Meet the Mets
Much like The Wild Bunch, the Mets rode into the desert one last time and were killed in a hail of machine gun bullets. Or in this case, Ryota Igarashi base on balls and Henry Blanco doubles. Igarashi gets a reprieve for some reason, but maybe they need someone left to tell the outside world the tale, like that kid they sent away from the Alamo or something.
One player who may not finish out the year is Chris Capuano, who cleared waivers and thus is eligible to be traded before August 31st. Of course, he might be a better candidate if he wasn't posting his worst FIP of the year in the month of August. If he does get dealt, expect to see Chris Schwinden up for a few starts.
Somebody who will be making his next start for the Mets is Mike Pelfrey, who is fine after taking a comebacker off his throwing arm Saturday night. Mike Puma, on the other hand, has moved on to reporting stuff about Brandon Nimmo's impending maybe signing. Expect it to get done at 11:59 tonight like every other first rounder. (that's my own speculation for any Metsmerized authors with an axe to grind) The Mets did officially sign 16th round pick Bradley Marquez on a two- sport deal, but it looks like 12th round pick Kenny Matthews will head to Cal State-Fullerton.
If you want to follow the blow by blow on the unsigned guys (Nimmo, Evans, Verritt) as we head down to the wire, I recommend following Jim Callis (@JimCallisBA) or @PSLtoFlushing on twitter.
The Mets head to San Diego next as Aaron Harang takes on R.A. Dickey in the opener. This, of course, means I will just miss him at Citi on Saturday. Terry, you sure you don't want to skip Pelf's turn and give him a little extra rest? You have a day off to play with and everything.
Jose Reyes probably won't be their Saturday either, as he has yet to resume workouts. Others can speculate on what this might mean vis a vis his next contract.
I don't think this got linked over the weekend, but you can bet I would be linking it regardless. Especially after Berg trolled me on twitter.
Around the NL East
Amidst all the LoMo controversy, the Marlins still found a way to lose to the Giants. You know, Logan Morrison might be struggling, he might be a jerk, and he might still have options, but how exactly does Hanley Ramirez get a pass? Oh, that's right.
Washington and Phily were rained out, denying me the opportunity to indulge in more sour grapes.
Dan Uggla's unlikely hitting streak finally ended, and the Cubs took the rubber game at Turner. The Braves are now only four up on the Giants for the wild card.
Around MLB
Tim Wakefield was denied his 200th win again, as somehow the Mariners won a series against the Red Sox. Kudos to Charlie Furbush, I guess.
The Brewers and Pirates continue to go in in opposite directions. Fortunately the Pirates are in the same division as the Astros, so they aren't finishing worse than fifth.
Hideki Kuroda delivered a stellar start as the Dodgers swept the Astros. Don't worry Astros fans, your new owner is on the way and will fix everything.
The Rangers shiny new bullpen seems to be working out all right.
Alex Gordon has gone from the next George Brett, to a total bust, to a pretty good baseball player.
Albert Pujols almost hit a ball out of Busch Stadium. That is what you call a no-doubter. The Cards won 6-2.
Fangraphs enjoys puns and Troy Tulowitzki. Despite the pun headline, this was not a Carson Cistuli article.