The Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds tonight by the score of 3 to 2.
For a full recap, check out Yahoo! Sports.
…wow, hows that for starting off the second half with a bang…Jose Reyes and Ruben Gotay became the first players to hit back to back home runs to lead off a game in Mets history…its [...]

The Mets (49-39) defeated the Reds (36-53) by the score of 3 to 2 tonight at Shea Stadium.
For a full recap and box score, check out Yahoo Sports!…a few things and i’ll call it a day……first off, about Willie Randolph…he’s in a tough spot…Rick Down was one of his guys, and as we all know, [...]

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The Game:
The Mets (48-39) kick off the second half against the Reds (36-52) in the first game of a four-game set tonight at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm EDT.
The Lineup:
Jose Reyes leads off, followed in order by Ruben Gotay, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, Lastings Milledge and starting [...]

WFAN reports that 2B Jose Valentin is out of the lineup tonight due to an injured pinky. While appearing on Mets Extra with Howie Rose, Willie Randolph mentioned that Valentin was involved in some sort of altercation over the All-Star break in Puerto Rico.
Valentin is listed as day-to-day.
…this has been among the most bizarre 24 [...]

As previously reported on MetsBlog, Julio Franco was designated for assignment by the Mets today and replaced on the roster by OF Lastings Milledge.
Marty Noble of MLB.com reports Franco planned to ask for his release
from the team before receiving the call from the organization this
morning.
According to Noble, Franco, who was unhappy with his amount of [...]

In his Under the Knife column for Baseball Prospectus, Will Carroll brings some news on Pedro Martinez’s projected rehab:
Carroll writes:
“The expected progression across four rehab starts will be
short-short-medium-long, where ’short’ will be 2-3 innings, ‘medium’
will be 4-5, and the final long outing will be in the 70-80 pitch
range. If Martinez gets through those, he’d be [...]

According to game notes given to the media available on MLB.com, the Mets have signed IF/OF Marlon Anderson to a minor-league contract. Anderson will be in uniform for Triple-A New Orleans tonight.
In 2005 with the Mets, Anderson batted .264 with 7 HR and 19 RBI. However, he hit .351 with a homer and six RBI [...]

In an article for Newsday, Ken Davidoff is reporting that Julio Franco will be designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Lastings Milledge who will become the starting left fielder.
Davidoff writes:
“It’s not clear whether Franco, who turns 48 next month, will retire, or
whether he’ll accept an unconditional release and try to find [...]

Marty Noble of MLB.com notes that while Rickey Henderson has been added to the coaching staff, current Mets first base coach Howard Johnson is likely to assume most or all of Rick Down’s job responsibilities.
Noble also has news on LHP Dave Williams and RHP Mike Pelfrey, and which pitcher is likely to stay once LHP [...]

This season, at the beginning of each series, MetsBlog will attempt to
get the perspective of the opposition and their fans. From this, we
hope to be better educated on the opposition going into a series. It
also gives us a fine opportunity to highlight some of our favorite team
blogs.
As the Mets kick off the second half of [...]

In honor of Rickey Henderson’s addition to the Mets coaching staff, Jim Baumbach of Newsday unearthed some soundbite gems of his past, which are sure to elicit a chuckle or two.
My favorite:
“Rickey’s gonna be Rickey. Period. No matter what I’m going to do or play or come here early, I’m gonna be Rickey. Rickey is [...]

Rotoworld has posted their midseason top 150 prospects list. Four Mets make the list, with Fernando Martinez the highest ranked, at 8th. Deolis Guerra is ranked 44th, Phillip Humber comes in at 61st, and Mike Carp shows up at 124th.
Martinez is currently on the DL with a hand injury.
For a full rundown, and more analysis [...]

According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle, Astros RHP Roy Oswalt told the paper he would consider waiving his no-trade clause should a deal arrive that would improve the club’s future.
Oswalt agreed to a five-year, $73 million extension with the team last August. There is a club option for a sixth year [...]

On this special midseason edition of Blogger Beat, I rounded up a veritable All-Star team of Mets bloggers to discuss how the second half may shake out, and what this team needs to get back to October. This discussion centers around the imminent returns of Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou and how that may impact Omar Minaya at the trade deadline.