Your Thursday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes and links.
Meet the Mets
The Mets lost to the Braves last night even though they had opportunities to at least tie the game in both the eighth and ninth innings. Ruben Tejada made a crucial error, and Andrelton Simmons made an outstanding play to save a run. At least Zack Wheeler was pretty good.
Choose your recap: Amazin' Avenue short, long, MLB.com, ESPN New York, Daily News, New York Times, Star-Ledger, NY Post, or Newsday.
Travis d'Arnaud, who was robbed of a single by Simmons, is pretty well aware of just how good the shortstop has been with the glove against him.
A couple of notes on the injury front: David Wrightcould be back tonight, and the prognosis on Vic Black is a herniated disc.
With shortstop still a problem for the Mets, could Matt Reynolds, who had a tough year in St. Lucie in 2013 but has broken out between Binghamton and Las Vegas this year, be the answer at the position?
NJ.com asks if the Mets should trade Bartolo Colon.
The Daily News has more on the struggles of Curtis Granderson, who's looking worrisome as the Mets look towards the future.
Around the National League East
The Phillies finished off a sweep of the Nationals with an 8-2 win, while the Angels topped the Marlins6-1 in one of Wednesday's late games.
Around Major League Baseball
If you hadn't met Cubs prospect Jorge Soler yet, he introduced himself by hitting a home run in his first major league at-bat.
The Tigers have possibly lost Anibal Sanchez for the rest of the season, while Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera have been struggling in the midst of a pennant race. But Grant Brisbee contends that they still might be okay.
Baseball has a number of unwritten rules, but how well do you know the written ones?
The Astros continue to bumble the Brady Aiken situation.
Yesterday at AA
The Mets may be ready to call Noah Syndergaard up from Las Vegas in September. Speaking of Las Vegas, it looks like the Mets are stuck with Las Vegas as their Triple-A affiliate.
Travis d'Arnaud has struggled with blocking pitches, but should the team be concerned?
The list of teams interested in Bartolo Colon appears to be shrinking.
Nicholas Iorio breaks down the stats to measure Dillon Gee's effectiveness.
Juan Lagares is clearly the answer in center for the Mets.
Chris Young has found a new home with the Yankees.
Which free agent shortstops can be had by the Mets this winter?
We take a look back at the previous week in Mets quotes.
Finally, Sean Cunningham dives into the age-old question: should you root for a team to tank for draft picks?