July 9: Afternoon Mets Links and Open Thread

NY Times – LeBron James Cliff Lee is going to the Yankees. Probably…

Joel Sherman on Twitter – …or not?

MetsToday – The Mets farm system wasn’t good enough to land Cliff Lee, according to sources close to the Daily News. But I thought Omar Minaya had the prospects but chose instead to exercise caution to keep his prized farm system intact?

Faith and Fear in Flushing – Greg Prince writes about Bobby Valentine’s recent flirtation with the Marlins and the track record of former Mets managers (usually) failing to establish themselves as managers for other franchises.

Newsday – The Mets were giving away free tickets on Tuesday, to former season ticket holders.

The Daily Stache – Edwin Vasquez wants the real Mets to stand up. He also wants Alfonso Soriano to play second base.

MetsToday – The Mets have promoted Nick Evans and demoted Ryota Igarashi.

TONIGHT’S GAME

The Mets (47-38) take on the Braves (50-35) in the first of a three-game set at Citi Field. R.A. Dickey (6-1, 2.62) will face Tommy Hanson (8-5, 4.19).

Tonight’s lineup features Jose Reyes (who will only bat from the right side, due to his lingering oblique injury) batting second:

Pagan-CF
Reyes-SS
Wright-3B
Davis-1B
Bay-LF
Thole-C
Francoeur-RF
Tejada-2B
Dickey-RHP