Yeah, I Think The Mets Can Trade For Aubrey Huff Now

So what if he occasionally drops a pop-up.

Big deal if he's more and more a DH every day.

And who cares if sometimes he blasts the city he plays for.

He giveth, but he taketh twice as much away. That's good enough for me. And let's get Matt Wieters in the deal too (get off the drugs, blogger.)

And it's a shame too. Because while there's no good time to blow a save, and there's no good time to blow your first save of the season*** (I don't count Pisarcik: The Sequel). But this was an especially bad time for Frankie to blow a save considering that the Orioles, as tough a division as they may be in, are the one losing team the Mets face for practically the rest of the month. And they lost an opportunity to not only take two of three from this subpar yet improving team, but to gain ground on the Phillies, who lost three straight to the Blue Jays (and when the Jays return to Toronto, that's like 3.39 wins with the exchange rate).

(And speaking of the Phillies, don't you find it interesting that Raul Ibanez was placed on the DL out of nowhere? He apparently played the whole season with a groin strain, but when it got too much he got put on the DL. Notice there were no conflicting reports, no "he said, he said", no being stuck in that "day-to-day" limbo for three months while the team is shorthanded and no throwing away of young relievers to keep players on the bench who are hurt ... there is only ... the DL, and that's that.)

It's also a shame because Sean Green is slowly proving to the Mets why he was an important throw-in for the J.J. Putz deal (or at this point, is it Putz who was the throw-in for the Sean Green deal). He got the Mets out of an eighth inning jam by inducing more weakly hit grounders (one of which ending with a great Luis Castillo play ... see, he can field) and all I kept thinking is that Sean Green was once saddled with the Curse of Aaron Heilman because of a bad number choice. And even though he only wore it for one or two spring games (only one, I think), he still had to go through a down period before he could truly shake it. I mean, how many chickens and goats and pigs had to be sacrificed* before the Curse of Heilman was completely lifted? And how many times were there no live chickens around to be sacrificed forcing Livan Hernandez to pull a Pedro Cerrano and go get some KFC? And how many times did the KFC say "oh, we only have Kentucky Grilled Chicken**" left, throwing yet another wrench in Green's emergence from said curse?

A valiant effort by Green simply laid to waste.

And now the A.L. Champs come to town with their manager already complaining about Citi Field ticket prices. Just another thing the Mets do to fire their opposition up. Take a number, sir.

*No chickens were harmed in the writing of this blog post.

**Blogger not compensated by Kentucky Fried Chicken.

*** Brian Bruney had no comment.

Shoe, Meet Other Foot ... Other Foot, Shoe

Nice to see the other team make errors to give the Mets some free runs.

And that includes Aubrey Huff, who thought he was Braylon Edwards trying to catch a pop-up in the seventh inning which allowed the go-ahead runs to score in a 6-4 Mets win over the Orioles. I guess since the Mets have been linked to Huff's name in potential trade talks, Aubrey wanted to show that he belongs in Flushing.

Yeah sure, let's trade for him. He'd fit right in.

But no fear ... if Huff does come to the Mets and does something like that, we now know that David Wright will yell at him in the dugout, like he did with Mike Pelfrey tonight after Pelfrey was pulled from the game for losing his stuff in the sixth ... and it was stuff that was no-hit quality in the first three innings. See, Sugar Pants is more than just a pretty face ... he's a leader too.

You know what David Wright is not? A doctor. And neither is former pitching coach Rick Peterson, though he wants to play one on TV. Well, Johan Santana thinks Peterson should stick to his day job.

"How did he know that my knee hurts? That's the question that I have. You guys tell me -- how did he find that out? Because it is crazy. Not even the trainers know. Not even me. I didn't know my knee hurts."

Oh that's right, Peterson doesn't have a day job. In fact, he hasn't had a day job in exactly one year, at least as a pitching guru. (And speaking of anniversaries, June 16th of '08 was Mike Pelfrey's first win in about two months, which was followed by the firing of Peterson and Willie Randolph. June 16th of '09 was Pelfrey's first win in a little over a month ... and although Snoop Manuel isn't in any trouble that we know of, Manny Acta is. All together now ... ooooooooooooh"). Aww ... Happy anniversary, Willie and Rick. Sorry I forgot to send cards. But for you, Rick, I'll light a candle at 3:11 AM in remembrance of the hardwood floor that you helped lay down ... right before it was ripped up with the rest of Shea.

You know what, I feel like some Rick Peterson nostalgia on this one year anniversary:

"I don’t really want to answer questions. I just want to say that I came here five years ago, and Fred and Jeff [Wilpon] gave me a wonderful opportunity. I left Oakland to come here to be with my kids on the East Coast and it’s been wonderful. I appreciated the opportunity and they welcomed me into their home and the home is going through renovation. Sometimes you have to make changes when things don’t go that well, and I’m part of that change. I totally understand that. I grew up in the baseball business, and I’m the hardwood floor that’s getting ripped out and they’re going to bring in the Tuscany tile.

And it will be great. My heart and soul is with every pitcher that I've dealt with here. They’ll always be in my heart and soul. It’s that kind of relationship. I’m sad for that. But I’m also happy for them. There’s a lot of guys on the right track that I hope they stay on the right track. And there’s a lot of guys that are off the track that I hope Dan Warthen can get them back on track.

This is a team that’s underachieved and I think it will get back on track.

I wear this bracelet because I’m very in tune with Eastern philosophy and universal law. This is faith. This is compassion, equanimity, and love. And in Eastern writing, they write in symbols and the symbol for problem and crisis they also use for opportunity. I've been given a great opportunity here, and once I walk out that door, I’ll seek my next opportunity. I walk out in peace and I wish everybody else here the best – Jerry Manuel, Omar Minaya, Fred and Jeff.

And hopefully the Tuscany tile will do a lot better than the hardwood floor. Thank you so much." -Rick Peterson, June 17, 2008

Just so you know Rick, the Tuscany tile is working out just fine. Except half the team is on the DL after slipping on it.