It’s a little more than an hour before game time in Baltimore and the tension is thick.
With Todd Frazier reacquired and Billy Hamilton still on board (I think) who wears No. 21?
The Mets quietly added Frazier, along with his Texas teammate Robinson Chirinos and Baltimore reliever Miguel Castro, in deadline deals that illustrate that even unaccomplished, old and/or boring guys might make a difference on a Mets club that can do little right so far this year and still acts like it might be a playoff team.
Frazier was something a guy to be endured and not necessarily welcomed back but hopefully represents some right-handed power we’d been missing since Cespedes quit and Pete Alonso and Wilson Ramos are taking the year off more stealthily, and JD Davis hurt. Frazier, as I’ve probably noted here before has one of the ugliest swings in club history but I cannot deny he’s a pro. The Mets list both Frazier and Hamilton in 21, the latter guy would seem to me to be on the verge of release, having encountered but not delivered on more than a few Rajai Davis Moments. Hammy could alternatively slide down to 15 or 7.
Chirinos, a 36-year-old catcher and career .231 hitter, I suppose is seen as an 
upgrade on Ali Sanchez or Tomas Nido as a reserve but I’m already confusing him with Ramon Castro and Rod Barajas and any number of chunky Latin backstops who’ve passed through. Wearing the No. 61 jersey most recently belonging to DFA’ed pitcher Walker Lockett could distinguish him; having never traded Kevin Plawecki for Lockett in the first place might have helped more.
And not to continue with the stereotypes but Miguel Castro–acquired for a legit lefthanded starting prospect, Kevin Smith–looks like your standard crooked-cap-wearing reliever with good strikeout figures and lousy stats otherwise. At 25 and with a contract that keep him on the club for another year cheaply, he’ll get a look and could still succeed, and also, could not. Castro gets No. 50 and another Uni Controversy given tat’s the number also assigned to Jeremy Accardo, the pitching coach. Stay tuned!
Finally I have no idea who the guy starting tonight is other than his name, Ariel Jurado. The Mets acquired him from Texas a few weeks ago when I was out of town and he’s presumably been hanging out in Brooklyn with the Sewalds, the Stricklands and the Locketts. Jurado, a young Panamanian righty with a 5.85 career ERA over part6s of two seasons with the Rangers, gets No. 49, last worn these parts by the fake-news relief prospect Tyler Bashlor.
Let’s Go Islanders, I mean, Mets!
The Mets are a wreck again, determined to waste unbelievable years from a core of young players, while little has changed since last week’s coach firing squad and subsequent reporter-threatening-fake-contrition act. The bullpen still stinks under new pitching coach Phil Regan and returning bullpen coach Ricky Bones and as a result they remain a rotten road club that’s going backwards in the standings when they had every opportunity to move up.
Regan was given the same No. 58 removed from Dave Eiland a week but the Mets should have played along and given him No. 82. Bones, who replaced Chuck Hernandez, was given the same No. 25 he’d worn in his previous role, while Hernandez surrendered No. 59. A new “pitching strategist,” Jeremy Accardo, is wearing No. 60. It hasn’t helped.
With Noah Syndergaard set to return after missing two starts with a hamstring issue, Walker Lockett was up and down in 61. Yesterday the Mets promoted a guy called Chris Mazza and gave him No. 74. When Mazza appears it will be the first appearance of that stupid number in club history.
Can the Mets be fixed? I don’t think so. There are a few things overhanging this season that are casting an ominous shadow. Chief among them is the idea that the offseason’s alleged “big bang” has been a complete disaster with Edwin Diaz unreliable at the top, and Robinson Cano stifling the offense by hitting third every night despite being one of the worst everyday players in the league. Let’s just admit it: The Mets would better off having not made that trade in the first place; instead they bet their whole identity on it.
Speculation as to when the club fires Mickey Callaway is another dark shadow. As we 
Let the debate begin. The Mets surprised the market by adding the veteran infielder on a two-year contract. In addition to figuring out where he’ll fit on an infield with Amed Rosario, Todd Frazier, Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil, JD Davis, Peter Alonso, Dominic Smith, Luis Guillorme, Gavin Cecchini and TJ Rivera, they need to give him a jersey.
I think it’s more likely we see another Met 8 than see the club retire the number, and if it’s what Lowrie wants I suppose I have no problem with it. As I’ve expressed here before, I’d prefer it were the Mets to judiciously reissue, give No. 8 to the next good young catcher, but simply to uphold a limbo ban seems like a dumb idea so if Jed wouldn’t prefer to retake No. 4, I say let him have it.
Davis wore 28 in a brief run in Houston but 26 is his twitter handle and minor-league assignment. That number became available when the Mets dumped Kevin Plawecki on the Indians in exchange for a fringe starting pitcher prospect, Walker Lockett, and a minor league infielder called Sam Haggerty. Lockett never pitched in Cleveland but instead passed through on paper from San Diego, which traded him with the idea they were to lose him in the Rule 5 draft anyhow. Lockett appeared in four games with the Padres last summer wearing No. 62: He’s the Mets’ problem now.