Mets at the deadline

Well the sweep of Atlanta was long overdue. First Met sweep of the Braves in Atlanta since 1985! 14 games up in the division with about 60 to go. Chances are if we take 2 of 3 from second place Florida this week, we're all but NLEast division champions (that spelling was done on purpose).

And now the trade deadline has come to pass. Two years ago, my birthday gift from the Mets was Bartolome Fortunato, Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano for Ty Wigginton, Matt Peterson, Justin Huber, Jose Diaz, and some guy named Scott Kazmir. Nuff said there.

Now the deadline was 3 p.m. Around 1:45, nothing significant had happened, and I'm thinking we'll stand pat. Fine. I hang up the phone with my father, not even five minutes later, I read a post on a website that says Duaner Sanchez, the Mets best setup man is out for the year with a shoulder separation. These are his goggles, or as I call them, the mark of Duaner...

I was praying it was a rib. Turns out it wasn't. Some shmuck who was driving drunk crashed into a cab that Duaner was riding in down in Miami on Sunday night. So he's all but done for the year. So any hopes of acquiring a starting pitcher like Roy Oswalt, Barry Zito, or Jason Schmidt are all but gone. Now, Omar Minaya has to get a reliever. And he gets Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez for outfielder Xavier Nady.

A lot of Met fans are incensed. But what was Omar to do? Hernandez was a decent setup guy last year and this year, his ERA was under 3 for the Pirates. He's 41, but he can still be effective. We weren't going to get another Duaner, although we actually almost did. I'll get to that later. Perez was a very good starting pitcher. A hard throwing lefty who has been brutal for the last season and a half. Maybe some time in AAA and working with Pedro and Glavine will help. I have a feeling it will and he will be a good starter for us, though it may not happen until next year.

And as for Nady, well, I'd be angry if they weren't bringing up Lastings Milledge. The kid gets time to prove he belongs here. Nady was very good this year, but his defense his still weak and he struck out a little too much. A loss, yes. But not earth shattering.

The other deal which was supposed to happen was packaging Perez and Heath Bell and sending them to San Diego for Scott Linebrink, one of the best setup men in the game. But the Padres backed out at the last minute. I really wanted that trade to happen.

So to Stephen A Smith and the other geniuses who labeled the Mets losers at the deadline, look at the White Sox, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, or Cardinals, who all did nothing or next to nothing. A move had to be made and with Sanchez' injury, we couldn't trade Aaron Heilman.

Now our chances to win the World Series have taken a hit. But if young pitchers John Maine or Mike Pelfrey or Brian Bannister (who is recovering from his injury very well) steps up, the bullpen gets a little work taken off. The best way to help an already good bullpen is to have good starting pitching. And right now the Mets are a little questionable, a little spotty there, but brilliance has been seen from El Duque, from Maine, from Pelfrey, from Bannister. Can one or two of them do the job in September and October? That's one big question. Number two, can Aaron Heilman step up as the pitcher he was last year? If he can, it will be a huge lift. I don't know. Oh, and it might be time for another look at Henry Owens, who has 62 strikeouts in 31 1/3 AA innings and a .131 batting average against. It'll be an interesting final two months of the 2006 season.