The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. It was the second straight defeat at the hands of their division foes as the Mets fell below .500 for the first time this season.

It was over when: Mark Teixeria killed the Mets twice, first with this homer in the bottom of the eighth and then with his glove in the top of the ninth. I have a feeling that I'm gonna start to hate this guy very quickly.

Good: This Johan Santana kid is pretty good. Santana gave up one run over seven strong innings but was the hard-luck loser as the offense and Aaron Heilman gave him absolutely zero support. For the second consecutive game, though, the Mets refused to go down without a fight. They brought home a run (finally) in the top of the ninth and had the tying run on first when Brian Schneider hit a bullet down the first base side. Unfortunately, Mark Teixeira made a fantastic play, stopping the ball and making the flip to Soriano to end the game.

Bad: I already mentioned them both. The offense was dead for eight innings and by the time they showed up, Heilman had already given a two-run homer to Teixeira the inning before. You have your ace on the hill and you don't manage to give him a single freakin' run? Maybe the Mets wanted to give Santana a reminder of his days in Minnesota. Right now, Santana is the best 1-1 pitcher in baseball.

Ugly: Reyes: 0-4. Castillo: 0-4. Wright: 0-2, 2 SO, 2 BB at least. Beltran: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 SO including a pathetic at-bat in the top of the ninth in which he didn't take the bat off his shoulder once. Hey Carlos; I'll stop riding you when you start to earn your ridiculous paycheck. Oh yeah, Delgado went 2-4 today but he also left three men on base. I'll just sum all of this up. The Mets sucked at the plate for 8+ innings today. Yeah, they were facing John Smoltz today but Blaine Boyer, Will Ohman and Peter Moylan all held the Mets scoreless today. Are you kidding me?

Overall: Thankfully, I missed over half of this game. Once again, the Braves were the better team and they deserved to win. The bats better show up against the Phils this week. Performances like this at Shea will not sit well with the home fans, boys. Then again, playing like this in Atlanta angers me just as much. If we're going to be excited when the Mets beat up on the AAA-quality Florida Marlins, we have to be annoyed when they play like a Little League team against the Braves.

Grade: D. Which is sad because Johan Santana deserved better.
Read More...

With their flurry of acquisitions on Tuesday, the Braves left themselves with a roster dilemma on Wednesday. Finding roster spots for their two new relievers, Ron Mahay and Octavio Dotel, forced them to make two transactions.

Opting to option right-handed reliever Jose Ascanio to Double-A Mississippi didn't provide the same stress as deciding whether to designate either Julio Franco or Scott Thorman for assignment.

Knowing there was a strong chance that Thorman would be claimed by another club and possibly flourish elsewhere in the future, the Braves opted to designate Franco, who had just signed with them after being released by the Mets earlier this month.

Franco, who will celebrate his 49th birthday on Aug. 23, can be claimed off waivers over the course of the next 72 hours. If nobody claims him, he'll have the opportunity to accept a Minor League assignment with the Braves.

If this occurs, the Braves would have the option of utilizing Franco in September, when the Major League rosters expand. Since signing with Atlanta, the ageless wonder has batted .250 (9-for-36) and provided strong defense at first base.

"Julio has been great since we got him," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's really perked us up offensively and defensively. He was as good as ever."

Cox said it was difficult to deliver this news to Franco, who has aspirations to continue playing until he's 50.

Because of Chris Woodward's defensive versatility, the Braves decided their only option to create this final roster spot was to designate either Franco or Thorman.

Franco left Turner Field before speaking to reporters on Wednesday. But some of his teammates believe as long as he's not claimed by another organization that he'll accept a Minor League assignment.

When general manager John Schuerholz acquired Mark Teixeira to serve as his first baseman on Tuesday, Franco shared the resulting excitement with his Braves teammates.

"I'm not a selfish player," Franco said Tuesday. "I just want to be part of the ballclub. Whatever we can do to improve the ballclub, I'm happy about."

As the Braves attempt to gain entrance into the postseason, Franco would seemingly be a better asset than Thorman, who has hit .220 this season and .203 since May 1. The 48-year-old's value as a pinch-hitter has seemingly increased in his past seven games, during which he hit .333 (8-for-24) with three doubles and eight RBIs.

But for now, they'll have to hope Thorman proves to be an asset off their bench. Though he has struggled mightily in his first full Major League season, the 25-year-old first baseman would still draw some waiver wire interest from other organizations, especially those who are aware of his history. Read More...

A number of sources including MetsBlog and MLB Trade Rumors are reporting that the Mets have acquired second baseman Luis Castillo from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor leaguers Drew Butera and Dustin Martin.

This seems like a good trade for the Mets, it brings a veteran second baseman who still has decent speed, a good on base percentage and an above average glove, to replace the unproven Ruben Gotay, who the Mets believe can one day be the future second baseman. From what I gather, the Mets weren't very high on Butera or Martin anyway, so this upgrade comes at a small price.

In other news, the Braves have been busy today, acquiring First Baseman Mark Teixeira, and appear to be close to landing former Met Octavio Dotel. The Braves gave up two big prospects in Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Elvis Andrus for Teixeira, which tells me the Braves are looking to make a serious push for the playoffs this season.

Omar better have something in the works for a big time reliever within the next 24 hours to counter the braves moves, otherwise we could be looking at a closer race than we anticipated. Read More...