Adam Rubin’s well reasoned piece today speculated on the Mets dealing Billy Wagner via waiver trade by August 31.

If the Mets do this it needs to be a baseball decision that’s weighed against the talent that would come in a trade versus what the Mets would get as a compensatory draft pick next June. But the Mets have been sending signals that its about the money right now. Lets hope this isn’t a snag.

Adding a healthy Billy Wagner to a contender’s bullpen must be intriguing right now for teams and their fans. He makes sense for team like the Cubs, Cardinals and (hold your breath) the Yankees. However, a Wagner trade could be blocked by an opposing GM to keep him from going to a rival. Yesterday’s acquisition of Chad Gaudin by the Yankees isn’t necessarily indicative of the gentleman’s agreement to keep the waiver wire open. It’s early in the month and Gaudin is not a player of significant caliber.

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Joel Sherman’s smug assessment of the manner Mets’ trainer Mike Herbst managed Jon Niese’s injury yesterday was irresponsible, nescient and classic Monday morning quarterbacking. Says Sherman:

Niese hurt himself stretching at first to try to complete a double play. Yet he convinced Jerry Manuel and trainer Mike Herbst that he just needed a second to catch his breath. Manuel requested that Niese be allowed to make a few practice pitches. No trainer asked him to exhibit strength or flexibility in the leg before attempting something athletic.

Joel, there’s likely to be not a trainer in the business who would not have done the same thing. Niese was on the field and not in the training room. A strength and flexibity assessment at that time might not have revealed anything. Niese had already shown pretty good flexibility in his stretch at first and he walked back to the mound on his own. A functional test was in order as its the best test to assess any injury.

Niese tore one of the proximal hamstring tendons off his pelvis on that unfortunate overstrech covering 1st base. He did not make it worse on the test. We make the athlete do functional tests to see if they can continue. When a pitcher is assessed on the mound for a problem, we do not spend any time trying to stretch something or do a manual test as it doesn’t tell us anything. We have them throw.

The inferrences by the NY print media of the manner in which the Mets training staff have done their jobs is unprecedented in its unfairness and its lack of educated perspective. As the Mets’ trainers are not allowed to talk to the media, print media like Sherman have been irresponsible and unprofessional by not getting clarification on topics they know nothing about.

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There’s no way anyone could have predicted the Mets were going to have so many injuries. Dumb luck is what I told Joe McDonald last week in an interview. And I still think that way as any club can go through a rash of injuries.

We just saw Gary Sheffield pull up after hitting a ball in the gap. He’s 40 and its a day game after a night game. Plus he was likley to be playing at less than 100% as it was.

The injury to Jon Niese looks the most serious. Anyone could tell that. There’s a chance it could be a Grade 3 tear and that will be it for Niese’s season.

At this point, like most fans, I’d just bite the bullett and start bringing up some of the prospects to see if they can play. Niese will obviously go to the DL. The club cannot have two field players in Luis Castillo and Gary Sheffield on a day-to-day status.

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Wow. I guess when you are not very good and the other team is, night’s like last night happen. To put it in perspective, we won these sorts of games in 1986. Some thoughts:

* I hate wasting Santana’s starts – especially those when he leaves with a lead.

* Sean Green seems to need to put an excessive amount of spin on the ball making him more of a slinger than pitcher. It’s almost as if he’s a knuckelball pitcher. Hitting Mark DeRosa with that first pitch was evidence. He badly needs some intervention by a sinker ball friendly pitching coach.

* I still do not like the manner the Mets – or any one else for that matter configures their roster. Because of the injury to Castillo, they ran out of players – save catcher Brian Schneider. There was really only one threat on the bench at any point in Fernando Tatis.

* Jose Reyes is to see the doctor again for his hamstring tendon problem and Adam Rubin understandably speculates that he might be done for the season. His injury reminds of Vince Colemen’s season long injury hamstring injury in 1991. Coleman developed a nasty ball of scar tissue in the lower third that just would go away until after an off-season’s rest. People would ask the doctor’s about surgery and they reply, “on what?’ as there wasn’t really a surgical technique that can be performed.

As it’s Reyes’ hamstring tendon – that which attaches the belly of the muscle to bone, there may be something to look at doing. Whether or not its a repair, I have no idea. As they’ve had repeated MRIs, the films they are getting are non-conclusive and why they just havent been considering some sort of corrective technique all along.

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…and bring up the player that Tony Bernazard wanted to fight. Luis Castillo, a man maligned has done everything the Mets asked and needed this year. No small wonder he sprained his ankle accidentally in the dugout. The Mets are going nowhere and should take this opportunity to call up 2B prospect Jose Coronado from AA. Lets see if he can play.

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I had thought and asked Toby Hyde, who produces the excellent Mets Minor League Blog I asked whether or not it would be fair to say the Mets had little power through its organization. Here are Toby’s comments to my inquiry:

AAA: 1B/LF Nick Evans: near MLB average pop, but doesn’t do anything else all that well
AA: 1B Ike Davis – The Mets drafted him 18th overall because they liked his power and he’s leading the organization in HR after a homerless professional debut in 2008. Almost all of his power is pullside. One of the Mets best prospects.
Lucas Duda – a big guy with plus raw power, he can get into one in BP, but hadn’t shown much ability to drive a ball in games until he hit four bombs in July. Has he turned a corner? Neither Duda nor Davis has learned to hit lefties yet.
A+: 1B Stefan Welch still has a projectable frame. 3B Zach Lutz and SS Reese Havens have fringy average MLB power
A: Sean Ratliff has MLB pop right now, but other enormous holes in his swing. SS Wilmer Flores hasn’t shown much power this year, but the Mets hope that as he grows into his body, he’ll start driving the ball, so his power is projection at this point.
When in the minors, I remember going to certain other camps – like the Reds – and noticed they always had big players. Here is why Toby’s use of the term , “projectable frame” is somewhat telling in terms of talent assessments. Perhaps the Mets need to look at drafted more players with these “projectable frames”.

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Mike Silva provides a thought provoking piece this morning advocating the return of Wally Backman to the organization. I don’t know much about what’s happened to Wally since he left the Mets other than what I read in news reports, and I wouldn’t feel right in commenting on it at any rate. Yet Backman is an intriguing individual that has demonstrated he knows about winning. His comments to Silva indicate to me that he has evolved even more into someone with a desire to see a big picture. Backman would be a good guy to send around right now on behalf of the Mets.

He was about winning as a player. About team first. He took to the Mets’ acquisition of Tim Teufel to platoon with him at second base before the 1986 season. Backman knew Teufel could hit after playing against him in 1983 while in AAA. My memories of Backman involve how tough he was. We used to wrap up both hamstrings so he could play.

The Mets embraced their past by bringing back Bobby Ojeda, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez to be part of their broadcast team. Mets fans have a unique romantic attachment to its past that few teams enjoy. Heaven knows now would be a great time for the Wilpons to make some sort of gesture that would please fans. Maybe not Wally, but maybe someone like him who has an emotional investment in how well Mets play. Embrace your past again.

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MLB Trade Rumors tells a tale about just how much the Red Sox were willing to give up to get Felix Hernandez from the Mariners.

Thats an off-the-charts wow factor of 10.

I’m not sure what to make of the possibility that Cleveland would have sent Victor Martinez to the Mets for Jon Niese and Jennry Mejia or Brad Holt. There’s just too many things to speculate on.

But the one whisper that never seems to go away is that the Wilpons may be in trouble financially. Its the 800 pound gorilla in the room that no one talks about in polite company. The empty seats I saw around home plate during yesterday’s game has become a familiar sight. The team’s poor play coupled with extremely high ticket prices and a poor economy is the perfect storm for any professional sports franchise. Maybe they just cannot add salary of any sorts until the ones for Billy Wagner and Carlos Delgado come off the books after this year.

A number two starter is the greatest pressing need for next season. Yes, that means the Mets should attempt to sign John Lackey with the money they’re saving by the departures of Wagner and Delgado. Lackey will likely get a contract similar to the AJ Burnett contract. But the Angel’s right hander is what the Mets badly need to be competitive in their own ballpark. Lackey’s a gamer and is used to the big stage.

And yes, I know we woudn’t be having this conversation is the Mets had committed their assets to Derek Lowe and not Oliver Perez.

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I’m glad that Adam Rubin is back at the ballpark hopefully no worse for wear. But he makes a good point in linking the high pitch counts of Mike Pelfrey today and Oliver Perez last night.

Pelfrey (8-7) tossed 107 pitches while being charged with three runs on five hits and three walks (one intentional) in five innings. It marked the second straight day the Mets starting pitcher had reached a three-figure pitch count while failing to exceed five innings (Oliver Perez, 112 pitches on Saturday).

This is nothing new to fans and many Mets bloggers such as Joe Janish, Metswalkoffs and Baseball Crank. All three are very aware of stats. So far more than me that I rely on them.

The fact that this is nothing new means there’s something there…there….by design. Is it some sort of organizational philosophy that creates these unwinnable scenarios? Is it the habit of limiting pitch counts in the early season in the minors? Does this then enable lowered expectations for starters?

All these questions and more need to be frankly discussed around the table by their baseball people in the off-season. It may be that in the interest of protecting their investments with pitch counts has produced a pircher who doesn’t help their team win.

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So some of the Mets are growing beards until they reach .500. They lost to the D-Backs today to go 50-54. Look for ZZ Top sightings in the Mets dugout.

“…….Jesus just left for Chicago….and he’s bound for New Orrrrrleans.”

Maybe Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill can hit with men on base.

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