MET NOTES

CHICAGO – Edgardo Alfonzo is back with the Mets.

Alfonzo, one of the best position players in the franchise’s history, signed a minor-league deal with the team yesterday. He’ll be at Triple-A Norfolk tomorrow.

“He’s going to play all over the infield,” Met special assistant Tony Bernazard said.

The 32-year-old Alfonzo has had a horrible season, hitting only .100 in 50 at-bats with the Angels and .162 in 37 at-bats for the Blue Jays. He had no homers and only five RBIs total and was let go by both clubs.

Prior to being signed by the Mets, Alfonzo was with the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League. He was 4-for-14 with four RBIs there.

Alfonzo spent eight years with the Mets from 1995-2002, and his 1,136 hits with the Mets are third on the team’s career list, while his 538 RBIs are fifth and his 120 homers are seventh.

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Carlos Beltran, who left Friday’s game in the sixth inning with a sore right knee, played the whole game yesterday. Jose Reyes, though, missed his fifth straight game with a cut on his lefty pinky finger.

Before the game, Beltran said he was improved. He did say, though, the knee would likely affect him at the plate if he hit right-handed.

Beltran figured that since righty Carlos Zambrano was the opposing pitcher, he would be swinging lefty. But in the seventh, he ended up hitting righty against southpaw reliever Scott Eyre and flied out. The Mets face a lefty tonight, so perhaps Beltran will sit.

As for Reyes, he said he is OK hitting, but that catching the ball is the bigger issue.

Manager Willie Randolph said, “If he feels pretty good [yesterday], I’ll probably just give him off until Tuesday.”

Randolph did say, though, that he might relent on Reyes playing today if Reyes insists.

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Over the three seasons before this one, Paul Lo Duca hit .302 with a .356 on-base percentage before the All-Star break but only .249 with a .307 on-base percentage after it.

At the All-Star break this year, Lo Duca was hitting .302 with a .343 OBP, and he believes the reason for the past dropoffs has been injuries.

“I need to stay away from them,” he said. “Last year, it was the hamstring, and the year before that was the groin. A year before that, I broke my finger. So it was just, I need to stay healthy. I feel I’m going to have a strong second half this year.”

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After the game, the Mets sent reliever Henry Owens to Double-A Binghamton and recalled Heath Bell from Triple-A Norfolk. …

Bill Buckner – former Cub and noted Red Sox – threw out the first pitch yesterday.