New York Mets

Originally posted on Midwestropolitan .

Much has been said about the last three spots in the starting rotation for the New York Mets.

Throughout the off-season, spring training, and the beginning of the season, there have been many questions.

During the majority of this process, Hisanori Takahashi has quietly taken the mound when asked and has pitched effectively.

The Mets surprised the critics by playing .500 baseball for most of April and early May. They highlighted their April run by taking three of four against the Cubs and sweeping the Braves and the Dodgers in their homestand.

Life was good for Jerry Manuel. He needed it to survive April. No one was talking about his managerial future after that.

The first round of National League All-Star votes have been counted, and as can be expected, it’s slim pickings for the Amazins.

David Wright is already 73,000 votes behind current third base leader Placido Polanco in one of the closest-fought All-Star battles, and Jose Reyes will need something resembling a miracle if he is to catch Jimmy Rollins or Hanley Ramirez for the starting shortstop gig.

It goes without saying that Carlos Beltran is a crucial part of the Mets lineup. Since his microfracture surgery in January, the question has been when he will return to the Mets. However, no one has been able to answer this.

The Mets moved Beltran to the 60 day disabled list today. This is more of a procedural move than a sign of anything else. The Mets needed to clear a space on their 40- man roster for the recently acquired Justin Turner. Beltran was put on the DL on March 26, so the move will not impact his return date.

Not all of these pitchers are officially being shopped by their respective teams. In fact, it isn’t likely that all or even most of these pitchers will be traded.

In all the years I have watched Mets baseball, this might be the strangest, and there have been a lot of strange seasons recently.

After an awful start to the season, a torrid eight-game winning streak, and a slump, the Mets are on another winning streak again.

This time, the Mets have won three in a row to get back to .500 at 23-23 on the season, and actually find themselves tied for last place.

NEW YORK-- After two thrilling wins against the defending AL champion Yankees, the Mets opened up their series with the defending NL champion Phillies, looking to gain ground in the NL East.

They sent knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to the mound, trying to throw the Phillies off balance for a second straight game as they faced Tim Wakefield on Sunday.

Dickey, coming off of a solid outing against the Nationals in his first start on Wednesday, wasn't lights-out tonight, but was good enough and got the big outs he needed to get by the potent Phillies lineup.

Remember how the Phillies got caught spying on the Rockies catcher with binoculars? Well, that's nothing compared to the apparent "home version" of how they cheat at Citizens Bank Park.

In 2007, it came to the Mets' attention through several former Phillies players then playing with the Mets that the Phillies use a complex form of cheating at Citizens Bank Park involving a center field camera.  The camera is used to steal signs, which are then relayed to the hitter while he's in the batter's box.

What can we say, we get a cheap laugh from dogs that are humiliated in MLB attire.  Hey, who isn’t?

Thus, we giggled like a school girl when the following picture appeared in our Inbox this past weekend.

The New York Mets are within striking distance of the Phillies, and there's no doubt that they have a chance to make a run at the wild card.

But one thing that can really kill the Mets is their General Manager Omar Minaya, not that he hasn't already done so.

Minaya is desperate to keep his job, and the future of the franchise is in jeopardy if he decides to make another typical Minaya move, trading the best prospects for an older pitcher to help the Mets improve from a slightly better than .500 team to a wild card contender.