Here is some quick news concerning the Mets in the recent days:

• Hanley Ramirez has told the Florida Marlins that he is willing to switch his position if the Marlins go out and sign free agent Jose Reyes.
• Doc Gooden says that he missed to 1986 Mets World Series Parade because he was "too high" to attend.
• Right now, the top teams in play for Jose Reyes are the San Francisco Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Mets. Sandy Alderson wants to bring Reyes back, he is scared of locking up the 2011 NL Batting Champion for too many years; especially with his injuries in the 2011 season. The Phillies could just be in the race to bump up the amount of the money the Mets have to shell out for the All-Star shortstop.

The Mets are now going through the hiring process of new coaches for the 2012 season. The newest addition is bench coach Bob Geren, former manager of the Oakland A's. Now the Mets are searching for their new first base coach to replace Mookie Wilson.

A couple of weeks ago the Chicago White Sox hired Robin Ventura to be their manager. Ventura played for the Mets from 1999 to 2001 and forever immortalized himself in Mets history with his Grand-Slam Single against the Atlanta Braves in game five of the 1999 NLCS. He also hired another ex-Met, Joe McEwing as his bench coach.

So all these ex-Mets getting hired to be coaches got me thinking: when are we going to see Mike Piazza coaching for the Mets? Personally I think it's only a matter of time before old number 31 wears a Met uniform again. After retiring in 2008, the future Hall of Famer he served as the hitting coach for the 2009 Italian World Baseball Classic team and managed the USA team in the Futures Game in 2011.

Piazza has shown interest in returning the game as coach immediately after his retirement. I think Piazza will wait until his induction into the Hall of Fame to accept a coaches position in the MLB.

In a couple of seasons when Terry Collins' tenure with the Mets is up, I could see Piazza as a hitting coach or a bench coach for the next manager. Or maybe he'll be the manager.

Yesterday, after Ike Davis ran, he felt discomfort in this injured ankle. He received a cortisone shot and will rest for three more weeks before being evaluated again.

I hate to say it, but Ike's 2011 season is over. What is he going to do? Wait three more weeks and if he is good to go, have a month of rehab and get back on the field then? That's putting his return at the beginning of September, so he can play for a month and then the season is over. 

It's time for Ike to opt for surgery and start looking towards 2012. It really does bother me because this was a freak accident that could have been avoided with better communication. Now the Mets will be without one of their best hitters and a great glove at first for the rest of the year.

Once Jose Reyes and David Wright come back, the Mets infield should be set for the rest of the season. Daniel Murphy at first, Justin Turner at second, David at third, and Jose at short.

I was hoping that this team could get David, Ike, and Johan Santana all back around the same time and make a serious playoff push. Now it looks like that playoff push will be made with just the help of David and Johan.

So coming into the season if you told me the Mets would be a game over .500 going into the All-Star I wouldn't have been very surprised. I may have even been a little disappointed. But here we are, at the All-Star break, a game over .500, and I couldn't be (realistically) more happy about my team's performance.

The Mets have not impressed me this season; THESE Mets have impressed me.

The Mets have had a slue of injuries in the first half that could have crippled other teams. Johan Santana (though he was suppose to be out), Chris Young, Taylor Buchholz, David Wright, Ike Davis, Angel Pagan (at the end of April), Jason Bay (at the beginning of the year) and now Jose Reyes (though he has only missed the last eight games). They are all very valuable pieces to this team. Its looks like only Young and Buchholz will be out for the entire year with Santana and Davis making progress with their injuries.

The players who stepped up to fill the void left by these players, Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, Ruben Tejada, Dillion Gee, they've been the players to truly make this season special so far. The Mets have been able to put together makeshift line-ups and play competitive against every team.

What excites me most about this team is that Santana, Wright, and Davis could be making their returns soon. When these players come back it will be a big shot in the arm for a team that is .500. The only problem is that either Murphy or Turner will have to be moved to the bench, and right now its looking like it'll be Turner. Also, the Mets will have to move one of their starters to the bullpen to make room for Santana. It will most likely be Chris Capuano, which was talked about even before the season started.

These Mets have really made it not so hard to be a Mets fan any more. I can actually say to people now, "I'm a Mets fan," instead of "I'm a Mets fan, it sucks." The Mets are no longer the laughing stock of the league. When other teams look at their schedules and see they are facing the Mets, it's not a good thing any more.

I really do like these Mets. Their a fun team to watch and an easy group of guys to root for. I had my doubts about Terry Collins at the start of the year, but I have to believe they wouldn't be doing this good under a different manager. He has done a great job handling this team and deserves a lot of credit.

While I give these Mets their much deserved praises, I'm looking forward to the day that the Mets' DL is looking a bit lighter. I'm excited for the game when I can look at the Mets line-up and it reads:

1. Jose Reyes – SS
2. Angel Pagan – CF
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Carlos Beltran – RF
5. Ike Davis – 1B
6. Jason Bay – LF
7. Daniel Murphy – 2B
8. Josh Thole – C
9. Johan Santana – P

Writing those names those names down in that line-up is almost liberating for me. I really enjoy doing that. In fact:

1. Jose Reyes – SS
2. Angel Pagan – CF
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Carlos Beltran – RF
5. Ike Davis – 1B
6. Jason Bay – LF
7. Daniel Murphy – 2B
8. Josh Thole – C
9. Johan Santana – P

Ahhh… it's like a unorthodox form of therapy.

But I have to worry, when these Mets return from the DL, will THESE Mets lose the sort of magic that this team has had this season…

The Mets have placed Jose Reyes on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring, retroactive to July 3rd. After hoping to only miss a few games, the injury to the All-Star short stop was more serious than they thought it was. Reyes is expected to miss three weeks, and hopes to be back on July 22nd against the Florida Marlins, which is the start of a ten game road trip for the Mets. 

To replace Reyes on the roster the Mets have recalled Nick Evans. He is expected to platoon at first base with Lucas Duda. 

Ruben Tejada will start at short stop for the Mets until Reyes comes back from the DL. 

So the Mets officially have none of their infielders from Opening Day on their 25-man roster now. When I look at this line-up I'm amazed this team can put any runs up. But this team has been fighting all year, and she seem to prevail through every road block. 

This is just another test for this Mets team and I think they can get through it. 

Good news is when Reyes comes back, they'll probably be getting David Wright back too. And not too shortly after that a guy name Johan Santana might be coming back too. Remember him? 

Now what does this do to Reyes' free agent value? That's a story for another post.