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On the trip part of the trip:

• We did a ton of driving. It turns out Buffalo is a lot farther than I thought. I enjoy the open road and I'm willing to travel great distances to watch baseball, but I wouldn't recommend trying to squeeze a trip like this into two days if you can help it. And this is coming from a guy who once drove 400 miles in a day just to try Sonic.

• On the road, we passed towns named Buttzville and Chili. Also, there's a road sign in Pennsylvania that says, "Endless Mountain Region: Next 6 Exits." This must be a misprint. It should say, "Endless Mountain Region: Next ∞ Exits."

• I ate Buffalo wings in Buffalo. I've also eaten Peking Duck in Peking and pizza in Pisa. I really need to get to Frankfurt.

On the Buffalo leg:

• Coca-Cola Field is a great park, and the Buffalo fans apparently appreciate that. The Bisons are among the best-drawing Minor League teams in the country, so it's a pity that the club is 17-38 and mired in the International League's basement.

In fact, anyone looking for an indictment of the organizational lack of depth that has been a hallmark of Omar Minaya's tenure need look no further than Lake Erie. The Mets seem to prefer using the Triple-A club to stash older players ready to help out the Major League club rather than to develop prospects, and that's fine. The problem is that very few of those players appear apt to help the Mets anytime soon. Only Javier Valentin, Jose's brother, is really hitting at the level.

• Wily Mo Pena, famed for tape-measure home runs and gale-force whiffs, is with the Bisons. We were treated to one of the former, a screaming drive to left on an 0-2 pitch, because Wily Mo Pena swings big all the time.

I joke, but Wily Mo could actually help the Mets this year if he can pull it together at Buffalo. It's no secret that the big club needs power, and Wily Mo has that in droves. He has done nothing but struggle for the past two seasons, but he's only a few years removed from being a productive part-time player with the Reds and Red Sox. At 27, it's reasonable to hope he can recapture that magic.

• I didn't have the opportunity to speak to Mr. Mo Pena, but I did have an interesting conversation with Brandon Knight. Knight is one of a few familiar pitchers having good seasons for the Bisons, and we discussed the temptation for players in the high Minors to make the jump to Japan. Knight played in Japan from 2003-2005, and said the Asian nation offers would-be Minor Leaguers the opportunity to make big money, only without the possibility of getting called to The Show.

You'll get more of that conversation when the videos we filmed are edited and posted, but it provided decent insight into the human side to the game that's way more evident in the Minors. It reminded me of talking to Nelson Figueroa -- another Bison enjoying success -- after he first came up in 2008, when he told me that he had considered taking a coaching job because it meant a steady paycheck and health insurance. The life of a big-leaguer may seem easy, but the life of a fringe big-leaguer most certainly does not.

On the Binghamton leg:

• The B-Mets also play in a gorgeous little park, this one featuring train tracks just beyond the left-field wall to tempt right-handed hitters and add to the small-town baseball feel. Unlike their Triple-A counterparts, though, the B-Mets are loaded with the system's most promising prospects.

• We just missed seeing the newest B-Mets, stud pitchers Brad Holt and Jenrry Mejia, but we did catch a double from prospect Josh Thole. Thole played catcher in high school but primarily played first in the Mets' system before moving back behind the plate in 2008. Thole can hit, but some, including my colleague Toby Hyde, have wondered if Thole's defense will improve to the Major League level.

I'm no scout, and one game wouldn't be an adequate sample even if I were, but I know that Thole has thrown out 34 percent of baserunners this year, the same rate as the Major League Mets. I recognize that's not nearly all that goes into defense behind the plate and that Double-A runners are probably more likely to be caught on the basepaths, but it's got to be a good sign that Thole's not embarrassing himself back there. At some point, it seems likely that the number of runs Thole's bat provides could outweigh the number of runs his defense costs. He doesn't hit with a ton of power, but his .419 on-base percentage and history of impressive plate discipline bode well for his future.

• I got a chance to speak to Ruben Tejada, with pitching coach Hector Berrios translating. After a rough year at the plate in 2008, Tejada has acquitted himself well in Double-A this season, hitting .280 with a .373 OBP. He hasn't hit for much power and, considering his generously listed 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame, he might not develop much.

What's most impressive about Tejada, though, is his age. He's 19 now and one of the youngest players at his level, and he doesn't look a day older. He primarily plays shortstop and is known as a slick fielder, though he played second base on Sunday and made a pair of errors (one of which likely wouldn't have been made if it weren't for his range).

I looked through the list of middle infielders who broke into the Majors at young ages in the past 10 years to try to find a decent comp for Tejada. It's difficult because Tejada's been advanced so quickly through the Mets' system, at least partly because of a logjam in the St. Lucie infield.

Omar Infante, who has established himself as a useful Major Leaguer, had stats similar to Tejada's at the same age in Double-A and also bats right-handed. Jose Reyes has a broader frame than Tejada and came with a megaprospect pedigree, but Tejada's .757 OPS in Double-A is actually identical to the one Reyes posted at the same age and level in the second half of 2002.

Of course, it's not at all fair to compare a 19-year-old with a half a season of Double-A success to a perennial Major League All-Star. I'm only pointing it out to show how good Tejada has been, considering his age. Tejada wasn't high on many prospects lists coming into the season, but it will be interesting to see if he jumps onto them before next year. He'll have to keep it up, of course, but I wonder if in a couple of years Tejada can replace Luis Castillo with exactly what the Mets hoped for when they signed Castillo: good defense at second, a high on-base percentage and speed on the basepaths.