Cleveland will do nothing except deal Carl Pavano to a team that will almost certainly regret it.

AL West

Current Leader: Texas

Division Winner: Los Angeles Angels

Yeah I know, I would rather have Texas win too, it would be nice to get some new blood into the playoffs. But unfortunately, the Angels are still a dangerous club. Kelvim Escobar just came back from injury and had a good first start. Not to mention the team was hurting without Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey. Once they get back their A-game, which they will, the Angels will pull away a little bit. Oakland’s young pitchers won’t be good enough, and the Mariners just aren’t good enough, even with Erik Bedard having a very good year.

NL East

Current Leader: Philadelphia

Division Winner: New York Mets

I really wanted to give it to Atlanta actually, and could see it happening too, but they will need luck on their side. The Nate McLouth trade definitely helps their cause though. The Mets just have too much talent, despite history working against them. The Phillies need to figure out their closer situation, and fast, because Brad Lidge is self-destructing and its getting ugly. I like the Fish and I think they have a lot of potential. I am going to make an early prediction that they win this division next year with Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Andrew Miller and Ricky Nolasco leading the way.

NL Central

Current Leader: Milwaukee

Division Winner: St. Louis

I actually already wrote about this division in a more in-depth post very recently, you can see it here.

NL West

Current Leader: Los Angeles Dodgers

Division Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

Really a no-brainer here. The Dodgers are playing great baseball, even without Manny Ramirez. Billingsley is pitching great and Juan Pierre is filling in very well, which means the Dodgers can use him in an upgraded role even when Ramirez returns. The rest of the division is floundering. Arizona is missing Webb, the Padres and Rockies don’t have the talent, and the Giants are recovering from last year, but it won’t be enough.