Random Thoughts

- The Mets stink. They are so bad. I'd feel bad for them, except that I hate them. Objectively though, they are the worst defensive team I've seen in awhile. Daniel Murphy needs to catch the ball at some position if he's going to last in the big leagues. You can't expect Nick Evans to keep hitting bombs. With Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes out, the offense, which has some major holes to begin with, has too many easy outs to sustain rallies. While K-Rod has been pretty good, the middle-relief corps has been showing a lot of the same old vulnerability lately.

- Having said all of that, if Carlos Beltran really does need the microfracture surgery on his knee, they should probably just pack it in for 2009.

- Elmer Dessens is in the Mets bullpen these days. Yes, THAT Elmer Dessens.

- Great pickup for the Cardinals in getting Mark DeRosa from the Indians over the weekend. DeRosa can play pretty much anywhere in the field, and is the kind of good nuts-and-bolts type of player that winning teams need to have. He would have been a perfect addition for a team like the Mets, who need more guys intent on doing little, elemental things that contribute to winning baseball games, and fewer guys intent on making up dances on the top step of the dugout.

- The major-league ready piece that went the other way in the DeRosa deal, pitcher Chris Perez, had a rough outing in his Indians debut. Four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning can't be the way to impress your new club. However, the fact that the Tribe were able to get a major league player for DeRose underscores how shallow the Mets are in terms of being able to make deals. They don't have anyone on their active roster anybody would actually trade for (maybe Pedro Feliciano?) and their top minor league prospects really aren't that good. I can't see any way they could possibly acquire an impact guy like Matt Holiday.

-Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has reported that the Indians ace lefty Cliff Lee is available for trade. If true, Lee easily becomes the jewel of the pitching market as the July 31st trade deadline nears. If I was the GM of a team that needed starting pitching help (also known as every team), I'd go hard after Lee to make a serious run at winning the World Series in 2009. Lee is 30 years old and is signed through 2010, making him experienced but not old, and a relative financial bargain without an albatross of a contract.

-Hard to believe the Expos once traded Lee, with Lee Stevens, Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew. Oops. Think the Nats could use any (all of?) those guys now.

-Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have got to be the best duo no one knows a thing about. Two great left-handed sticks, but since they're tucked away in the Twin Cities, they won't be on ESPN or Fox every weekend, as a result, won't get their just due.

-When did Russell Branyan become an All-Star? Did I miss something about his career over the last, say, decade? Good for him though...

-When Jason Bartlett hit safely in his 19th consecutive game last week, he broke the Rays' team record for longest hitting streak, which was previously held by Quinton McCracken. When Quinton McCracken holds significant offensive records, you know you're a franchise without a very illustrious history.

-Did you see the dog pile at the last out of LSU's College World Series Championship? The catcher pile-drove the pitcher to the mound, and then the rest of the team didn't just run out and fall on top of the pile, they ran out, leapt up and came crashing down on the pile. An all-timer, probably the best dog pile I've ever seen.