Ruben Tejada didn’t look ready to be an everyday player during the Mets’ initial slide into irrelevancy so I found it rather odd that he was the guy they called for when things got really desperate this week. Not that I disagreed with kicking Alex Cora off the bus: For all he contributed prior to his injuries last year, he hasn’t been good for more than a year and certainly hadn’t earned the approaching second year vest in his overpriced contract, so a release was called for. Consider him, along with Castillo, Jeff Francoeur and Oliver Perez (and Jason Bay?), as what they’ll recall when Omar Minaya is gently kicked upstairs after the year is out. But, wasn’t Justin Turner available?

Meantime, Jesus Feliciano was demoted and Fernando Martinez returned. If Fartinez can take a few starts from Francouer … or Carlos Beltran … or Bay … well, maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing to get another look at, since whoever’s in charge nest year will have some big decisions to make in the outfield. Martinez is back in 26 and Tejada in 11, by the way.

And while another radical slump from David Wright sure isn’t helping things, Jerry Manuel’s managing of this team remains woefully counterproductive, and, I think, contributes to that frightened offense. He’ll vamoose as well after this year ends and we now know how it will.