Post All-Star Break Blues

Things have not been very happy in Mets-land following the All-Star Break. While fans and the team had been counting down the days until Carlos Beltran's return to the line up (which I refused to acknowledge until it actually happened), losing Jose Reyes due to an oblique strain was not a welcomed development. I have no idea why Reyes wasn't shut down leading up to the Break, but I was also in California so maybe there was some phenomenal explanation I just haven't heard since returning to the east coast.

Anyway, four games into the second half the Mets are reeling just a tad. After dropping the first 3 games, they salvaged the series in San Francisco... but only after K-Rod made things horrifically interesting (read: blew his fifth save of the season then recovered for the win in 10 innings). K-Rod - or K-Fraud as he is being referred to in some circles - has just been riding a roller coaster this season. He's also dragging Mets fans along for the ride. As much as I recognize the glaring need for another starting pitcher, the closer situation is going to continue to be a problem unless Rodriguez can figure himself out.

This brings me to my next point: Oliver Perez is reportedly meeting the team in Arizona but will not be activated for tonight's game. It depresses me that the Mets are seemingly unable to grasp the concept of a sunk cost. You know how everyone is always saying that the Mets can't just release Perez because so many teams would jump at the chance to acquire him and then they'd have to watch him be successful somewhere else? Where the hell are all these teams NOW, when the Mets have been trying to trade Perez according to reports? We need to find a starting pitcher so that Hisanori Takahashi can move back to the bullpen and stop pitching like Ken Takahashi. Don't get me wrong, Taka was a shot in the arm at first, but now we're lucky if he survives his second time through a batting order. If that's the case, we might as well start Perez... and Lord knows I don't want to do that.

Big Pelf is looking for a bounce back start tonight after a rough end to the first half followed by skipping a start due to a stiff neck after the flight to California. Having recently completed some cross-country flights myself, I actually sympathize with this, as ridiculous as it may sound. A lot of the Mets' first half success was due to Pelfrey, and if we're going to continue to be successful and consider a playoff run, we need him to return to pitching like an ace once again.