Mets Daily Notes

[General]

Alay Soler earned his first major league victory by limiting the Dodgers to one run in seven innings on Monday. He struck out seven.
With John Maine about ready to return, Soler was likely in danger of a demotion if he struggled again. This, though, should serve to keep him in the rotation for at least one more turn. NL-only leaguers should wait and see how he fares against the Diamondbacks this weekend before picking him up

[General]

John Maine (finger) gave up six runs in four innings during a rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday night.
Maine had pitched well for Norfolk prior to this outing. He will likely make another start for Norfolk before the Mets decide what role he will have with the team.

[General]

Despite giving up six runs in 5 1/3 innings, Tom Glavine beat the Dodgers on Wednesday night to become the majors' first nine-game winner.
Glavine failed to last six innings for the first time in 28 starts. As many pitches as he left over the heart of the plate, it's surprising that he lasted as long as he did. He probably wouldn't have had the Dodgers had Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew available. Given that Glavine was going on three days' rest, the off night was excusable.

[DirtyKash]

Nice. El Duque returns to Arizona and shuts down the Diamondbacks. Way to stick it to them.

[General]

The New York Post is reporting that Kaz Matsui could be released by the Mets when Xavier Nady returns from the disabled list, possibly on Tuesday.
Matsui is hitting just .200 with seven RBIs in 130 at-bats this season. The Mets will likely attempt to trade the 30-year-old infielder, but it is unlikely they will find any suitors

[ThomasTomasz]

The New York Post is reporting that Kaz Matsui could be released by the Mets when Xavier Nady returns from the disabled list, possibly on Tuesday.
Matsui is hitting just .200 with seven RBIs in 130 at-bats this season. The Mets will likely attempt to trade the 30-year-old infielder, but it is unlikely they will find any suitors

I doubt anyone is going to make a trade for Matsui, and I highly doubt anyone will sign him and immediately place him on a major league roster. The Orioles have four guys in the upper levels to play 2B/SS in Brian Roberts, Brandon Fahey, Chris Gomez, and Ed Rogers, and I imagine most other teams have similar depth.

[General]

Alay Soler pitched a two-hit shutout against the Diamondbacks to earn his second major league victory on Saturday night.
The Diamondbacks were ridiculoously aggressive at the plate tonight, resulting in 15 groundball outs and a 108-pitch complete game for Soler. The 26-year-old struck out two and walked three in his fourth major league start. The effort means Soler has to be picked up in NL-only leagues. He's still a risky play, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to use him in a home start against the Orioles on Friday.

[General]

Mets activated RHP John Maine from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk.
Maine had been on the DL since May 6 with an inflamed middle finger. With Brian Bannister on the way back and Dave Williams and Mike Pelfrey also working to establish themselves as rotation candidates, Maine may have a difficult time getting back to the majors anytime soon.

[General]

Carlos Delgado went 3-for-4 and hit his 19th homer in the Mets' 9-7 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night.
Carlos Beltran and David Wright also homered for the Mets, who won despite a rare poor outing from Tom Glavine. Delgado has four homers and 12 hits in seven games

[General]

David Wright went 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI Wednesday to help the Mets beat the Phillies 9-3.
Wright has five homers during June and 13 overall. With a .336/.406/.580 line, he's moved into the top 10 in NL in OPS along with fellow third basemen Scott Rolen and Miguel Cabrera.

[General]

Xavier Nady (appendectomy) went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI Thursday in his first game for Triple-A Norfolk.
The plan is for Nady to rejoin the Mets on Monday, but there's some chance it could happen earlier. Lastings Milledge is probably going to be sent down, if not immediately when Nady is activated then soon thereafter.

[General]

Aaron Heilman took the loss after giving up four runs in an inning of relief Friday against the Orioles.
Perhaps not coincindently, Heilman has struggled mightily since the Mets again declined to put him into the rotation last month. He has a 12.34 ERA in 11 2/3 innings since May 23. Up until that point, he was one of the five- or 10-best relievers in baseball

[General]

Cliff Floyd (ankle) is in Port St. Lucie receiving treatment and receiving further simulated game action.
Manager Willie Randolph said Floyd isn't likely to be activated until his ankle allows him to play the outfield, rather than just be used as the DH in AL parks beginning Friday in Toronto

[General]

Cliff Floyd is unlikely to return from the disabled list on Thursday when he is eligible.
Floyd ran in a pool at the Mets' extended spring training facility on Tuesday, but he still has a boot on his injured foot. We don't think he will be activated from the disabled list until next week at the earliest

[General]

Back from a 50-game steroids suspension, Yusaku Iriki pitched three scoreless innings Thursday for Single-A St. Lucie.
If Iriki had been available to pitch, the 33-year-old right-hander might have gotten a look when the Mets were going through their Jose Lima phase earlier this season. It now seems highly unlikely that he'll make it to the majors with the club