Rosenthal: Castillo to Cubs being discussed [Updated]

Update – 12:02 a.m.: Well, here’s a fitting start to the rumor-mongering I so hate (yet so get sucked into all the time). The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Blue Jays want “no part” of Bradley. And who can blame them.

Still, keep voting. It started as just a hypothetical, anyway.

Original post: Ken Rosenthal is reporting from the GM meetings in Chicago that a deal that would send Luis Castillo to the Cubs and bring Lyle Overbay to the Mets has been “discussed.”

A three-team deal that would also send Milton Bradley to Toronto has “some legs, but not much,” according to a source of Rosenthal’s.

Overbay, a left-hand hitting first baseman, shouldn’t be on the top of the priority list for the Mets. I’m not sure if they realize it, but Daniel Murphy is still on the roster. It’d be a silly move, especially with Ike Davis prospering in the minor leagues. (Overbay only has one year left on his deal, so it wouldn’t affect Davis.)

Still, I think it would be silly. What do you think? Vote below and leave your two cents in the comments.

Twitter Poll: Should Milton Bradley be a Met in 2010?

There’s no denying that Milton Bradley is a character.  He’s been suspended for the rest of the 2009 season by the Chicago Cubs due to comments made to a newspaper about Cubs fans.

With two more years left on Bradley’s contract in Chicago, the Cubs may be looking to deal the embattled outfielder to avoid any future disasters.

So I asked my Twitter followers if they would want to see Bradley on the Mets in 2010.  Here are their responses… (It was pretty lopsided.)

YES

dmoneymania said: Yes. We need talent.

BlackMagic718 said: For Oliver Perez, sure. He'll help out the offense, and Ollie can be replaced with a QUALITY starter via free agency.

NO

awolf12 said: No. No way. Uh uh. Nyet. Nein. Nope. Thanks, but no thanks.

Lou_Bolkovic said: NO! Bradley brings too much baggage and is always an injury concern. After this season we need players who are durable.

cutiepie0319k said: NO! i just don't like him.

bosco86 said: No, Bradley is a nut case that Omar, Jerry, Wilpons cant control. if they didn’t want Manny why take Bradley.

Ryan_J_Smith said: No way. Milton Bradley is selfish, conceited, and a locker room cancer. He is the opposite of what the Mets need right now

YaGottaBKiddnMe said: NO way. Because of his mental issues. We don't need that in our clubhouse. I think he may be utter poison.

julierubes said: No. The cities & fans of NY and Chi aren't all that different: criticism everywhere. If he can't handle Chi, NY isn’t better.

shyonelung said: no. Clubhouse cancer and a general idiot.

jnetty99 said: Bradley said "I need a stable, healthy, enjoyable environment,". Mets might have enjoyable but not healthy or stable

DhmkJp said: Absolutely not because the Mets need to go with a youth/power/speed outfielder next year and Bradley provides none of that.

swirlywand said: Are you kidding? Trying to test the ridiculously outrageous responses to such a SILLY question? LOL- No, in 43 languages!

swirlywand continued: Maybe we can get Elijah Dukes for Brian Schneider...you know, to make sure Beltran is flanked by not one, but TWO SHOWBOATS

gwong said: F*ck no to Milton Bradley on the Mets. He is the definition of clubhouse cancer.

And from the peanut gallery…

Retire31 said: Yes, only if Bradley causes Jerry Manuel to take off his shirt and start a brawl with him.

EliFromBrooklyn said: I would love to have Milton Bradley on the Mets. He is all about fun! The game creator Milton Bradley, that is.

drsexington said: My litmus test: If they fit in better with the 1992-93 Mets than the current ones, bad choice#vincecoleman #bretsaberhagen

Tidbits: Fuentes and Vargas sign, DeRosa traded, Marquis soon

A few tidbits on this one of many slow news days.

• Brian Fuentes finally found a team. He signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for two-years, $17.5 million, with a vesting option for a third year. A little cheaper than K-Rod, eh?
• Claudio Vargas signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. $400,000 base salary with up to $1.4 million in incentives. Why couldn't the Mets do this?
• The Cubs have traded utility man Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians for three minor leaguers. I expect Omar Minaya to land a utility guy for the Mets quite soon. I'm looking at you, Alex Cora.
• The Cubbies are also in talks to trade Jason Marquis to the Rockies for Luis Vizcaino. An upgrade from Heilman, if ever so slightly.

Fletcher wished his readers a Happy New Year, and I will too. Have a safe night and here's to a wonderful 2009 for you, yours and our Mets.

Poor Cubbies fans

Another year, another lost season.

Sounds like the Mets. But I'm actually talking about the hapless Chicago Cubs. The Mets have at least had two World Series championships this century. The Cubs have come nowhere close.

I actually feel bad for their fans. After a 97-win season, riding high throughout the entirety of the season, they were swept out of the NLDS by Joe Torre and his Dodgers, three games to none.

The funny part about that is the Dodgers won 13 less games, had to battle through the misery that is the NL West, pretty much squeaked into the playoffs, and they came in and handily tore apart Chicago, never even letting them sniff a win.

Yankee fans in this area must not know how to feel. Joe Torre is in the LCS for another year, with Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, and Scott Proctor all under his control. Scott Proctor's Arm seems to be a little confused.

Chicago has had a long history of baseball, but the Cubs cannot seem to break the "curse." There's always next year?

Ryan Church, the slide, and how it may have saved the Mets season

This shall be forever known as "Church's Dodge."

Bottom of the eighth, two outs, men on first and second, and the Mets are down by one run.

The crowd is on their feet, as the Mets just pulled within one run of the Cubs. The man walking into the batters box is not a feared hitter by any stretch of the imagination. He has one career home run (which I was lucky(?) enough to see), and is technically the third string player at his position on the team.

But Robinson Cancel came up to the plate, and delivered what the Mets needed most. A hit.

Ryan Church was the player standing on second base when Cancel ripped a single to right field. The field was already soaked, meaning the infield dirt must have felt like cement on the underside of Church's cleats.

As Kosuke Fukudome fielded the ball, Church wasn't more than a step past third base. Luis Aguyao, the man with the quickest windmill this side of the Mississippi, sends him on his merry way toward home plate.

Aside: I think you have to send Church here, unless Fukudome fielded the ball before Church got to the bag. If you don't send him and the team strands a man 90 feet away when he had a chance, even if it was slight, to score on the play before, you will be roasted, toasted, and sent packing either by management or the fans. Luckily, it all worked out.

Church is busting around third, most likely trying not to slip on the soggy grass. SNY cuts to a camera shot of him churning towards home, so we at home have no idea where the ball is in relation to Church. They then cut to an overhead shot of home plate, and Koyie Hill is already fielding the ball and Church isn't even in the picture.

"Uh-oh," I thought.

But as Church approached Hill, and home plate, he pulled a Little League-esque play. As Hill lunged toward him from his knees, Church side-stepped the tag, as momentum carried him away from home, and towards the dugout.

As he turned away back towards the plate, he made a diving stab towards home. So did Hill. Church missed on his first attempt, but he was able to squirm and crawl closer to home, and was able to slap his hand down on the plate before Hill could recover and attempt a tag of his own.

The game was then tied. The next inning, the Mets were able to win it with a Carlos Beltran clutch hit, scoring Jose Reyes.

It would have been a much steeper mountain to climb in the ninth if it wasn't for "Church's Dodge" in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night.

Game saver? Yes. Season saver? Time will tell.

Would Lou Pinella actually do this?

Knowing him, it's entirely possible.

Jeff Passan throws out a scenario that would be absolutely crazy for anyone else but Lou Pinella.

Were Lou Piniella the scheming type – and, well, he’s been around long enough, in the game and in Chicago, to understand that a little bit of maneuvering is encouraged – he could influence the entire NL playoff scene. If the Cubs prefer playing the Phillies, Piniella could cobble together a lineup of Micah Hoffpauir, Casey McGehee, Koyie Hill, Daryle Ward and others for the four-game series against the Mets starting Monday, then end the regular season against Milwaukee with his regular lineup. Mets win the division; Phillies get the wild card; Brewers out. Or they may prefer the Mets to the Phillies.

I honestly wounld not put that past old Lou. But knowing the Mets, they'd still lose to a bunch of September call-ups and really screw things up.

As plausible as it is, I can't see Pinella trotting out a team of young guys. Maybe a mix and match, resting some of his key players for the playoffs by giving them a day or two off, but not much more than that.

You never know, though. All the Mets need to do is win. Win, and they control their own destiny. It's a simple concept, but they still haven't been able to grasp it.

As I said last night, the Mets had an awful day yesterday, and slipped in both the NL East and Wild Card standings. Tonight, we are all Braves fans, as the Phillies kick off a three game series at home. The Brewers have today off, but tomorrow we all should be rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Go Braves. Go Pirates. Go Mets.

A terrible day for the Mets

Bad timing, Mets.

Mets lose 7-6.
Phillies win 5-2.
Brewers win 8-1.

That puts the Mets 1.5 games back of the Phillies in the NL East and their lead shrinks to 1.5 over the Brewers in the Wild Card.

This will be the week that the Mets prove themselves, or fall into obscurity (and the answer to another bad trivia question). The Cubbies come into Shea, a team that if they do make the postseason, they may have to play in either the first or the second round, depending.

If the Mets can beat the Cubs, it will not only vault them into the postseason, it will show the players and the fans that they are capable of beating a playoff caliber team.

Big week, without a doubt. Jason Marquis, Rich Harden, Carlos Zambrano, and Ted Lilly. Four excellent pitchers who have combined to go 50-26 on the season. Realistically, I'd hope for a split. A sweep is simply out of the question, with the Mets unable to beat up, or even win series over lowly teams.

Should be fun, if not frustrating.

The Wild Card doesn't seem like a good fit for the Mets

If the season ended today, the Mets would play the Chicago Cubs. Looking back to the beginning of the year, that wouldn't be a very good thing.

The Mets played the Cubbies twice, for one of those weird two game series on April 21 and 22nd.

Both of those games saw the Mets only score one run, losing 7-1 against Carlos Zambrano and 8-1 against Ted Lilly.

The way these two have been pitching, with Zambo throwing a no-hitter against the Astros last time out, and Lilly taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning the next day, and the way the Mets offense has been hitting, I wouldn't be surprised if another no-hitter is in the stars.

The Mets have been making the Nationals starters look like Cy Young. John Lannan? One hit. Odalis Perez? Four hits. Shairon Martis? We'll see.

Chicago comes to Shea during the last week of the season, for a four game series September 22 - 25. It's the second to last regular season series at the old park, so hopefully the Mets can do something special.

If they can, they just might be able to get October baseball into the old park one more time.