Updated Post 7:40 PM

Straight from the files of Believe It Or Not, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported via Twitter that Ike Davis is unlikely to be demoted before the end of the weekend.

“Was told Ike is on double, secret probation, but likely still be a Met on Friday. Mets will use weekend to get a “better understanding.”

If the Mets still need more time to get a better understanding of Davis, they’re not as smart as I thought they were. Obviously I’ve been giving them far too much credit…

Original Post 5:30 PM

Ike Davis has lost his way. Not just at the plate, but in the field too. Terry Collins said after the game today, that the first baseman’s slump at the plate has not affected his play on the field. I beg to differ.

Maybe Terry feels a desperate need to defend his players, but to say that his last few miscues on the field are unrelated to what Davis is going through at the plate doesn’t ring true.

We’ve all seen Ike Davis at his best and have all marveled as fans over his gold glove caliber defense. But that was then and this is now. His instincts at first base are deteriorating and I believe it’s because he has something else eating at his mind. Davis is so unfocused and frequently looks like he’s in a daze.

During the 2010 through 2012 seasons, Ike Davis makes that play today down the first base line rather than just staring at it. The same can be said about his faux pas two days earlier when he stood in front of the runner on the basepath like a zombie and got called for obstruction.

Why can’t Terry Collins see what is so apparent to the few thousand fans who still go to the game? There’s a good reason why Davis is absorbing all the boos at the plate and now in the field. This isn’t the same player we grew to love almost from the first moment he made his debut three years ago. Remember how excited we were? Who didn’t think Ike Davis was a core player right from the start?

We want that Ike Davis back again. The only way that happens is by doing the right thing and sending him to Triple-A where he can sort out his problems and rediscover his stroke, his glove, and more importantly his confidence that is evidently shattered.

I’m not mad at Davis, I’m really not. But I am angry at Terry Collins who constantly makes excuses for bad baseball. There seems to be no more accountability on this team, only a boatload of excuses after each game. I guess that’s what I’m most concerned about. I want a manager who gets pissed off when he sees a breakdown in baseball fundamentals and not cover for his players.

Maybe Ike Davis’ biggest problem is Terry Collins who seems to have become his enabler… I don’t know, I’m not a psychologist, but it sure looks that way…

Davis is a very likable guy and I still believe he has a world of talent. But it’s time for the Mets to save him… It’s time for the Mets to try and get Davis back on track and that’s not going to happen in the major leagues. Don’t let this situation reach the point of no return because if that happens, we all lose. Just do the right thing.

Major League Baseball has declined the Mets appeal to change an earned run charged to phenom Matt Harvey on Friday at Wrigley Field reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

The move would have lowered the 24-year old’s ERA from 1.55 to 1.41.

However, it will remain the former as he takes the hill against the Reds for the series finale to avoid the sweep.

Original Post 5/18 1:00 PM

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, the Mets are appealing to Major League Baseball to slice Matt Harvey‘s ERA from 1.55 to 1.41, which would be within one point of the major league lead shared Clayton Kershaw and Shelby Miller.

Adam says that the thrust of the argument is that there should have been a straight error on Ruben Tejada‘s throw that bounced past Ike Davis and allowed Anthony Rizzo to score from second base in the first inning on Friday.

There has been a lot of bad scoring for the Mets this offseason, and I’m not so sure if it’s wise to defend one instance of it like they are doing here. There will be plenty more bad scoring as the season wages on.

This is baseball and it’s an imperfect game…

I’m thinking that if the Mets are going to this now, then they should do it for every other player who is denied a hit or an RBI or whatever moving forward.

With or without that earned run, Matt Harvey is still a great pitcher and everybody already knows it. Everything evens out in the end as the game is the great equalizer.

This is a bad idea in my opinion…

I bet Harvey, who is a team player, would say so too…

Alderson is disappointed with the team’s performance this season, particularly with some of the players he acquired for this transition year who did not perform to his expectation.

He no doubt was referring to Collin Cowgill, who he expected to become the team’s leadoff hitter and regular center fielder. Cowgill batted .157/.173/.294 before being demoted to Triple-A after only 19 games.

Andrew Brown failed to make the opening day roster and batted .200 during a brief call-up.

Shaun Marcum, who was signed to a guaranteed $4 million dollar deal, was supposed to replace R.A. Dickey. But the right-hander started the season on the DL, missed nearly a month, and has a 6.59 ERA in five starts since being activated.

Left-hander Aaron Laffey was released after posting a 7.20 ERA in four appearances including two spot starts, and relievers Greg Burke and Scott Atchison have struggled, each with 4.50 ERAs on the season.

Sandy is also concerned with some of the players whom he considered to be part of the future core. When asked to explain who he was talking about, he declined to comment saying only, “I think Met fans know who I’m talking about.”

He left off saying that it’s very tough to watch the team play and not be able to do something to help. However, he will remain patient, but not too patient. Alderson said he would look to some of the younger players in their system to improve the major league roster and named Rafael Montero, Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud as those who could help.

After the game, SNY analyst Bobby Ojeda pointed out that Alderson looked like a man who is very dejected and very disappointed with some of the moves he’s made in putting this team together. He certainly was different than what we’re used to seeing. There were no jokes this time. I think Sandy realizes that it’s time for him to stop talking about the future and deliver on it already. It’s time to produce something tangible. I believe a lot will be riding on how Wheeler and d’Arnaud produce once they are promoted – especially Wheeler.

It will be interesting to see how this drama unfolds… My gut tells me that by the end of this season, Sandy Alderson will either be on very solid footing or a very slippery slope and I’m leaning toward the latter. His fate will be tied to Wheeler’s immediate performance. Stay tuned…

The Cincinnati Reds (25-18) shutout the New York Mets (17-25) by the score of 4-0 tonight at a sparsely crowded Citi Field.

Left-hander Jon Niese started for the Mets and and after getting the first two outs in the first inning he allowed a hit and a pair of walks to load the bases. Niese had a chance to come out of the inning unscathed and induced a hard grounder to third for what should have been the third out. However, David Wright committed his fourth error of the season as the ball went under his glove and through his legs allowing two runs to score. Niese was rattled after that and allowed another run to score before finally getting the third out to put the Reds up 3-0. All of the runs were unearned.

Niese threw 48 pitches in that wild first inning and it appeared he was heading for an early shower. But to his credit he gutted out five scoreless innings after that and wound up giving the Mets a very solid effort allowing just five hits and three walks in six innings while striking out seven. Niese took the loss, but saw his ERA improve to 4.80 for the season.

The Reds score their fourth and final run in the ninth when Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco greeted Collin McHugh with a home run to leadoff the inning.

Offensively, the Mets had nothing but blanks… Nothing but the same sorry, pitiful offense that has plagued the team all season. Reds starter Mike Leake hurled seven scoreless innings and allowed the Mets’ only three hits of the game – one each by Lucas Duda, John Buck and Daniel Murphy.

It’s getting pretty hard to watch this team and I thought Sandy Alderson would address that while he visited the with gary Cohen and Ron Darling in the third inning, but he was at a loss for words. He said he was going to continue to hang in there with Ike Davis a little longer, which is the last thing anyone of us wanted to hear. Davis batted seventh and went 0-for-three tonight and saw his batting average fall to .149 for the season. Pathetic.

The Mets will wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 PM when right-hander Matt Harvey (5-0, 1.55 ERA) takes on Mat Latos (4-0, 2.91 ERA) and tries to avoid the sweep.

Updated Post 1:44 PM

MLB Trade Rumors just posted something that would add to the debate on Choo as a potential acquisition for the Mets in 2014. I also updated the original post to indicate that Choo’s best position is right-field.

Of course, as with most free agents, Choo’s next contract will cover post-prime years, perhaps age 31-35.  With Boras doing the negotiating, we can’t rule out a sixth year or a salary in the $18-20MM range, plus the loss of a draft pick.

Are you guys ready for another Winter of debating the loss of a pick, even if in the Mets case it’s a second round pick based on where this season is heading?

Original Post 12:44

Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, had an article this morning suggesting the Mets should make a strong attempt at signing Reds center fielder Shin-Soo Choo if they are serious about contending in 2014. Choo is a free agent at the end of this season.

Choo, 30, was acquired by the Reds in the offseason for highly regarded shortstop prospect Didi Gregorious and outfielder Drew Stubbs. According to Kepner, Cincinnati Choo was charged targeted Choo to fix their problems in the leadoff spot, which produced a .254 on-base percentage last season. So far, Choo has delivered in a big way, ranking second in the National League with a .455 on-base percentage.

The Scott Boras client has always been able to hit for average and get on base as his career .386 OBP would attest. Going into this season, he has averaged 38 doubles and 90 runs per season in his career. He also can give the Mets power and speed while providing solid range and defense in center field, though right field is his best position. The left-handed batter has averaged 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a typical season for him and is on a pace to smash both of those marks in his walk year with the Reds.

“He’s the big reason why we are where we are right now,” said Brandon Phillips of the Reds, who hold the second-best record in the National League. “Playing against him when he was with the Indians, I always told everybody he’s one of the best all-around players in baseball — underrated. Right now he’s just being himself. It’s a blessing to have him over here.”

Kepner also adds that the South Korean native, might be a sensation in New York, whose metropolitan area has the second-largest Korean population in the United States, behind Los Angeles.

Obviously, I love Choo and had wanted the Mets to go after him last offseason, and even though he’ll be a year older I would still have no problem bringing him on board for the 2014 season and beyond. I’m assuming it would require at least a four-year commitment and the bidding from other teams will be aggressive. That’s the part that frightens me – or should I say frightens Sandy Alderson. You see, I’ll maintain what I’ve been saying all along about him and that is that he doesn’t have the stomach for these types of negotiations. To quote myself from last October, “Alderson doesn’t have the ability to go after a desirable and marketable free-agent, it sin’t in his DNA.”

There will be other outfield options out there next offseason, assuming they are not re-signed. Jacoby Ellsbury and  Carlos Beltran are among them.

The problem is will Alderson be willing to spend and come out strong?

Or will it be another Winter of waiting for the market to settle to his liking, which of course never happens leaving him to scamper and pick the bones of whatever carcass he can find on the scrap heap?

Aardsma was originally drafted by the San Francisco in the first round of the 2003 amateur draft.

He has spent parts of seven seasons in the major leagues with five different teams. most recently with the Yankees in 2012.

Aardsma owns a career 4.22 ERA in 255 appearances all in relief. After the Yankees released him early last month, he signed with the Miami Marlins on April 13 and then was released again on May 15.

He will report to Triple-A Las Vegas. This might get ugly…

Rice lowered his ERA to 3.05, and is now on pace for 99 appearances. That would surpass Pedro Feliciano‘s franchise mark of 92 games in 2010 and rank second all-time to Mike Marshall‘s 106 appearances for the Dodgers in 1974.

That is one heck of a workload to say the least, and to think that it’s coming from a pitcher who has toiled for 14 years in the minors before finally getting his shot in the majors makes this all the more amazing.

Rice, the 31 year old rookie, is proving to be the second best weapon in the Mets bullpen after closer Bobby Parnell. However, how long can he continue on this torrid pace before it all catches up to him and he begins to breakdown?

“Right now it’s early enough in the year”, manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve tried to get him some days off. But he keeps pitching four out of five, it’s got to be a concern. We’ve got to certainly pick up some of the workload with somebody else.”

Rice has no complaints and is enjoying every minute of his new-found life in the majors, but he also understands the risks.

“If my arm is feeling fine, I’m going to go out there and throw,” Rice said. “I’m going to be smart, and I know my body. I know how to take care of myself and prepare myself to throw every day.”

I’ve been pulling for Rice since back in Spring Training and was so glad for him when he made the team, but I never expected he would play such a significant role this season. Here’s to more great outings for this veteran rook, who definitely knows his place. He earned it the hard way.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post, pops the question and defends Collins, saying:

“It is relatively easy to argue his second-year team had worse talent than his first and this, his third team, has worse talent than his second…That is why I have no idea if Collins is a good manager or not. Showalter would lose big with this team, and so would Tony La Russa and Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel. Or some cloned combo of all of them.”

Sherman draws a comparison between what Collins has been given to work with as compared to the last Mets manager to succeed, Willie Randolph.

“He was given Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner to team with the young Jose Reyes and David Wright and the still-succeeding Tom Glavine. Collins has had the opposite, pretty much — the removal of anything approaching veteran talent from this roster and a bunch of booby prizes put in their place.”

This is about lack of talent, not Collins, he goes onto write. And as I’ve been maintaining since the offseason, Collins will indeed be the sacrificial lamb – that much was true when he was allowed to go into this season as a lame duck manager.

But as Sherman concludes, no Mets manager ever will get a truly fair judgment if Sandy Alderson never figures out how to enrich the talent level of the 25-man roster.

Last week, I wrote how the most frustrating thing about Alderson’s first three years as the Mets’ GM, is that there is not one keeper he brought in on the MLB squad – not one major league player in three seasons.

While we hope the farm is as good and improved as we think it is, ultimately those determinations are only made in the major leagues and not from a prospect ranking list. That’s how it’s always been in the ol’ ball game…

Jeremy Hefner lasted just four innings and dropped to 0-5 on the season as the Mets took it on the chin in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Hefner allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and quickly put his team in a hole. The right-hander now has a 5.00 ERA and the Mets are 0-8 when he starts a game.

“He just fell behind in counts,” said Terry Collins. “When he got behind, he had some three-ball counts that he didn’t have earlier. And then he had to come around the plate. When he came around the plate, they put it in play.”

The bullpen was no better as Robert Carson and Collin McHugh both pitched two innings each and allowed a pair of runs.

The Mets wouldn’t get on the board until the ninth inning when they were already down 8-0. John Buck singled and then center fielder Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer, his second as a Met and seventh overall.

David Wright had two critical strikeouts and looks like he’s trying to do too much at the plate. Ike Davis went 0-for-4 and has about two weeks to straighten himself out or face a demotion to the minors. He is 1 for his last 30.

One bright spot came late in the game when shortstop Ruben Tejada made a spectacular diving stop and initiated an incredible 6-4-3 double-play.

The Mets were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. They are now 0-9 the day after Matt Harvey starts.

Another day game for the Mets tomorrow as Dillon Gee (2-5, 6.13 ERA) opposes left-hander Travis Wood (4-2, 2.03) in the 2:20 PM rubber match.

Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud will need to remain in a walking boot for two more weeks without any weight-bearing activity, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Adam goes on to say that the determination was made after team doctor Struan Coleman examined d’Arnaud today at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

D’Arnaud, 24, avoided surgery to repair a non-displaced fracture in his left foot and was initially expected to miss eight weeks.

He was batting .250/.429/.472 in 49 at-bats for Las Vegas with one home run before suffering the injury on a foul ball off his left foot. But four weeks later and he still has not been cleared to put pressure on that foot.

“D’Arnaud experienced some tenderness to the touch in the area of the broken first metatarsal.”

With John Buck adequately producing for the Mets, there’s no urgency to rush D’Arnaud back. Regarded by many as the top catching prospect in the game, he probably wasn’t going to join the Mets until the second half anyway.

The Mets will play this one cautiously and make sure he is completely healed before any determination will be made regarding his rehab and beginning baseball activities.

The most famous No. 1 in Mets’ history has some advice when it comes to the man who is quickly becoming the most infamous No. 1 on the Mets.

“Give the kid a chance,” Mookie Wilson said Friday when discussing Jordany Valdespin. “He is a very spirited kid, very young and has a lot to learn, no question about that. But some things are being blown out of proportion. I think we need to back up and not overanalyze everything.”

That’s what Mookie told Bill Price of the Daily News.

“I do know the kid personally,” said Wilson. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with him for a limited time. I think we need to give everyone an opportunity to explain themselves and what is really happening.”

“They are struggling right now and I think that’s expected when you have young players and players coming in from other organizations. This is similar to what the Mets went through in the early ‘80s. Winning was not a frequent thing, we didn’t see the results of our labor, but in 1983 we were starting to be in games. I see that with the Mets now.”

And the beat goes on…

UPDATE:

Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog writes moments ago:

However, no team can guarantee success, regardless of who they sign, trade for or develop. They can only guarantee that New York’s media will continue to push on a story until it bleeds, because they know it will sell and people will read and listen… which is exactly what we’ve seen this week with this Valdespin and Collins story.

Is he kidding me?

What is going on over there…

Rubin spoke with Scott Hairston who dismissed rumors that the Mets had made him an offer, but understood the situation and respected Sandy Alderson’s decision.

“There were times where I wasn’t sure what they wanted to do, so I waited. But as a player you can only wait so long, so I knew I had to move on and I had to move forward, and that’s just the way it was.”

Hairston, who was clear he wanted a two-year deal, did not get any offer from the Mets. Not even one year.

“There were reports that it happened, but the Mets never made me a one-year offer,” he said.

For what it’s worth, Hairston is off to a slow start and is batting just .125 in 48 at-bats with three home runs. But on the flipside, his replacement Collin Cowgill has already been demoted to the minors.

Read Adam Rubin’s full article here.

“Niese’s masterpiece aside, the Mets have been careening toward disaster for most of May and are now on pace for 100 losses. No one should be surprised; this roster has been badly flawed from the outset. Still, it’s disturbing how quickly the season has unraveled, leaving in its wake the sense that it’s hopeless from here to September.”

Klapisch says manager Terry Collins made himself an easy target in light of recent comments disparaging Mets fans. He says, “It’s hard to repair the damage once a wedge has been placed between the players and the ticket buyers. It’s how managers get themselves fired.”

He does go onto saying that Collins isn’t really the problem and replacing him with Wally Backman wouldn’t change the real problem which is the makeup up of the entire roster.

“GM Sandy Alderson chose to populate his bullpen with aging relievers…Alderson’s bullpen will keep breaking their hearts. At least until the Mets can score more runs.”

The most discouraging thing was what one national League Official told him:

“That tells me the Mets really have no plan, they’re just going from crisis to crisis,” said one league official. “What can Ankiel give them? I’m sorry, you just don’t belong in the big leagues when you’re striking out [35 times in 62 at-bats before being released by the Astros last week]. You have to try to be that bad.”

One scout also doesn’t understand the fascination with Ike Davis saying, “What’s he even doing on that roster?”

There’s some good points made coupled with a few bad ones, but definitely worth taking a look.

Daniel Murphy had four hits and Jon Niese pitched a gem as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 to salvage the final game of the series and avoid the four-game sweep.

The Mets got on the board in the third when Jordany Valdespin ignited a two-run rally with a perfect drag bunt in the third and then scored when the red-hot Murphy lined double to score Spin and then came around to put the Mets up 2-1 after David Wright drove him home with a single to right.

After another double by Murphy in the sixth, the Mets would score two more runs on an RBI-double by Wright and a sac-fly by Lucas Duda. Catcher John Buck broke out of slump with an RBI-single in the eighth for the Mets’ fifth run.

Meanwhile on the mound, the Niese we used to know was back and he was dealing. After allowing 15 runs in his last two starts, Niese worked on his mechanics and rediscovered his fastball and curve, using both pitches to great effect to silence the Cardinals offense. The southpaw tossed 7.1 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits while walking two and striking out three. It was great to see him bounce back and hopefully this is the beginning of something good for Niese.

Niese gave way with two on and one out in the eighth inning, but in came Brandon Lyon, who induced an inning-ending double play to escape any damage. Bobby Parnell closed it out in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.

Ike Davis continues to struggle and went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts to earn the golden sombrero. Davis is hitless in his last 22 at-bats and his batting average is at a four-week low of .157 for the season. Terry Collins says he’s sticking with him.

The Mets now head to Chicago for a weekend series with the Cubs. Matt Harvey will oppose Edwin Jackson in a 2:20 PM matinee. Lets Go Mets!

Last night’s 4-2 loss to the Cardinals was particularly reflective of the team’s struggles as they lost their sixth straight game for the second time in this very young season. They looked futile and if anything could go wrong for them, it did.

“The game is very cruel sometimes, and right now we’re experiencing kind of the cruelness of it,” said David Wright after the game. “You get a quality start from your starter and there’s just so little room for error that a ball bounces one way, you don’t catch a break here, you don’t catch a break there, you end up losing the game because you have to play near-perfect when the offense is struggling the way it is right now.”

There’s no shame in losing to the best team in baseball, but it’s not just the losing, it’s how they lose that make it all so maddening. When they get a well-pitched game, they can’t score enough runs, and when the do score runs they can’t hold the lead.

David Wright is on the money when he says this game can be cruel sometimes, and it was a good choice of words because only yesterday I said it would be unwise of the Mets to bring Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud into such a cruel environment. There’s nothing to be gained by not waiting until September callups. They’ll both get a month of major league baseball in, and we get to keep them for an extra year which may become very important once we become relevant again.

The decision to not bring in a bona fide bat for the outfield since trading Carlos Beltran two years ago is especially painful during this Cardinals series. Some said that Beltran was done, that he has bad knees, was not a leader, or that he was too soft. Wrong on all counts. Not one day on the DL since he was shuffled off to Frisco and his lethal bat, powerful arm, and gold glove defense have all been on full display in this four-game series which wraps up this afternoon.

There is no quick fix for this team, but therein lies the problem. After three offseasons we should have been able to address at least one need at the major league level, but instead we’ve more than tripled our plight going from four areas of concern to 14 now.

From hearing Terry Collins speak last week, it already sounds like he’s moved on 2014 – a season which will most likely not be here for. The other day he said he has to keep playing Lucas Duda and Ike Davis to know what we have for 2014. After three years, shouldn’t you know what you have in those two and that they certainly are not core players?

Next year was when we were supposed to be seeing the transformation. It will be interesting to see what online bookmakers have to say about it when that time comes. Until then, we’ll just bide our time and wait. Apparently something magical and different will take place this offseason as for years we’ve been told they’d have a fistfull of dollars. In six months we’ll all find out if we were just being sold a bill of goods or if the front office is really going to pull a rabbit out of it’s hat.

Where would this team be without Matt Harvey?

Is it safe to say that as of this moment, the only proven and legit core player under the age of 30 this team has is The Dark Knight of Gotham?

I like Jon Niese a lot, but is he a core player? Or just an number three pitcher who plays the role of an ace on a very bad team?

I quickly threw some numbers into a spreadsheet and I can’t believe how appalling the numbers are once you take Harvey out of the equation.

Two of our top three starters have ERA’s of 5.93 for Jon Niese and 6.13 for Dillon Gee. Our number four starter, Jeremy Hefner has got them both beat with a 4.28 ERA. You may recall me saying back in January that he would be a sleeper and best choice for fifth starter? (Hey Alex68, remember this? Underrated????? SMH!!!)

Then you have the pitcher who was supposed to help replace R.A. Dickey‘s innings in Shaun Marcum. The Mets gave marcum a guaranteed $4 million dollars and in return he’s already missed one month and since his debut is averaging 4.1 innings in three starts and has a team worst 8.31 ERA.

Mets pitchers are now officially the worst in the National League and second worst in the Major Leagues. And that’s with Matt Harvey who is in the top five in over a half dozen pitching categories.

That’s kind of embarrassing, wouldn’t you say?

Gee has been the latest starter to deliver an abysmal performance after allowing six runs and nine hits against the Cardinals last night in 4.0 innings.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know what to say, really. I didn’t feel all that bad tonight”, said Gee after the game. “Physically I feel great. There’s nothing going on there. I don’t know. I’m kind of lost.”

You don’t say?

Gee and Co. is partly why the Mets bullpen has been as abysmal as it has. They are burning through arms at an unprecedented rate. Six weeks in and already eight transactions related to the bullpen alone. And it’s not as if it was a great bullpen to begin with. It was put together with sticks and Krazy Glue.

So while everyone is piling on when it comes to the Mets offense, the truth of the matter is that this team is quite atrocious on all fronts. Take a look at the evidence:

METS PITCHING RANKINGS

METS HITTING RANKINGS

That stinks to high heaven. It’s a shock to the system to even look at those awful, awful numbers.

I can tell you right now that Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud alone are not going to fix that. In fact I think it’s a sin that those two are being setup for an unfair amount of undue pressure, as if trying to stick in the majors wasn’t already challenging enough.

On Wednesday, Sandy Alderson seemed concerned that Wheeler is being looked upon as some sort of savior and he admitted to Mike Francesa that he wasn’t. But the fact that both he and d’Arnaud will be walking into this disaster is going to be something to behold and I don’t mean that in a good way. I wonder how they will handle it, and God forbid if they don’t produce immediate results and hit the ground running.

The other day on Twitter I tossed out the suggestion of just letting both of them stay at Triple-A and don’t bring them up unless this team turns it around. Losing is contagious. I know you all know that. If this is what those two kids are going to walk into, I’d rather wait and call them up in September.

At least in September they can come up without the pressure of having to carry a team that was poorly constructed. It’s bad enough that Matt Harvey has had to deal with this. I totally feel sorry for that kid. On any other team, but the Mets, Harvey would probably be 8-0 right now.

I don’t know if this is rock bottom, but heaven help us if it isn’t and it continues to get worse.

One of the more frustrating things so far about the 2013 season for the Mets, has to be the ongoing struggles of first baseman Ike Davis. Many of us including myself, were simply salivating of the thought of a breakout season for Davis this year, especially after the way he ended the 2013 season leading the National League in home runs and RBIs.

With the exodus of Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols to the American League, some even envisioned a possible All Star berth along side Joey Votto at Citi Field for the Mid-Summer Classic.

All those glossy expectations are now out the window and instead of celebrating a great season for our first baseman of the future, we are left wondering if Ike Davis will be a part of the solution or the future at all. Trade rumors and speculation are already abounding.

Manager Terry Collins can’t make up his mind what to do with his struggling power hitter and after vowing to leave him in the cleanup spot for as long as it takes, he was dropped to the seven spot of the order two days later.

Andrew Kahn, who has written for the Wall Street Journal, Newsday and ESPN, sheds some light on the matter in a comprehensive article today which you can read here.

Using Baseball-Reference’s “Similarity Scores,” he gathers a list of players who compared with David through their age 25 seasons. Among them you will find Carlos Delgado, Mo Vaughn, Eric Karros and David Ortiz to name a few.

However, the key difference between Davis and the other players in the chart, he writes, is that they had a breakout season. “A year in which they performed close to how they’d perform over the rest of their career at age 25 or 26.”

He tackles the question I posed in the title, and does a good job of concluding that if Ike Davis is ever going to be the player we all thought he would be and thus save his career, then this is the year to prove it. Read Andrew’s full article here.

Big day on WFAN for the Mets – or at least during Mike Francesa’s time slot. After a 10 minute rant against the Mets to open the show, he had Sandy Alderson on for 15 minutes a few hours after that. There was a lot said by both of them – good and bad. Tonight you’ll get the rant, tomorrow you’ll get the interview along with my thoughts and summary.

This wasn’t easy to transcribe so I apologize now for any typos. Buckle up…

How bad must it be for the kid Matt Harvey? I mean they can’t score any runs for this kid. If the Mets could score just four rotten runs in a game this kid would be 8-0. When Harvey doesn’t pitch now, the Mets are so bad that it is embarrassing. They are so listless. They are so unwatchable. This is as bad as I have ever seen it. This is Craig Swan bad for these Mets.

I have a different take on the Valdespin thing. To me, the Valdespin thing speaks volumes about what the Mets have become. I don’t care if you don’t like Valdespin. He’s on your team. I don’t care if you detest Valdespin. He’s still wearing your uniform. And when the other team does that to him, and you guys act like you condoned it, and want to go out there and applaud it, that speaks volumes about what a bunch of losers you are.

To have a lowly team like the Pirates, who have sucked for 20 years, you’re telling me you’re gonna worry about how they feel about Valdespin hitting a homerun in a blowout game? How about worrying about winning a game instead of the Pirates’ feelings? How about not worrying about getting your nose rubbed in it everyday?

Valdespin – you don’t like him, it’s been very clear. I know Valdespin acts like a jerk sometimes. But you know what, he goes up to the plate with some gumption. He’s not an everyday player, but the Mets don’t have any everyday players in the outfield. I know Valdespin is different. And I know none of the other players like him. But that’s no excuse for a big guy like Buck to take his nose off when he hits him in the face with a pie after hitting a game winning grand slam. And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough now you treat your own guy as if he’s a leper on your own team and don’t even stand up for a guy wearing your uniform? Shame on the Mets.

I’m not sticking up for Valdespin, I know he’s half a jerk, but he goes up there and he tries. He goes up there and he tries to turn on a fastball late in games. He goes up there and comes up big sometimes and at least puts a little life into your stinking team. You want to jettison him, fine. Cut him. That way he can come back and hit a grand slam in a pinch hitting role against you guys and you can count on it.

You know what, he brings a little moxie to the team. But for the Mets to just stand there and say “oh my, what are the Pirates gonna think”, what the hell do you care what they think!

And then you watch him get hit by a pitcher wearing another uniform? Awful. To me that doesn’t say anything about Valdespin, that says all you need to know about the rest of these Mets. That just shows you what a sorry club the Mets have become. They are not just a joke – they are a bad joke. I thought they were trying to change the culture of this team around?

And another thing, I’ve been the biggest Ike Davis fan in the world, but enough is enough. That at-bat in the eighth inning last night after they pitched around and walked Wright – that at-bat was cryingly painful. It wasn’t even major league worthy. And the Mets crying and saying the ball hit the bag – oh gimme a break. What a joke.

Keep Wright, keep Harvey, keep 2-3 other guys, but other than that back up the truck and get rid of the other 20 guys because they are awful and we’ve seen enough of of them to last us a lifetime. They should be paying fans to watch this team because this is unbelievable and it has to change NOW. Except for the days that Harvey is on the mound, they are absolutely unwatchable.

I think Sandy Alderson is a smart guy and other than getting Wheeler and getting stuff for Dickey, all the other moves he’s made have been from hunger and I bet he has to admit that.

Another bullpen revamp and already half of them are gone, he signs this guy Marcum and the guy can’t even pitch five innings. He pushed and couldn’t stop talking about Cowgill and look at him now in the minor leagues. And who thought it was a good idea to have every hitter go to two strike counts every time  For what? They are going to end up leading the world in strikeouts? This team started out 7-4, but since then they are 7-16. Seven wins and sixteen losses… But worse than that, there’s no heart, there’s no life. there’s fire, there’s no toughness. It is really sad, and you know what? Enough’s enough!

* * * * * * * *

Now if you think that was hard to read, imagine how I felt having to write all of that for you?

Is he wrong about feeling bad for Harvey? Is he far off the mark on how bad this team is playing? Can you really say he was wrong about the Mets having a pity party for the Pirates because Valdespin rubbed their nose in it a little? You go ahead and discuss all of that in the comments. I’d love to read your thoughts.

I’ll have the Sandy Alderson interview up in the morning along with my thoughts.

Ankiel is expected to be in uniform on Monday night for the Mets and Andrew Brown already has been told he is being dispatched to Triple-A Las Vegas according to Adam Rubin.

Ankiel, 33, was released by the Astros last week after hitting .194 with a .231 OBP in 25 games for the Astros. He also hit five home runs and drove in 11, but had 35 strikeouts and three walks in 65 plate appearances.

Thoughts from Matt Balasis

You may remember Ankiel from Game 2 of  the NLCS against the New York Mets, Ankiel was removed in the first inning after throwing 20 pitches, five of which went to the backstop. Ankiel appeared again in the seventh inning of Game 5 facing four hitters, walking two, and throwing two more wild pitches. The Cardinals lost the series four games to one to the Mets.

Since then Ankiel has more or less reinvented himself as an outfielder with his best season probably coming in 2009 when he hit .264 with 25 home runs and 71 rbi. Since then he’s been primarily a 4^th outfielder used primarily for pop off the bench. Ankiel is of course known for his rifle arm and has often been used late inning defensive replacement in right field with a runner on first.

I’ve always thought it a shame that this guy never figured out how to get back to pitching off a mound. Perhaps letting him pitch from center field might have helped him since his control from there appears to be deadly accurate.

Ankiel is also remembered for having purchased a 12 month supply of HGH with perccriptions signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called The Health and Rejuvenation Center as reported by the Daily News in 2004. Ankiel was never suspended as HGH wasn’t banned by MLB until 2005.

Ankiel was hitting .194 but had five home runs in 25 games before the Astros released him. Ankiel, 33, could provide some interesting options for a Met team in dire need of outfield help.

The Mets with less than stellar performances from Lucas Duda, Jordany Valdespin, Malon Byrd, Colin Cowgil and Mike Baxter, the Mets could be a fit for the veteran Ankiel. The Met offense has been struggling mightily of late  with a 691 OPS (24th best in baseball. The Mets scored just 14 runs on their recent six-game homestand. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

The Howard Hughes Corporation and Play Ball Owners Group form the new ownership group and our beat writer is on the way to the park right now where they are expected to make an official announcement.

This is all part of what MMO’s Rob Silverman reported over the winter about the move to a new, $65 million stadium called The Ballpark at Summerlin Center that will be located in the suburbs of Las Vegas.

The Mets have a two-year player development contract with Las Vegas that will remain in place regardless of the change in ownership.

We’ll tell you more after the press conference.

It was so weird because I was in the middle of setting up phone interviews with Collin McHugh and Zack Wheeler and speaking to Jim when it suddenly sounded like Grand Central Station poured into his office.

“Hold on. We’ve just been sold, Joe.”

I was like huh???

Should be a doozy of a game for Rob tonight.