No word yet on Jorge Sosa, who the Mets are trying to trade and has not yet been put on waivers.

There is a bright side to this move however. The Mets have brought 90s sensations Fernando Tatis and Mambo No. 5 back to relevance. I saw him on Sportscenter earlier and in his sole at-bat, he got his first hit since 2006. He sure fell off since that 1999 in St. Louis where he batted .298 with 34 homers. He became the only player to hit two grand slams in one inning. 8 RBI in an inning and it was all off of Chan Ho Park (in the stretch of his career when he was good starting pitcher).

On the Mets beat (Newsday)

Darn. Thousands of childish, unprofessional Nats fans were looking forward to seeing him pitch in Nationals Park.

The Matchup: John Lannan (3-3, 3.40) vs. John Maine (4-2, 3.00)

The Story: The Mets look to rebound after a less than stellar effort last night that saw the two primary scapegoats, Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa, get designated for assignment this morning. Tonight, the Mets take the field behind their second-best starter, John Maine, who was two outs from pitching a complete game shutout last week in Los Angeles. The Mets scored 12 runs in that game, and run support is much in demand for New York.

The Nationals' biggest surprise of the season, John Lannan, takes the mound just miles from his Long Beach, New York home. Lannan has found great success this year, save one start when he surrendered 5 earned runs in 3 innings on May 2 at Houston. The southpaw Lannan relies mostly on his breaking ball, and has been very effective, posting a K/BB ratio of 1.89.

The Lineups:

Nationals: [Not yet posted]

Mets: Reyes (SS), Church (RF), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Alou (LF), Delgado (1B), Easley (2B), Schneider (C), Maine (P)

Actually, "Pitcher's got a big butt...in AAA New Orleans!"

Nelson Figueroa can't take the heat:

Figueroa was fuming over the behavior of some of the Nationals' players during the third inning, whom he accused of singing and chanting as he pitched to Austin Kearns with the bases loaded and the score tied, 3-3.

"They were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls," Figueroa said. "I'm a professional just like anybody else, so I take huge offense to that. ... I think they need to show a little more class and professionalism. They won tonight but, in the long run, they are still who they are."

Figueroa is as mild-mannered a player as the Mets have in their clubhouse, so his words resonate.

He wouldn't say specifically who the Washington players were, but his tone indicated that it wasn't something the Mets would take lightly. With three more games this week, a feud between the two teams could be brewing.

Lastings Milledge, the controversial outfielder the Nationals acquired from the Mets this winter, defended his teammates' conduct.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Milledge said. "We're not supposed to cater to anybody on the opposing team. We're not going to cater to him or anybody else, so whatever. We've been down the last couple days; we want to get something going. If you don't like it, you've got to just deal with it."

Luckily for him, he won't have to anymore, as he's been designated for assignment.

-Greg Berlin

Demoted: RHP Nelson Figueroa, RHP Jorge Sosa

Promoted/Activated: RHP Claudio Vargas, RHP Matt Wise, IF Fernando Tatis

DL: OF Angel Pagan

This should be goodbye to Sosa; I'm sure there will be lots of crying by Mets fans over that. I feel bad for Figueroa but wouldn't be at all surprised if he's back soon unless Vargas has a great start tomorrow. Tatis has been playing extremely well in New Orleans, and deserves Pagan's spot. Hopefully it's nothing serious with Angel and he's back soon. In terms of Wise, well, hopefully he can be that 6th inning reliever that the Mets have been missing all year.

-Jonathan Kraft

The ever informative Adam Rubin is reporting on his Daily News blog that Claudio Vargas has been pulled from his AAA New Orleans start tonight and will start for the Mets on Wednesday instead of Adam Bostick.

Rubin speculates now "confidently projects" that this might be Nelson Figueroa will be replaced by Vargas, who will be here for more than 1 go around in the rotation.

Rubin also reports that it could be Jorge Sosa being let go instead of Joe Smith being demoted after all "Jorge Sosa not Joe Smith, is in serious trouble once Matt Wise returns".

....I hope & pray this is accurate.

Finally...either Luis Castillo or, more likely, Angel Pagan will be heading to the DL with Fernando Tatis to be called up.

I think it is about time that the Mets hang up signs at Shea that read "Commitment To Mediocrity", because thats how this team conducts itself. From the front office to the clubhouse to the manager's office, mediocrity runs rampant through the DNA of this team.

...and I am TIRED of it.

Its a long season, I know. But I am as fed up with the Mets as humanly possible.

I am TIRED of the up-and-down nature of this ball club. They look good one day and horrible the next. They can't sustain anything more than a short winning streak over the last two seasons. They have little pride or drive and no leadership. Its hard to get motivated when the manager is constantly talking about turning the page and how there is still plenty of time to turn things around.

Yesterday, I wrote about them being the Flushing Cyclones and last night was no different. Nelson Figueroa's Cinderella Coach is fast turning into a pumpkin as he wasn't all that good for his third straight outing as the Mets lost 10-4.

The only real highlights of this game were the absolutely bomb of a HR that Damion Easley hit and the continued improvement of Carlos Beltran (2-for-5, RBI), Jose Reyes (2-for-4). and Moises Alou (3-for-5, 2 2B).

Jorge Sosa was absolutely putrid yet again, giving up 4 runs in 1 inning...

...and Omar Minaya, the Teflon GM, is keeping Sosa on the team instead of Joe Smith. Adam Rubin is reporting this sickening news on his Daily News blog today.

Keeping Sosa around when Matt Wise returns sends a message to Joe Smith and every other young player in this organization:

We don't care about you or your development. The amount of money you make and the amount of years you have played in the past are way more important than your performance (and the team's) on the field.

In short, the Mets value has beens & never were's over "might be's.

The Mets are keeping Sosa around solely because the Mets are on the hook for the remainder of his $2 million deal. They would rather not put the best possible team on the major league roster. They would rather keep Sosa than lose him for nothing (despite letting valuable young players like Ruben Gotay and Jesus Flores go for nothing in recent years).

So the next logical question would be if some team out there would want Sosa and his 7+ ERA, why not work out a trade and pick up a minor leaguer or maybe a backup infielder? You know, something the Mets are lacking.

What I also don't understand is why can't Figueroa be DFA'd? This way they get to keep Smith and Sosa on the team. Are the Mets that worried that another team might pick Figgy up? Even if they lost Figgy, there are other guys like Tony Armas Jr & Claudio Vargas at New Orleans that can serve the same role.

All I know is Smith pitched a strike out the side inning last night and has been nearly perfect all season. Sending him down weakens this Mets team that is ridiculously mediocre.

Signing an oft injured Luis Castillo to a 4 year deal based on past performance instead of keeping young & hungry players like Gotay or Keppinger is a sign of mediocrity. Relying on oft injured older pitchers like Pedro and Duque is a sign of mediocrity. Building a new stadium that honors the history of a team that left for Los Angeles 50 years ago rather than your own team's 40+ years of history is a sign of mediocrity.

Playing .500 ball for the past year IS MEDIOCRITY.

When will this nonsense end?

Figueroa's line: 5 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO

Sosa's line: 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

I'll try and take some good pictures to post soon...lets go Mets!

-Jonathan Kraft

-Jonathan Kraft

The Matchup: Nelson Figueroa (2-1, 4.08 ) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 3.82)

The Story: The Mets are hoping their bats make it from Arizona to Los Angeles tonight as they look to do a little better offensively than last night, when Chad Billingsley shut New York's hitters down. Jose Reyes, Ryan Church, and David Wright went a collective 0-10 on the night against Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, and Takashi Saito.

Tonight, the Mets face rookie Hiroki Kuroda, the Dodgers' big offseason acquisition out of Japan. Kuroda has been a good story for the Dodgers, just as Nelson Figueroa has for the Mets. Figgie was skipped over last go-around in the rotation in favor of Johan Santana, but he did take over for Oliver Perez after his disaster against Pittsburgh last week. The super-journeyman out of Brooklyn has been a great story so far, and looks to continue the magic tonight.

Carlos Delgado has certainly come around for the Mets, and is 8 for his last 25 with 3 HR and 6 RBI. It would be nice if the rest of the team decides to join him tonight at Chavez Ravine.

Lineups:

Mets: Reyes (SS), Church (RF), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Alou (LF), Delgado (1B), Schneider (C), Castillo (2B), Figueroa (P)

Dodgers: Pierre (LF), Jones (CF), Kemp (RF), Kent (2B), Martin (C), Loney (1B), DeWitt (3B), Hu (SS), Kuroda (P)

-Jonathan Kraft

Keeping on the topic of my boy Nelson Figueroa... What pisses me off to no end is the constant banter by these idiot beat sportswriters about how the Mets are going to make room for Matt Wise in the bullpen and demote either Figueroa or another one of my boys Joe Smith.  This is absolutely absurd.  Even your average yogi bear would raise a red flag and say don't bring up this potato chip making, Toy Story starring, unproven reliever and demote two of the bright spots the Mets have had as far as pitching is concerned this season.  I mean I'll give these guys a morsel of credit since they've nonchalantly thrown Sosa and Heilman into the mix, but the only one who sees eye to eye with the Real Mets Ham is SNY's Ted Berg who I am in complete agreement with when he states "At this point, I'd rather have Wise than Sosa, but if Sosa's bound to stay, I'd rather have Smith and Figueroa than Wise. "  Ted, you've got my HAMS UP for this week while the rest of these maggots are in the same boat as Willie and its sinking fast.

On the topic of Willie I'm happy to see he is finally putting Church in the 2 hole consistently and staying aggressive on the basepaths, but I think his use of the bullpen is in very poor judgement.  It seems as though there's no strategy entailed to WIllie's decisions and he's playing roulette.   I think he enjoys seeing Sosa and Heilman get shelled on a nightly basis, and I think he's being over cautious with his starters this season by limiting them to less than 7 innings in every outing without fail.  Hey Willie, the season is young and this is the time to use the arms because come August you might wanna start limiting their pitch counts.  Now is the time to utilize the arms especially those of Santana and Maine who in my opinion have been pulled out of games way too early so you can find a way for the bullpen to implode again.  The bullpen truly isn't that bad as I have plenty of faith in guys like Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano, Duaner Sanchez and Billy Wagner.  Even Scott Schoeneweis is coming around and not hearing as many boos as he was previously accustomed to.  Heilman and Sosa have been ineffective because you over utilize them and when they're slumping you continue to throw them out to the wolves.  As long as Willie is calling the shots I don't think this team has the heart or the fire necessary to win a championship.  The Mets need a leader who is going to be the sparkplug that this clubhouse currently lacks.  Heck, I've loved every minute of Billy Wagner's weekly ESPN radio bit and I also liked the way in which Beltran picked up Reyes a couple of weeks ago, but we need to start showing emotion, heart, perseverance and the desire to win ballgames.  Every now and again I'll watch old videos of the 1986 New York Mets and it not only bring back memories but it's clearly evident that the team was pure glue.  They stuck together, they had fun, and they won ballgames as a result.  Twenty-two years later in this media crazed society the 2008 New York Mets appear to be too vigilant of what's going on outside the baseball diamond as opposed to what they are being put out there to do.  WIN

Though Jones was only hitting .195 on the season, he is a career .278 hitter who can split time with Moises Alou. Last year with the Cubs, Jones batted .285 and drove in 66 RBI.  There is no doubt that Jones would improve the Mets bench.

If the Mets can get Detroit to absorb a good deal of Jones' $6.3 mil salary, he would be a improvement over Angel Pagan or Endy Chavez.

If the deal could get done without involving Pagan or Chavez, it would make one or both of them tradeable and would allow the Mets to address other needs on the team (pitching, backup 1B, backup 2B/SS).

With the return of Matt Wise on the horizon, there is a log jam of pitchers on the Mets roster. Jorge Sosa has no options but would otherwise be the likely candidate to go down to AAA. Aaron Heilman has options but it is unlikely that he will be sent down. Joe Smith can also be sent down, but his perfromance thus far dictates that he stays. Nelson Figueroa has earned his spot on the team as well.

The Mets could also pursue a trade with the Tigers for Jones and either offer Sosa or for multiple players by including Heilman or Wise. Or acquire Jones as part of a series of trades that will not only ease the roster situation but will also improve the makeup of the bench.

The Mets blew it big time today, losing 12-1 to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates as nothing went right for the Amazin's. Oliver Perez got rocked, going just 1.2 with seven runs scored on him (just 2 earned, though, as shoddy defense took care of the rest). Oliver's line on the afternoon: (2 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO). Nelson Figueroa came out of the bullpen for mop up duty and went 3.1 before handing the ball over to Jorge Sosa. We all know how that went. Sosa's line: (1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO).

Here's my rant of the day. When you have an extra starter who's been as good as Figueroa has, you can afford to pitch him for more than 3.1 innings. Willie obviously gave up on this game along with the rest of the team. What happened to the Mets of two years ago, the team that could be down 7 runs and still come back to win by 3. That team? They play down the road in the City of Brotherly Love. You know what else is a shame? I'd bet a lot of money that Omar decides to send Joe Smith back to AAA when Matt Wise comes back, giving the nod to the veteran Sosa. I'll save that full rant for when that happens, but it still kills me to see our second most efficient reliever get no respect from the organization.

Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny came into today's game with an ERA over 8, and the Mets let him eat them up before he left after 5 with an apparent injury. Apparently the Pirates are stacked with pitching talent because they two-hit the Mets. That's right, the Mets could only manage two hits off of Gorzelanny, John Van Benschoten, and Evan Meek. I can't wait to see how they do against Micah Owings, Brandon Webb, and Dan Haren this weekend.

By the way, that Gold Glover on the hot corner? He has five errors on the year and went 0-2 with 2 BB today. The only Met with an RBI was, once again, Ryan Church, who seems to be the only one on the team with any desire to win.

-Jonathan Kraft

Guess Nelson Figueroa will actually be getting his "start" this week, despite getting skipped over in favor of Johan Santana this weekend. Figgie came out of the pen to relieve a completely ineffective Oliver Perez, who gave up 7 runs (only 2 earned though) in an inning and two-thirds. Ouch. Just one of those days.

-Jonathan Kraft

According to the Daily News, Mets starter Nelson Figueroa will be skipped in the rotation this weekend, allowing Johan Santana to pitch Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

MetsBlog is not happy about the move, and says that Figueroa has been the Mets most successful pitcher this year not named Santana. How true is that? He does have the second best WHIP in the rotation (1.34) after Santana (0.92), but has also averaged the most runs allowed (4.26).

This is a no brainer--you're playing the hottest team in the NL, who do you want on the mound, Nelson Figueroa or Johan Santana. I understand Figgie's been a great story (and relatively effective), but I'd rather see Santana on the mound against one of Arizona's premier starters (slated to be Dan Haren as of now). Besides, this is a good opportunity to use Figgie out of the pen this week.

At first, I thought he was definitely not coming out to spite the fans at Shea who have been booing him unmercifully the last few weeks due to his declining play. Gary Cohen on SNY also seemed to think so.

But it appears that Delgado had other, more sincere motives at play. Delgado said after the game:

“The way I look at it, I hit a solo home run in the seventh inning. I got a great deal of respect for the game and I don’t think that’s the place for a curtain call. We appreciate the support of the fans, but we’re here to play the game. They pay me to go out and hit the ball and drive in runs, and I didn’t think it was the right situation.”

Then he smiled and said “Having said that, I’m not going to lie. I feel good. It’s a lot better than the boos.”

He also went on to say that the only times he took curtain calls was the time he hit 4 HRs in a game and when he hit his 400th HR. Also, there is no denying that the solo HR put the Mets up 6-3 so we have to take Delgado on his word. Some players may have taken the curtain call in that situation but Delgado didn't and we cannot fault him for it.

Even if Delgado's post-game quotes were lies meant to cover up other intentions, I can't blame him for that either. If the fans have a right to boo (even though I disagree with the sentiment, I think they are allowed to boo), then he has a right to refuse when they are requesting a curtain call.

Unfortunately I am sure the media, especially WFAN & ESPN Radio will harp on this for a few days and turn a non-story into something that will keep their shows buzzing.

I think the biggest controversy on Sunday were the horrible whistle happy refs who denied the Rangers the game tying goal and put the Rangers down 2-0 in their series against Diving Sidney Crosby and the Pens. But that's a story for another blog.

As for the rest of the game, I gotta give my fellow Brooklynite, Nelson Figueroa, props for another solid performance. Figgy went 5 1/3 innings and got the W (2-1) as he gave up 3 runs and 7 hits, not Earth shattering but pretty a pretty good showing from a #5 guy who was out of the majors.

During the SNY broadcast, they posted a graphic that Figueroa's opponents are hitting .094 the first time through the lineup. Since he has several starts under his belt, you can't chalk this up to Figgy being a mystery to the league. Teams facing him should have enough tape on him right now to know what to expect when facing him. Should Figgy be bumped from the rotation, the opponent's low BA probably means Figgy will be an effective relief pitcher.

More props go to:

Raul Cassanova who went 3-4 with a HR (a nice shot to right center) & a RBI.

Jose Reyes who manufactured a run after a double in the first. He was looked back to 2nd base following a grounder hit the third but then took off for third on the throw to first and made it safely. He later scored on a wild pitch.

Ryan Church made a great catch on the warning track. Church & Carlos Beltran both were tracking the ball but Beltran saw it was Church's ball and ducked/slide on the dirt. Church hopped over him as he made the catch.

With the exception of Livan Hernandez's much anticipated crappiness, and Barry Zito's sixth straight loss, Sunday was notable for its exceptional pitching. Brandon Webb out-dueled Jake Peavy for his sixth win. Chien-Ming Wang edged a suddenly-awesome-again (but still hefty) C.C. Sabathia 1-0. Josh Beckett struck out 13 Rays, but still lost 3-0 to a barely hittable James Shields. Nelson Figueroa beat a possibly-injured John Smoltz 6-3. The Pirate's Paul Maholm (.288 career BAA)pitched a complete game two-hitter against the Phillies. Vicente Padilla, who hasn't pitched a complete game or held an era under 4.50 since 2003, pitched a shutout against Minnesota. I wouldn't get too excited about those last three, but Padilla was at least streamable 3 years ago, so he 's worth keeping an eye on and maybe starting against those few other AL teams with puny offenses - Baltimore, Kansas City, Oakland.

Not much else to say about this one. Smoltz got whacked early on, Figueroa had a pretty good afternoon and Billy Wagner sealed the game off in spite of having allowed his first hit of the season.

Here's the scorecard for the game, now in blue ink :)

No Brainers

Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs. Arizona; vs. Florida

Opponents: Brandon Webb (5-0, 2.31 ERA); Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 5.91 ERA)

Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs San Diego; vs. New York

Opponents: Jake Peavy (3-0, 2.00 ERA); Nelson Figueroa (1-1, 4.05 ERA)

Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Oakland; vs. New York

Opponents: Joe Blanton (1-4, 4.32 ERA); Mike Mussina (2-3, 4.94 ERA)

Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Tampa Bay; vs. Tampa Bay

Opponents: James Shields (2-1, 3.30 ERA); James Shields (2-1, 3.30 ERA)

Chien Ming Wang, New York Yankees

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Cleveland; vs. Seattle

Opponents: C.C. Sabathia (1-3, 10.13 ERA); Erik Bedard (1-0, 3.27 ERA)

Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Anaheim; vs. Minnesota

Opponents: Jered Weaver (1-.3, 4.51 ERA); Scott Baker (2-0, 3.51 ERA)

C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Indians

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Friday, May 2

Teams: vs Yankees; vs. Kansas City

Opponents: Chien Ming Wang (5-0, 2.31 ERA); Luke Hochevar (1-1, 5.91 ERA)

Gotta Play ‘Em

Brett Myers, Philadelphia Phillies

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Pittsburgh; vs. San Francisco

Opponents: Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.22 ERA); Barry Zito (0-5, 5.61 ERA)

Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati Reds

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs San Francisco; vs. Atlanta

Opponents: Barry Zito (0-5, 5.61 ERA); Tim Hudson (3-1, 2.93 ERA)

Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Friday, May 2

Teams: vs Detroit; vs. Baltimore

Opponents: Justin Verlander (1-3, 5.93 ERA); Jeremy Guthrie (0-2, 4.18 ERA)

Ian Snell, Pittsburgh Pirates

Starts: Monday, April 28; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Mets; vs. Washington

Opponents: Johan Santana (3-2, 3.12 ERA); John Lannan (1-2, 3.42 ERA)

Strong Play

James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Friday, May 2

Teams: vs Boston; vs. Boston

Opponents: Josh Beckett (2-1, 5.12 ERA); Josh Beckett (2-1, 5.12 ERA)

Jeff Francis, Colorado Rockies

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3
Teams: vs Dodgers; vs. Dodgers
Opponents: TBA; Hong Chih Kuo (0-1, 3.60 ERA)

Joe Blanton, Oakland Athletics

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Friday, May 2

Teams: vs Seattle; vs. Texas

Opponents: Felix Hernandez (2-0, 1.67 ERA); TBA

Ted Lilly, Chicago Cubs

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Washington; vs. St. Louis

Opponents: John Lannan (1-2, 3.42 ERA); Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.79 ERA)

Worthwhile For Two Starts

Jon Garland, Los Angels Angels of Anaheim

Starts: Monday, April 28; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Oakland; vs. Baltimore

Opponents: Chad Gaudin (2-1, 3.37 ERA); Daniel Cabrera (2-0, 4.40 ERA)

Gil Meche, Kansas City Royals

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Toronto; vs. Cleveland

Opponents: Jesse Litsch (2-1, 6.16 ERA); Fausto Carmona (3-1, 2.89 ERA)

Kyle Lohse, St. Louis Cardinals

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Houston; vs. Cubs

Opponents: Brandon Backe (1-2, 4.15 ERA); Rich Hill (1-0, 3.79 ERA)

Getting Desperate

Daniel Cabrera, Baltimore Orioles

Starts: Monday, April 28; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs White Sox; vs. Angels

Opponents: Mark Buehrle (1-2, 5.96 ERA); Jon Garland (3-2, 5.04 ERA)

Chad Gaudin, Oakland Athletics

Starts: Monday, April 28; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Angels; vs. Texas

Opponents: Jon Garland (3-2, 5.04 ERA); Vincente Padilla (2-2, 4.97 ERA)

Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Cincinnati; vs. Philadelphia

Opponents: Edinson Volquez (3-0, 1.21 ERA); Brett Myers (2-1, 4.78 ERA)

Mike Mussina, New York Yankees

Starts: Monday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Cleveland; vs. Seattle

OpponentsAaron Laffey (no starts yet); Felix Hernandea (2-0, 1.67 ERA)

Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Friday, May 2

Teams: vs White Sox; vs. Angels

Opponents: Jose Contreras (1-2, 4.68 ERA;) Jered Weaver (1-3, 4.50 ERA)

Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Florida; vs. Houston

Opponents: Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 5.91 ERA); Bradon Backe (1-2, 4.15 ERA)

John Lannan, Washington Nationals

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Cubs; vs. Pittsburgh

Opponents: Ted Lilly (1-3, 7.30 ERA); Ian Snell (2-1, 4.45 ERA)

Only When Desperate

Vicente Padilla, Texas Rangers

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Minnesota; vs. Oakland

Opponents: Livan Hernandez (3-0, 3.55 ERA); Chad Gaudin (2-1, 3.37 ERA)

Nelson Figueroa, New York Mets

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Atlanta; vs. Arizona

Opponents: John Smoltz (3-1, 0.78 ERA); Brandon Webb (5-0, 2.31 ERA)

Jose Contreras, Chicago White Sox

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Baltimore; vs. Toronto

Opponents: Jeremy Guthrie (0-2, 4-18 ERA); Jesse Litsch (2-1, 6.16 ERA)

Jesse Litsch, Toronto Blue Jays

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Kansas City; vs. White Sox

Opponents: Gil Meche (1-3, 8.00 ERA); Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 4.68 ERA)

Brandon Backe, Houston Astros

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs St. Louis; vs. Brewers

Opponents: Kyle Lohse (2-0, 2.54 ERA); Manny Parra (1-1, 5.40 ERA)

Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Philadelphia; vs. Washington

Opponents: Brett Myers (2-1, 4.78 ERA); Matt Chico (0-4, 6.04 ERA)

Ricky Nolasco, Florida Marlins

Starts: Sunday, April 27; Saturday, May 3

Teams: vs Milwaukee; vs. Florida

Opponents: Manny Parra (1-1, 5.40 ERA); Jake Peavy (3-0, 2.00 ERA)

As always, your questions about your team (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee an answer within 18 hours.

I guess I'll start with good ol' Willie Randolph. He saw it necessary to start Brady Clark in LF today, with Angel Pagan in RF and Ryan Church getting a day off. There was absolutely no need to get Clark a start, as he is going to be in AAA when Moises Alou returns from the DL this weekend.

If he wanted to give Church a day off, it should have been yesterday since the Mets arrived in Chicago at 4 AM and he has been hitting lefties (today's Cubs starter Ted Lilly is a lefty) particularly well. But stats, facts, and common sense mean nothing to Willie.

Carlos Delgado. With 2 outs in the 4th, a ball was hit to Damian Easley (playing 2B) and Delgado had a brain fart. Delegado failed to get back to 1st, Figueroa didn't get to the bag in time and the inning was prolonged. Next batter drove in 2 runs, making the score 3-0 Cubs.

Delgado got a single today as part of a 1-for-4, 2 strikeout day that kept him above the Mendoza line...so I guess that is the silver lining in his storm cloud of a season. Though the fact remains, he can't hit, can't field, and shouldn't be batting 5th.

Earlier in that 4th inning, Angel Pagan misplayed a ball in RF but wasn't given an error...also leading to a run.

Nelson Figueroa got his first loss (2-1). He was not horrible today but, he wasn't great either. He gave up the previously mentioned 3 runs (which should have been all unearned), 7 hits, and 5 walks over 5 innings. He was able to get out of all the trouble he created for himself all day. So it was somewhat frustrating to see Willie yank him in the 5th inning after giving up a walk and only having pitched 92 pitches.

Willie has gone to the bullpen way too much this season and like he has done with Maine and Perez on several occasions already, he didn't give Figueroa the chance to get out of the jam. In usual Randolph fashion, he used 4 pitchers out of the pen today and got outmanaged by Lou Pinella in the process. Pinella is not know for his tactical prowess,

In the 7th, Pinella sent Daryle Ward, who is hitting .077 to PH for catcher Henry Blanco, Willie responded with Pedro Feliciano. Then Pinella brings in Geovany Soto, who would have had to come in anyway to catch. Willie has Feliciano intentionally walk Soto. With the pitcher's spot up next, Pinella had righty Matt Murton PH, so Willie yanked Feliciano. Pinella completely outsmarted Randolph.

Feliciano faced one batter on the day (and just to issue an intentional walk!!!) and has only pitched 4 innings on the season, despite being healthy and being with the team all season. Duaner Sanchez, coming off his 21 month injury rehab and Carlos Muniz, who hasn't been with the team for almost a week have pitched more than Feliciano thus far.

Strangely, Willie uses Feliciano as a situational 1-2 batter pitcher and overuses everyone else. Never mind that Feliciano is one of the most reliable guys he's got. But I digress...

The only bright spot on the day would be Carlos Beltran's fielding, most notably chasing down Derek Lee's shot to deep CF. But he's still not hitting. He went 0-for-2 today and is down to .215.

I'm not going to get too deep into the crap that transpired in the 8th or the unbelievable info that Gary Cohen divulged during the SNY broadcast about Willie Randolph ignoring the rule book because he was basically afraid.  I already wrote about it all in this earlier post.

So I'll just wrap it up with this: this is STILL a immensely flawed team completely lacking in leadership. The 5 game win streak is a distant memory.

They were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls,” Figueroa said after the Mets lost to Washington, 10-4, in the series opener. “I’m a professional, just like anybody else. I take huge offense to that. If that’s what a last-place team needs to do to fire themselves up, so be it. I think you need to show a little bit more class, a little bit more professionalism. They won tonight, but again, in the long run, they are who they are.”

I am not sure if Nelson Figueroa realized that Elijah Dukes was the head cheerleader last night. Figgy better watch out, Dukes once threatened to kill his wife...and he'll do the same to Figgy.

If you click on the ESPN story I linked above, you will read the following:

The product of Tampa Hillsborough, the same high school that sent Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffied, Vance Lovelace and Carl Everett to the majors, reported to spring training eager to leave his troubles behind.

I am not sure what they are putting in the water in the Hillsborough High locker room but someone ought to investigate.

Gooden, Sheff, Everett, and Dukes?  With the exception of Lovelace, that is some collection of hotheads, maniacs, and criminals.