First Response, Or First Tease?

You have to assume that any rumor that involves dumping Luis Castillo's contract is probably too good to be true.

Look, my past man crush on Castillo is well documented. And he deserves a world of credit for bouncing back not once (from 2008), but twice (from the pop-up). But it's also well documented that you sell high. Or at least Castillo high which means you sell mediocre.

So this rumored deal which would send Castillo to the Cubs and Lyle Overbay to the Mets is absolutely the right thing to think about. It's the third part of that deal which will make or break it, which is Milton Bradley going from the Cubs to the Jays. And Toronto, reportedly and predictably, wants no part of Bradley. (Some say the Canadian exchange rate would change Bradley from slightly perturbed and misunderstood to certifiably insane.)

If these rumors do turn out to be a pipe dream, then at least those pesky Doc Halladay to the Phillies rumors can die a horrible death too. Or the rumor that I completely made up myself where the Phillies decline the option on Pedro Feliz for the sole purpose of signing Chone Figgins, and hence moving Jimmy Rollins down in the order.

Die rumors ... die.

Even MacGyver Gets More Run Support

I'm starting to think that MacGyver had more to work with than Johan Santana.

I'm also starting to think that if you gave Johan a rubber band, some cellophane, and a three inch swatch of sandpaper that he could build an armored tank trained to shoot lasers at Jayson Werth.

The Mets lineup, meanwhile, seemed to go up to the plate against Chan Ho Park with rubber bands instead of bats, as they only managed one hit in six innings against him. (As the kids like to say: WTF?)

The good news, besides the Mets 1-0 win against Philly on the strength of a physical error by Pedro Feliz and a mental error by Werth (not to mention Carlos Delgado's blinding speed on the play) is that the lineup's pathetic performance against Park has bought him a few more turns in the Phillie rotation, possibly buying the Mets a couple more games in the standings as Park implodes.

But that's speculative. Hey speaking of explosions, let's see how Johan is coming with that tank:

Wow, Johan really can do it all. Very nice.

Oh, and I guess they really couldn't take Oliver Perez's musings in the dugout, as he's finally on the disabled list with patella tendinitis (it's the fanciest name they could come up with to confuse us into thinking that this is an actual injury). Jon Niese takes his place on the roster and will start on Friday instead of Ken Takahashi. If Niese does well, then perhaps you can call him "Ollie Pipp".

This Fourth Firecracker Is A Dud

If somehow the Mets lose the fourth of July matchup with starts out as Johan Santana vs. J.A. Happ, I may never watch baseball again. -Metstradamus, yesterday

Did I just lose a retirement match? Do I need a parental control on my baseball package?

What's tonight's excuse? Pitchers with initials give you trouble?

So how did we know this one was over? Well outside of not hitting J.A. Happ for four innings and Chad Durbin for two and 1/3, for me it was when Carlos Beltran swung at ball four by his eyes with the bases loaded up 2-0 in the fifth. Beltran was 0 for 4 with two K's. I guess he needs more flippin' rest.

Or maybe just the pure ironic fact that Filthy Sanchez got through Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell in the ninth with no problem, but somehow not Pedro Feliz and Shane Victorino. But having said that, Victorino, a fast lefty with first base open, should have been walked. No doubt about it. Victorino is a pest who strikes out at a lower rate than Chris Coste, who was on deck, or anybody they could have pinch hit for him such as Greg Dobbs or Geoff Jenkins.

But why bother with even that little analysis. The Mets lost the one game in this series they had no business losing, after Johan Santana pitched a whale of a game. And of course, it's not only a loss, but a brutal loss ... because what other kinds of losses are we going to see in Philadelphia?

And since it's now July 4th, the magic day that people like to point to and say that teams in the lead on this day make the playoffs a certain amount of time, it's now the first day that I can say without fear of backlash that you're going to have a tough time convincing me that both this team and this season aren't a complete waste of time.

Golden Tears