I'm Sori...So Sori

First inning. Bases loaded. Nobody out. A 150 lb. rookie with an 8.24 ERA coming into the game. Good teams lick their chops at the situation.

The Mets? Their collective mouths run dry.

Of course, they waste that opportunity against a pitcher they're not familiar with (an excuse that is getting older by the game), and the Astros come back and win 3-2 on a walk off double by Brad Ausmus. So let's review...they've scored a total of 8 runs in three games which were started by Jose Acevedo, Jeff Francis, and tonight, Ezequiel Astacio. This Mets lineup is practically holding Omar Minaya at gunpoint...forcing him to trade more of the future for Alfonso Soriano.

Soriano is a good hitter, no doubt about it. But is he the type of hitter that is less prone to slumps than any hitter that's in the Mets lineup right now? Well, Soriano has been consistent, never going more than two games without a hit, which he's done 4 times. Compare that to Cliff Floyd, who has gone four games without a hit once, and that slump was in a stretch where he went eleven out of fourteen games without a hit. Carlos Beltran went three games without a hit, and went two games without a hit four times. He has struck out 79 times in 397 AB's, an average of .19899 K's per at bat, slightly more than Floyd's .18786, and Beltran's .18256 K's per at bat (all slightly less than 1 K per 5 ab's). Comparable numbers, not drop dead head and shoulders above everyone, however.

The question now becomes, is he worth the risk for this season? Well, the deal seems to have a lot of questions about the prospects coming back. I think this is only worth Lastings Milledge if Adrian Gonzalez comes back as well. If the deal is expanded to say, Gonzalez and Soriano for Milledge, Heilman/Zambrano (preferably the older Zambrano), and perhaps Yousmeiro Petit, that might be something to consider. Perhaps the Mets are hoping to replace one of the minor leaguers with Mike Cameron, unless Cameron is wheeled to Baltimore for Jorge Julio and Larry Bigbie. Then you have Aubrey Huff's name creeping up as well. It really is enough to make your head spin.

And if the loss to Houston with Pettite and Oswalt on the docket is any indication, the Mets may not be doing themselves any favors by trading away their prospects to go for it this season. I just hope that if Soriano is on his way in, that the farm isn't on it's way out. Tim Hudson went to Atlanta for basically nothing, so there must be better deals out there for a guy like Soriano, who at 29 fits Minaya's creed for help now and in the future, so it seems increasingly likely that this trade is an inevitablity.

To me, Soriano would be an improvement, but not at the expense of the farm. It's just too bad that the current Mets lineup, which should be good enough, is forcing Omar Minaya's hand.