NL East

Rumors flying around the New York Mets say they might trade Jeff Francoeur before the trade deadline next week.

Is that possible? Yes.

Is it likely? Knowing the Mets, probably not.

Francoeur lost the starting right fielder job to Angel Pagan when Carlos Beltran returned and now is the fourth outfielder.

Francoeur has been a starter since he was single digits in age. He obviously can’t be happy being on the bench now.

In the top of the seventh inning of the Phillies' 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday night, the Phillies had runners on first and second with two outs and Carlos Ruiz at the plate.

Recognizing this, the Cardinals elected to have pitcher Jaime Garcia work around Ruiz, walk the bases loaded, and go after pitcher Joe Blanton hitting in the ninth hole.

Keep in mind that at this point the score was only 1-1.

Jamie Moyer, who had to leave Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning after injuring his elbow, is headed to the disabled list. And, by the sounds of it, he'll be there for quite some time.

Skipper Charlie Manuel compared the injury to J.A. Happ's—an injury that sidelined Happ since April 16th and only has him scheduled to return to the rotation on Saturday. Given Moyer's age, it likely means we've seen the last of him for the 2010 season.

Well, I can’t say much. The Mets played terribly tonight, getting one hit over the last eight innings against the D-Backs bullpen. This is against a bullpen known for being the worst bullpen in the majors.

Aaron Heilman even went two perfect innings. Heilman! Oliver Perez almost lost it in the 13th, putting runners on first and second with no outs and second and third with one out.

The Mets ended up getting swept by the D-Backs (going past 2 a.m. to do so).

The Mets need help, in multiple aspects. Today, they made a move that improves one part of their roster, possibly.

Chad Cordero was signed by the Mets today, and will be sent to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, who had their contract as affiliate of the Mets extended today through 2012, for now.

Cordero is most known for closing out games for the Washington Nationals from 2005-07. He also closed for the Montreal Expos in '03 and '04 before the franchise moved to Washington.

Time to ask other Mets fans on Twitter another question. This time it was:

Hey Mets fans, what is 1 thing you want the Mets to get before the trade deadline expires?

Got quite a few responses, so lets get right into it:

@TylerFlushingBB a winning streak.

http://twitter.com/heyyoeddie

After losing their past two games against the D-Backs, the Mets will try to salvage at least one game before they head to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers for a four-game series.

For the second straight series, the Mets look to try to get a win in the final game after losing the rest.

This road trip out west has not gone well so far for the Mets. Here is tonight’s lineup, with some comments from me.

1. Jose Reyes, SS - Reyes hit the ball well his last three at bats on Monday, and also got two hits yesterday.

The Yankees have had scouts watching the Marlins lately as the two teams have discussed a couple of players, but OF Cody Ross is one name that keeps coming up in the papers.

It has become fairly obvious that the New York Mets need help in their bullpen. They have been rumored to be interested in trading for a reliever. The Mets have made a transaction for a relief pitcher.

The Mets signed Chad Cordero to a minor league deal. While this is not the big splash that Mets fans for looking for, it is your prototypical low risk/high reward move.

With Kyle Kendrick being sent down to the minors recently, there's an open spot this Saturday for a starting pitcher, so the Phillies need to figure out their plan of attack quickly.

In Kendrick's stead, they brought up Andrew Carpenter, but General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. made it very clear that they see Carpenter as a bullpen pitcher. Ruben did say Carpenter could have an outside chance to start Saturday, but that really just means he's there last resort.