Kuzul

With the Mets having lost the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, they are still in need of another starting pitcher.

Losing the last two games to the Braves and falling to five games out of first place and two back in the wild card race have made this need even more obvious.

Names that have recently come up in connection to the Mets include Ted Lilly , Fausto Carmona , Jake Westbrook, and Dan Haren . However, all of these players come at a price.

A popular name that is being thrown around as a player who the Mets would need to include in a deal is Josh Thole.

At just age 22, Thole was able to have success in his short stint in the major leagues last season.

After starting the season in the minors, Thole has worked his way back up to the big league club.

He struggled in the minors this year posting just a .267 batting average and a .353 on-base percentage.

Many wondered if Thole had truly merited his promotion. Others wondered if it was in an attempt to showcase him for a trade. It appears to be the latter.

Thole would be a key piece in a deal for any of the aforementioned pitchers.

The Cubs appear to have no need for Thole, yet they have requested that he be included in a deal for Ted Lilly.

This speaks volumes about the confidence the Cubs have in Geovany Soto. Thole would…(to read the rest of the article click on the link below)

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So far this season, the Mets have played 75 games. They are currently .5 games out of first place. The Mets have been able be competitive despite that fact that they have had Carlos Beltran, a perennial All-Star, play exactly 0 games for them.

When Beltran does return to the Mets, he will be a major asset. There is no way to deny that. Despite playing only half a season last year, Beltran was able to bat .325 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI. That production would be very helpful for the Mets.

However, it might be in the Mets’ best interests to trade Carlos Beltran. While he would be a force in the Mets lineup, Beltran may have more value as a trade candidate.

Before the season, Beltran would have been one of the players on the Mets untouchable list. Thanks to the emergence of Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur, Beltran is no longer on that list.

Pagan has been very productive so far this season. He has hit .302 with 4 home runs, 35 RBI, and he as also stolen 14 bases. Francoeur has managed to hit .270 with 7 home runs, 40 RBI, and he has stolen 7 bases. Instead of sending on of these players to the bench when Beltran returns, Beltran could be traded away in a deal for a top pitcher.

Acquiring an ace like Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, or even a solid number two starter such as Fausto Carmona or…(to read the rest of the reasons Carlos Beltran could be traded and to see who else the Mets could get for him, click on the link below)

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Cliff Lee will most likely be the biggest name moved this season. There have been lots of rumors about where Lee may eventually end up. He has been linked with the Mets, Twins, and Rangers among other teams. Now, there are even rumors that Lee will be traded within the next two weeks.

It is amazing that a player of Lee’s caliber has been traded twice since last July. Both packages were solid, but they were not what you would expect for a pitcher that has preformed as well as Lee has. It would not be surprising to see the Mariners get a better package for Lee than both the Indians and Phillies.

Lee has been absolutely lights out this season. In 11 starts, Lee has posted an AL leading 2.39 ERA. Lee also lead the AL with a 0.91 WHIP. Lee has also walked only 4 batters in 86.2 innings. This gives him a league-leading 0.4 BB/9. Lee has also struck out 76 batters this year. As a result, he has an absolutely absurd 19.00 K/BB rate.

This K/BB rate is unheard of. The previous high is an 11.00 K/BB rate posted by Brett Saberhagen in 1994. While Lee may not be able to maintain this level of success throughout the rest of the season, it certainly helps his value. Lee could also improve on some of his numbers if he is traded to a National League team.

Because of his success and the fact that Lee will be a hot commodity at the trade deadline… (to read the rest and see who the Mets might trade to get Lee click on the link below)

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The biggest name in trade rumours this season: Cliff Lee.

There have been lots of rumors about Lee may eventually end up. He has been linked with the Mets, Twins, and Rangers among other teams. Now, there are even rumors that Lee will be traded within the next two weeks.

It is amazing that a player of Lee’s caliber has been traded twice since last July. Both packages were solid, but were not what you would expect for a pitcher that has preformed as well as Lee had. It would not be surprising to see the Mariners get a better package for Lee than both the Indians and Phillies.

Lee has been absolutely lights out this season. In 11 starts, Lee has posted an AL leading 2.39 ERA. Lee also lead the AL with a 0.91 WHIP. Lee has also walked only 4 batters in 86.2 innings. This gives him a league leading 0.4 BB/9. Lee has also struck out 76 batters this year. As a result, he has an absolutely absurd 19.00 K/BB rate.

This K/BB rate is unheard of. The previous high is an 11.00 K/BB rate posted by Brett Saberhagen in 1994. While Lee may not be able to maintain this level of success throughout the rest of the season, it certainly helps his value. Lee could also improve on some of his numbers if he is traded to a National League team.

Because of his success and the fact that Lee will be a hot commodity at the trade deadline… (to read the rest and see who the Twins might trade for Lee click on the link below)

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Cliff Lee will most likely be the biggest name moved this season.

There have been lots of rumors about where Lee may eventually end up, and he has been linked with the Mets, Twins, and Rangers among other teams. There are even rumors that Lee will be traded within the next two weeks.

It’s amazing that a player of Lee’s caliber has been traded twice since last July. Both packages were solid, but weren’t what you would expect for a pitcher that has preformed as well as Lee. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mariners get a better package for him than either the Indians or Phillies did.

Lee has been absolutely lights-out this season.

In 11 starts, Lee has posted an AL-leading 2.39 ERA and leads the AL with a 0.91 WHIP. Lee has only walked four batters in 86.2 innings, which gives him a league-leading 0.4 BB/9. Lee has also struck out 76 batters this year, giving him an absolutely absurd 19.00 K/BB rate.

The K/BB rate is unheard of, as the previous high is an 11.00 K/BB rate posted by Brett Saberhagen in 1994.

While Lee may not be able to maintain this level of success throughout the rest of the season, it certainly helps his value, and Lee’s numbers could actually improve if he’s traded to a National League team.

Because of his success and the fact that he’ll be a hot commodity at the trade deadline… (to read the rest and see who the Mariners could get for Lee click on the link below)

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Carlos Beltran played his first minor league rehab game for Class A Port St. Lucie today.

Beltran was able to play five innings in center field; he went 0-for-2 with a walk.

While this is certainly not the performance that the Mets front office was hoping for, it is a good sign.

Beltran appears to feel comfortable playing in a baseball game again.

Tomorrow will be an important day for Beltran. Playing back-to-back games is a big step for him.

Hopefully, he will be able to play at least seven innings this time.

Jerry Manuel said that Beltran could return to the big league team on Monday. This is probably not  a realistic option.

I would not expect Beltran to be back with the Mets until early July. Even then, I do not expect that he will start more than two or three games in a row until after the All-Star Break.

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It has been reported that Carlos Beltran worked out in front of Omar Minaya and the New York Mets training staff on Sunday.

Beltran showed his hitting and base-running ability. Beltran impressed Minaya and the medical staff. They believe that he is ready to move on to the next step of his rehabilitation. Exactly what rehab is needed and when it will start is uncertain. It is possible that the next step is a minor league rehab assignment.

Minaya and Beltran are supposed to talk to the Mets’ head doctor later this week to come up with a plan of action.

Beltran has said that he wants to face better competition than he has faced in the simulated games.This leads me to believe that even Beltran himself will be pushing for the minor league assignment.

Beltran would most likely spend at least two weeks in the minors.

He can only be there for twenty days once he starts playing. If he begins this assignment at the end of this week or early next week, it is a strong possibility that Beltran will be back right after the All-Star break.

Beltran may struggle a bit when he rejoins the major league team. He is wearing a fairly bulky knee brace that slightly limits his motion. He will most likely not have the same range in the outfield when he returns.

Carlos’ potential return is news that all Mets fans want to hear. The sooner Beltran can rejoin the major league team the better.

Update: Carlos will start playing minor league rehab games on…(click on the link below to read the rest of the article and find out when Carlos Beltran will be back)

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In my last article , I discussed the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks will be sellers at the trade deadline. I named Kelly Johnson as a potential player for the Mets to go after. The Diamondbacks also have another player that the Mets and many other teams will be interested in: Dan Haren.

Haren has been an outstanding pitcher for the Diamondbacks for the past three years. He has made the All-Star game three times, and he finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting last year. His highest ERA during those three seasons was 3.33 and his highest WHIP was 1.208.

However, this season, Haren has struggled. He has posted a 4.71 ERA and a 1.332 WHIP so far. Haren has also struggled significantly with the long ball. He has given up 18 home runs in 101 and 2/3 innings. This leads the league. As a comparison, Haren gave up only 19 home runs in 216 innings in 2008. Dan Haren has also given up 115 hits so far. This leads the National League.

Even with all of his struggles, Haren has still been able to have some success. He has a 7-5 record this year. Haren also has 101 strikeouts which is good for third in the National League. He has only walked 1.776 batters per nine innings, good for fourth in the NL, and has a 5.05 K/BB ratio, good for second in the NL. Another thing that makes Haren a trade target is…(to read the rest of the article and see who the Diamondbacks might get in return for Dan Haren click on the link below)

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In my last article , I discussed the likelihood that the Arizona Diamondbacks will be sellers at the trade deadline, including how Kelly Johnson is a possible target for the Mets.

The Diamondbacks also have another player that the Mets and many other teams will be interested in: Dan Haren.

Haren has been an outstanding pitcher for the Diamondbacks for the past three years. He has made the All-Star game three times and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting last year. His highest ERA during those three seasons was 3.33 and his highest WHIP was 1.20.

However, this season, Haren has struggled—posting a 4.71 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Haren has also struggled significantly with the long ball. He has given up 18 home runs in 101 and 2/3 innings, which leads the league.

Comparing his numbers from last year, Haren gave up only 19 home runs in 216 innings. He has also giving up 115 hits so far this season—also leading the National League.

Even with all of his struggles, Haren has still been able to have some success. He has a 7-5 record this year and 101 strikeouts, good for third in the NL. He has only walked 1.77 batters per nine innings, fourth in the NL, and has a 5.05 K/BB ratio, 2nd in the NL.

Another thing that makes Haren a trade target is…(to read the rest of the article and see who the Mets might trade for Dan Haren click on the link below)

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With the Arizona Diamondbacks sitting at 26-41 and 12.5 games out of 1st place in the NL West, it is obvious that they will be sellers when the trade deadline arrives. The Diamondbacks have already started trading players. They swapped Connor Jackson for minor league reliever Sam Demel on July 15th.

Another player that the Diamondbacks are rumored to be looking to move is Kelly Johnson. Johnson started off the year with a bang. He hit .313 with 9 home runs and 18 RBIs in the month of March. Over the past two months, he has come back down to earth hitting .250 with 4 home runs and 16 RBIs over that span.

Johnson is probably due for a bit more a regression throughout the course of the season. His ISO (slg %- avg) is .250 this year. Kelly has never posted an ISO greater than .180 in his career. Then again, at age 28, there is the chance that Johnson is having a breakout season. Either way, Johnson will provide above average offense from 2nd base.

It is well known the New York Mets have had issues at second base all season. With Luis Castillo on the disabled list, the Mets have turned to Ruben Tejada. While Tejada is solid defensively, he leaves something to be desired on offense. He is the third youngest player in the majors at 20 years old and still needs time to develop.

With the Mets looking more and more like a playoff team,… (to read the rest and find out who the Mets may trade click on the link below)

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