I tried all weekend to avoid the Mets/Yankees games, but Yankees' manager Joe Girardi forced my hand.  In this morning's New York Post,  Girardi forgot what a maelstorm the press can create.  He said Joba could remain in the Yankees' pen all season.

When Girardi was asked about the fact Cashman had been saying it would happen at some point, the manager replied, "At some point could be next year. I don't have an exact timetable when it's going to happen right now."

 Oh yeah.  Correcting beat writers on semantics is a good way to prevent a media blitz.  For me, I've got my stick out and continue to beat the dead horse I have pounded on for months. 

If you start Joba out as a reliever with the hopes that "the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men [don't] gang aft agley", then you are a fool.  At this point, the plans to move Joba into the rotation are under attack by the incompetence of Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins and injuries to the aforementioned Hughes and Brian Bruney.  Who could have forseen those types of developments?

Joba throwing 80 innings this year, leaves him in a worse spot next year if he is to go into the rotation.  He will have to be closely monitored in 2009 to make sure his innings don't exceed 120 or so.

Girardi's only hope to avoid a week's worth of negative-leaning press would be to have New York Mets' SP Oliver Perez choke on national television.  Seems the clubhouse in Flushing Queens is crumbling, and another Perez letdown may be the final straw.

While a Perez bomb would focus the attention on him, the Mets' real problems lie at the plate.  Its starting rotation ranks fifth in the NL in ERA with a 3.91, and its bullpen is in the middle of the pack with a 3.75 ERA despite Aaron Heilamn's best efforts to harm both.

The Mets hitting is the team's Achilles heel right now.  1B Carlos Delgado has been putrid so far, and the Metsdo not have any viable options at 1B.  He has helped contribute to the Mets being 10th in the NL standings in Runs Scored and AVG and just 11th in HRs. 

Even though 2B Luis Castillo will never SLG anything respectable, .306 is so low as to draw attention to his 4-year contract despite his very good .374 OBP - what many will argue was exactly what the Mets paid for.  But when Carlos Delgado has an OPS even less than Luis Castillo's .680, the offense cannot function properly.