Francisco Rodriguez and Jerry Manuel

Francisco Rodriguez wanted nothing to do with the story about his heated argument with Mets bullpen coach Sunday night. He said the story was false, which was kind of silly, since he pretty much acknowledged his frustation late Sunday night to David Waldstein of The New York Times, as we discussed earlier today.

Jerry Manuel acknowledged that he heard from NIemann about the incident, but he called it "resolved." He said he had no plans to speak with K-Rod about what happened.

Which, of course, is ridiculous.

There's either a disconnect, or Manuel uncharacteristically doesn't want to discuss what's really going on. K-Rod's beef is legitimate, IMO. He doesn't want to be warmed up multiple times. Obviously, that's going to take something out of a pitcher.

So Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen need to plan their pitching moves more carefully. I understand, that's easier said than done. But Sunday night, for instance, the Mets should've committed one way or the other to K-Rod, and not had Pedro Feliciano going, as well. While Rodriguez does perform considerably better against lefty hitters, the Mets trust him enough to after everyone in the ninth inning, so the same should apply to the eighth.

--Luis Castillo is back in the starting lineup for the Mets, and the team has hope that the second baseman will be able to avoid the disabled list.

--Thanks to JE for alerting me to this excellent line, in this column by Howard Megdal: "Growing up, we made fun of Phillies fans for booing Mike Schmidt. Now, Mets fans are doing the same thing to the organization's closest facsimile to Schmidt.

--Jim Leyrtiz reached a settlement on the civil suit lodged against him, but the big one, the criminal trial, is coming later this year.

--The Nationals released former Yankee Brian Bruney.

--The Dodgers' George Sherrill suffered an odd injury.

--Enjoy the night.