What a Me(t)ss!

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Okay, okay, I just got off the phone with the NY Post's Bart Hubbuch. This is what he told me:

The Mets New Yorkheralded the Fernando Martinez era today by placing both Jose Reyes (calf) and Ryan Church (hamstring) on the 15-day disabled list.

"It is in the best interest of them and the best interest of the team," Jerry Manuel said.

The team recalled Martinez -- their top prospect -- from Triple-A Buffalo, and the 20-year-old will start in right field at bat sixth tonight against the Nationals at Citi Field.

The Mets also acquired shortstop Wilson Valdez from the Indians for cash considerations, and he was placed on the active roster. Valdez, a defensive specialist, was hitting just .198 for the Indians' Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, at the time of the trade.

Reyes has been hindred by tendinitis in his calf for nearly two weeks, but the Mets did not put him on the DL until today. His disabled list assignment is retroactive to May 21. Church is retroactive to May 23.

"I feel very comfortable our medical people gave us very good advice," GM Omar Minaya said in explaining why the moves weren't made earlier.

Of Reyes, Minaya said, "We didn't see progress from yesterday to today we wanted to see."

An MRI exam of Carlos Beltran's knee, meanwhile, revealed a bruised and inflamed tibia. He received a cortisone shot and will not play the next two games, at least.

"The Beltran situation also forced the Church situation," Minaya said.

Reyes could come back as soon as his 15-day stint is up June 5.

"Based upon everything I got for him, for us to get him back to where we want to get him ... we're looking at about a week," Minaya said.

Martinez was hitting .281 for Buffalo, and the team was hesitant to bring him up if he could not play every day. With Church out and Beltran hurting, he should get that chance in the short term.

Martinez recently extended his hit streak at Buffalo to seven games and was hitting .366 (11-for-30) with three doubles, four home runs, eight RBI and seven runs scored since May 18 at the time of the call-up. He also was first in the International League with 25 extra-base hits.

Why the Mets waited 2 weeks to put Reyes on the DL is beyond me?

Francesa believes that Church should demand a trade.

It's exciting to see F-Mart up. A little less exciting is the fact that Angel Pagan is in center tonight, Tatis is our first baseman, Ramon Martinez is manning short, and Castillo and Wright are the only 2 playing tonight that were also on the opening day roster.

Gulp.