Today officially marks the end of an era. Or as some would call it, an error as the Mets have officially released Oliver Perez from the team. Having failed to live up to his 36 million dollar 3 year contract, this result certainly was not unexpected. But it is sad to think about what once was for the Mexican Titanic, as he is referred to by some.

With the 2000's gone, I'd like to talk quickly about the games of the decade that stand out in my mind.

Game of the Decade

Without question, I'm giving the overall best game of the decade to October 16th, 2000. It was Game 5 of the 2000 NLCS, Series MVP Mike Hampton pitches a complete game three hit shutout, Todd Zeile's three run double in the 4th put the Mets up 6-0. Rick Ankiel throws two more wild pitches in the 7th (after throwing 5 pitches to the backstop in the first inning of game two) effectively ending his pitching career. The Mets dominated the whole game winning 7-0 and taking home the NL Pennant for the first time since 1986. I was there. From the fourth inning on, big Shea was electric as everyone anxiously awaited the pennant. There was nothing like it.

Best Regular Season Game

The best regular season game of the decade goes to June 30, 2000 (The 10 run inning). Three games back of the Braves for the division, the Mets were trailing the Braves 8-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning on fireworks night at Shea, on any other night many of the fans would have gone home. Mets tie the game on a series of hits and four straight walks, Mike Piazza comes up to the plate with the go ahead run on base, and you just knew it, Piazza caps the inning with a three run homer to go ahead 11-8, Mets win and pull to within two games of the Braves. I was there for that one too...

The best game in a losing effort

As much as this game might be the worst game of the decade, that we still have yet to recover from, on October 19, 2006, the Mets played in one of the most exciting games in all of baseball for the entire decade. Of course the Mets lost Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS on Yadier Molina's two run homer off of Aaron Heilman and Carlos Beltran's subsequent bat on the shoulder, but Mets fans will remember this game for one defensive play by Endy Chavez, at the time dubbed the "play of the franchise" by Gary Cohen, and a surprise gem from Oliver Perez. Oh right I was at that game too... I'm still waiting for Beltran to swing.

Honorable Mention

The first game in NY after 9/11 with the Piazza home run
The Benny Agbayani homer in the 2000 NLDS
The 2006 clincher
Maine near no hitter before the 07 collapse (which included a brawl)
Santana's gem before the 08 collapse
10/22/2006: The Mets trailed 7-1 and Delgado hit a grand slam for his 400th home run, and trailing 7-6 in the 9th, Beltran wins it with a two run walk-off

Those are just some of the games that stick out in my mind... thoughts? Read More...

Last week, six Mets filled for salary arbitration, including Oliver Perez, Pedro Feliciano, Jorge Sosa, Ryan Church, Endy Chavez and Aaron Heilman.

According to MLB rules, a player with more than 3 but less than 6 years of major league service, may file for salary arbitration.

In the arbitration process, both the player and the team submits a proposed contract amount, and an independent arbitrator chooses one number or the other based on what they believe is most "fair" given comparable wages among players with similar ability and service time. In most cases, the process never even gets to the arbitrator, as the team and the player will usually compromise on a new contract.

The Mets and RHP Aaron Heilman avoided the arbitration process last Friday when they agreed to a 1 year, 1.2 million dollar contract for 2008.

Similarly, Tuesday, the Mets avoided arbitration with OF Endy Chavez, by agreeing to a two year 3.85 million dollar contract.

Deals for the other four players will probably be coming in the next week or two. The Mets have not had a player go to arbitration since David Cone in 1992.
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The Mets have re-acquired former minor league prospect Angel Pagan from the Cubs in exchange for minor leaguers Corey Coles and Ryan Meyers. Neither Coles nor Meyers was highly touted by the organization.

You may remember Pagan was a young star for the inaugural 2001 Brooklyn Cyclones who were named co-champions of the NY-Penn league after the championship series was cut short following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Pagan was sold by the Mets to the Cubs in January 2006. Pagan hit .255 in 148 games with the Cubs between 2006 and 2007.

This is an interesting acquisition for the Mets, Pagan is another young speedy outfielder, who could conceivably take the spot of Carlos Gomez or Endy Chavez on the roster if one of them is traded in a deal for a pitcher.
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Heartbroken, anger, and disbelief, are just a few of the many emotions being shown by the 15,000+ members in the facebook group after the Mets historic meltdown.

Who can really blame them? This wasn’t the ending we all planned on. Two weeks ago we held a very comfortable 7 game lead with 17 to play. We were sitting in the driver’s seat looking at the SNY pocket schedule, seeing 13 of our last 17 games against the lowly Nationals and Marlins. In a year full of injuries and so called disappointments this is when we were finally going to get it done. Guess what? It didn’t happen, but life moves on.

Though we didn’t win the World Series, there are many individual moments that us as fans can look back on and be very proud of. Watching things like the continuing development of young players Lastings Milledge and Mike Pelfrey, exciting plays like the Endy Chavez drag bunt or the Carlos Beltran catch in Houston, the scoreless inning streaks of Pedro Feliciano and rookie Joe Smith, Tom Glavine’s 300th career win, John Maine’s two near no hitters, Shawn Green chasing Hank Greenberg for the all-time Jewish home run record, the return of Pedro Martinez, etc… these are the things that when I look back on the 2007 Mets I’m going to remember.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m just as upset as the rest of you. But in a year in which 99% of us are going to call it a letdown, there are those little things that we should all take with us, that we can all look back on, and that we can all remember to put an instant smile on our faces. And if that doesn’t work? 2008 is just around the corner. Read More...

Damion Easley is the latest to catch the injury bug on the Mets. He will join the DL with a severely sprained ankle that he injured during last night's game in Washington. Chances are Easley will be sidelined for the remainder of the season with this type of ankle injury.

It's hard to believe how many Mets have had stints on the DL this season. It really is a bit ridiculous. Unfortunately, Easley had been succeeding in his role as a consistent bench player and his presence will surely be missed. Paging Endy Chavez.... Read More...