Interleague Applesauce: Flat Mets fall to Angels, Reyes Meets with Boras, Haren Better Hitter than Bay?

The struggles at Citi Field continued on Friday for the Mets, as they fell to the Angels 4-3. The offense seemed flat most of the game and the defense wasn't too sharp either. With the loss, they fell to 2 games under .500. Chris Capuano once again pitched a solid game but took the hard luck loss.

Mets fans received some potentially ugly news after the game, when it was revealed that superstar SS Jose Reyes met with superstar moneygrabber sports agent Scott Boras. If Jose were to switch to the dark side, that would put a major crimp in the Mets' plans of trying to re-sign him in the offseason. A potential saving grace is that one of Jose's current agents is the Godfather to one of his children.

Mike Pelfrey and Dan Haren face off in game two of the series on Saturday evening. While Haren is having another typically excellent season on the mound, he also has quite a history with the bat from his years with the Diamondbacks. He's a career .226/.249/.331 hitter (.580 OPS) but last season before being traded, he hit .364/.375/.527 in 55 at bats. For reference, Jason Bay is currently hitting .221/.309/.282 (.591 OPS). Can Haren play left field for us?

Dave Hudgens spoke with Kevin before Friday's game. Apparently making more contact leads to scoring more runs!

Optimism and Mets in the same phrase? Just who are these Mets? Last I checked, they are a Major League Baseball franchise from Queens, New York.

Remember that day morning when Willie Randolph got fired? Omar Minaya certainly had a way with creating controversy.

Should the Mets bring Scott Kazmir back into the organization? On a minor league deal, what the heck. He certainly has more upside than Brian Sweeney in Buffalo.

Speaking of Kazmir, apparently the Mets thought they discovered their own version of Moneyball when they swapped him for Victor Zambrano. Unfortunately, this front office tactic involves not giving physicals to players before trading useful assets for them. The Mets front office apparently practiced this method as recently as 2009, when they dealt a boatload of useful players for an injured J.J. Putz without giving him a physical.

Sixth round pick Joe Tuschak, a toolsy Center Fielder from Northern York HS in PA, announced via interview that he will be signing with the Mets. The announcement came minutes after his team won the PA state championship. Tuschak had some sort of mysterious hit called a "Grand Slam"(????), which was the difference in the Polar Bears' (yes, the Polar Bears) victory.

Around the NL East

The Mets didn't lose any ground in the division as the Phillies lost to the Mariners, the Braves lost to the Rangers and the Marlins lost to the Rays. The streaking Nationals beat the Orioles to pull into a third place tie with the Mets.

Braves stud Tommy Hanson was placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation, just days after striking out a career high of 14. The always entertaining @CyborgHanson48 commented on the injury. Chipper Jones is also day to day after getting hurt in the series finale against the Mets.

Brian Schneider is rehabbing. JC Romero was released. It doesn't matter if they suck at baseball, I just do not like them.

The Marlins are 1-16 in June. As George Costanza said while watching Blimp: The Hindenburg Story, "That's gotta hurt."

Washington Wizards guard John Wall threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Nationals' game on Friday night. Let's just say that he should probably stick with basketball.

Around the Majors

More stuff about realignment: Jayson Stark and Buster Olney debate the issue. The Verducci Effect also adds his opinion. Rays manager Joe Maddon is in favor of realignment. Not at all surprising that one of the most forward thinking managers in baseball is in favor of it, even if the motive is to make it easier for Tampa to make the playoffs.

Carlos Zambrano wants to stay in Chicago but is willing to waive his no trade clause.

Frank and Jamie McCourt announced a divorce settlement Friday but what does this mean for the Dodgers? A crazy TV contract with Fox needs to be accepted by Bud Selig in order for McCourt to have enough money to stay afloat. Sounds as if Selig will decline it and go to war with McCourt over custody of the franchise instead.

Finally, the Houston Astros have issued an emergency bulletin. If any of you are in these potentially effected areas of Texas, you have until June 25th to evacuate. Otherwise you will be hit with a level of suck never seen before. My advice: Get the ^%$# out of there!