If you want story lines and baseball news, this upcoming weekend should fill that void in your life. The first major story is of course the subway series as the Mets take on the Yankees in Citi Field and try to avenge themselves after that 15-0 loss against the Yanks earlier this month. The Mets just took 3 of 4 from the Cards, who play good baseball, and they now have to do it again against the Yanks who are also playing well. If that isn't enough New York Baseball, you could go to the Cyclones game on Sunday and see Oliver Perez pitch a rehab game. Speaking of the Cyclones, if you are in Maryland, you go on Saturday in Aberdeen (really strange how they split up the games this weekend in terms of locations) and see John Maine pitch in his rehab game. I wonder if he will get any special attention in Aberdeen because he was an Oriole prospect before making his way to the Mets.

There are other events going on this weekend as well as the entire NL East will take on the entire AL East including the Subway Series (New York vs New York, duh), the Beltway Series (Washington vs Baltimore, watching them promote this has been pathethic), whatever they call the series when the Rays play the Marlins, and to round off the set, the Red Sox vs the Braves and the Phillies vs the Blue Jays. Other big series this weekend include Chicago vs Chicago.

Should be a good weekend of baseball.

The Mets have a prospect on the team that is starting to get noticed, and he turns 20 in October. And this time, we are not talking about a teenage hitting machine, we are talking about a teenage pitching machine. This pitcher is none other than Jenry Mejia and he could be as much as household name as Fmart is very soon. He started this season in St. Lucie and he pitched 9 games, 50.1 innings, and had an ERA of 1.97. During that time he walked only 16 batters, while striking out 44. He was then promoted to AA where he has also had success with a 3.74 ERA over four games and 21.2 innings, walking nine batters and striking out 9. (And those stats are very inflated because his first three starts were incredible at the AA level, his last start was rough with 6 ER in 5 IP). A sign to look for this season then is to see how his numbers really play out from this point in terms of walks and strikeouts. Throughout his career so far, the more K's he has compared to BB's is a reason for his success and is also a sign of a good pitching prospect.

Last year he pitched in the Gulf Coast League and the New York Penn league where he had a 2.89 ERA in 14 games and 71.2 innings pitched where he walked 26 and struck out 67. The year before he played for the Mets Dominican Summer League Team where he had a 2.47 ERA in 14 games and 7 starts in 43.2 innings pitched with 27 BB and 47 K.

Beyond the stats though he has three noted pitches that are causing him to get noticed. His first is his fastball which has been clocked as high as 97 miles per hour, and that was last year so he could still be getting stronger. He also has changeup that is in the mid 80's that is has been reported as above average and his curveball, as of last year, was in the mid 70's and has been used as a once in a while type of pitch, something that he needs to work on. 

Mets Minor League Blog has the best story about him though. They talk about he first started to play baseball when he was 15 years old. In other words, he is a prospect at the age of 19 but he didn't start playing until he was 15. Things look good about Mejia as he is a very interesting prospect to follow. He is a gem in our farm system that is generally underated.

I am on right now my first day off from my summer job (sleepaway Camp Counselor) for the first time in about a week and a half and I am also on the internet for the first time in a week and a half. Furthermore, I am getting real news since that time and baseball news. On the baseball side, that means I was treated to the Mets frustrating play against the Orioles, and the Rays. Then their surprisingly good play against the Cards. Oh yeah, and that the Mets have lost Carlos Beltran and have basically lost Sheffield.

And you know that what the worst part is? I am not surpised. That is how this season has been going, I am not suprised at all.

However, I don't want to make things sound too negative because there have been some bright spots on this team, mainly being Nieve. Wow! Seriously, did anyone predict that he would pitch the way he has been pitching? If this team needs a spark he is a place where the Mets can get it! Also, Evans has been a nice help since he has been called up to bigs and lets hope we are ready to keep him around (while juggling players that are very similar to him on the roster at the same time).

There are two things making this time of injured players and hard luck go a lot better. First, the Phillies have been worse, and even though they are not healthy, compared to us the look like the healthiest team in the worlds. Second, the Mets farm has been very promising this year so far. Ike Davis was recently moved to AA, Thole is really hitting, Mejia is hitting his stride. There are reasons to be happy in Metsville and realsons to hope. Even now while our team is banged up, we are a half a game out of first place. How awesome is that!

Some of you may remember this from last year but over the summer I work a very rewarding job, but one that keeps me away from the internet almost all the time. Well that job starts again tomorrow and for the next nine weeks ago I will have a limited update schedule. But still come back because "limited" is a very relative term. I update about 14 to 21 times a week normally I'll probably be down to 5 to 7 but its still worth it to come back.

Anyway see you all again soon!

Thursday was the third day of the MLB Draft and the teams drafted players for rounds 31 to 50 as they the minor league teams fill up with players and we start to look to see if the Mets got any hidden gems in the bottom rounds. Here are the Mets picks for those rounds starting with the round number, the name, and the pick number:

31. Mitchell Haniger (944)
32. Thomas Chism (974)
33. James Schoreder (1004)
34. Camdem Maron (1034)
35. Wesley Wrenn (1064)
36. Lance Hoge (1094)
37. Brandon Sage (1124)
38. William Cherry (1154)
39. Anthony Whitenton (1184)
40. Jerome Pena (1214)
41. Travis Ozga (1244)
42. Ryan Gunhouse (1274)
43. Robert Rinard (1304)
44. James Wooster (1334)
45. Jacob Johanson (1364)
46. John Pillzington (1394)
47. Ryan Mollica (1424)
48. Joseph Mantiply (1454)
49. Joshua Easley (1484)
50. Zachary Godly (1514)

And the overall last pick in the draft was selected by the Angels with pick 1521 and they selected Alibay Barkley, out of high school, which makes you wonder if he will go to a school.

In what has already been a very interesting (to say the least) Subway Series so far, the Mets try to take the rubber game of this series as they play the Yankees for some afternoon baseball. Looking back at their last two series, the Mets were able to get the rubber game against the Nationals, but lost the rubber game in a tough game against the Phillies. This time the Mets will be turning the ball over to Johan Santana who will go toe to toe on the mound against AJ Burnett in another game that involves story lines and subway lines.

It's not a playoff game but the Mets would love to get a win today and take this series so who better to take the ball than Johan Santana. He is 8-3 on the season with a 2.39 ERA over 79.0 innings, 22 BB and 91 K although he has been struggling a bit in his last three games where he is 2-1 over 19.0 IP, a 5.21 ERA, 8 BB and 16 K. I am a little worried about the home run situation at Yankee Stadium because that tends to be Johan's weakness. Last year against the Yanks he was 1-1 over 13.2 innings, a 4.61 ERA, 6 BB and 13 K. Here are some Yankee stats against him:
     Damon 6-30, 3 2B
     Jeter 8-23, 4 2B, HR
     Arod 5-21, 2 HR
     Tex 6-24
     Posada 2-15
When it comes to the Yanks, it boils down to keeping the homers to a minimum and keeping the bases clean. Its not just the stadium that leads to a lot of homers but the team in general plays like a power team (depending on who is playing) so to win, you have to force small ball situations, which really is the game the Mets play and we want them playing our game.

The Mets will have to face Burnett who is coming off of a rough start where he gave up 3 earned runs, 5 total in 2.2 innings in his last outing. On the season he is 4-3 with a 4.89 ERA over 73.2 innings and in his last three games he is 2-1 over 15.2 innings with a 3.45 ERA, 10 BB, and 16 K (his numbers are really being helped by a 7 inning shutout he pitched three starts ago). The last time he faced the Mets was 2005 and he had a 1-1 record in 4 starts over 26.1 innings and had a 3.42 ERA. Here are some Mets stats against Burnett:
     Sheff 8-28, 3 HR
     Schneider 8-20, 3 2B
     Beltran 4-16
     Cora 0-16
     Wright 2-12, 2B
     Castillo 0-7
Keep hitting. Thats the name of the game if the Mets can hit and hit in succession they should be able not only score runs, but start to rock Burnett, which is important if they want to win today. This game looks to be a good one as part one of the Subway Series comes to a close. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Yankees!

On a side note, this entry is entry number 1000 for the blog!

The Mets will try to put last night's tough loss behind them as they regroup, refocus, and get behind a new spot starter in the form of Nieve as they will have to battle against Pettite. Nieve has pitched two innings for the Mets this year and has allowed one hit and no runs. Last year for Houston he pitched 10.2 innings where he allowed 10 ER (in no starts). 2006 was a good year for him as he made 11 starts over 96.1 innings and had 4.20 ERA. In AAA this year he was 3-0 over 24.1 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 10 BB and 23 K. During his time in the majors he has no official ABs with the Yankees.

Pettite gets the call for the Yankees today and he is 6-2 on the year with a 4.22 ERA over 74.2 innings. In his last three starts he is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA over 16.0 innings, 13 BB and 14 K. Last year against the Mets he was 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA over 12.0 innings (5 ER), 5 BB and 11 K. Here are some Mets stats against Pettite:
     Beltran 14-40, 3 2B, HR
     Wright 8-18, 2B, 2 HR
     Castillo 2-12
     Sheff 1-6
Lets Go Mets! Beat the Yankees!

The Mets and Yankees start another subway series tonight and there are so many story lines to be looking at. The first one is the one that has dominated the headlines (in respect to the Subway Series) since the beginning of the season which is that both teams have new Stadiums. However the recent similarities between these teams are also striking. Both teams are now in second place and both teams have just come off a losing series (the Mets 2-1, the Yankees got swept) against the first place team in the division. Both teams are ready to win to start off the next chapter of the Subway Series in New York.

The Mets will be going with not only one of their more reliable pitchers on the staff this season but the best pitcher in terms of his last three games and that would be Livan Hernandez. Hernandez is 5-1 on the season with a 3.88 ERA over 67.1 innings. In his last three games he has pitched 21.2 innings and has a 1.66 ERA. Last year he pitched one game against the Yankees and he struggled as he allowed 5 runs in 6 innings of work, no walks and one strikeout. Here are some stats the Yanks have on him:
     Arod 10-16, 4 2B, 3 HR
     Jeter 7-16
     Damon 2-13
     Posada 3-10
     Swisher 5-16
Its pretty clear what two batters he will have to be careful against. Also the entire staff will have to be weary Jeter who seems to always be his best when it comes to playing the Amazin's. It would be very helpful if the Mets scored runs against the Yankees to help back up Hernandez.

To do that, the Mets will have to take down Joba. He is 3-1 on the year with a 3.79 ERA over 59.1 innings and he is 2-1 over his last three games and 18.0 innings where he has a 4.00 ERA. Last year he pitched an inning against the Mets where he allowed two hits and a run. Here are the limited AB the Mets have against him:
     Reed 1-2
     Sheff 0-2
     Beltran 1-1, 3B
     Cora 0-1
     Wright 0-1
Part of the story for the Mets bats tonight is how they deal with the Coors Field of the East. This team hasn't shown much power, but Yankee Stadium plays like a softball park, so it will be interesting to see how the Mets do. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Yankees!

I know this is a Mets site but this is an interesting story. So I can pretty much guarantee that very few of you out there are Ravens fans but for the few of you that are, or the ones that follow the Ravens star Rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco. Yes Flacco mania hit the Baltimore area hard last year, and was a lot of fun to watch. Well the Orioles, in a mix of throwing a bone, making a story, and drafting a player with skills (in other words, this was NOT a throwaway pick as a favor that tends to happen in the later rounds), they drafted Joe Flacco's brother, Mike Flacco in the 31st round today and with the 926 pick. He was drafted out of Catonsville Community College and was drafted as a third basemen.

Now this would really become a story if he becomes a hidden phenom as the Flacoo brothers lead Baltimore into a tall Sports Stature and restore Baltimore's storied franchises. Yet, thats a long shot and really just a dream in writer's heaven when every sports story gets amazing twits and connections.

The Mets try to rebound after last nights tough, tough loss with today's game that features Tim Redding against Jamie Moyer (in other words, there is no shortage of film for either of these guys). Anyway this is a critical game for the Mets because taking two of three from the division leading team while being down two key players (and many others) is a great explanation point for this time of the season.

Redding is 0-2 on the year with a 6.97 ERA over 20.2 innings (four games). His last outing was very good as he went 6.0 innings allowing one run, walking 2 and striking out 2. Last year he was 3-1 against the Phillies with a 3.41 ERA over 29.0 innings, 10 BB and 12 K. Needless to say, I was surprised by these numbers. Anyway here are the Phillies stats against Redding:
     Rollins 5-32, 2B
     Howard 3-21
     Utley 8-18, 2B, 2 HR
     Feliz 5-10
     Werth 3-11
Key for the Mets pitching today is to keep Utley away from doing damage because he is really dialed in. Also prevent rallies. On the pitching side that was the real problem last night (or one could just say Sean Green).

Hitting wasn't the problem for the Mets last night, the problem was scoring. They were pretty much on the basepaths the entire night and yet only 4 runners crossed the plate. That will have to change against Moyer tonight who is 4-5 on year over 60.1 innings and a 6.27 ERA. On the year he is 0-1 against the Mets with a 13.50 ERA in 8.0 innings. Here are some Mets numbers against Moyer:
     Beltran 11-54, 3 2B
     Wright 14-35, 4 2B, 2 HR
     Sheff 13-27, 2B, 4 HR
     Church 4-16
     Tatis 4-8, 2B, HR
The Mets have power against Moyer and it would nice to see them hit him around again tonight. The Mets have handled the starting pitching pretty well this series but they need to start getting to that pen (or really last night they needed to get to the pen). Lets go Mets! Beat the Phillies!

The 2009 MLB Draft ended its second day this afternoon and the teams drafted players round 4 through 30 as almost 1000 players have been drafted to this point. Today is the day when a scout's talent is put to the test as these picks are not throw away picks and real gems can be found in these rounds and teams take risks on players with sign ability issues.  Here are the Mets draft picks today listed by their round and their overall pick after their name.

4. David Ceciliani (134)
5. Damien Magnifico (164)
6. David Buchanan (194)
7. Darin Gorski (224)
8. John Freeman (254)
9. Jeffrey Glenn (284)
10. Nick Santomauro (314)
11. Samuel Honeck (344)
12. James Ewing (374)
13. Zachary Dotson (404)
14 Ronald Harris (434)
15. Casey Schmidt (464)
16. Jeffrey Greene (494)
17. Alexander Gregory (524)
18. Cody Holiday (554)
19. Nelfi Zapata (584)
20. Joseph August (614)
21. Joseph Bonfe (644)
22. Zachary Von Tersh (674)
23. John Church (704)
24. Michael Johnson (734)
25. Josh Dunn (764)
26. John Semel (794)
27. Kurt Steinhauer (824)
28. Brian Needham (854)
29. ZeEricka Hall (884)
30. Jordan Harrison (914)

This is always exciting because somewhere in this list, last night's picks and tomorrow's picks, there is a star waiting to come out and play baseball.

The Mets and the Phillies play the second game of the series tonight as the Phillies get their turn of sending their ace to the mound, Cole Hamels who will go toe to toe with Mike Pelfrey. An interesting note that will be discussed is that both Hamels and Pelfrey are similar in that in their last two starts, they each had one good start and one terrible start.  Last night was the first night in about a month that the Mets hit more than one homer in a game.

Pelfrey is 4-2on the season with a 4.85 ERA over 59.1 innings. In his last three games he is 0-1 over 18.1 innings with a 5.40 ERA, 6 BB and 15 K. Two starts ago he was amazing with a 7.2 inning performance allowing one run and then he followed it by a terrible performance in Pittsburgh where he allowed 8 earned runs (9 total) over 3.2 innings. He has already faced the Phillies twice this year where he is 2-0 over 12.1 innings, 6 ER, 5 BB and no strikeouts. Here are some stats the Phillies have on him:
     Howard 5-14, 2B, HR
     Utley 3-15
     Victorino 4-15
     Rollins 3-12
     Werth 4-11
     Dobbs 5-10
The big difference for Pelfrey is that after his last start against the Phillies he really started to turn the corner in terms of striking out batters and really getting good demand of his stuff.

Hamels hasn't pitched against the Mets yet this year . On the season he is also 4-2 with a 4.40 ERA, 57.1 innings, 10 BB and 55 K. In his last three games he is 3-0 over 21.0 innings with a 3.43 ERA, one walk and an incredible 17 K's. Two starts ago he struggled giving up 6 runs in as many innings. In his last outing he pitched a complete game shutout against the Dodgers. Last year against the Mets he was 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA as he gave up 8 ER (10 total) over 12 innings, walked four and struck out 10. Here are some Mets stats against him:
      Church 6-20, 2B
      Beltran 5-18, 2 HR
      Wright 5-17, 2 2B, 3B, HR
      Schneider 4-12
This should be an interesting game tonight as Pelfrey and Hamels pitch a night after 7 homers were launched from Citi Field. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Phillies!

The Mets have been going through a notable power outage (which hasn't been too much of a problem since they are second in the National League in BA) but they showed some power tonight as Wright homered (breaking 100 AB without one), Beltran homered, and Church homered (into the Home Run Apple). The Phillies, not to be outdone, came back with four homers of their own. Santana wasn't the best that he could be tonight but he got the job done. Of course when you look at this game removed from both teams, it was an exciting one. The power was entertaining to watch, the Mets went up big, then the Phillies came back and tied it, then the Mets pulled ahead and then knocked in a solo run for the icing on the cake.

This was big for the Mets as they sent out a statement to the league tonight taking down the Phils as they show that they can beat good teams while being down critical parts of the team (Reyes and Delgado). Ideally they would want better starting pitching, but they lucked out with having power tonight to cover up for that.

It is very good to see Church hitting. He was such a critical part of the offense last year before he got his multiple concussions. I am not saying he is back to that form, but him hitting is good news for the Mets.

The Mets had the 72nd pick (2nd round) and the 103rd pick(3rd round) tonight and they made some interesting choices. The first one was Steven Matz out of Ward Melville High School (New York) and he is a left hand pitcher (which is always intriguing). As it is with high schoolers, it is hard to find information but after scavenging a lot of sites this is what I was able to learn. His fastball averages between 88 and 92 but has touched 94. The feeling is that he can get stronger (which makes sense because he is coming out of high school). His curveball is projected as above average and he has a changeup, but its not a very good pitch yet. This is the kicker with him though. He has a commitment to Coastal Carolina. The Mets will have to buy him out of that commitment if they want. Coastal Carolina was a reference for stats from his junior year where he struck out 36 batters in 18 innings and had a 1.04 ERA. He also had .404 batting average.

The Mets next pick was Robert Shields who played short stop at Florida Southern College. This year he hit .345 with 5 HR and 37 RBI. This is an interesting stat about him, according to the school site, he played every game he could at college, 167 games, where he batted .329, had 22 HR, and 122 RBI (which is a good number considering he played 167 games). Both of these prospects are intriguing. Shields will probably most likely sign. Matz will be tough, but he's very interesting and it would be great if does sign.

Some Links:
Florida Southern College Article About Robert Shields
Coastal Carolina about Steven Matz
NY Post on Steven Matz
Baseball Rumor Mill on Matz

With the first pick of the 2009 Draft, the Washington Nationals picked Strasburg, and really, that was not a surprise. I really "enjoyed" reading articles and watching sports writers talk about Strasburg today because all of sudden they flipped a switch overnight and the media went from overpraise about Strasburg to treating him like he was the 1500th pick in the draft. I understand where this dissenting opinion came from because that opinion has been absent for about two months.

So now the Nationals have a new challenge on their hands which is negotiating a contract to sign Strasburg, which we are all expecting will last up until the end of the deadline. The next big decision is whether he goes straight to the majors (which I still feel he shouldn't, if he plays this year it should be at least in the minors till at least September). And then of course their is the mystery of whether he pans out or not. His raw stuff though is very good and the Nationals need hope (everybody needs hope).

In the end, congrats to the Washington Nationals, good luck with your new pitcher and thank you for giving the MLB Draft this year attention that it has not recieved...well maybe ever.

The Mets open up the beginning of a tough schedule with the Phillies tonight as Johan Santana will be pitching after basically a full week of rest and he will have to deal with Happ of the Phillies who will be making his first start against the Mets tonight. One of the bigger questions going into this series is what to do with Ryan Church who hasn't seen major league pitching for a while and then when he did on Sunday, he did a good job but with the lefties the Mets will be seeing this week, what type of playing time will Church get.

Before we can even concentrate on our hitting, lets look at Santana. On the season he is 7-3 with a 2.00 ERA over 72.0 innings where he has 21 BB and a very nice 89 K. In his last three games he is 2-1 over 19.0 innings pitched and a 3.79 ERA which includes 8 BB and 22 K. In his last start against the Phillies this year he pitched 7.0 innings, allowed 2 hits, no runs, walked 3 and struck out 10. Here are some stats on how the Phillies have done against Santana carear wise:
     Ibanez 13-37, 2B, HR, 10 K
     Rollins 2-20
     Feliz 3-22
     Utley 3-20
     Werth 5-19
     Howard 6-17, 2 HR
     Victorino 1-15
The trick with the Phillies is that they are a power based team. If you make one mistake, they will jump on it and make you pay. Thats why you have to limit the walks and keep the basepaths clear because these bombs can take off at any time. Santana has had success against the Phils though and hopefully he will continue that tonight.

It would be nice for Santana to get some run support which could be tough against Happ wo is 4-0 on the season with a 2.48 ERA over 40.0 innings. His last three appearences have been starts, all three being his only starts on the year (as he now has a rotation spot). In his last three games he has pitched 18.1 innings, is 2-0, has a 2.45 EA, 5 BB and 13 K. He has seen the Mets twice this year already working 5.2 innings in relief where he has allowed 2 hits and that has been it. Last year he logged 4.2 innings against the Mets and allowed 2 ER, 4 BB and 3 K. Here are some Mets stats against him:
      Beltran 2-8, HR
      Wright 2-5, HR
      Castillo 0-2
      Tatis 0-2
      Church 0-1
      Cora 0-1
The other thing for the Mets to remember is they need to show fight against the Phillies. Lidge has blown his last two saves and has done that 6 times already this year. This means that the Phillies are a team you can come back on as long as you don't dig yourself too large of a hole. Lets keep fighting. Lets Beat the Phillies. Lets Go Mets!

On Saturday I went to National's Park to see the Mets lose to the Nationals 7-1 in about 2 hours and hit into 5 double plays. When you forget that the Mets played baseball that day, it was a very good day. I live outside of DC, and by now I am starting to get used to the transformation to the city when the Mets come to town and it is very much like what happens to Baltimore when the Red Sox or the Yankees come to town (which I am pretty used to as I used to live outside of Baltimore). Anyway I went down to the DC mall for a little bit before the game and of course it was flooded with Mets fans, which is a nice change of pace.

I have noticed that Nationals fans change their behavior when we come to town. They get a lot more obnoxious, which is probably to try to cover up Mets fans because we get extremely roudy. Another thing that never ceases to amaze me is I usually see multiple Met fans wearing Hundly jerseys and shirts. He was great for us, but thats also a really long time ago (but then again I always wear my Alfonzo jersey, so I can't talk about keeping current either).

Anyway, before the game started Dan Warthen came over to talk to a group of kids and then after he was done with them (which is always great to see and is a really classy move), he talked to some older fans and actually answered questions. Someone asked him about Billy Wagner which Warthen gave a short answer of "he'll be our second lefty" and then of course Warthen made some jokes about all of the injuries on the team and then excused himself to go talk to Maine. It was very nice that he talked to us though because he didn't need to do that. Now I don't live in New York, and when I go to Mets games I never sit in the lower bowl, so does this happen at home? It was the highlight of the day, especially considering that was the day when Emile Brown was batting second in the lineup.

Yes this is a very real possibility. ESPN has been calling Strasburg the next LeBron and you probably have seen him pitch. His manager in college was Tony Gynn who probably put a lot of great knowledge in his head. His fastball can top out at 103 mph and he has a lot of pitches where his breaking stuff is not only devasting but the speed change between that and his fastball is sure to keep batters off balance. There has even been talk that he could skip the minors and go straight to the majors. While the Nationals would probably love to have him in the majors, I think on many levels it would be a bad move to have him make the jump right away because there is a certain way of life that you need to pick up first in the minors then in spring training before you get to the big league club.

However another decision could have an even larger impact on the Nationals. The next phenom, the real LeBron of Baseball according to Sports Illustrated, 16 year old Bryce Harper who hits homers 570 ft and can throw a fastball at 96 mph (although its really his hitting thats highly touted). He is a sophomore in high school right now but he might drop out and go to a junior college next year. If he does that, he can be drafted and he will probably be the number 1 pick next year as well. There's a lot that this can mean:
    1) The Nationals are on pace to have an awful year meaning they will once again the overall number 1 pick. They will have a shot of signing this phenom as well meaning they will have two of the most exciting prospects in ages in their farm system and very soon on their major league club. However they will have to pay. They will probably pay 50 million for Strasburg and they will need to as well for Harper. This scenario then only happens if they can afford to add Harper as well.
    2) A High Schooler will have to drop out of school to make this happen. Now he and his family are alright with this, so he can also face some tougher talent at the junior college level but at the same time that is a huge step for major sports to have a high school student drop out to go pro.
    3) There are rumors that baseball execs might want to change the draft after this year by making the rules a little more streamlined and capping bonuses.

When this is all said and done, there is a real possibility of two very good players joining the Nationals over the next two years and in four years they will both be on major league rosters.

The calendar a few days ago changed from May to June which means its time for another addition of promotions around the league. The first comes from Washington where there, like many teams, give away a T-shirt on Tuesday nights. However this time the T-shirt is for the Nationals MLB Draft Party (including the saying "I was there"). That is a sad sign for this franchise that they are excited about the Draft so much they are giving out T-shirts. Then again, if you told me the Mets were about Strausburgh, I would probably do the same.

The next two promotions both come out of Baltimore this month. The Orioles have recently redesigned their away jerseys to say Baltimore on them again and now their BP jerseys do the same. Later in this month you can try to get a Markakis BP replica jersey just by going to the game (I am a sucker for replica jersey give aways). The second promotion from Charm City is a little more out there and is brought to you by Old Bay crab seasoning. They will be giving away crab mallot sets for the first 10K or 15K fans (I forget which one). Its basically two crab mallots that say Orioles on them.

Staying on the Replica Jersey theme we travel over to Oakland where they will be giving out replica Mark McGwire 1989 World Series Jerseys. Does the prospect of having to think about Mark McGwire scare you? Thats alright because two teams this month, the Diamondbacks and the Rangers, will be giving out team night lights for the first 5000 kids in attendence.

Its pretty much a gurantee that the Mariners will think of something creative. This month you can celebrate the 10th anniversary of Safeco field with a Safeco field 10th Anniversary model train car. Coming to a stadium near you soon, and then to your basement collection of trains.

In Chicago (White Sox) the will be holding a Sox in Space night where not only can you go to the game and watch baseball but you will also learn about the solar system (which makes me very happy because I am an Astronomy major and I love when Astronomy and baseball merge). Finally we go to Cleveland where they will be embracing their role in the movie Major League this month. And one night they will be giving our Rick Vaugn bobble heads complete with glasses.

The key to a good season is to win rubber games. For the first time this season the Mets did that last week and now they look to do it again against the Nationals in a game where it looks like they will be getting Ryan Church back (and honestly at this point I'm not sure what is better, having Church in the lineup, or getting rid of Brown). Anyway the Mets will be looking for Hernandez to strike again on the Nats while the Mets will battle the rookie Stammen again.

Hernandez was brilliant in his last outing against the Nats. On the season he is 4-1 with a 4.33 ERA over 60.1 innings. In his last three games he is 1-0 over 21.2 innings with a 2.08 ERA, 4 BB and 13 K. One of those three games was against the Nationals where he pitched a complete game, allowed one run, walked one, and struck out 6. The Mets could really use a repeat of that performance. Here are some Nationals Stats against Livan:
     Belliard 12-41
     Kearns 12-27
     Dunn 4-20, 2 HR
     Willingham 8-19
     Zimmerman 5-20, 2 2B, 2 HR
     Johnson 2-13
     Harris 0-7
So far this week, we have seen two pitchers end good streaks in Pelfrey and Maine, lets hope Livan doesn't fall victim to the same virus. Livan will also need the Mets do something that has been hard for them in the last week or so, which is to score runs.

The Mets faced Stammen basically a week ago and now he is 0-1 with a 5.71 ERA with 17.1 IP, 4 BB and 6 K over 3 games. In his outing against the Mets he lasted 5 innings, allowed 3 runs off of 7 hits, 2 walks and 2 K's. Here are some Mets stats against Stammen:
     Castillo 0-2
     Santos 1-3, 2B
     Sheff 1-2
     Tatis 1-3
     Wright 1-3
Here's a really good idea for the Mets tonight, do not hit into double plays. A DP is pretty much a ralley killer and the Mets did 4 times last night conventionaly and then Brown and Castillo basically had a brain fart on bases (not really helped by the umpires) and then the Mets got caught up in a total of 5 double plays. If the Mets return to sound baseball, and continue to fight, then we can stay focused out there. Lets Go Mets!