MURPHY UPDATE: Daniel Murphy, who has been down with a strained intercostal muscle in his right side and was reportedly a week to ten days away from playing in a game, is making progress. Adam Rubin of ESPN reports that Murphy began hitting off a tee today for the first time since suffering the injury and he could be ready to appear in a Grapefruit League game in roughly a week. WHEELER UPDATE: When it comes to pitching injuries, always [...]

After a handful of games, this much is certain about the Mets’ porous outfield situation: Nothing has been settled. We know Lucas Duda is expected to play left field, but center field and right field are open. Wide open, it seems. Going into spring training, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Collin Cowgill were penciled in as a platoon in center, while veteran Marlon Byrd and Mike Baxter were going to be a right field platoon. “The outfield is definitely a question mark, collectively,’’ Sandy Alderson said. “I [...]

In a conference call Wednesday evening, Mets GM Sandy Alderson addressed several issues surrounding the team. Here are some of the things he told us: Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud will not be allowed to block the plate. The reason for that is obvious – his health. The leadoff spot is still up in the air but Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who is the leading candidate, still has a lot of work to do. If Nieuwenhuis plays full-time [...]

Jenrry Mejia gets the ball this afternoon against Miami. As of now, Mejia will be used as a starter, but there are those in the organization who believe he’s better suited for the bullpen. Mejia prefers to start and has performed better in that role. Maybe it is because he has time to prepare for his assignment, maybe because he has more time to warm up, maybe it is an ego thing. Whatever it is, his [...]

Lucas Duda did not start tonight’s 6-4 exhibition game loss against Washington, and won’t be in the lineup tomorrow. Look for him Wednesday or Thursday. In his first two games, Duda went 0-for-7 with six strikeouts, and told reporters today, “we’re not going to hit the panic just yet.’’ The Mets will opt for extra work in the batting cage instead.Duda, who underwent wrist surgery in the offseason, began to swing the bat in late January [...]

The funniest thing I heard with the Yankees and their contract negotiations with Robinson Cano is Scott Boras would take this to the open market to possibly draw the Mets in as an antagonist. That’s what Boras does, and the presence of other teams – some out of the desire to make things difficult for the Yankees – would boost the price. I laughed out loud when I read one of the teams should be the Mets. [...]

THE GAME: Ruben Tejada hit a two-run homer and Collin Cowgill drove in a run with double as the Mets won their exhibition opener, 5-3, over Washington. One game does not a spring training make, but if you’re going to play the games it is better to win them. WHEELER IMPRESSIVE: Zack Wheeler wowed them in his first appearance of the spring, giving up a walk and hit in two scoreless innings. Wheeler threw mostly fastballs and sliders, the [...]

The question is always posed at the start of the exhibition schedule: How important is it to win during spring training? For most teams it isn’t and history is full of examples of spring training winners who were flops during the regular season. The reverse also holds true. But, what about the Mets, who open up today against the Washington Nationals? What are we to make if Zack Wheeler outdoes Stephen Strasburg or if the Nationals light him up? [...]

I’ve booked my hotel for Port St. Lucie and beginning on March 5th, I will be reporting live from Mets Spring Training exclusively for MMO. I’ve been busy this entire week coordinating many things with the New York Mets and Joe D. and we have some nice things in store for you. We’ve already lined up some exclusive player interviews and plan on bringing you some new video analysis, a daily report, live blogging and tweets, [...]