According to various reports, the Rangers have agreed to sign Joakim Soria to a two-year contract.

As much as I prefer to see the Mets lock up R.A. Dickey for the foreseeable future as soon as possible, from a cold-hearted business perspective, it may behoove the Mets to wait until Zack Greinke signs before extending their knuckleballer. Why? Because

Only in this day and age can you get a hole poked in your heart one day, then go out and play ball the next.

Jonathon Niese left Sunday’s game with an elevated heartbeat.  He experienced the same malady during a start in the blazing heat of Arlington, Texas during an interleague game last year against the Rangers.  The heat can cause dehydration, which in turn can cause a rapid heartbeat.  But that wasn’t the cause on Sunday.

Doctors are not concerned about his condition, saying it is not a threat to his well-being.

Niese will consider a procedure called “ablation surgery” to treat his condition.

“I won’t miss any starts,” Niese said. “It’s like an outpatient thing that you do. It only takes like three days to recover from it. We might be doing it All-Star break, that way I don’t miss any starts.”

Outpatient heart surgery.  Welcome to 2012.

Web MD has a detailed description of ablation treatments, both surgical and non-surgical:

Non-surgical ablation, used for many types of arrhythmias, is performed in a special lab called the electrophysiology (EP) laboratory. During this non-surgical procedure a catheter is inserted into a specific area of the heart. A special machine directs energy through the catheter to small areas of the heart muscle that causes the abnormal heart rhythm. This energy “disconnects” the source of the abnormal rhythm from the rest of the heart. It can also be used to disconnect the electrical pathway between the upper chambers (atria) and the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart.

The medical knowledge one gains by being a Mets fan seems to have no end.  Whatever Jon decides, we hope he has a long and healthy career.

Howie's new partner.

The Mets are preparing to sign Josh Lewin to join Howie Rose in the WFAN broadcast booth in 2012.

Lewin was the TV play-by-play voice of the Texas Rangers, until he was let go following the 2010 season.  Rumor has it Nolan Ryan wanted a more serious voice in the play-by-play chair next to analyst (and former Rangers GM) Tom Grieve.

I lived in the Dallas area for a while and caught many a Rangers TV broadcast, and I can verify that Lewin certainly did enjoy bringing some humor to his broadcasts.

Think of Josh as Matt Vasgersian Lite.

Many of his quips are obviously thought about before hand, and can sound artificial – kind of like the banter between anchors of a local newscast.  Most New York sports fans will have trouble warming to this style, especially in contrast to the brutally honest Howie Rose, who is a fan favorite.  He can also be a homer, the kind that not only pumps up his team, but disparages the opposition.

His play-by-play chops are not in question.  When he broadcasts national ballgames for Fox, he tones down the humor, cranks up the objectivity, and calls a solid game – never boring, but rarely over-the-top.  If the Mets and WFAN ask him to stick to this style, he’ll appeal to even the most jaded of Mets fans.  But if he throws in one too many of his patented groaners, the patience of the listeners will wear thin.

Lewin replaces Wayne Hagin, whose vanilla style (which also included some awkward attempts at humor) didn’t appeal to Mets fans.

In addition to baseball, Lewin is also the radio voice of the San Diego Chargers during the NFL season (he’s going to rack up some serious frequent flyer miles in September).  After he lost his play-by-play gig with the Rangers, he became the co-host of a Dallas sports talk radio show.

From time to time during this offseason, we’re going to randomly look back at some MetsToday posts from the past and see how they look now, with the benefit of hindsight.

To start, I offer you this suggestion made in early February 2011: Would You Trade for Michael Young?

At the time, the Rangers had Young on the trading block — even offering him to the rival Angels. My wild idea was to offer Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez — or Jason Bay straight-up — in return for Young. Granted, I have no idea whether Texas would have accepted either of those offers, but to me they could have made sense for both clubs.

Of course, I had no idea that Young would wind up hitting nearly .340; to me, it would be a good deal for the Mets because it would dump two big contracts while also providing middle-infield insurance through 2013 — in case, ahem, Jose Reyes would be departing.

Look back at that article again, including the spirited comments, and come back here to discuss what might have been.

Mets 8 Rangers 5

There’s the the Indy 500, the Fortune 500, the card game “500”, and a movie called 500 Days of Summer. And then there is the New York Mets’ magical mystery tour in pursuit of the .500 mark — perhaps we should call it “the Flushing 500”. For only the third time since the first week of the season, the Mets reached that elusive .500 winning percentage by beating the reigning American League Champion Texas Rangers.

Ironically, the Mets accomplished the Flushing 500 with native Texan Dillon Gee on the mound — who also started the game won by the Mets on June 15th, which was the last time the team reached .500.

This time around, the Mets are guaranteed to remain at .500 through Monday; let’s hope they can get over the hump this week.

Mets 14 Rangers 5

Those who took the Rangers and the 6 1/2 point spread lost their shirts, as the Mets pulled an upset in Arlington.

Rangers 8 Mets 1

Can you say “tack on”?

If you are not sure what that term means, then review what the Rangers did in this ballgame.