Source: mlb.com

It's kind of pathetic that Aaron Heilman is stuck in the bullpen and Lima Time! gets to go out there and embarrass himself (and the Mets organization) every fifth day. I'll consider it a quality start if he allows fewer runs than innings pitched, something he has yet to do in two previous attempts this season.

Let's go Mets!

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Over at Sportszilla and the Jabber Jocks (gotta love the Simpsons reference), Ben Valentine makes a compelling case to move Aaron Heilman into the rotation:

On the other side, the Mets have guys who should be able to do a decent enough job as the seventh inning man. Heath Bell is pitching well enough at AAA. In 15 innings this season he has struck out 26 and walked just three, with a 1.15 ERA. Doesn't he deserve a chance at the bigs more than Gonzalez or Lima? Heck as much as Met fans hate him, Jorge Julio's strong peripherals suggest he's not nearly as bad as people think. This season he's striking out 14.73 batters per nine while posting a 3.73 K/BB ratio. His high WHIP and ERA suggest he's been more the victim of bad luck than anything else. And even if those options don't float your boat, there's always the trade market. A seventh inning guy shouldn't cost you much, but a good starter will cost you Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey or both.

Ben makes a good point here. He mentions elsewhere in the article that we don't know exactly what to expect from Heilman, but the likelihood is that he will represent a significant upgrade over Lima, Gonzalez, and likely Bannister (at least the Bannister we've seen to this point). Refusing to give Heilman a shot in the rotation because you don't want to lose your third-best relief pitcher, well, that's just absurd.

Game 2: Cardinals 1, Mets 0

(Source: fangraphs.com - what's this?)

Steve Trachsel's line from Game 2:

 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR   PC-ST   GS
7.0   4   1   1   3   2   0  112-70   64

Losing a game as the Mets did last night is infinitely more frustrating than a 10-0 blowout. I suppose it's the opportunity lost that infuriates me the most; that the Mets were on the cusp of winning, only to be undone by their biggest flaw to this point in the season. Namely, their inability to produce in high leverage situations. The data from a hundred years of baseball tells us that these things tend to regress (or progress) towards the mean over the course of 162 games; that good players (and teams) hit well in the clutch and that bad players (and teams) hit poorly in the clutch. This isn't much solace to me right now.

The Mets could have clinched a series win last night, but instead they may have booked a one-way ticket to their third straight series loss with Lima Time! taking the hill this afternoon. Steve Trachsel pitched a whale of a ballgame against a tough offensive club, but came up on the short end of another Mets offensive brownout. You have to give credit to Mark Mulder (for eight innings) and Jason Isringhausen, who pitched the Mets really tough and kept them at bay for most of the night.

It's a quick turnaround, as the teams go back at it at 1pm this afternoon.

Game balls go to:

• Steve Trachsel, 23.7% WPA
• Jose Reyes, 12.5% WPA

Source: mlb.com

Mark Mulder has been struggling this year, but Steve Trachsel is Steve Trachsel. The Mets really have to win tonight if they stand any chance of winning the series, as the specter of Lima Time! looms over tomorrow's matinee. Can't wait!?!

Let's go Mets!

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Some eerie details have surfaced about Tom Glavine's recent contract restructuring. Ken Rosenthal has the scoop:

Never mind that $12 million club option for 2007 that the Mets included in left-hander Tom Glavine's restructured contract: There is little chance the team will exercise it.

The Mets have agreed informally to decline the option if Glavine wants to return to the Braves next season, according to a source with knowledge of his contract.

The restructured deal also includes a "poison pill," FOXSports.com has learned -- a $3 million bonus if Glavine makes the All-Star team in '06 and '07 and a $2 million bonus if he makes it only in '07.

The Mets will apparently allow Tom Glavine to return to Atlanta next season.

By defeating the Cardinals on Tuesday night, Glavine, 40, improved to 6-2 with a 2.43 ERA -- All-Star caliber numbers. Both the Mets and Braves figure to want him next season; he is now just 19 victories short of 300.

Thanks to the All-Star bonuses, Glavine's club option with the Mets could be worth $14 million or $15 million -- both prohibitive numbers. If the Mets want to keep Glavine, they almost certainly would negotiate a new deal at a lower salary.

Glavine restructured his contract with the Mets to reduce his '06 salary from $10.5 million to $7.5 million. In return, he received the $12 million club option and a $5.5 million player option for '07, both with a $3 million buyout.

The new deal protects Glavine if he suffers a serious injury later this season; his player option amounts to disability insurance. The value of that option will increase by $1 million each if he pitches 180, 190 and 200 innings, maxing out at $8.5 million.

If true, this is pretty ludicrous. Sportswriters tend to pull things out of their asses a lof of the time, but what exactly was the point of the restructuring -- from the Mets' perspective -- if they were going to include a handshake agreement to allow Glavine to walk right back into the Braves' rotation? Somebody please explain this to me.

Kill some time at work:

• As much as he has historically been a Yankee shill, Buster Olney does a fine job of gathering lots of interesting baseball news items from around the league on his blog at ESPN.com.
• It looks like Taylor is safe, but the next Idol castoff is too close to call.
• This thing looks cool as hell, but the RIAA thinks otherwise.
• Metsblog.com has an embedded YouTube video of the Grand Slam Single. Love it.

As usual, dump your own links in the comments.

Update: Simpson's trivia question of the day: What was the name of Troy McClure's cologne?

Game 1: Mets 8, Cardinals 3

(Source: fangraphs.com - what's this?)

Tom Glavine's line from Game 1:

 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR   PC-ST   GS
6.0   7   3   3   1   2   0  104-60   47

Definitely not Glavine's sharpest game of the season, but he pitched well enough to keep the Mets in the ballgame through six and his offense picked him up by cobbling together a run in the seventh to get Tommy his sixth win of the season. Big tip-of-the-hat to Glavine (and Duaner Sanchez) for combining to keep Albert Pujols off of the bases for just the third time all year. Sanchez got back on track after two consecutive bad outings, and Aaron Heilman, whom many feel should be moved to the rotation, shut down the Cardinals in the seventh following a 104 minute rain delay.

Game balls go to:

• Jose Reyes who drove in three runs, reached base three times, and, other than being picked off of first to start the game, was the catalyst the Mets need him to be.
• Cliff Floyd, who picked up two hits in a game to bring his average above .200 for the first time since April 22 (it was .200 even on April 24).
• Tom Glavine, who is batting .462/.588/.538 this season.

Source: mlb.com

The Mets get their first taste of Busch Stadium v.3 as well as Albert Pujols v.2006. Be sure to check out Andrew Hintz' preview of the Cardinals' pitchers over at MetsGeek.

Let's go Mets!

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