Well, the knee of New York Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran is bad enough to require a DL stint. Bruising beneath the knee cap is getting worse and requires some rest. The Mets, already down a leg in the horse race, is in serious need of some good news.

Coming up from AAA is the Mets top prospect (according to Baseball America), Fernando Martinez. Martinez is one of those tools guys who could be pretty good one day. Just 20, this is Martinez’s second trip to Citi Field in 2009 and he’s there because he’s at least better defensively than Jeremy Reed. At Buffalo, Martinez has shown signs that he may have breakout power, but he’s not a threat to steal a lot of bases and he’s not going to work the count for walks. Still, someone who is 20 and nearly MLB ready is going to be treated like a top prospect – so enjoy the larger meal allowance. I’m not adding him to my fantasy team until at least 2012 unless he takes it up a notch. To me, he looks like Corey Patterson until he proves otherwise.

Ervin Santana felt pain in his triceps when working his bullpen session, so the Angels put Santana back on the DL and recalled Sean O’Sullivan to make the next start when Santana was scheduled to pitch. Sullivan won his major league debut, and has been successful despite pitching in the offensively paced Pacific Coast League. Baseball America sees O’Sullivan as the Angel’s 5th best prospect, mostly because he has good control and doesn’t give up too many long balls. I’d like to see a better strikeout pitch, but his stuff could work in the majors.

Maybe it’s me, but I like seeing the signings on the MLB Transaction page and looking at the small hamlets where summer rookie leagues are. Many newly signed Milwaukee Brewers draftees are heading to the Helena Brewers, while others head to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Cleveland) or the Batavia Muckdogs (St. Louis), the Missoula Osprey (Arizona), the Princeton Devil Rays (Tampa, of course), or the Idaho Falls Chukars (Kansas City). My favorite is in Wyoming, home of the Casper Ghosts (Colorado).

After 25 years as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Donald Fehr is stepping down. MLB’s site has a variety of different articles covering various opinions, and your favorite sports sites will be contributing dozens of essays as well. My quick take on it is that he’s been consistent and extraordinarily focused on protecting the players – which is his job. Nobody does his or her job as well as Fehr. And, because he’s so good at his job, and because his organization is so focused and protective, it makes it harder to adapt to other issues. If you judge him by how well the union has remained stable and the amount players have gained in things like income and control of their careers, then he’s been a complete success. If you judge him by “good of the game” issues, he cannot possibly look as good. That wasn’t his job.

I watched a good chunk of Game Seven of the 1965 World Series on the MLB network.  I never got to see Sandy Koufax (he retired just after I was born) and that was cool.  I will say this – the strike zone sure was a lot bigger then, and the batters knew it.  Umpires sure looked less comfortable in those suits.  And there was far less commercialism in the stadiums…  Where were the Manatees?  (A bunch of chubby guys in South Florida who dance between innings at Marlins games…)