Tom Seaver Fan Club

The Mets shored up their offense and filled a huge hole by picking up Twins second baseman Luis Castillo.  The fleet footed, gold glover won’t give the team much pop but the Mets have plenty of big sticks so having a table setter like Castillo in the front part of the lineup is a big boost to the Mets.  In exchange for Castillo, the Mets gave up Drew Butera and Dustin Martin, both of whom are fringe prospects.  Of course this is a short term rental because Castillo hits the market after the season unless the Mets decide to lock him up. 

The Mets sit on a 3 1/2 game lead although it’s now over the Phillies and not the Braves.  The Braves just picked up Mark Teixeira and that gives them a bump as well.  All of a sudden, the NL East just got a whole lot more interesting.  Starting tomorrow, the NL East leader takes on the NL Central leader as the Mets go to Milwaukee to play the Brewers.  It’s Tom Glavine against Jeff Suppan in the opener.

If you look at the standings from a “games behind” standpoint ten games ago, you won’t have seen a lot of movement.  The Mets and Braves are both 6-4 in their last ten and neither the Phillies nor the Marlins have either made a run nor slid back either.  The good news is though, the Mets remain in first and while 2 1/2 games could disappear in a hurry, if they can put together a nice run, they could make it five or six games just as quickly.

Carlos Beltran is starting to heat up.  He has homeruns in his last three games and two hits in four of his last five.  And while his batting average is still hovering around .260, his OPS has peaked and it’s been three weeks since he had his current .831 mark.  Still, for Beltran to be worth the bucks, we need to see him up near .900 and hopefully he can continue his run and get there sooner rather then later.

John Maine is stuck on ten wins and he’s been roughed up his last two times out.  It’ll be interesting to see when the Mets make the playoffs (yes, when), who the starters will be.  You figure Glavine and El Duque are locks, and Pedro will be in there if healthy.  Then it’s down to Oliver Perez and John Maine and the nod may go to the veteran.  So John Maine could lead the team in wins, yet not be one of the four starters come playoff time.

Tom Glavine continues his march towards 300 wins but he got bombed his last time out.  Glavine’s been solid but at times inconsistent and hopefully he can iron some of that out over the next few weeks heading down the stretch.  He’ll be one of the guys we rely on down the stretch if things remain tight.

Carlos Delgado, despite the lack of homers, is having an excellent month of July.  His 1.023 OPS is almost .200 points more then his previous month high this year back in May and since June 30, his batting average has climbed 24 points and his OPS is up 63 points.  He’s another guy who has to heat up for us.

The Mets have an easy week coming up.  They finish up with the Dodgers today, then it’s three against the Pirates and three against the Nationals.  You’d have to hope the team would have an extra game or two lead by the end of that time although the Braves play a less then stellar Giants team to start the week.

The All Star Break is over with and while the Mets sit on top of the roost in the division, the Mets are going to have to be better in the second half.  The reason being is, the Braves and Phillies aren’t going away and there’s a good chance one or both of them are going to make a move soon to improve.  The only problem is, the Mets best bargaining chip has been a problem.  Lastings Milledge is probably the biggest talent the Mets have right now, he’s just been a pain in the you now what.  Now he’s coming back from an injury and after a good game at Double A, he’s proclaimed himself as being ready for the Mets.  Still, he’s a top notch talent and while I probably wouldn’t have wanted to see him go last year, he’s just been too difficutlt and he hasn’t even shown us much yet.

Still, a two game lead is a two game lead and the Mets have to keep things going.  The pitching has been spotty but it’s got the job done and the hitting has been good but not top notch like last year.  Pedro Martinez, the last I heard, was still on pace to be back in August and if he’s close to 100%, that will give the team a huge boost.

If there’s an MVP on the team, I’d have to pick up Jose Reyes.  He’s the man who drives the offense and while his power numbers are down (his .439 slugging is almost 50 points below last year’s mark), his strikeout to walk ratio is nothing short of phenomonal for a guy who, just two years ago walked just 27 times.  He’s walked more times then he struck out (47 to 46) and his .387 OBP would be a career high.  And he’s also on pace to steal 80-90 bases with all of the doubles and triples.  He’s become the leadoff hitter that everyone was hounding for him to be all of these years.  If he has one knock, it’s that his stolen base success rate isn’t as high as it’s been in year’s past but the fact that he’s being aggressive is worth something.

The best pitcher in the first half has to be John Maine.  At 10-4 and a team leading 2.71 ERA, Maine is showing he could take over as the staff ace.  Oliver Perez has also been a pleasant surprise and while Tom Glavine is just a touch above .500, he’s been a workhorse for the team with a team leading 115 2/3 innings.

The guy that needs to come around is Carlos Beltran.  Since a solid April, Beltran hasn’t hit above .240 in a month since with July being his worst month so far.  He does have a couple of weeks to turn that around though and it’d be nice to see that happen.

The Mets go up against the Reds for four games here after the break.  El Duque gets the start in the opener against Bronson Arroyo and tis is a series that the Mets should be win.  The Reds are still at the bottom of the National League heap and the Mets have to make sure they stay there.