=== Around the Majors - Wednesday, May 21 ===
By Eric Gold, MLB Editor
New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Even though there are still four full months left in the baseball season, it seems the New York Mets will be hard-pressed to climb higher than fourth in the National League East unless they make some major changes.
You may as well call this season a wash for the Mets. At 19-26, they are already 12 games out of first place in the NL East, but the club has more pressing needs. All-Star catcher Mike Piazza is expected to be out at least six weeks and possibly the rest of the season due to a severe right groin strain.
"It's an unfortunate challenge, a bad opportunity to see what I can recover from," Piazza told the New York Post. "But there's no question in my mind I'll be back. My goal is to come back and help this team into the postseason."
To make matters worse, first baseman Mo Vaughn, who had a horrendous 2002 season, his first year in New York, is sidelined with inflammation in his left knee. Going into Wednesday night's game against the Phillies, the Mets had eight players on the disabled list.
The demise of the Mets could possibly cost general manager Steve Phillips his job, although his three-year contract extension is due to expire anyway at the end of this season. Under Phillips, who is in his sixth full season as GM of the team, the Mets qualified for the postseason in 1999 and 2000, marking the first time in club history the squad made the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
In a separate development related to Phillips, a homeless man was arraigned on Tuesday on charges of stalking the Mets GM. Prosecutors noted that the man who was charged constantly showed up outside the team's offices cursing and demanding to see Phillips.
GEARING UP FOR THE DRAFT
The Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft is less than two weeks away and many teams are scrambling to narrow their list of possible selections.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will have the first pick in the draft, which will be held via conference call June 3-5 in New York. The selection rotation is determined by the clubs' reverse order of finish in their respective leagues, at the close of the previous championship season. American League clubs select first in odd-numbered years, with the leagues alternating selections to form the rotation.
Don't look for any excitement from this event, and if you manage to look at each pick you're certain to get dizzy. The draft will have 50 rounds, meaning there will be an estimated 1,500 selections.
While most of the players chosen in this year's draft aren't expected to make an impact in the majors for two or three years, they already have been under the microscope of scouts for a few seasons. In 2000, high school star Rocco Baldelli was the sixth overall pick in the draft and so far, he is a leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year. Some of the No. 1 overall picks who have thrived so far in the majors and are still playing include Ken Griffey Jr. (1987), Chipper Jones (1990), Alex Rodriguez (1993) and Pat Burrell (1998).
Some of the high school pitchers high on the most-wanted list of many teams include Adam Loewen, Jeff Allison, Andrew Miller, John Danks, Jay Sborz and Aaron Jensen. Then there are the college stars, like Southern second baseman Rickie Weeks, Houston closer Ryan Wagner, and Ball State outfielder Brad Snyder.
While these players may seem to be unknowns today, some are likely the future stars of the majors.
BANNER DAY FOR JENKINS AND FRANKLIN
Leftfielder Geoff Jenkins continues his ascent up the batting ladder, while the Brewers languish in last place in the NL Central Division. On Wednesday, the 28-year-old Jenkins went 3-for-5 with homers in his first three at-bats in Milwaukee's 10-0 win over the San Diego Padres at Miller Park.
Lefthander Wayne Franklin was also brilliant, as he threw a career-best two- hitter in his first ever complete game.
Jenkins, who has a hit in 14 of his last 15 games, started this season late as he was activated from the disabled list on April 9 after he sprained his left wrist during a spring training game. He has reached base safely in 31 of 40 games since returning from the DL.
Jenkins, who has 11 home runs this year, is hitting .280. He has been solid in May and owns a career .281 average in the month with 24 homers and 67 RBI.
All three of Jenkins' homers came off Jake Peavy, a two-run blast to right field in the opening inning, a solo shot to right-center in the fourth, and another to dead center in the sixth. Jenkins had a chance for his fourth homer twice, but he grounded back to the pitcher in the seventh and fanned to end the eighth.
"You try not to think about it, but you would be lying if you said it wasn't at the back of your mind," Jenkins said about trying to hit his fourth homer. "Hopefully you just go up there and try to relax and get a good pitch to hit."
Unfortunately for Jenkins, he didn't get that pitch to drill.
"That's the hardest AB, those two at-bats," added Jenkins. "You've got three home runs on the board. You've built up for a time. You cannot think about it. Obviously at that point (7th inning), it was still 4-0. You know it's still a ball game. Those guys have battled us all series.
This marked the second three-homer game for Jenkins, who also did it on April 28, 2001 against Montreal. Richie Sexson, who also homered and had a two-run single, belted three round-trippers in a game on April 25 against Atlanta this year.
Franklin threw Milwaukee's first two-hitter since Jamey Wright beat Montreal, also 10-0, on April 29, 2001, the day after Jenkins' last three-homer game. Jenkins had his career high in RBI (6) in that contest.
