Ryan Church finally plays in a real, live baseball game

I'm not lying. Ryan Church is playing baseball again.

Church went 1-3 in his first rehab game, appearing as a DH for the Gulf Coast Mets.

In other news, Trot Nixon is rehabbing as well, and he went 2-2 and played left field.

Obviously, I'm more excited about Church returning. If he can come back and play like he was before the concussions and migraines, this team will be all right. He's due to be fresh as he's taking most of the season off.

Hallelujah!

Mark two more up to the injured list

Trot Nixon and Angel Pagan are the latest to add their names to list of the Mets heading to Del Boca Vista.

Mr. Nixon, who saw was only around long enough for 35 at bats with the Mets, had hernia surgery and will miss the rest of the season.

Mr. Pagan has a torn labrum, and needs surgery, but will seek a second opinion. That's sure going to work out in his favor.

I'm telling you, that corner outfield spots are cursed! The Mets need to bring back Benny Agbayani for one more go around in the outfield and everything will be cured.

Let me clear things up: The outfield is not OK; Endy Chavez has been great; The Mets need someone

I'm seeing a bunch of comments arguing my point I made early this morning, and I feel the need to defend my points.

1. Moises Alou is old, gets hurt way too much, and I am going to hold out no hope of him returning and helping the team for more than 16.2 seconds.

2. Endy Chavez has played very well in Alou's and Ryan Church's absence. He can easily continue to start in the OF with no problem. He has a great glove and is perfect hitting behind Jose Reyes.

3. The Mets still need another OF. I don't think the platoon of Fernando Tatis, Marlon Anderson, Chris Aguila, Trot Nixon, Angel Pagan, etc. etc., will be enough to carry this team into postseason play.

4. I don't want Omar Minaya to sell the farm to pick up trade bait. Matt Holliday would be awesome, but I'm almost 100 percent sure Aaron Heilman, Fernando Martinez, and probably two other top flight minor leaguers would have to head west to land him. I don't feel comfortable watching all that young talent leave the already depleted farm system.

Yes, the Mets need another outfielder. Yes, Minaya will probably have to give up a blue chip prospect to land that guy. Yes, I'm confident that the guy he lands will help this team through the season.

So that's that. Thoughts??

Hallelujah! Church is back

Ryan Church will return from the disabled list today, after finally recovering from his second concussion of this calendar year.

The odd man out in this situation is Trot Nixon. According to Adam Rubin, "team brass was discussing putting him on the DL over designating him for assignment."

What's hurt? His pride? The man is batting .171 with one home run and one RBI. He's scored twice. Is he really worth keeping around?

Also per Rubin, Church will apparently hit sixth in the order, behind Carlos Delgado. I don't know why Delgado continues to bat 5th in the order. He had one good day all season, yet he still bats fifth. He's put together an improved June, but not good enough to continue to justify batting fifth.

I figured when Jerry Manuel took over, the lineup would be shaken up a bit, but it's taken until now for that to happen. Rubin reports that Delgado will probably drop to seventh in the order when the Mets head to St. Louis in an attempt to split up the two lefties.

Either way, I'm sure the Mets and their fans are glad to welcome Ryan Church back into the fold. Stay away from other players, walls, peoples knees and any thing else that can hit your head.

Santana isn't perfect, says so himself

Johan Santana:

"All I know is that they brought me here to do a job and help the team and I have given them my best. It seems like every time I pitch I have to be absolutely perfect, or else we lose. I’m not perfect."

It's about time someone stepped up and said something somewhat controversial. This team is still playing lackluster baseball, Willie Randolph or no Willie Randolph.

Omar Minaya better be looking around because Trot Nixon, Andy Phillips, Fernando Tatis and the rest of the cast of characters just are not cutting it at the major league level.

Moves need to be made and someone needs to step up in the clubhouse. Why can't it be Johan Santana?

Mets to hold Church on Sunday

Ryan Church, who is at Shea Stadium with the team, should be activated on Sunday for the Subway Series finale against the Yankees.

Church went 3-3 in his only rehab game for the Brooklyn Cyclones.

The Mets are sorely missing his bat and his glove. Hey Ryan, just make sure you protect your head, please.

Hopefully Trot Nixon takes a trot back to AAA. He's been flat out bad.

Fix the Mets

We're having a pretty nice discussion over at Mets Lounge about what everyone would do if they were the GM of the Mets.

Pretty simple, I think, but I have a few moves I would make now or in the very immediate future. All moves are in-house.

• Bring up Mike Carp. Send Robinson Cancel back to AAA. This would immediately put pressure on Carlos Delgado.
• Bring up Dan Murphy. Send Trot Nixon back to AAA. This would immediately put pressure on Luis Castillo.
• Look into trading Oliver Perez. If possible, pull the trigger, attempt to get at least two decent minor leaguers in return. Promote Tony Armas Jr.
• If Murphy/Castillo/Damion Easley doesn't work out, call Cincinnati or Baltimore about their second baseman. (via Wrighteous.)
• Don't hurry Ryan Church. Wait until Sunday to bring him back. Make sure he's 110 percent. The Mets need that bat.
• Platoon Endy Chavez, Marlon Anderson, Fernando Tatis in right field.

Anything I missed? Hit the comments for your suggestions.

Tossed

Both Jerry Manuel and Carlos Beltran were tossed in the fourth inning of the game.

Arguing balls and strikes, Manuel came out to talk to the umpire. After seeing the video, it looked as if home plate umpire Brian Runge bumped Manuel, which caused Manuel to flare up and take it to another level.

After Manuel was tossed, Beltran argued his own balls and strikes, and shrugged his shoulders at a pitch he did not think was a strike. Runge started yelling, to which Beltran responded. Runge quickly tossed Beltran, who got up in Runge's face and got his moneys worth.

While I love to see the fire and attitude of the team, it needs to parlay into runs and eventually wins, otherwise it's pretty worthless.

Sandy Alomar Sr. has taken over the managerial duties, while Marlon Anderson picked up where Beltran left off.

Anderson will man left field, Endy Chavez will move to center, and Trot Nixon will shift from left to right.

Early Morning Madness: Injuries edition

Luis Castillo might be heading to the disabled list.

Castillo injured his left quad a few days ago and Damion Easley has been starting in his place. If Castillo was to go on the DL, do the Mets really call up AAA second baseman Anderson Hernandez?

Sure, he's got a glove, but the kid just can't hit a lick. He's batting a miserable .185. And looking even lower to Binghamton, Emmanuel Garcia is hitting a cool .225 and Jonathan Malo is stroking a tepid .233 in limited time.

So second base is practically depleted for the Mets and the current starter is signed to a four year contract and is slow, injured, and slaps at everything. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a trade.

** * **

Ryan Church could be back by next weekend, and I couldn't be happier.

I'm assuming once Church is ready to go again, we've seen the end of Trot Nixon, but as much as I thought I'd love Nixon, his .167 average just isn't cutting it for me.

If Church can come back, even at 80 percent, he'll be a huge addition to this club. Church hasn't played since June 5th, and since that time the Mets have gone 7-9. They're really missing his bat in the lineup, as the offense usually goes flat past the 4th inning.

I miss this guy and so do the Mets.

** * **

Things are lining up in Yankee-ville that the Mets will probably face newly acquired Sidney Ponson during their series at Shea Stadium (and Yankee Stadium) this weekend.

Stay sober, Sidney.

Early Morning Madness: First day on the job

In the first minute of Jerry Manuel's coaching tenure with the Mets, he ran into a problem. Jose Reyes led off the game with a single, and while standing on first, began grabbing the back of his knee.

Manuel, along with the trainer came out to check on Reyes. Manuel did the right thing, and pulled Reyes from the game, replacing him with Damion Easley.

Reyes was none too pleased, huffing and puffing like a little kid and throwing his helmet to the ground as he entered the dugout, and eventually into the clubhouse.

Manuel handled it beautifully, following Reyes into the clubhouse to talk about the little incident that just occured. One can only speculate what was said, but Bart Hubbuch in the POST relays the post game quotes:

"Really, the behavior is pretty much unacceptable," Manuel said of Reyes' tantrum. "But the attitude is something that can help us win ballgames."

Reyes, who is expected back in the lineup tonight, apologized to Manuel in the next inning and said he understood his new manager's thinking.

"I want to play, but Jerry was just trying to take care of me," Reyes said. "He made the right decision, because it's a long season and I need to stay healthy the whole season."

Perfectly handled by Manuel, and a good reaction from Reyes. Manuel has to play with a heavy hand these first few games, to let the players know what he's going to be like the rest of the year. He cannot have players walking all over him, and he's doing his best to make sure that never happens.

Oh, and Reyes should be back in the lineup tonight. The injury was just a little tweak of the hamstring.

*****

Manuel's first day was excellent. He handled himself very well at the press conference, joking around and showing emotion. A novel idea.

His one drawback, if I must have one (and I do), is that Trot Nixon was not in the starting lineup. John Lackey is a righty, and Nixon is more capable in the outfield than Marlon Anderson. Nixon should have been in right field, with Endy Chavez in left.

It's not like Nixon has bad numbers against Lackey. He's a career .250 hitter (4-16), with a double, RBI, walk and strikeout.

Hopefully, Nixon is in the lineup tonight against Jon Garland, a pitcher he is also batting .250 lifetime against.

*****

I must say, I've never seen the media dish out such negative remarks towards one team in a one day period.

I've only seen a handful of articles from the mainstream that actually spell out that this might have been the right thing to do, and the time was unavoidable.

The best article of the day came from longtime Star-Ledger writer, Moss Klein: Mets GM Minaya has nothing on George Steinbrenner.

Finally, someone is talking some sense.

Why I hope to like Trot

The Mets acquired Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization on Friday. Nixon was activated, with Chris Aguila was sent back down to AAA.

Nixon is a veteran, but not very old. He has leadership qualities, and can impart his wisdom to younger players.

Sure, he's a new guy, but he's always seemed like the guy who's willing to step up and say what needs to be said.

I think I'm going to like Trot.