Heading into today’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets currently sit in third place in the NL East – behind 1st place by a growing gap of 7.5 games. That seems a world away from right before the All-Star break, where the Mets were in striking distance of the Braves, going to Atlanta, only to lose the series 2-1. Still, at the All-Star break, the Mets had to feel good. Carlos Beltran was set to come back. Their pitching was holding up. But, as this long road trip has shown us – the Mets struggle heavily on the road. The Mets offense has been dismal – seemingly getting shut-out or held below three runs in every game. In the last ten games, the Mets are 2-8, highlighted by last nights’ loss in the thirteenth inning – on a walk off home run given up by none other than Mr. Oliver “I’m-too-good-to-go-to-the-minors-even-though-I-have-a-1837489.23 ERA” Perez. The Mets need to change something, and fast. An offense with Jason Bay batting seventh would seem like a pretty good offense, wouldn’t it? Not with Bay struggling to prove his worth. The Mets need to make some sort of move – trade Francouer. Trade Pagan. Heck, trade Beltran if we can improve in return. The Mets faithful are tired of empty promises. Tired of disappointment. Tired of falling apart at the stretch. Hey, right now we’re even falling apart before the stretch! That could give us reason to be a little less heartbroken.

Carlos Beltran will make his return to the Mets right after the All-Star Break, when the Mets begin an 11 game road trip on Thursday. Beltran answered questions at a press conference at Citi Field before today’s game – the interview from mets.com can be read here. With Angel Pagan performing well, the Mets have four quality outfield starters with Beltran’s return, and that means one man will be left out – which Manuel says will be Jeff Francouer.

Manuel said his tentative plan has the lineup reading: Jose Reyes, Pagan, David Wright, Beltran, Ike Davis and Jason Bay, followed by that day’s catcher and second baseman.

That leaves current starting right fielder Jeff Francoeur out of the fold, but Manuel said that he will likely start Francoeur, who has hit .302 against lefties and .256 against righties for his career, against left-handed starters. Above all, Manuel will look to keep Francoeur sharp, even if the team doesn’t draw a lefty for a stretch.

“If we’re in a series and we face four righties, we still have to find time for Francoeur,” Manuel said.

Jason Bay did not start today against the Braves, as he has been struggling mightily the past few games. The Mets will look to finish today’s series finale against the Braves with a win, then look to reverse their road woes with Beltran coming back during their west coast road trip.

With the World Cup Group Stage in full swing, the NBA Finals just ending, and the U.S. Open just starting – there are hardly any headlines left for Major League Baseball. But, the Mets head into this weekend’s subway series against the Yankees with a 7 game win streak – sweeping their last two road series. This series will be a measuring stick for the Mets, as keeping their momentum up here will likely carry them a long way, and more importantly – into first place. After winning the first subway series, thanks to valiant clutch efforts by Jason Bay, the Mets can split the overall season series by just taking one game in the Bronx. The Mets head into Yankee Stadium with Takahashi facing off against Javier Vasquez today, Pelfrey against Hughes tomorrow, and Santana against Sabathia on Sunday. This should be a very entertaining series, but I predict the red-hot Mets will take 2 out of 3 in this series, and winning the overall series against the Yankees 4-2.

In hopes of aiding their home run power, the Mets have lowered the center field wall at Citi Field from 16 feet to 8 feet. The Mets hit a total of 95 home runs in 2009, the lowest of any team in the league by far. Forty-nine of their home runs were hit at home and 46 were away from Citi Field. 

Citi Field plays big but I can’t only blame the stadium’s dimensions for the Mets lack of home runs in 2009. If there were a huge discrepancy between the amount of home runs they hit away from Citi Field compared to at Citi Field then maybe we could have concluded the size of the stadium was the main factor but that’s not the case. The Mets didn’t have healthy power bats and David Wright didn’t have a big power season which contributed to the power outage. Injuries played a major factor in the low total as well. With the addition of Jason Bay and a healthy lineup, the Mets should increase their home run total in 2010 no matter how tall the center field wall is.

The Mets introduced their new star left fielder Jason Bay today at Citi Field. Bay met the New York media for the first time as a Met Tuesday and he’ll be inserted into a Mets lineup that was filled with injuries in 2009. The Mets in hot pursuit of Bay since the early stages of free agency and they finally landed their big fish.

Bay’s four-year $66 million contract doesn’t allow the Mets to address other glaring needs through free agency, but the signing will provide the Mets with a much needed power bat in the middle of their lineup. Bay, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran will bat third, fourth and fifth in some order. 

The signing of Bay is meaningful for the fact that the Mets may not have a power hitting first basemen. Whether their first basemen be the young Daniel Murphy or an older Carlos Delgado, it doesn’t seem as though they’ll receive much power from that position. Citi Field is a big ballpark and the Mets need someone who can drive the ball to the deep parts of the field.

While the Mets were in pursuit of Bay, it was said that Bay did not want to join the Mets. Bay denied those allegations at the press conference.

“I wouldn’t have signed the contract if I didn’t want to be here or I wasn’t happy. This is one of the biggest days of my life,” Bay told the media. 

Bay has hit over 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in four of the last five years. Last season, with the Red Sox, he hit .267 with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs. Bay was one of the top three free agents on the market.

Jason Bay and the Mets have come to an agreement on a four-year deal worth $66 million according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Including a vesting option year, the deal could total $80 million over five years.

Bay will be the Mets left fielder and will most likely be penciled in as their number five hitter after David Wright and Carlos Beltran.

Mike Francesa broke the story on WFAN this afternoon. Yesterday, he preempted something big would happen with the Mets today.

FOX Sports is confirming what FanHouse’s Ed Price reporter earlier that John Lackey is taking a physical with the Red Sox and will sign with Boston. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal cites the deal will be similar to what the Yankees gave AJ Burnett last winter which was $82.5 million over five years. 

With the top free agent pitcher off the market, teams will turn to second-tier pitchers like Joel Pineiro and Jason Marquis. Look for the Mets to pursue one of those pitchers and turn their full attention toward Jason Bay.

Reports from several sources starting with Ed Price of FanHouse suggest free agent pitcher John Lackey is headed to Boston. 

Ed Price tweeted, “Source: Free-agent P John Lackey to take physical with Red Sox. Boston apparently moving on to 2nd choice after Jason Bay. Working to confirm.”

This has implications on both the Yankees and Mets. 

The Mets have extended an offer to left fielder Jason Bay, formerly of the Red Sox. Boston has made at least two offers to Bay, but he has turned them both down. It looks like the Lackey signing means Boston will walk away from Bay. Now that Bay isn’t headed to Boston, the Mets are more of a likely landing spot for Bay.

Lackey to Boston makes the AL East tougher and may force the Yankees to dip into the free agent pool or trade market for another starting pitcher. Beckett, Lackey, and Lester will be tough trio to face. The Yankees will be in no rush to do so though.

Are the Mets building a team that will be a serious contender in 2011? That may very well be the case. If they wanted to contend in 2010 they would have offered John Lackey a contract instead of Jason Bay (although contending in this case means a second place finish in the division). Either one of these guys only makes the Mets marginally better but the thinking would be to get a left fielder while there are an abundance of them on the market and two of them happen to be really good. John Lackey leads this year’s free agent pitching crop but there is a drop in talent after him. Next year’s free agent pitching class is much deeper and includes Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, and Ted Lilly to name a few.    

The Mets have too many holes and Omar Minaya can’t fix this team in one offseason. They can’t sign the top three free agents for a quick fix like the Yankees did last year. There’s no way they can fill all of their holes during one free agency period. The topic of how much money the Mets spend and have the ability to spend is a different issue. Scott Boras recently called the Mets “cheap”, but they have the highest payroll in the NL. That’s hardly being cheap.

The Mets have to upgrade at one or two positions this winter to appease their fans and dare I say, “rebuild” their offense. If they sign Bay, catcher Bengie Molina, and a middle of the rotation guy, that should be enough to sell some tickets. If there’s money left over maybe the sign a guy like Nick Johnson at first base. Those moves will say to fans, “Look, we’re trying.” Well “we’re trying” isn’t going to please all Met fans but for the most part, it should do.

Their offense, which was so bad in 2009 due to injuries, has to get in shape. It won’t be easy trying to power their way through the NL East, especially when Citi Field isn’t a home run hitters best friend, but adding Bay’s bat to the lineup helps. A second or even a third place finish (I know Met fans don’t want to hear that) may be good enough to attract free agent pitchers from the 2011 class as long as their offense has a great year. They’ll have pitchers thinking, “Hey, the Mets have a solid offense to give me run support, a pitcher-friendly ballpark, and one of the best aces in the game.” The Mets could become a very attractive team for pitchers.

Omar Minaya’s motto should be; “Build an offense in 2010 and get pitching in 2011.” Of course he won’t come out publicly and say that this is what he wants to do, but it’s what he should be doing. Met fans don’t want to hear the word “rebuilding” and the Mets don’t really want to use the word since they are having a hard time filling their new multi-million dollar ballpark. That’s what 2010 will be though, like it or not.

The Mets need tot get a solid offense together and use that as the focal point in persuading 2011 free agent pitchers to sign. Jason Bay is a start. No matter what free agents they sign this winter, the team doesn’t automatically become contenders. “Build an offense in 2010 and get pitching in 2011.” Maybe that motto is hanging on a bulletin board in Minaya’s office somewhere.