CitiField Pics & Other Notes

Happy belated fourth! After a brief "vacation" from posting, the Mets are now .500 with Pedro taking the mound today with the chance to FINALLY push us over the .500 mark and go 3-1 against the hated Phils - nothing would make us happier!! And a BIG SHOUT-OUT to Mets' owner, Fred Wilpon, for coming up with the patriotic stars-and-stripes caps that all 30 teams wore over the weekend (although listening to the Phils' broadcast, you'd never know that Wilpon had anything to do with this, let alone create it.) Although the navy caps look a bit too much like Yankee navy, they're for a great cause (medical care for returning military vets) and look darn stylish, to boot! You can order yours by clicking on the MLB ad on this site, and a large portion of the $$ goes to the veteran's fund! Way to go, Fred!!!

We asked a few weeks ago if Carlos Delgado should see the optometrist, as his ability to see balls at night seemed to be waning- and lots of people agreed- and yet he's still not wearing glasses or contacts!

Is anyone a better fielder in the outfield - and I mean at all three positions - then Endy Chavez? He can move from center to right to left and never fail to impress with his natural baseball instincts. If we could somehow get more offensive support from first base and second base, I wouldn't care so much if Alou ever came back, as I love Endy's defense in left with a HEALTHY Ryan Church in right! And the bench comes through again on a night when Wagner blows another one- that's six blown saves, the difference between third place and first place in the standings right now. As much as I love Wagner, the sole All-Star so far, now is the time to move him to the Rays, Rangers or Brewers for a nice prospect package and bring Kunz up to the majors. And F-Rod is a free agent after this season, and the Sporting News already ranked the Mets as his number one suitor- and who are WE to disappoint TSN??

Brewers GM Doug Melvin was on the "endangered species" list just a few short weeks ago; now, after trading 3 (possibly 4) prospects to the Indians for number one starter, C.C. Sabathia, his position seems to be safe once again. At the end of the year, if the Brewers are in the top 15 clubs in the game (record-wise) they will receive 2 picks (2 first rounders, 2 sandwich) for free agent starters Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia. Either one would look great in Mets' pinstripes; after signing Santana to his record deal, you'd think we'd have no shot at either pitcher - however, with Oliver Perez about to claim a 4 or 5 year deal from some club (and his agent is Scott Boras, so you just KNOW someone will meet his terms), the 3-5 million more per year necessary to sign a Sabathia or Sheets isn't so implausible when you remember that Delgado and Alou's deals (as well as Pedro) will expire at the end of this season, too. Making for an interesting offseason, and it's still only early July! Now, if the Brewers do not make the play-offs, they will have traded their 2007 first rounder and 2-3 additional young prospects for what amounts to a 3-month rental of C.C., and will swap prospects they know for those they don't (above-mentioned compensation picks). And yet Omar gets so much negative pub, but last I looked, Gomez was still a work in progress, Mulvey, Humber and Guerra weren't tearing up the minors, and Santana is locked up for the next 6 years. And the Mets will still have an excellent nucleus to build around at the end of this season, with a lot more quality prospects then they've been credited with (see Flores, Wilmer and Gee, Dillon) and once again, our future is looking brighter then our present (and we're still not out of things by any means in the NL Least! That's the craziness of this season, and that's what winning a few games will do to a Mets fan- false bravado all around, thank you!

The following pics of CitiField were sent to me this weekend by my Mets "angel" - she knows who she is - as we thought you'd like to see how well construction is progressing! Enjoy the pics- back with more later!