Associated Press | CBS New York- Matt Harvey has hit a major snag in his return from Tommy John surgery. Brandon Belt launched one of San Francisco’s three homers off a struggling Harvey, who gave up seven runs for the second time in four starts during the New York Mets’ 8-5 loss Wednesday night. “Everything was all over the place,” Harvey said. “I’m not putting people away when I need to. I’m not keeping people off base when I need to and obviously I’m not keeping the ball in the yard when I need to.”
(Chris Soto: Boy...Harvey is giving us plenty of reason to be seriously concerned. Over the past 18 IP he has given up a total of 18 ER. Harvey has always been know for being incredibly hard to hit a HR against and yet he's given up more jacks in his last 4 starts then anyone else in baseball. We know he likes to work up with his fastball but right that fastball doesn't seem to have the same explosion that he had earlier in the year. Perhaps he is still dealing with that dead arm phase that Terry Collins referenced 2 weeks ago. Either way, the club needs him to turn it around quickly.)
Joe D. | Metsmerized Online- Here’s the latest on the Mets and Brewers trade buzz and my thoughts on some of the players being discussed. To begin, just when we thought we were out on Aramis Ramirez, based on what Adam Rubin heard from team sources, Marc Carig and Matt Ehalt dragged us back in. Both of them say the Mets have got their sights set on Ramirez, although for the life of me I don’t know why. Besides the fact that 37-year old Ramirez is mired in the worst season of his career, batting .217/.257/.390 with seven homers and 18 RBI in 175 plate appearances, he’s one-dimensional defensively and can only play third base. What happens when David Wright comes back? Is there something about Wright that they’re not telling us?
(Chris Soto: While I agree with Joe, I understand why the Mets are going after him. We know the club really wants Ben Zobrist but there are a lot of suitors after him and it is very likely that someone is going to overpay for him. The Mets do not want to be that team. While Ramirez is having a rough season, the sabermetric analysis has him pegged for upside. He has a pretty good K rate of only 15.7% and his Isolated Power rate of .174 is only behind Duda and d'Arnaud. His .216 AVG is also on a .218 BABIP so one could assume that it will normalize towards his career BABIP rate of .281. If it does it will drag his AVG up as much as 60 points.)
Bryan Zarpentine | Rant Sports- It’s no secret that the New York Mets are in desperate need of some offense. Unfortunately, in the second week of June, there are not a lot of players available on the trade market, and the Mets can’t afford to wait for a market to develop. One player the Mets may be able to get is Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Alex Guerrero, who may be available and could be New York’s best option at this point.
(Chris Soto: Oy vey....how many times do I have to point this out. Alex Guerrero is SHOULD NOT be a trade candidate nor should fans even believe that he is available. The Dodgers just traded a guy who hit .311 for them last season in order to find playing time for him due to his power potential. Why would they now trade him? If that doesn't convince you....then how about the fact that while he is signed for a reasonable $5m per year for the next 3 years, he also has clauses in his contract that state, A) may not be optioned to minors without permission after 2014, B) may become Article XX(B) free agent after 2017 season (so no arbitration eligibility), and C) if traded, may become a free agent at season’s end. So fans are suggesting the Mets pony up 1 of the key pitching chips for a 3 month rental player? Thanks but no thanks....Oh by the way....since the Juan Uribe trade, Guerrero is hitting .188 AVG with a 35% K rate. (drops mic....)
