Carlos Beltran played his first minor league rehab game for Class A Port St. Lucie today.

Beltran was able to play five innings in center field; he went 0-for-2 with a walk.

While this is certainly not the performance that the Mets front office was hoping for, it is a good sign.

Beltran appears to feel comfortable playing in a baseball game again.

Tomorrow will be an important day for Beltran. Playing back-to-back games is a big step for him.

Hopefully, he will be able to play at least seven innings this time.

We Giants fans have seen a number of wild, yet successful, closers in the past 20 years.

With Rod Beck's curly locks flowing from behind his head in a mullet-type of hair style, he gathered 199 saves in his seven years as a Giant, becoming the greatest closer in the franchise's history and an instant fan favorite.

Shortly after, a man took that honor from Beck when he played for the Giants from 1998 to 2002, raising the bar and putting up 206 saves in a Giants uniform. That man goes by the name of Robb Nen. 

It has been brought up on multiple occasions this year: What exactly is Nick Evans up to these days?

He was once a relatively highly touted prospect in the minors for the Mets, and his respect, or usefulness rather, has seemed to diminish. However, he hasn't let the rain on his parade bring down his performance, which may now hold a new meaning to the organization. 

Good day to all of you baseball fans. We still have a little more than a month before Major League Baseball's trade deadline, and the rumors are flowing hot and heavily.

Not only are players moving, but you have Fredi Gonzalez getting fired in Florida because apparently no one is really good enough to manage the Marlins.

Interleague play is a strange beast.  For every full ballpark for the Mets vs. Yankees, and Cubs vs. White Sox showdowns, you have these strange, arbitrary matchups that don't draw any additional interest, and only seem to detract from intraleague showdowns.

"Throw all the records out the window when the ORIOLES and PADRES get together!"

This concept, which clearly is one of Bud Selig's better ideas from a dollars and cents standpoint, needs some revision from a scheduling point of view.  

The assorted scouts who assembled at Safeco Field on Wednesday to watch another gem from Cliff Lee had to be foaming at the mouth in anticipation of what the ace could bring to their respective teams: a top-of-the-line pitcher who is an instant difference maker.

It’s no secret that Lee will not be a Mariner past the trade deadline, especially when he keeps putting up starts like he did against the Cubs.

Welcome to the Cleveland Indians Trading Post, a weekly segment meant to help my fellow Tribe fans sort out which of the few familiar faces left on the team won’t be around much longer.

This week’s potential trade bait is Fausto Carmona.

The basics

I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but it is going to be interesting to find out.

When Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were active, the majority of fans rated Mays ahead of Mantle, often with the disclaimer that if Mickey had Mays’ health, it might have been different.

Now that we have “experts” such as Bill James and his ilk, a bevy of measurements exist that have led to the conclusion that Mickey was better than we thought.  The primary reason is that his peak years were better than Willie’s.

In some ways, the Houston Astros 3-1 loss last night against the San Francisco Giants was business as usual.

Roy Oswalt pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out five. In other words, good enough for a win, but since he pitches for the punchless Astros, he fell to 5-9 on the season despite a 3.08 ERA.

I can't help but wonder if Oswalt kept waiting for his cell phone to ring with news from his agent that the New York Yankees wanted to trade for him and throw in, as a bonus, controlling stock in the Caterpillar Tractor Company.

The New York Mets will be adding a bat sometime within the next three weeks to four weeks. The team announced that center fielder Carlos Beltran will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow (Thursday) with Class-A St. Lucie.

Assuming there are no setbacks, Beltran would return to the Mets no later than July 15, the first game after the All-Star break.