Pedro is doing well and expects to be back with the Mets within a month. He gave plenty of credit to Jebus for helping him with a speedy recovery and says he wants to come back as strong as possible because the fans deserve it.
The Mets are eyeing the usual suspects, including closer Chad Cordero and second baseman Ronnie Belliard. Belliard signed a two-year, $3.5 million extension this week, and it isn't clear whether that would impede or help to catalyze a potential deal with the Mets. Belliard is hitting .303/.349/.433, a fine batting line for his position, especially considering the ballpark he plays his home games in. He *is* 32 years old and isn't likely to get better anytime soon, though his MLVr is .108, seventh among NL second basemen and ahead of guys like Brandon Phillips and Mark Loretta. For the unindoctrinated, MLVr represents the number of runs, per game, that a player would contribute given an otherwise average offensive lineup. It's sort of like a rate version of VORP, so we can see what a guy is worth external of playing time and injury considerations.
Lastings Milledge has heard the grumblings about his eccentric behavior, but he doesn't care. The kid definitely has a streak of attitude and he likes to express himself. As long as he understands that some teams won't find it as cute has he does, and that he may take more balls in the chin area than he might otherwise care to, knock yourself out. Milledge has looked a lot better at the plate these past few days, not so over-anxious as he did when he first returned from the minors.