NL East

The Mets designated outfielder/pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto for assignment earlier this week, and instead of trying to hook on with another team, the 36-year-old is likely to call it a career, according to the NY Daily News.

You may already know the name, but for those that do not, in the months leading up to the 2010 MLB draft, you will hear it many times: Bryce Harper.

The master plan for the Washington Nationals is finally falling into place.

Play possum for two years and set yourself up to draft, possibly, the two most highly regarded picks in the history of the game, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.

In my rant about Dallas Braden ’s

All of this talk seems extremely preliminary, but perhaps there is something to it. There have been rumors over the past couple of days involving either the Mets buying the Islanders, or simply the Mets building an arena next to Citi Field that would house the Islanders and perhaps a Major League Soccer team as well.

The injury bug continues to bite at the Phillies as another starter is down and could miss a few days after Carlos Ruiz sprained his right knee Wednesday against the Rockies.

Ruiz initially injured the knee making a tag at the plate, then aggravated it trying to run from first to third on a base hit by Wilson Valdez in the fourth inning. He made it to third safely, but immediately began grasping at his knee and had to be replaced by Paul Hoover.

Francisco Rodriguez gave up a two-run home run to Roger Bernadina, his second of the day, in the top of the ninth inning that put the Mets down 6-4. Mike Pelfrey started the game and pitched so-so, but he and the bullpen kept the team in the game as the Mets tied it.

According to assistant GM Scott Proefrock via Matt Gelb and his Twitter feed, the Phillies expect to have Jimmy Rollins back next week when they start a seven-game homestand beginning with the Pirates, then the Cubs, and ending against the struggling Red Sox.

The Phils have played well without Rollins in the lineup, so having him back will make them that much better. Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez have performed admirably, but neither has been able to replicate Jimmy's offense.

It's early. There is no denying that. However, with an eighth of the season already complete, it's not too early to speculate on who will win the postseason awards.

The time has come for the New York Mets to end the Oliver Perez experiment once again.

Perez has not proven himself ready to be a consistent Major League pitcher. He cannot do the one thing pitchers need to be able to do to stay in the Majors: throw strikes.

With 25 walks in 30 innings, Perez’s walks per nine innings is a dismal 7.5. Very few pitchers can survive by giving away that many base on balls and Perez is no exception.

Batter of the Week - Steven Souza, 3B, Hagerstown