Hernandez Is Back

According to ESPN's Jason Stark the Mets have acquired RHP Roberto Hernandez and LHP Oliver Perez for Xavier Nady.

Sanchez Injured

According to Fox Sports RHP Dauner Sanchez has seperated his pitching sholder. He was involved in a car accident in Miami. He is out for the year. Looks like the Mets have to go get someone.

Just an Hour Left

With just an hour left before the deadline the Mets have yet to make a big trade. Many of us are starting to wonder if they will make a trade at all. Will the Mets get a big time pitcher? Is Omar willing to part with Lastings Milledge? I don't know but we will soon find out. Lot's of names have been tossed around but still no deal.

Lidge Off the Block

According to Buster Olney no one has come close to the asking price for Lidge and he will no longer be traded.

Zito Not Shea Bound

According to multiple sources Barry Zito is not going to be moved. So lets forget about that and hopefully the Mets can get Oswalt and Lidge.

Mets Complete Sweep and Move on To Florida

The Mets completed a sweep of the Atlanta Braves yesterday. Tom Glavine did not have his best stuff. He lasted 4 innings giving up 6 runs. The bullpen was solid again. But the big story was the Met offense. Carlos Beltran had his second 2 HR game in as many days. The Met offense scored a total of 10 runs. Next... The Mets head to Florida to take on the Marlins. The will send the rookie Mike Pelfrey to the mound in game one. Mike will be opposed by Scott Olsen. The first game is tomorrow at 7:05 PM ET.

Mets Swinging for the Fences?

Late last night, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus announced that the Mets were "Swinging for the Fences". Many thoughts crossed my mind of what type of blockbuster deal might the Mets be concocting. I went to sleep and woke up in a great mood, knowing that the Mets are working on a deal to get either Jason Schmidt or Roy Oswalt. Anyone of these guys could not only solidify the top of the rotation but will automatically place us in World Series contention. Oswalt clearly is the better pitcher, but Schmidt can hold his own also. Lets face it these two guys beats the names we have been hearing, Levan, Kip Wells, Tony Armas Jr. ect What it comes down to is a Schmidt deal will not include Milledge and a Oswalt deal Milledge will be the centerpiece. Potential three way in the works: Houston Mets and Nationals, Major cogs Oswalt to Mets, Soriano to Astros. Prospects and throw-in players sill in works

Morning Papers

Mets Made Pitch For Schmidt July 31 New York Post (registration required): "The Mets have long had heavy interest in Giants righty Jason Schmidt, and yesterday they made a push for the All-Star, according to an MLB team executive... Another pitcher who would also match Minaya's need is Houston's Roy Oswalt, whose name surfaced publicly yesterday as part of a potential deal with Baltimore involving Miguel Tejada." Trade Winds July 31 Newark Star-Ledger (registration required): "Late last night, the Mets were in negotiations with the Giants in an effort to acquire right-hander Jason Schmidt. The deal is a long shot, but it was intriguing enough to both sides that they were exchanging names." Willie: We don't need any trades July 31 New York Daily News: "A team official said John Maine's emergence - he's tossed 17 consecutive scoreless innings - has significantly reduced the urgency to find a starting pitcher in a market that's far from overwhelming, with veterans such as Pittsburgh's Kip Wells and Washington's Livan Hernandez mentioned most often." Mets ponder choices with deadline looming July 31 Journal News: "Mike Pelfrey hears the whispers. He's in a major-league clubhouse, so how couldn't he? His is the second name selling clubs throw at Mets general manager Omar Minaya when he calls; Lastings Milledge is the first."

Glavine Working Hard For Win

The Mets are currently in the 4th inning. They lead 8-3. Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado both have home runs in this game. Beltran's being his third grand slam of the season. Glavine is laboring, but he is trying to work through it. He is already thrown over 65 pitches. Hopefully he can step it up. Good luck Glav, and LETS GO METS!!!

Abreu and Lidle to Yanks

The Phills and the Yanks have tentatively agreed to a deal. The deal will send Cory Lidle and Bobby Abreu to the Yankees. In return the Yankees will send a bunch of prospects to the Phillis. Don't worry Yankee fans Phill Hughes is not one of those prospects.

Mets Bomb Braves

In game two of the current three game set between the Braves and Mets the Mets won 10-3. El' Duque took the mound for the Metropolitans and he knew this was a big game for him, as he is on the verge of being pushed into the bullpen. And Duque did what he usually does in big games; he pitched 8 innings giving up 3 runs, all unearned, on 3 hits. He struck out 7 batters and at one point he retired 12 Braves in a row. Chad Bradford came on in the 9th to finish it off. He gave up just a hit. Defensively the Mets are usually very sure-handed, however they committed 2 errors early on that allowed 3 runs to score. In the first inning David Wright threw the ball into center field while making a routine play. Wright's error caused Marcus Giles to score from third base on a sac fly by Adam LaRoache. In the second inning Jose Reyes booted a ball that prolonged the inning allowing two more runs to score. However the defense was solid for the rest of the game. Offensively the Mets excelled. A form of production was contributed from every defensive position including the pitcher. Reyes had 1 hit in 5 tries. LoDuca went 4 for 4 with a BB, he also scored 2 runs. Beltran hit HRs number 29 and 30, he also contributed 5 RBIs. Carlos Delgado did not get a hit in his first AB, and was removed promptly after his second. However his replacement Julio Franco contributed 2 hits and a stolen base. David Wright walked and scored a run. Floyd contributed with 2 hits and 2 runs. Valentin got a hit and walked twice, he also scored 2 runs. Endy Chavez contributed 2 hits, a BB, and 3 RBI. El' Duque hit a 2 RBI single up the middle. The two RBI's were the first ever of his career. With regards to Delgado... he was hit by a pitch in the third inning. According to Mets.com Delgado has a bad bruise on his knee and is listed as day to day. Delgado said that if he can put weight on the knee today he would like to play. However manager Willie Randolph had decided against that. Game 3... The Mets will attempt to sweep the Braves later today. Tommy Glavine will take the ball for the Mets and he will face off against rookie LHP Chuck James. Tune into the WB-11 for the Lefty-Lefty duel. The game starts at 1:05 PM ET.

Beat In The Head

There is a term that is used when one person completely fools another person into giving them something. That term is "beat in the head". And that is exactly what happened to the Texas Rangers. On July 28th they traded OF Kevin Mench, RHP Francisco Cordero, OF Laynce Nix, and minor leaguer Julian Cordero for outfielders Carlos Lee and and Nelson Cruz. First off Mench and Lee are both good average hitters. Mench is young and is expected to develop into a power hitter. Without a shadow of a doubt Lee is a much better hitter and is an RBI machine but to give up a closer, a prospect, and a young OF in Laynce Nix for him is way too much. On the other hand Lee may spark Texas into a hot streak, and the same goes for the Brewers and Kevin Mench.

"Sinking Ship"

On July 21st the Giants trade RHP Jeremy Accordo to the Blue Jays for 1B/3B Shea Hillenbrand and RHP Vinnie Chulk. Hillenbrand and Manager John Gibbons had a bit of an argument. Gibbons yelled at Hillenbrand during a team meeting and Hillenbrand got upset. Apparently Hillenbrand was upset about his playing time and he While he was in the team's clubhouse, Hillenbrand wrote the words "Play for yourselves" and "This is a sinking ship" on the board. Hillenbrand was also upset that no one in the Jays organization congratulated him on adopting a kid. Apparently Gibbons and Hillenbrand said some distasteful things to each other, Hillenbrand was designated for assignment and then the trade was made. This trade seemed very one sided. The Giants gave up a middle relief pitcher for a solid bat and a prospect. It was almost as if the Jays were willing to take any offer just to get rid of Shea Hillenbrand. If it is true that Hillenbrand wrote those phrases on the board he may have angered some people and could have possibly sparked the Blue Jays who are just 4.5 games out of the wild card and 5 games out in the division.

Its game time folks. Tune your radios to WFAN 660 and you TV's to FOX. Good luck Duque and LETS GO METS!!!

Analyzing The 8 Player Swap

The first big trade of the month occurred on July 13th. The Cincinnati Reds traded OF Austin Kearns, SS Felipe Lopez and RHP Ryan Wagner to the Nationals for RHP Gary Majewski, RHP Bill Bray, SS Royce Clayton, IF Brendan Harris and RHP Daryl Thompson. Despite the fact that the deal was 5 players for 3 players this was actually a pretty fair deal. Kearns has great potential and the Nats needed a legit outfielder. Lopez is not a good fielder and Clayton is not a great bat. Essentially they complement each other and are a wash. Wagner may not be worth Majewski, Bray, Harris and Thompson but the great potential of Kearns off sets that. In the end both teams improved the areas they needed help in. The Reds got bullpen help and a veteran presence in Clayton. The Nats got a good offensive SS and a potentially great outfielder in Kearns.

The Block

As the July 31st trade deadline draws closer, lets take a look at the top 5 guys who may be on the block... Alfonso Soriano- Soriano is always on the trading block around this time. He is a free agent at the end of the year and he is due to get some big bucks. He has been associated with teams such as the Mets, Yankees, White Sox, Tigers, and Twins. Soriano's value has increased since his position move to the OF. According to Soriano he wishes to remain a National. Barry Zito- Zito has been linked to both NY teams since last off-season. Both teams are in need of a big time starting pitcher. However according to many the Mets are the only team willing to give up something of value for Barry. Over the past few months I have heard rumors linking Zito to both the Phillies and the Braves as well. Dontrelle Willis- Willis rumors have been flying around for months now. However in my opinion Willis is not on the block. He would make a great addition to any team especially this Mets team. I am willing to part with Lastings Milledge, Aaron Heilman and another prospect not named Pelfrey to get him, but I do not believe he will be moved. Bobby Abreu- There have been rumors flying around for months that Bobby is headed to the Yanks. In my opinion Bobby is a horrible OF but he is a good bat. If the Yanks got him it would probably cost them Phill Hughes and more and I'm not sure they are ready to make that move. Miguel Tejada- Tejada is also a big time bat who is on the block. He however is a good defender. Tejada has been linked to several teams dating back to this past off-season including the Red Sox, Angles, and Astros.

The Standings

The Mets are standing 12.5 games above the second place Marlins. Their record is 61 and 41. They are a full 20 games over .500. Before MetsPlanet.com went on "vacation" the Mets held a record of 44 and 24. They were 20 games over .500. This means that they went 17 and 17 while we were gone... In there current series the Mets are facing the Braves. This is the first time the Mets are facing the Braves since May 7th. In game one (last night) Pedro Martinez pitched for the first time in almost a month. He was out with some hip problems and a stomach virus. He did not have his "stuff" in the first inning as he gave up 4 runs on 4 hits. However he did recover as he pitched 6 innings allowing just those 4 runs and another hit which came in the 3rd inning. Pedro left the game strong as he retired his last 12 batters. The other Pedro, Pedro Feliciano, Duaner Sanchez and Billy Wagner combined for the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. Wagner received his 21st save of the season as the Mets won 6-4. Carlos Beltran and David Wright provided most of the firepower for the Mets. Wright had two hits including a solo HR his 22nd of the season and Beltran drove home 2 runs on two hits and a walk. Jose Reyes also hit a HR, his 9th of the season... Today El' Duque will take the mound. He is set to face off against Tim Hudson. So far this season Duque has a 6 and 8 record with a 5.40 ERA. Since joining the Mets he has a 4 and 4 record with a 4.80 ERA. Hudson is 8 and 8 with a 4.87 ERA this season...

A Quick Recap

With less than 72 hours left until the 2006, July 31 non-waiver trade deadline I am going to recap all the major trades that have occurred over the past month… July 5th Cardinals trade OF Terry Evans to the Angles for Jeff Weaver and cash July 6th Reds trade minor league pitcher RHP Travis Chick to the Mariners for LHP Eddie Guardado July 12th Astros trade RHP Mitch Talbot and SS Ben Zobrist for 3B Aubrey Huff and cash July 13th Reds trade OF Austin Kearns, SS Felipe Lopez and RHP Ryan Wagner to the Nationals for RHP Gary Majewski, RHP Bill Bray, SS Royce Clayton, IF Brendan Harris and RHP Daryl Thompson July 20th Indians trade RHP Bob Wickman to C Max Ramirez July 21st Giants trade RHP Jeremy Accordo to the Blue Jays for 1B/3B Shea Hillandbrand and RHP Vinnie Chulk July 22nd Cubs trade RHP Scott Williamson to the Padres for minor league pitchers Fabian Jimenez and Joel Santo July 25th Dodgers trade LHP Odalis Perez, RHP Julio Pimentel and RHP Blake Johnson to the Royals for RHP Elmer Dessens July 26th Indians trade 1B/ DH Ben Broussard to the Mariners for OF Shin-Soo Choo and a PTBN July 28th Nationals trade RHP Mike Stanton to the Giants for RHP Shairon Martis Braves trade IF Wilson Betemit to the Dodgers for RHP Danys Baez and IF Willie Aybar Brewers trade RHP Wilfrido "Beanpole" Laureano to the Phillies for 3B David Bell Brewers trade OF Carlos Lee and OF Nelson Cruz to the Rangers for RHP Francisco Cordero, OF Kevin Mench, OF Laynce Nix and LHP Julian Cordero Thoughts... By the Reds acquiring Eddie Guardado I think they have created a chance for themselves. They were in dire need of bullpen help... The pickup of Aubrey Huff by the Astros is a big move that can propel a team struggling for run support like the Astros are into the playoff picture... David Bell will pick up the slack at the hot corner for the Brewers and will sub for Corey Koskie who is on the D.L... In my opinion the Rangers got beat when it comes to their deal for Carlos Lee... Throughout the day I will be providing in depth looks at all these trades one by one. Tune back in for all that and any other deals that are in the works...