Reds 7 Mets 3

After a nice breather playing Adulterated Baseball against a couple of tomato cans from the AL East, the Mets get smacked with a dose of reality playing the real game against a legitimate NL power.

Phillies 11 Mets 0

For a team whose offense is below par due to the loss of Jayson Werth and injury to Chase Utley, they sure score a lot of runs.

Roy Halladay was spectacular. Jon Niese was not. As a result, the final score was an unhappy one for Mets fans.

So I’m looking at the rosters of the teams whose seasons are continuing — i.e., playing in the postseason — and I notice there are a number of players who were dumped by the Mets since Opening Day 2009.

Here is the list of recent Mets rejects going to the playoffs:

Brian Schneider (Phillies)
Wilson Valdez (Phillies)
Jeff Francoeur (Rangers)
Darren O’Day (Rangers)
Billy Wagner (Braves)

Other former Mets in the postseason include Darren Oliver, Nelson Cruz, Dan Wheeler, A.J. Burnett, Royce Ring, Drew Butera, and Guillermo Mota. I’m not sure if you can count Yorvit Torrealba. Did I miss anyone?

Also of note, Bengie Molina and Orlando Hudson — two free agents highly coveted by the Mets last winter — are both in the playoffs.

Not sure what this means, if anything. It’s probably useless information. But we will see familiar faces for the next few weeks, and it will be annoying if Brian Schneider hits a game-winning homer in the NLDS, for example.

Which former Met would you be most annoyed — or most happy — to see do something great in the 2010 postseason? Comment below.

It wasn’t bad enough that the Phillies stole Wilson Valdez from the Mets, but now it’s come to light that the Dodgers have won the heated offseason bidding war for Argenis Reyes.

How is this fair? Why must the rich always get richer? “To the victor belong the spoils” is a concept that is nearly 200 years old and does not belong in MLB. How will there ever be parity or fairness in baseball when perennial postseason teams like Philly and LA can cherry-pick the best “backup to the backups” from every other organization? Bud Selig needs to table ancillary issues such as instant replay and steroids and address the big problems such as this that are truly killing the game.

When the backup (Ramon Martinez) to the backup (Alex Cora) went down, the Mets found themselves hunting the scrap yards for a fill-in at shortstop who had Major League skills. They found Wilson Valdez and, all things considered, could’ve done a lot worse. In fact, they DID do a lot worse — Angel Berroa was on the roster for about a week.

The 31-year-old Valdez displayed excellent defensive skills — including a rifle for an arm — but not much with the bat. He was fundamentally sound in the field and on the basepaths, and gave good effort. Though he played almost exclusively at shortstop for the Mets, he’s equally adept on either side of the second base bag, and can handle both third base and the outfield in a pinch. Whether he’ll ever

Two weeks short of the anniversary of the trade of Anderson Hernandez for Luis Ayala, the Mets have reacquired the slick-fielding middle infielder from the Washington Nationals.

Almost immediately upon arriving in Washington last year, AHern swatted the baseball like he never did before, batting .333 with a .409 OBP in 28 games and 91 plate appearances, walking 10 times and striking out only 8. That offensive outburst was enough to make us wonder if the Mets made a mistake in giving up on the previously light-hitting Hernandez — who perennially leads the Caribbean winter league in batting but flops upon returning to the States.

However, Hernandez went right back to his expected offensive output this year — .251 AVG, .310 OBP, 41 Ks in 255 times to the plate. So we can presume that 28-game hot streak was an aberration.

So it’s interesting that the Mets would bring him back to Flushing, considering he is redundant to Wilson Valdez and Argenis Reyes — both of whom remain in Buffalo. Though, personally, I always enjoyed watching AHern and given the choice of all three, would take him over Reyes and Valdez.

In return for AHern, the Mets sent A-ball infielder Greg Veloz to the Nats. Veloz is sort of a 21-year-old version of Hernandez (or Argenis Reyes) — a switch-hitting middle-infielder with above-average speed. He doesn’t have the fielding prowess of AHern nor Argenis, and in fact there was a time that the Mets felt he’d hit enough to move to 3B (he was their #16 prospect in 2008 according to Baseball America). However, he hit a disappointing 6 HRs in a little less than 600 plate appearances last season, and is hitting only .232 with 2 HR through 91 games thus far this year.

For a moment, I questioned why the rebuilding Nationals would trade away a still-young, Gold-Glove caliber second baseman but I guess they don’t see AHern hitting enough to ever be a regular. And, they have acquired a youngster who is quickly becoming a non-prospect but still has time to rebound. It’s not like the Nats are going anywhere in 2010 nor 2011, so they have time to wait.

With the arrival of AHern, I’m guessing that Luis Castillo’s “mild ankle strain” is worse than originally indicated.

Just got word that Carlos Beltran’s MRI did not look good, and he’s headed to the DL.

Fernando Martinez reportedly is on the way back up to take his place on the roster.

In addition, Wilson Valdez has been DFA’d and Ken Takahashi demoted to AAA Buffalo. Taking their places will be lefthanded pitcher Pat Misch and and RHP Elmer Dessens.

Adding Misch and Dessens to the bullpen makes sense, since Dessens has been pitching well as a middle reliever in AAA (as loyal MT reader/commenter Micalpalyn has noted on several occasions), and Misch can’t be any worse than Takahashi as a LOOGY. Misch was used as a starter and reliever by the San Francisco Giants prior to being released by that club, and is one of those crafty lefties (meaning, don’t expect him to overpower anyone with a 95+ MPH heater) who relies on pinpoint control. Dessens is a longtime MLB veteran swingman who survives on guile and luck. Both arms are a welcome addition to the bullpen, whose main three men are about to pass out from overuse.

Now what about F-Mart? Does he become the Mets’ starting centerfielder? Or does he play RF while Ryan Church shifts to center? Church has played 114 MLB games in centerfield. Otherwise, it’s Jeremy Reed’s time to shine.

The Mets acquired shortstop Wilson Valdez to bolster the bench and add punch to the lineup.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Whoever it was in the Mets front office who was sober enough to realize the insanity of holding five players hostage from the disabled list, we thank you for releasing Jose Reyes and Ryan Church to convalescence. And we thank you for affording Jerry Manuel at least 23, maybe 24, players to work with today.

Reyes and Church go on the 15-day disabled list. For Reyes, it is retroactive to May 21st. No word on the date for Church, but we can presume that it is retroactive to May 23rd.

To take their places on the 25-man roster, the Mets acquired one player and promoted another.

First, the BIG news: the Mets acquired Wilson Valdez from the Indians in exchange for cash considerations. The 31-year-old shortstop was hitting only .198 for AAA Columbus. However, I’m sure that he’s simply in a slump, as his career MLB average is a whopping .216. Wielding that kind of bat, you’re surely asking, “how can we get him in the lineup when Reyes returns?” No worries — Valdez also is a super utlityman, with experience at 2B, 3B, and all three OF positions. We are told he is a slick fielder.

Yes, Alex Cintron remains a free agent, and Chris Woodward is hitting .297 with a .391 OBP through 100 ABs for the Tacoma Rainiers. But the price for those players must have been much higher.

In other news, the Mets have promoted Fernando Martinez from Buffalo. He will be the regular right fielder while Church is on the DL. Somewhere in the western part of the United States, MetsToday loyalist “Micalpalyn” is dancing a jig — and he’s not even Irish.

This is a GREAT time for F-Mart to make his debut, because the team has been winning without Church, Delgado, Reyes, and other regulars. Thus there is no pressure for Martinez to be a savior — he can simply go out there and play his game. I do have one request for Jerry Manuel: please do NOT bat him eighth. He’s already an extremely aggressive and immature hitter, and putting him one batter ahead of the pitcher will exacerbate those negatives. Remember when Lastings Milledge was put in the eight hole?

For the record, I’m very much looking forward to seeing F-Mart in the flesh, in an MLB game.

Finally, the Mets have yet another injury to deal with, as Carlos Beltran is suffering from an inflamed tibia. He has no idea how it happened. Strangely, Kevin Burkhardt reported on SNY that Jose Reyes injured his calf off the field. Is it possible that Reyes and Beltran were injured while dancing to merengue on the team bus?