It's too late to bring the fences in, but the Mets have given up on neutrality and are cutting down the center field wall from sixteen feet to eight.

Unfortunately the wall can't be raised for opposing teams, who actually hit more homers at Citi Field than they did at Shea the year before. But at least when opponents tee off on one of the Mets' many injured pitchers, it'll make for a lively, high-scoring event, which is about the best we can hope for, as we no longer expect the Mets to win games.

Ugh.

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Today the Cyclones announced the new sponsor and, like a lot of organizations these days, it's getting a new one courtesy of Big Government: the Municipal Credit Union, a non-profit financial institution which does bank for city workers. The team's home field is now called MCU Park. While we appreciate that this is a friendlier bank than some ballparks have as corporate masters, MCU Park is an even uglier name than the park had before.

Fuck this: We're calling it Wally Backman Park.

But apparently Putz wasn't so healthy; he didn't have a great 2009 ("Putz looks hurt," wrote Dave Cameron in April), and ended his season with bone spur surgery in June. (He's now with the White Sox.)

Might this unfortunate situation have been avoided? Putz tells CSN Chicago that "when the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets." He said his troublesome bone spur was "discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training, and the spring training physical is kind of a formality."

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​KeySpan Corporation, a Brooklyn company formed by a merger of Brooklyn Union Gas and LILCO, hasn't existed since 2007, and National Grid PLC, who they merged with, announced on Friday that it was time for the Brooklyn Cyclones to start dating again. National Grid Vice President John Caroselli said that partnership between Keyspan and the Cyclones was "great," but "due to the fact that the Keyspan name no longer exists, it was an opportunity for both parties to discuss other options." The contract between Keyspan and the Mets' A team for naming rights to their Coney Island stadium was supposed to run through 2020.

​Normally, the Tampa Bay Rays complaining that their home stadium is a dump wouldn't be news here in New York, given that 1) people have been complaining about Tropicana Field since before the Rays even debuted there in 1998 and 2) the Rays only enter New Yorkers' radar in the odd seasons when they threaten to break through the Yanks-Sox oligarchy in the A.L. East.

All that changed this week, however, when Peter Gammons, former star of ESPN and the $20 bill, mentioned in his MLB.com column that "there are smart people in the Major League Baseball offices wondering if there's hope of even discussing a potential move of the Rays to New Jersey or Southern Connecticut over certain protests from the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Phillies."

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Beltran says he is "totally surprised by the reaction" to his surgery, referring to assistant GM John Ricco's statement that "there is an issue regarding the process that was followed regarding the surgery," and that the Mets were "disappointed" with Beltran's choice.

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Reports say Beltran will miss the start of the 2010 season; Eric Karabell worries that "twelve weeks can turn into 24 weeks quickly, and the Mets have way too much invested in Beltran financially to risk pushing him back," but as it was reportedly a relatively non-invasive arthroscopic procedure, a long absence is unlikely.

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Also, he has a winning sense of humor. After he got his hand stepped on by Angels catcher Mike Napoli as he scored the winning run in the deciding game of the 2008 ALDS, Bay remarked, "It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there." Good copy!

Bay has a four-year, $66-million-dollar deal, and is expected to play left field for New York. In Boston he is replaced by former Met Mike Cameron, and tears. Image via Masshole Sports.

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The Mets reportedly plan to try Escobar in the bullpen and see how it goes. He worked out in winter ball last week, facing five batters with success. It's a one-year contract at $1.25 million, with a $125K bonus "if he makes the Opening Day roster."

We're tempted to say, "What could possibly go wrong?" But the Mets need to gamble, and this is a relatively cheap one. Also, Escobar will have plenty of sympathy in the dugout.

​By now you may have heard about the huge three-team swap involving the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, and Seattle Mariners. All the details aren't in -- and until they are, the whole thing seems a bit mysterious. The big news is that the Phillies obtained Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays, but at the expense of trading Cliff Lee to the Mariners. It isn't clear why the Phillies made this deal, since Lee is regarded by most analysts as Halladay's near equal and is fifteen months younger, and. as Yankee hitters can attest, he's World Series proven.

Nor is it clear exactly why Seattle, who led the American League in ERA last season, needed another ace starter -- unless they plan on trading someone for an ace hitter, since they finished dead last in the AL in runs scored. Perhaps the Mariners have their eye on the Red Sox's Jason Bay, who hit 36 home runs, drove in 119 runs and stole 13 bases last season and is reported to be ready to leave Boston.