<font color=goldenrod>Mets have John Mayberry Jr hitting 4th tonight, and Eric Campbell 5th. Both guys are hitting well under the Mendoza line. Jesus.

Might as well put Kershaw on a perfect game watch before the game has even begun.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Kershaw perfect through 3...</font>

<font color=goldenrod>4...</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Eric Campbell clearly beats out a dropped 3rd strike. Called out. Collins sits on his ass in the dugout.

Through 5...</font>

<font color=goldenrod>6...</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Granderson ends it! And he was hitting .100 off of lefties this year lol.</font>

When are you guys gonna give us Nimmo for Upton?

<font color=goldenrod>Maybe if the Wilpons collectively choke to death on their own vomit before July 31.</font>

Knowing your luck, they'll feel Nimmo for Will Venable instead.

<font color=goldenrod>Sounds like they may actually call up Conforto by the end of the week if they have to put Cadaver on the DL...if only to appease the fans.

Is he ready? Probably not. But at this point I don't even care. If he slumps, send him back down when Cadaver heals. It's not gonna kill his confidence. You burn an option year but I really think that's inconsequential.</font>

You'd think they'd just acquire a bat instead of potentially hindering their top hitting prospects development.

<font color=goldenrod>I kinda doubt it'll hinder his development that much, really. Probably will learn more at the big league level for a few weeks than he would in Vegas where everybody rakes.

Every hitter the Mets have called up this year to shore up their bench (Danny Muno, Darrell Ceciliani, Dilson Herrera, etc) had gaudy AAA numbers and sucked a fat dick at the big leagues.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>but yes, the Mets not trading for anybody will probably break me to the point where I go to no more games this year even though I really love live baseball. Not taking advantage of this pitching staff is a complete slap in the face to the fans.</font>

Agreed. Are they just not willing to eat cash and move a solid prospect?

<font color=goldenrod>Both, it seems. Sandy even said to the media today "we definitely have room to add to the payroll...even though none of you will believe me". He makes arrogant quips like that constantly. The Wilpons have said they expect they can have their payroll to be around $100 million every year. Last year? $79 million. No wonder we don't believe him.

And he clings on to his prospects like grim death. I'm not saying to sell the farm...but jesus, you do realize you have to trade someone decent to get a difference maker, right?</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Oh and even though this pitching staff figures to contend through at least 2018 (Harvey's last year)...you need to strike when the iron is hot with pitching-centric teams. Starting pitchers are gonna get hurt. That's just the reality of baseball.</font>

You'd think with Harvey and Wheeler going down like they did Alderson and company would try to go out and get someone other than Cuddeyer to shore up the offense. At least get some decent, league average sticks in there. Two league average bats in their lineup would be a massive addition for them.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jose Altuve's walk-off home run lifts Astros over Red Sox, 5-4. Boston loses 8th straight game. <a href="http://t.co/93mWuld8jN">pic.twitter.com/93mWuld8jN</a></p>&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/624425753833283584">July 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:nono: Team's been a huge disappointment this season. Every time it seems like they might be turning around the corner, they follow it up with an even worse streak than before or momentum killer games.

Pittsburgh re-acquires Aramis Ramirez and cash from the Brewers for Yhonathan Barrios.

12 years ago yesterday, Pittsburgh traded Ramirez to the Cubs.

<font color=goldenrod>Yep. It's awful. And now trade talks with Zobrist are reportedly dead in the water. Beane turned down the likes of Nimmo, Montero, Gavin Cecchini, and Michael Fulmer. It was one of the big pitchers or bust for him.

I expect it's gonna continue that way. The Mets have zero leverage with how bad their offense has been, so everyone will ask for one of the top arms from them.</font>

If they're offering up and combination that includes Nimmo I'd buy in a heartbeat

The Mets place Cuddeyer on the dl and bring up Conforto to take his place.

Braves still suckin? Yeah?

Go figure >_<

Cards get: Steve Cishek

Marlins get: Kyle Barraclough

<font color=goldenrod>Braves get: RHPs John Gant Robert Whalen
Mets get: 3B Juan Uribe and UTIL Kelly Johnson

I don't see either of those guys putting the Mets over the top by any stretch, but given the current state of the lineup it's still a clear improvement over what is currently on the roster. And they traded two guys who really weren't all that high on their prospect radar in a deep farm system.</font>

It's actually a solid low cost move. Add Conforto to the mix and your Mets are decently improved going forward.

<font color=goldenrod>I'd have to think Uribe slots right in at 3B. Wright returning this year seems less and less likely. I suspect they might put Murph back at 2B and Flores at SS again but that defensive alignment cost them so many runs. I'm inclined to just stick with Tejada and Flores up the middle and then play Murph at 1B for a few games. Duda badly needs to sit a few days...he's been completely lost since the start of June.

Kelly Johnson probably just plays wherever he's needed on a given day. I don't see a regular, every day spot for him unless they do something stupid and send Conforto back down after one day in the big leagues.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Cole Hamels tosses a no-hitter against the Cubs in possibly his final start as a Phillie.</font>

WOOOOOOOOOO

Good for Cole Hamels.

Bad for Cole Hamels is he wants to traded. Value probably went up a few points and Amaro will probably ask for more now.

Vito Cruz has died and gone to heaven lol

<font color=goldenrod>This was awesome. Yeah they were facing a guy making his debut and a host of crappy relievers, but it's nice to at least see some life in the lineup before facing Greinke tomorrow.</font>

Johnny Cueto was on his way to Kansas City last night. But the deal fell through because the players the Reds were getting had some medical issues.

<font color=goldenrod>The deal is reportedly now completed. Cueto to the Royals. The return for the Reds has not yet been announced.</font>

Was just about to report the same before my colleague, Vito, broke the news.

Great nab for the Royals. Interested to see who they gave up. I'm gonna guess former seemingly consensus would be superstar Bubba Starling is part of the package.

<font color=goldenrod>Sounds like Brandon Finnegan is the headliner in the deal for Cueto. If so, that's definitely a huge get for the Reds.

They probably could have gotten David Price from the Tigers for Finnegan...but trading a guy like that to a division rival would have come back to bite them in the ass.</font>

I'm not so sure. Finnegan is short and throws really, really straight. Maybe he works out as a backend starter but I'm feeling he's more of a high leverage reliever long term. It's a nice pickup but for hopefully that's not the center of deal for the Reds.

<font color=goldenrod>THE METS SCORE AGAINST ZACK GREINKE!!!

http://cdn.fansided.com/gif/PE.gif

THEY CONQUERED THE STREAK!!!</font>

<font color=goldenrod>And it's official. Cincy gets a trio of lefties:

Reds get: LHPs Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed
Royals get: RHP Johnny Cueto

At the end of the day, trades are harder to come by now since traded players don't yield comp picks/ Reds obviously felt what they got trumped what their potential comp pick would be.</font>

I think it's fair to say that they did get at least comparable and potentially more cake moving Cueto now rather than waiting for him to walk. Finnegan should probably slot into the rotation, and the other 25 year old starter is seemingly major league ready. Two guys who could be solid or better mlb starters for the next 5 to 7 years is not a terrible get. I will admit I'm a bit underwhelmed but for the Royals, it's a great trade. Instantly becomes their best pitcher going forward. How often does that happen?