Absurdity of the Day:

Mike Nichols of metsblog: "As Keith Hernandez mentioned during SNY’s broadcast last night, it’s time for Delgado to be mentioned in National League MVP conversation."

Over at BP and SI, Nate Silver has finally put out his annual list of the top 50 players in baseball for the next 5 (6 counting this year) seasons. The Mets fare very well, with three players in the top 10:

1. Hanley Ramirez

2. David Wright

3. Albert Pujols

4. Evan Longoria

5. Grady Sizemore

6. Jose Reyes

7. Joe Mauer

8. Alex Rodriguez

9. C.C. Sabathia

10. Johan Santana

Beltran also makes the list, at #45. There are more robust ways to evaluate teams, but it's hard to win in baseball without at least a couple of premiere players. Having 3 of the top 10 (or top 25 for that matter) players in baseball for the foreseeable future means the franchise is in pretty good shape. There are some holes that need to be filled next year, but the core of the team is pretty strong.

Great quote from Twins blogger Aaron Gleeman:

"Claiming Washburn two weeks after ditching [Livan] Hernandez is like going to Taco Bell for dinner after lunch at White Castle kept you in the bathroom all afternoon."

The Mets desperately need a corner outfielder. It appears likely that Ryan Church's season is over. That means that the Mets are going to go through the final two months of the season in a tight pennant race with a left field platoon of Dan Murphy and Nick Evans. Murphy and Evans were both having very nice seasons in AA, but neither has much experience in the outfield. Evans has played 22 games in the outfield during his minor league career; Murphy has played 4.

Is this really the best the Mets can come up with? Admittedly, I don't know what exactly was available at the trade deadline. I understand that they didn't want to pay the price that Bay or Nady would've required. I don't know what it would've taken to trade for Adam Dunn or Raul Ibanez.

Now there's news of a clear opportunity that Omar ignored: Brian Giles was placed on waivers by the Padres. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Red Sox are the team that claimed Giles, which means that the Mets did not place a claim on him. The Mets may not have been able to pull off a deal with San Diego, but wasn't it worth a shot? This team desperately needs a corner outfielder. Giles is still one of the better corner outfielders in baseball. Prospectus ranks him fifth among right fielders this year in RARP. Seems like Giles would've been an easy solution, but I guess Omar doesn't think there's a problem.

UPDATE - It appears that Giles used his no-trade clause to block a trade to the Sox. For the record, the Mets are not one of the eight teams included in his no-trade clause, so Giles couldn't have blocked a trade to the Mets.