Mets win, Pelfrey pitches well, but the cranks are still cranky

This post should really be about Mike Pelfrey showing signs of life, pitching into the seventh inning for the second time in his last three starts to help the Mets avoid the sweep Thursday, 5-2. It should be about how Pelfrey may be starting to turn things around, and how we shouldn't have been too shocked that he started off slow, considering his personality, the extra pressure of having to be "the man" in Santana's absence, and the death of his friend and confidante, sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman.

It should be about the win. It should be about Beltran continuing to hit and also play almost every day. It should be about Jason Bay coming back and doubling immediately, about Jose Reyes tripling in two runs, or about K-Rod walking the tight wire again but still getting the save and still, despite all the baserunners, not allowing a run.

But it's not.

You know I've cut Francesa out of my life, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. Well, now Joe and Evan have been cut from the rotation.

I'm getting lunch and listening to the FAN prior to Thursday's game and a bumper comes on with Chris Capuano promoting the Mets Box Office Blitz. Evan follows by saying, "Be the fifth caller — and five is probably what Capuano's ERA is going to be at the end of the year..."

Are you shitting me?

This is on the day after Capuano pitched reasonably well in a 2-0 duel with Tim Lincecum, allowing two runs in 6 1/3. But no, the Mets are losers, let's just crap on them at every given opportunity.

Of course, misery loves company, and who is more miserable than Joe Benigno? A few minutes later, they're running through the Giants' lineup and noting how awful most of the batters are, and Joe chimes in with, "Well, Pelfrey's pitching tonight so they'll probably score 10 runs."

Evan mindessly agrees, and, like clockwork, Joe adds, "Oh, the pain."

Tune into Mac and Tierney at noon on ESPN 1050, folks.

Metsblog gets into the act as well. We don't need to see the wild card standings every day. And yes, Matt, since you're asking, May 6 is too early to worry about games behind. So cut the standings update back to maybe once a week, if that? Thanks.

And I understand why there is speculation about the Giants maybe trading for Reyes. It makes sense. Reyes is going to be a free agent, the Giants' offense sucks, they have no decent shortstop, they having pitching to spare, and they were in town for three games. You could see it coming a mile away.

But beyond that, can we have a chance to enjoy the season, and enjoy Reyes, before the stories speculating on his future become incessant? Can we at least wait until June? We're starting already on May 1? Come on.

I'm also getting tired of reading about how the Mets may not want to give "too many years and too much money" on a player "who relies on his legs."

First off, if you're going to sign a star player, you are definitely going to pay too much money and run the risk of giving too many years. It's just how it goes. If you're never going to do that, then you're never going to acquire a star player. Simple as that. And make no mistake, Reyes is a star player.

Regarding his legs, it seems to me that players who rely on their legs primarily are the ones who keep their legs the longest. One of them is coaching first, Mookie Wilson. What about Rickey Henderson? Kenny Lofton? These guys were athletes and runners first, like Reyes, and maintained that edge well into their 30s, and played into their 40s.

Will Reyes? Who knows? But to flatly state that it doesn't make sense to give a 28-year-old a multiyear deal because he runs well is ridiculous. He'll be 34 at the end of seven years, and seven likely the longest anyone would go on him. Sure, you could expect some kind of decline by then, but you'd likely have some pretty good prime years in between.

I think you can take to the bank that K-Rod will not finish 55 games this year, or he'll be traded. So that's $12 million off the books to go along with the $19 million for Beltran, and another $18 million for Ollie and Castillo. That's $49 million leaving.

The free agent list isn't terribly impressive and one would think with ownership issues and new management they are not going after the likes of Albert Pujols or anyone else too expensive anyway. But this is still a New York team charging New York prices competing in the New York market with the Yankees and in a division where the Phillies added Cliff Lee to Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

They may cut payroll, but they can never go cheap. This ain't Oakland.

Reyes gets $11 million now. Considering the dearth of talent at shortstop, why not pay an extra $5 million or so a year to keep the guy who you already have, a player who when he plays, your team wins, who is beloved by the fans, who is the third-best shortstop in the game, who puts people in the seats at a time when you really need people in the seats?

It's almost mind-boggling. And then you get the people saying it doesn't make sense to trade Reyes unless you trade Wright, too, and bring back a ton of new players to start over.

Really? You think fans are staying away in droves now?

It's depressing, at a time of the year when none of us should be depressed. It's early May, for God's sake! But no, there's no time to just enjoy baseball, to see how this all plays out, to see whether Santana comes back, to enjoy guys like Reyes and Beltran finally playing every day, healthy.

The Dodgers are in town for three this weekend. Which of course means more stories of how these two franchises are on the rocks and doomed.

Sounds like fun.

Jose Reyes and the amateur medical community

One of the first things that flashed through my mind when I heard Jose Reyes would be out 2-8 weeks because of his thyroid condition was the final scene in Pulp Fiction where Jules tells Pumpkin about the Bible verse (Ezekiel 25:17) he has memorized, the one about the "path of the righteous man," the one he recites to his victim before he pops a cap in his ass.

Jules questions the meaning of the verse, finally determining that Pumpkin is the weak, and that he is the tyranny of evil men. "But I'm tryin,' Ringo," he says. "I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd."

That's how I felt with the Reyes news. It's yet another in a string of unfortunate events for this Mets team that I have been rooting for the past 35 years, and while it would certainly be understandable for a Mets fan to just give into the gloom and doom and write off the season in friggin' MARCH -- I'm tryin' real hard to stay positive.

Honestly, the diagnosis was extremely positive for Reyes personally. Too bad he's an athlete. For us desk jockeys, being told to rest and relax for a couple of weeks would have little impact on our lives. For a pro baseball player in the middle of spring training -- even though the condition appears that it will go away on its own and is not chronic -- the timing just sucks.

And for a team like the Mets, who endured an epic avalanche of injuries last season, and is already starting the season without Carlos Beltran... well, I don't have to explain how bad it is.

What gets me -- but no longer surprises me -- is how so many fans and media types are falling over themselves playing doctor. Why doesn't he just take medication and get back out there? This can't possibly be because of diet or a virus! Something's fishy here!

Thankfully, there have been plenty of reports in various places quoting actual medical professionals, who say thyroid issues like this are not uncommon and completely treatable.

Joe and Evan -- after talking about thyroids for two hours on WFAN -- finally had an endocrinologist on their show Friday. It went something lke this:

FAN: Can it really be 2-8 weeks? They can't narrow that down?

DOC: Yes, that range is right. It depends on the person. Average is 3-4 weeks.

FAN: He can't play at all?

DOC: No, a 'fast' thyroid elevates the heart rate even at rest. Physical activity makes it worse, and can cause real problems with your heart.

FAN: Why doesn't he take medication?

DOC: In this case, it wouldn't do anything.

Well... OK, then.

The real trick will be to see if this knowledge changes the tone of guys like Benigno, who couldn't even pronounce endocrinologist when the doctor came on the air.

So what can you do? Like Mets fans do every year, hope for the best and that Reyes only misses the first 2 or 3 weeks of the season.

Is Reyes just really unlucky? I'm not sure. Let's just say I wouldn't share a cab with him or stand anywhere near him during a rainstorm anytime soon.

Joe Benigno is an ass

I usually eat lunch at my desk. Maybe once a week or so, I'll go get a sandwich and a copy of the News or the Post and drive to the local marina for a nice, relaxing lunch, reading tabloid journalism and listening to the radio.

Since I am a creature of habit and always eat lunch at noon, the program on WFAN at that time is Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. Among the FAN personalities, I find the pair only slightly more tolerable than Mike Francesa.

Evan, however, is on vacation, which means Joe was "flying solo" today. Of course, it was on his show that I learned about Jose Reyes' thyroid imbalance.

I will admit that yesterday's news of Reyes needing more bloodwork gave me pause. I mean, what more can happen to this guy? Today we learned exactly what the problem is, and that he'd be flying back to New York for more tests.

That's all Joe needed. He had a couple of callers who explained that thyroid conditions are not uncommon, and very treatable -- either hyperthyroidism (too active, likely Reyes' case), or hypothyroidism (not active enough). Then another caller, claiming to be a Mets fan, piped up that "where there's smoke there's fire," then said he was ready to let his 10-year-old son become a Yankees fan.

Joe jumped right on board, not on the switching of allegiances, but on how this could mean that maybe Reyes was involved with something beyond plasma therapy with Dr. Galea, that maybe it has something to do with HGH, that maybe the hamstring tendon injury and these new developments were all tied together.

"You start connecting the dots," he said, adding, "and then it makes sense" that maybe these things are connected.

That statement is beyond idiotic. But not surprising coming from Joe B.

I wonder if Benigno knew that hyperthyroidism is often caused by Graves' disease. So instead of being concerned for Reyes' health, Joe would rather postulate that this was caused by Reyes illegally taking HGH. Nice.

Joe, of course, went on to say that he hopes this wasn't serious, but quickly added that "as a Mets fan" you had to wonder.

No, Joe, you don't have to. Joe may want to jump to conclusions, and something tells me that there is a big part of him that secretly hopes HGH is involved, so he can continue to whine about the Mets, and about Reyes, which fits right in with his "Oh, the pain" mantra.

That this guy views himself as the voice of the Mets and Jets fan sickens me. And he has a book coming out about rules for New York sports fans.

Oh, the gall. This guy has as much business writing a book as I do performing a heart transplant.

Here's hoping that Reyes' issues are minor and have no effect on his health or his play this season, and that Joe B. has one less thing to complain about.