This is just sad. Mike Pelfrey came super close to a no-hitter, an accomplishment never achieved in Mets history. Yet in spite of his stunning performance the Mets still lost?

How? The hitters couldn’t score for the life of them. The consequence? 1-0 loss. Totally heartbreaking.

The Daily News writer Kristie Ackert reports that his great run ended in the seventh inning when “Aaron Boone led off the inning with a single to right-center field, meaning Pelfrey had to settle merely for pitching a gem. An inning later, Felipe Lopez’s sacrifice fly cost Pelfrey his shutout.”

But in spite of his small miss at perfection, the Shea stadium ticket buyers were brought to two standing ovations in his honor.

Surprisingly enough, he attributes the success to a cold. Feeling a little under the weather actually improved his performance. He said that he has a tendency of trying to do too much. The cold kept him from overthrowing.

So now the Mets head into the Subway series, what can we expect from these two teams hovering around .500 for the season? The rivalry will never end and NY fans will still be excited to see their two local teams go at it. Maybe both teams’ mediocrity will result in an even match up that could result in a few good games. Let’s hope.

The Mets had a tough Monday and Tuesday this week. Bart Hubbuch from the New York Post suggests that poor offense was to blame. So bad was their batting performance on Monday against the Dodgers, the team was prompted to participate in an extra batting practice.

But the extra practice was to no avail. They lost again 5-4 on Tuesday. And they had no excuse. Bily Witz of the New York Times proclaims:

“Starter Hiroki Kuroda looked as though he were offering up batting-practice fastballs. Other Dodgers bobbled ground balls, loafed in the outfield and wandered off the bases into outs.”

In another article today, Witz suggests that another source of trouble is their defense, primarily their depth in pitchers. Santana has proven worth his money. John Maine and Nelson Figeuroa have been great. But Olver Perez and Mike Pelfrey are not looking as hot.

Witz points out:

“Pérez has given up 17 runs in 13 innings over that span, and Pelfrey has allowed 14 runs in 15 1/3 innings in his last three starts.”

This has also put a strain on the bullpen. Consistently going early to the backups makes things challenging to pull out consistent wins.

The Mets have challenges, whether it’s pitching or hitting. But let’s hope that they figure it out and make the appropriate adjustments. We want to buy tickets for Mets games where they win.

So there’s a hole in their left field and a need for a big power slugger. This raises the question as to whether the Mets will attempt to acquire the famous and infamous Barry Bonds. One would suggest that this would be a terrible time to take on the free agent, facing charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The team would hardly want to get involved in the ongoing steroid debacle, for which Bonds is front and center.

But then again, one has to think that maybe the Mets would be the perfect team for him. First off, because they could use him. And secondly, as Jeff Blair of globesports.com suggests, they’re “a big-market team desperate for a postseason boost.”

He goes on to say,” It would take a club with a great deal of veteran moxie and experience dealing with the spotlight to handle the situation, a club that is a little bit cynical, but also one that has been tested and taken the measure of those doing the testing.”

Mets general manager, Omar Minaya, says that all rumors of such an acquisition are false. But the possibilities are great and certainly enough to make sports writers speculate.

To get your tickets this season be sure to look for Mets tickets online.

The Mets have what Ben Shpigel of the New York Times calls, “the best pitcher in baseball.” The agreement process sounds a bit grueling. It took 72 hours and 90 minutes. The final cost: $137.5 million over 6 years. That is some big cash. But they feel it is worth the price for the former left handed pitcher from the Minnesota Twins.

The Mets first had to aquire the rights to negotiate with him. They made a deal with the Twins, giving them four prospects. The Twins gave them 72 hours to make the deal with Santana. When it appeared that they needed a little more time, they petitioned the Twins for another 2 hours, which they were given.

The haggling that went on to secure this deal was obviously two sided. The Mets wanted to give Santana a five-year deal, but he was demanding six. In the end, he got his way, and he got his extremely generous contract.

The Mets had a strong team this last year that ended prematurely. The hope is that this will put an extra positive spin on a potentially great 2008 season.

Mets tickets should sell well without him. But with a genuine star pitcher, his presence will hopefully pay for itself.

Johan Santana’s agent met with the New York Mets yesterday to get closer to an agreement to bring Santana from Minnesota Twins. There’s not a lot of time to negotiate. The deadline to reach a deal is 5pm EST tomorrow (Friday).

No one is talking (except the two sides in negotiation) details. The deal could be worth more than $120 million over six or seven years. It’s expected that the deal will happen. Then all that needs to happen is that Santana passes a physical (no problem).

Santana’s agent already represents two Met’s players: All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes and reserve outfielder Endy Chavez (who the Mets just brought on last week).

The Mets are going all out. They are trading four prospects: speedy outfielder Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra.

Hopefully this will energize the Mets after their collapse in September. Mets tickets have been selling well regardless. Even without Santana, the Mets already have sold 1.75 million tickets for their final season in Shea Stadium. That’s up 100,000 from last year at the same time period.

The Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox also flirted with bringing on Santana. The Twins can’t afford to keep him and he’s becoming a free agent this year.

Note: Mets tickets are on sale now, starting on February 26 with Spring training.

On to the news. Endy Chavez is getting a big raise (even though less than the $2,075,000 he asked for). Yesterday he signed for $3.85 million over the next two years. That number goes up for 2009. Last year Chavez made $1,725,000. He’ll get $1.8 million this season and $2.05 million in 2009. On top of that he can add on $250,000 in bonuses this year and $375,000 in bonuses in 2009.

His deal calls for bonuses this year of $25,000 for 100 games, $50,000 each for 110, 120 and 130 games, and $25,000 each for 350, 375 and 400 plate appearances. In 2009, he would make $50,000 for 100 games, $75,000 each for 110, 120 and 130 games and $25,000 each for 325, 350, 375 and 400 plate appearances.

Chavez didn’t finish the season last year because he strained his left hamstring. Then last month he hurt his right hamstring on his right ankle. He batted .287 with one homer and 27 RBIs in 150 at-bats.

Don’t miss this year’s Met’s season. Here is the list of Mets tickets available now. This is the last year to see the Mets in historic Shea Stadium before next year’s season at the new Citi Field.