As we look forward to the eventual arrival of promising talent from the Mets’ farm system, there are those that contend the major league club would benefit from an immediate infusion. However, they may not have considered the ramifications of these proposed moves due to the requirements of getting players onto the 40 before they can be called up. Josh Satin, for instance, who many have lobbied to install as at least a platoon partner if not outright replacement for Ike Davis, does not presently have a place on the 40. If management were to make a move to bring him up from Las Vegas, he would have to be added and someone would have to be removed as the Mets presently have a full slate of players already occupying those slots (plus 3 more on the 60-day DL).

Removing a player from the 40 requires that they be designated for assignment (DFA’d) and the team then has 10 days to trade, release, or send them to the minors provided they clear waivers. Without going into undue detail over the waiver process, suffice it to say that if a team doesn’t want to risk losing a player altogether, they will strive to avoid exposing them. This was the concern recently with the promotion of Quintanilla as, out of options, he will have to clear waivers if the Mets want to return him to Vegas when Ruben Tejada is ready to return to active duty.

Judicious management of the 40 is a crucial element to a GM seeking to provide his field manager with the tools needed to compete.  Often hard choices must be made- when deciding to protect a player in the farm system who may still be years away from contributing at the major league level, a degree of flexibility with the active roster is surrendered.  To some extent, this can be pointed to as an issue with the current Mets team.

A look at the current state of the Mets’ 40 reveals how certain players are regarded within the organization and, to a degree, by baseball insiders. The 15 players beyond the active roster include those who have previously appeared on it this year (Atchison, Familia, Tejada, Brown, Cowgill, Edgin and Nieuwenhuis), and a mixed bag of prospects consisting of infielders Zach Lutz, Wilmer Flores,  and Wilfredo Tovar, catcher Travis d’Arnaud, outfielder Cesar Puello, and pitchers Zack Wheeler, Hansel Robles, and Gonzalez Germen.  Aside from Atchison, Tejada and Familia who are currently on the 15-day DL, the bulk of these players consist of fringe major league talent (or “AAAA” players) who can provide coverage in the event of injuries, and legitimate prospects who the front office clearly needs to protect.

This list says as much about those who are not on it as it does about those it includes. As mentioned before, Josh Satin did not rate a slot, and the front office is apparently content to keep him as AAA roster filler or allow him to leave next year as a six-year free agent. They have not worried about another organization drafting him, so that should tell you something about how he is regarded by the other 29 MLB clubs as well. Still, you never know, someone may yet give him a shot as a role player somewhere.

I do have some questions with respect to some of the other players who have been allotted space here. Lutz turns 27 this month, a bit old for a “legitimate” prospect, and is kept around apparently to provide insurance in the event of an injury to David Wright. He has been fairly consistent in his level of play as he has made his way up the ladder and projects as someone who would hit about .250-.260 with maybe 15-20 HR’s over a full season while providing less than stellar defense. Assuming, of course, he could stay healthy himself, something that has been a bit of an issue in the past.  In other words, he could be a decent fill-in but not a player you would tag for stardom. His place on the roster is to provide depth and were Ike Davis to be demoted, he would be the likely call-up despite a relative lack of experience at first base. His ability to play third probably gets him the edge on the roster over Satin despite the latter’s somewhat better numbers over the past few years.

The other players holding down slots that might raise an eyebrow are Tovar and Germen. Tovar, despite his youth and ability to play a key position (shortstop), apparently projects at best as a utility guy according to scouting reports. If the team is simply trying to provide depth at the position, they might have considered going with Tovar’s Binghamton teammate Josh Rodriguez, a more veteran player at age 28 who has shown flashes of power throughout his minor league career. As of this writing, Rodriguez leads the B-Mets in hits and has an OBP of .439, numbers that greatly overshadow those of Tovar to this point. Germen is a 25-year old middle reliever with decent if somewhat unspectacular numbers at Las Vegas. He has put up some nice K/9 and hits per innings numbers in the past though, and pitchers can develop later than position players so I’m willing to assume they know what they are doing with him. Still, if Jack Leathersich is bumped up to AAA at the season’s mid-point and continues to blow away the opposition like he’s been doing so far, I’m sure we would all like to see a September call-up and somebody will have to make space on the 40. In addition, Chase Huchingson’s performance out of the same bullpen has put him in the picture as a lefty relief option as well.

Clearly roster management is an inexact science that involves some guesswork. Like many, I’ll be watching the shuffling that is due to occur ahead of the Rule 5 in December.  Let’s hope for some wise decisions and for some player performances that help make those decisions easier to make.

To date, that has been the largest free agent contract doled out by Sandy Alderson and it may now be safe to say that it has been a total bust.

The Mets announced today that Francisco has been moved to the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for Triple-A shortstop Omar Quintanilla.

Last season, Francisco had one of the worst seasons in recent memory for a Mets closer. The righthander saved 23 games, but it was a struggle all the way and was never pretty.

Francisco averaged 14.5 base runners per nine innings (10 hits and 4.5 walks), so he was always in trouble. He finished the season with a 5.53 ERA the worst mark in the bullpen for anyone making 20 or more appearances.

During the off-season, he had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, and then in February the team shut him down after experiencing discomfort in his elbow.

He has been on the disabled list ever since, has suffered numerous setbacks and has showed no signs of improvement.

The odds he gives the Mets anything at this point are very long. No bang for the buck here, move along…

Roster move: #Mets select INF Omar Quintanilla from Las Vegas (AAA). Place INF Ruben Tejada on 15-Day DL with right quad strain.

— New York Mets (@Mets) May 30, 2013

The Mets have officially announced via Twitter that Ruben Tejada has been placed on the 15-Day DL with a right quad strain. Omar Quintanilla will get the call to replace him on the active 25-man roster and will wear the number three.

As a corresponding move to make room for him on the 40-man roster, Frank Francisco will be moved to the 60-Day disabled list.

Updated by Joe D. at 10:40 AM

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Ruben Tejada will be placed on the disabled list with an injured quad.

Omar Quintanilla was pulled from the Las Vegas 51s game last night and was already heading to New York to join the team. The 31 year old infielder was batting .333 with a .419 on-base in 47 games for Triple-A Las Vegas.

Adam Rubin believes the Mets will move Frank Francisco to the 60-Day Disabled List to make room for Quintanilla on the 40 Man Roster.

Original Post: 5/29 at 11:07 PM

Ruben Tejada left Wednesday night’s game with an apparent quadriceps injury according to Terry Collins.

It looked like Tejada slid awkwardly while attempting to catch a foul popup in the ninth inning that Mike Baxter caught for the first out. He gingerly walked back to his position and after making a routine play for the second out of the inning, he was removed from the game and replaced by Justin Turner.

Collins said Tejada hurt his quad running and will have it checked out in the morning.

The slumping shortstop is in danger of being demoted and went 1-5 with a run scored in the game, but also had a mental lapse in the field that led to a pair of Yankee runs.

More on this tomorrow…

Prior to this year his stats backed up my assertion. His career 1.45 WHIP was anything but lockdown. Despite a brief cameo as the closer in 2011 that produced six saves, he didn’t look comfortable in the role. Something happened, however, when he took over the closer role last September: Parnell started to pitch effectively. He didn’t strike out batters at an elite clip, but he did enough to save three games, post a 0.933 WHIP and an ERA of 0.60. At the very least it was an encouraging sign.

He came into this year as the closer by default due to Frank Francisco‘s elbow injury. Nobody was pining for Francisco anyway, but if they were Parnell has made them forget him with his 8 saves, an ERA+ of 192 and stingy 1.93 ERA. Even the percentage of runners left on base – a huge issue in the past- is at a career-best of 77%.

I think Parnell’s maturation can be best illustrated during his sequence to Travis Hafner last night. After two 96-mph heaters, Parnell offered up consecutive sliders (according to MLB.com) or knuckle-curves (thanks Izzy), depending on how you look at it. The 1-2 knuckle-curve just missed, and set-up Hafner for the heater that led to the game-ending pop-up.

That wasn’t a caveman performance. It wasn’t Parnell wide-eyed on the mound throwing a fastball as hard as he can. He seemed poised even after the Ichiro walk. In the past that four-pitch walk would have signaled a major meltdown.

What is even more impressive is how this came during the bright lights of the Subway Series. Sure, the series doesn’t have the same juice as the late nineties, but fans and media treat it as something more than a regular season game. A blown save will put anyone under the microscope, doubly so for Parnell based on history.

Closers are volatile. They are also expensive and often don’t live up to big free-agent contracts. Parnell is under team control three more years until he hits free agency in 2016. This could turn out to be a good value for an organization that needs as much of it as it can get.

Perhaps the Mets found themselves the answer to the ninth inning. Maybe Bobby Parnell has finally grown up.

On Sunday, Bobby Parnell notched his sixth save of the season, recording the final three outs of the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Cubs.  With the save, Parnell now has 20 in his six-year career with the Mets.  Now that may not seem like much, but it does give Parnell a special title.

Tell me, my fellow Mets fans.  Do you know which homegrown Met has the most saves in team history?  That would be Tug McGraw, who had 86 saves in a Mets uniform.  (Jesse Orosco, who had 107 saves in Flushing, made his major league debut with the Mets, but was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins and made his professional debut in their minor league system.)

McGraw is followed by Roger McDowell (84 saves), Neil Allen (69 saves), Randy Myers (56 saves), Doug Sisk (33 saves), Bob Apodaca (26 saves), Danny Frisella (24 saves) and Parnell.

Did you notice that all of the homegrown relievers ahead of Parnell pitched for the Mets exclusively in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s?  When Randy Myers was traded for John Franco after the 1989 season, that began a nearly quarter century stretch in which the Mets went with closers whom they traded for or signed as free agents.

First it was John Franco (acquired from Cincinnati).  Then it was Armando Benitez (acquired from Baltimore).  Benitez was followed by Braden Looper (free agent signing), Billy Wagner (free agent signing), Francisco Rodriguez (free agent signing) and Frank Francisco (yup, another free agent signing).  During that 20-plus year stretch, homegrown pitchers were used to close games primarily when the incumbent closer needed a day of rest or was on the disabled list.

So since the departure of Randy Myers following the 1989 campaign, which homegrown pitchers have registered the most saves for the Mets?  Here is the top three list:

1. Bobby Parnell (20 saves)
2. Anthony Young (18 saves)
3. Aaron Heilman (9 saves)

The only homegrown pitchers to record at least ten career saves for the Mets since Randy Myers’ last season in New York are Anthony Young and Bobby Parnell.  Young is also the only homegrown closer since 1990 to record an individual season of more than seven saves when he saved 15 games in 1992 – the same year he began his major league-record 27-game losing streak.

Bobby Parnell has been given the closer duties by manager Terry Collins.  He is the first homegrown pitcher since 1989 to earn that responsibility out of spring training.  And he is now the team’s all-time saves leader for homegrown pitchers since that year.

The Mets have not developed many closers over the past quarter century, choosing to bring in closers from other teams.  Bobby Parnell is finally getting a chance to become the next Tug McGraw, Roger McDowell or Randy Myers.  If he succeeds, he stands to join those pitchers as the best homegrown closers in franchise history.

Our ninth inning savior has finally arrived!  And his name is Bobby Parnell.  It sure is nice to see a familiar face on the mound in the ninth inning instead of a recruit from another team.

This is a scene that very few homegrown closers have been able to repeat.

Starting Lineup

1. Justin Turner – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Marlon Byrd – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

WFAN Mets beat reporter Ed Coleman has reported that shortstop Ruben Tejada is in Terry Collins’ doghouse and that is why he is out of the lineup and Turner is playing short. That’s all he said. (Hat tip to Leroy)

Veteran outfielder Rick Ankiel went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored a run in Monday’s series-opening loss after signing with the Mets earlier in the day. The Mets signed Ankiel in an attempt to jumpstart their sputtering offense, particularly from the outfield position. Ankiel hit just .194 with 35 strikeouts in 62 at-bats over 25 games with the Astros this season before being designated for assignment last week. In making his Mets debut in center field Monday, Ankiel became the 10th player to appear in the Mets’ outfield in 2013.

Over the club’s last 11 games, Mets starting pitchers are 1-5 with 5.68 ERA (40 earned runs in 63.1 innings). Overall, New York starters are 8-15 with a 4.35 ERA (94 earned runs in 194.1 innings), ranking 21st in the majors.

On Monday, Terry Collins vowed to keep Ike Davis in cleanup spot until he breaks out of his slump. “He’s our guy.” Three days later he’s batting seventh.

The Mets optioned Andrew Brown to Las Vegas and moved Jenrry Mejia to the 60-day DL in order to clear a spot for Ankiel. Mejia will continue to pitch in the minors uninterrupted. Until early June, though, he will not count against the 40-man roster.

The Mets have signed right-hander Matt Fox out of York in the independent Atlantic League. He will work out of the Triple-A Las Vegas rotation. Fox, 30, was the 35th overall pick in the 2004 draft by the Minnesota Twins. His lone four major league appearances came in 2010, with the Twins and Boston Red Sox.

Frank Francisco was examined Monday in New York for continued elbow discomfort. He was diagnosed with a strained flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow and was advised to refrain from throwing for 72 hours. He may then attempt to resume activity. Bottom line: He is making $6.5 million this season. And he likely will not contribute anytime soon.

David  Wright is hitting .433 (13-30) with RISP, tied for third-best mark  in the National League. Daniel Murphy is hitting .500 (5-10) with runners in scoring position and two outs this year, tied for the fourth-best mark in the National League.

Mets OF prospect Matt den Dekker will return to baseball in a few weeks as he continues his comeback from a broken wrist. Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, who fractured the first metatarsal in his left foot four weeks ago, has an exam scheduled for Friday in New York. He hopes to be cleared to shed an immobilizing boot and begin weight-bearing activity.

Game Preview

The Mets try to correct the ship tonight in St. Louis and break their four game losing streak. Last night the Mets and Cardinals each  got 3 runs early and then things fell silent until the Cards were able to get to the Mets pen for 3 runs. Meanwhile the Mets were able to do nothing against the Cardinals pen thus locking in a loss in the opener. Tonight Dillon Gee will try to play stopper as he goes up against John Gast in his major league debut.

Dillon Gee is 2-4 with a 5.55 ERA on the season over 7 starts and 35.2 innings of work. After a couple of poor starts in a row, Gee allowed only 1 ER in his last outing, but was only able to stay in the game for 5 innings. Last year he made one start against the Cardinals where he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 7 innings of work. The Cards have the following numbers against Gee:

Freese 3-6
Holliday 1-6, 2B
Molina 0-6
Beltran 0-4
Craig 1-2
Descalso 0-2
Jay 0-2
Wigginton 1-2, HR

The Mets bats will try to break out of their collective slump tonight against John Gast in his major league debut. Gast, the left hander, is 3-1 this season over 7 games allowing 5 ER over 38.2 innings in Memphis. When you run the numbers, that’s an ERA of 1.16. In those 38.2 innings he allowed 15 BB and struck out 35 batters. Last season in Memphis he was 9-5 over 109.1 innings and 20 games with an ERA of 5.10.

Let’s Go Mets!

Frank Francisco

Francisco hasn’t pitched since he last appeared in an inning of relief for Single-A St. Lucie. He hasn’t allowed a run five innings over five relief appearances with them.

yesterday, Adam Rubin reported that Francisco would head to Double-A Binghamton to continue his rehab, but obviously that probably won’t happen now.

Francisco had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow in December and was shutdown early in Spring Training after experiencing discomfort in his elbow. He started the season on the disabled list.

After a woeful season in 2012, the Mets were hoping for a rebound from their closer who was signed to a $12 million dollar, two year deal by Sandy Alderson before the 2012 season. He is still owed $6.5 million for 2013.

Terry Collins says a lot of things that will raise eyebrows whenever we go to these pre and post game press conferences. Many times he’ll say one thing on Monday and then do the exact opposite on Wednesday.

Just to cite two recent examples remember when he proclaimed Collin Cowgill the everyday center fielder on Opening Day? Cowgill then proceeds to start in just 6 of the next 15 games.

Or how about two weeks ago when Collins said that he didn’t want to move Lucas Duda up in the order because he was a sensitive guy and in a good groove, and didn’t want to upset the apple cart. The next day however, there was Lucas Duda batting cleanup.

You gotta love it.

On more than a few occasions, Terry said he’s toying with the idea of using Justin Turner in the outfield. Yes, that Justin Turner, how many Justin Turners do you know?

In last night’s loss to the White Sox, Turner came in to pinch-hit for LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth inning and delivered a run-scoring single for the Mets’ second run of the night. How clutch has Turner been this season? He’s as automatic as Jordany Valdespin off the bench.

Anyway, to the surprise of many, out goes Justin Turner in the top of the ninth taking over in left field for Lucas Duda who started the game there.

“When you have a guy like Justin Turner, you want to get his bat in the lineup,” Collins said. “We have some guys who are struggling. We can get him in there, but we’ve already experienced enough guys playing out of position up here and its hurt us in the long run.”

Getting Turner’s bat in the lineup on a more regular basis makes a lot of sense despite what our friends at Amazin Avenue think about that. He ended up getting another hit in the game and finished 2-for-2 on the night.

He’s batting .372/.391/.442 in 43 at-bats and the next best hitter on the team is David Wright who is batting 74 points lower with a .298 average.

“I haven’t played outfield much in a ballgame either, so I won’t really know too much until I get that first ball out of the way and then we can go on,” Turner said after the game.

“We had talked about it last homestand, on a double switch all the outfielders had been used already, so I knew it was a possibility it would happen. That’s why I’ve been trying to get out there every day and get some work out there.”

No word yet on if Turner is expected to get a start in the outfield as the Mets begin a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates today, but don’t be shocked if it happens.

St. Lucie 6, Daytona 5

Aderlin Rodriguez drilled a two out, walk-off single to center to score T.J. Rivera with the winning run in the bottom of the 10^th as the Mets completed a four-game sweep of the Daytona Cubs with a 6-5 victory on Wednesday.

Rodriguez hit a solo home run in the fifth and finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Rivera had two hits and two runs scored while Dustin Lawley added two hits.

Matt Reynolds ripped his second home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third. Robbie Shields hit a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Alex Panteliodis pitched five innings and allowed two runs and two hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Wanel Mesa gave up one run and two hits and struck out two.

The Cubs tied the game in the eighth on a bases loaded two-run single to left by Dustin Geiger off of Mets reliever Hamilton Bennett.

Frank Francisco walked the first two batters on eight pitches in the ninth, before striking out two hitters with runners at second and third to escape the jam.

Randy Fontanez worked around a hit in the tenth and earned his third victory in relief.

The Mets will host the Palm Beach Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series on Thursday. The game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 p.m. Noah Syndergaard will be on the mound for the Mets.

Key Stats

T.J. Rivera: 2-for-3, 2 R

Matt Reynolds: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Dustin Lawley: 2-for-5, 1 2B

Aderlin Rodriguez: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

Robbie Shields: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Alex Panteliodis: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 ER, 4 K

Wanel Vasquez: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K

Hamilton Bennett: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 2 K

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 K

Randy Fontanez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER

(Team Report)

Frank Francisco

Terry Collins said he would first like to see how Francisco responds after back to back appearances on Sunday and Monday before the team makes plans to activate him from the disabled list.

Either way, there’s no question that Bobby Parnell will continue on as the team’s closer after Francisco returns.

“Parnell has done a good job,” Collins told reporters.

This isn’t really surprising as we’ve been saying it’s Parnell’s job no matter what since spring training. If Francisco didn’t know that already, he does now. This is Parnell’s bullpen.

“He’s just asserting himself as the leader of the bullpen and the guy you want in the ninth inning,” team captain David Wright said. “No question, there’s a different mindset for him.”

Parnell was angry during one game during the recent road trip when he was bypassed in a save situation, and he let Collins know it.

“When it comes the ninth inning and it’s a save situation or a close ballgame, in my head, that’s my inning,” he said. “Every one of us down there can pitch in that inning. Every one of us is capable of doing that. But since Day 1 of Spring Training, in my head, I’ve thought, ‘That’s my inning.’ I want to be out there.”

Parnell has come a long way and for a while I didn’t think he’d be able to handle the role. But his tenacity on the mound has made me a believer.

St. Lucie 6, Daytona 2

It was a good day for Hansel Robles, who retired the 12 Cubs that he faced en route to his third victory of the 2013 campaign. Robles went five solid innings and allowed just two hits over that span, striking out five and walking none. He struck out the side to open the game. The only run he allowed crossed the plate in the fifth, where allowed a triple to Jorge Soler and he scored on a sacrifice fly.

Outside of Angel Cuan allowing a solo home run in the top of the seventh, the St. Lucie bullpen combined to close out the rest of the game relatively uneventfully. You can thank Cuan himself, along with Frank Francisco and Randy Fontanez for that much. Francisco pitched in his second straight game and the velocity/movement on his pitches all seemed to be there. It is safe to say that he is nearing his return to the MLB.

On offense, Rylan Sandoval was the spark plug in the fourth, as he doubled home a run and was eventually brought around to score himself on a Charles Thurber grounder. The St. Lucie Mets ripped five straight hits to open up the bottom of the fifth, capped off by Aderlin Rodriguez‘s bases loaded double, which plated three men. Dustin Lawley had provided an RBI single right before that.

T.J. Rivera had a ridiculous five-hit afternoon – and two of them went for doubles.

Key Stats

T.J. Rivera: 5-for-5, 2 2B, 1 R

Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI

Dustin Lawley: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

Rylan Sandoval: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB

Hansel Robles: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Angel Cuan: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 1 ER, 4 K

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

Randy Fontanez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

St. Lucie 1, Daytona 0

If you like good pitching as much as I do, then you can understand why I have little reason to dislike Domingo Tapia. The young hurler was dominant again on Sunday, where he tossed six shutout frames while allowing just two hits. He walked three and struck out four in what can only be looked at as yet another step in the right direction for the young man. Of course, I would love to see a few less free passes from Tapia as he improves.

He bounced back from a tough first inning where his catcher Albert Cordero bailed him out a little – with a great throw to catch Tim Saunders trying to steal second and an even better one to pick off Javier Baez to end the inning.

Tapia induced six groundouts in contrast to his four flyouts and four strikeouts, which is common for him in a good start. I’d like to say he is making strides in defining his breaking pitch this year, which is excellent news. He was removed after reaching his pitch count, right around 90 pitches, but he could definitely have gone another inning with the momentum that he picked up. Frank Francisco, Jim Fuller, and Chasen Bradford combined with Tapia for a team shutout. Francisco looked pretty good and his velocity looked to be in the low nineties out there, so he might be ready to blow a save in New York soon.

Unfortunately for Tapia’s win total, the St. Lucie offense was stifled by opposing starter Yeiper Castillo and the Mets did not manage to score a run while he was on the mound. They did pull out the win, however, on a walk-off RBI single by Matt Reynolds.

Key Stats

Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB

Travis Taijeron: 2-for-2, 2 2B

Matt Reynolds: 1-for-1, RBI

Domingo Tapia: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 4 K

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2 K

Jim Fuller: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K

Chasen Bradford: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Not happening. We are looking at a fifth straight losing season, and please, don’t delude yourselves into thinking the Mets will suddenly go on a spending spree this winter. Now that the Mets have substantially reduced their payroll and after this year will be finally rid of the contractual anchors of Johan Santana and Jason Bay, do you honestly believe they’ll be writing a lot of checks this winter?

Next year could be more of the same. After being swept over the weekend by Philadelphia, going 3-6 on their recent homestand and losers of nine of their last 12 games overall, all appearances have the Mets are packing it in before the All-Star break this season. I’m not saying the effort isn’t there, just the talent.

The weekend proved the Mets don’t need Arctic conditions to play their worst. Without Matt Harvey to protect them against the Phillies, the Mets had breakdowns with their rotation, bullpen, defense and hitting this weekend. It was as complete a sweep as can be.

* The Mets are 5-0 when Harvey starts and 5-13 when he doesn’t. He goes tonight at Miami against fellow phenom Jose Fernandez.

* The last two winters GM Sandy Alderson made rebuilding the bullpen the priority. However, this year’s nightmarish edition is the major league’s worst with an ERA nearing 5.50. It doesn’t even matter how close Frank Francisco is to returning as he proved he’s not the answer, either. Typical Mets. Their best reliever is closer Bobby Parnell and they can’t even get to him.

* Terry Collins said at the beginning of the season he wanted to use set line-ups. Twenty-three games later he has used 20 different batting orders/line-ups. That’s not even close to being stable.

* The outfield remains fluid, with something different each day. Jordany Valdespin provides a spark and then sits. Does anybody really think Juan Lagares is the answer? Collin Cowgill won the starting center field job coming out of spring training, but was sitting by the fourth game of the season and only has 47 at-bats.

* Ike Davis continues to flounder and look overmatched at the plate with half as many hits (13) as strikeouts (26). He’s on pace to strike out 183 times. He’s also on track to hit 28 homers, but drive in only 56 runs. Need I say he’s hitting less than .200?

With the way the Mets are playing, there’s no guarantee they’ll get better with three games in Miami. About the only encouraging thing you can come up with concerning this series is even if the Mets are swept, they can’t fall into the cellar behind the Marlins.

Ah, good times.

Most everything about the Mets these days is about the future. From Matt Harvey, to extending David Wright, to the trade of R.A. Dickey and protecting Zack Wheeler, we’re talking about 2014 and beyond.

Sure, it would be great to compete now, but 2013 is mostly for establishing the foundation. It is the development of Harvey and Jon Niese; giving Wheeler major league experience – while avoiding free agency for a year – and hope Ike Davis and Lucas Duda improve their offensive efficiency while still producing power.

This trend should extend to the bullpen, where Bobby Parnell, despite limited save opportunities, has performed in the role that should hopefully define his career.Manager Terry Collins told Parnell at the beginning of spring training he would be the closer if Frank Francisco were not ready. Collins should pull Parnell aside tomorrow at Citi Field – today is an off-day – and tell him he’ll have the job when Francisco returns.

Parnell spit the bit on previous chances, but is grasping the brass ring now. And, tightly. Parnell struck out two Washington Nationals in a perfect ninth Sunday to earn his second save of the season. Parnell is following up last year’s strong second half with a blistering start.

He has a strong traditional statistic in a 1.35 ERA – mostly overrated for relievers – with an even stronger new wave stat of a 0.45 WHIP.  He’s given up three hits and a run in 6.2 innings. He’s been virtually untouchable.

More to the point, he’s pitching the way the way the Mets always hoped.

Collins and GM Sandy Alderson saw that coming at the end of 2012, when with Francisco on the disabled list, Parnell went 3-1 with a 0.96 ERA and paltry .196 opponent’s batting average in 17 appearances.

The Mets might feel obligated to return Francisco to the closer role based on his $6.5-million salary, but they need to resist that temptation. It is not an obligation to return Francisco to the closer role, especially because it is anticipated he will not be re-signed this winter.

If Francisco were in the Mets’ future plans, I might think differently. Parnell, however, is expected to be here next season and beyond. The Mets – namely Jerry Manuel – have jerked around Parnell to the point of messing with his confidence. They must not do it again by changing his role.

Perhaps this is nothing more than a hot stretch for Parnell; perhaps it is the beginning of something special. We need the time to see.

We don’t know to what degree Parnell will develop. What we do know is Francisco will not be here next year and Parnell will. Parnell must stay in the closer role, and remain there in good times and in bad.

That’s the way to build for the future, which is now for Parnell.

Thoughts from Joe D.

I don’t think this will be an issue when the Mets activate Frank Francisco. Having the highest paid pitcher on your active roster doing mopup duty isn’t exactly an ideal situation. But that’s exactly the way the Mets should handle Francisco until he can work his way back into a more significant role.

I thought that Francisco two-year deal was an awful signing to begin with, but now that’s past and his $6.5 million is just something we’ll need to deal with and if it means ultimately eating it – so be it.

That said, I don’t think the money situation will keep Terry Collins or Sandy Alderson from doing what is best for the team.

I would be absolutely shocked if Parnell were to go back to a setup role when Francisco returns. I just don’t see that happening.

St. Lucie 6, Fort Myers 5

Domingo Tapia allowed zero earned runs over seven innings and put St. Lucie on the path to victory on Saturday evening.

Tapia was on his game for St. Lucie, as he allowed just four hits and a walk across seven innings while striking out six. He was on the hook for two unearned runs, the first of which scored on a ground out after the baserunner Miguel Sano advanced on a passed ball by Albert Cordero. The seventh inning saw Sano score again, this time directly on an error by Dustin Lawley. Overall, Tapia was in complete control for most of the game and it was his longest outing of the year to date.

Frank Francisco pitched another rehab inning in relief of Tapia on Saturday, and he got through it with no issues at all, allowing no baserunners and striking out one. Randy Fontanez was brought on to finish the game, but struggled mightily and was unable to pick up a single out while allowing a hit and three walks. After Fontanez walked home a run, Hamilton Bennett took over with the bases loaded and none out. He allowed two runs to score, but danced out of danger and St. Lucie narrowly escaped.

Offensively, it was the four-run seventh inning that sealed the deal for St. Lucie, where T.J. Rivera ripped a three-run double that unloaded the bases with one out, and Rivera was driven home by Matt Reynolds later in the inning. Rivera scored earlier in the game on a wild pitch in the third inning. Travis Taijeron drilled an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to cap off the scoring for the Mets.

Key Stats

T.J. Rivera: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R

Matt Reynolds: 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Rylan Sandoval: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Travis Taijeron: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R

Domingo Tapia: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 K

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Randy Fontanez: 0.0 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 3 ER

Hamilton Bennett: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 K

The road trip that began with a stumble in Philadelphia mercifully ended with a fall this afternoon in freezing Denver. The Mets left Citi Field at 4-2 and will arrive home tomorrow at 7-7. After losing two of three to the Phillies, the Mets won two in Minnesota in brutal conditions, then lost three games in Colorado, including today’s 11-3 mauling of Jon Niese, and of course, the bullpen.

ON THE MOUND:

Niese was not effective, and in his worst start of the season gave up three runs on nine hits and a walk in six innings. Technically, that’s a quality start, but Niese would agree that it was not. The Rockies ripped the Mets’ pen for six runs after two outs in the seventh. For the series, the bullpen gave up 18 runs on 22 hits in 11 innings.

AT THE PLATE:

David Wright went 2-for-3 with two RBI. The top three in the order, Jordany Valdespin, Daniel Murphy and Wright each had two hits. The Mets had eight total. … Ike Davis went 1-for-4 to raise his average to .146. No, they did not stop the game to give him the ball after the hit. … Since his grand slam last Friday in Minnesota, John Buck has gone 2-for-16.

METS MUSINGS:

Matt Harvey wasn’t around to watch the carnage as he took an early flight to New York in preparation for Friday’s start against the Washington Nationals.

Frank Francisco pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday night in a rehab assignment. There is no timetable for his return.

Terry Collins said not to expect any prospect be brought up soon.

Shaun Marcum threw 41 pitches today in an extended spring training game today in Port St. Lucie. He was scheduled to throw 65 pitches. Collins said Marcum must throw 90 pitches in five days, and then possibly another game before he’s activated. The Mets aren’t scheduled to need a fifth starter until April 27.

Lucas Duda did not play because of tightness in his back. The Mets wouldn’t say if he would be available Friday.

Lefty reliever Josh Edgin gave up two runs and has been hit for six in his last two appearances.

Triple-A catcher Travis d’Arnaud will be in New York Friday to have his broken left foot examined. GM Sandy Alderson said he doesn’t know if surgery will be required. That should be determined tomorrow.

ON DECK:

The Mets are home Friday to start a three-game series against Washington, beginning with the marquee match-up of Harvey against Stephen Strasburg.

Charlotte 5, St. Lucie 2

Starting off ugly and not getting much better, the St. Lucie Mets got hit hard out of the gate by the Charlotte Stone Crabs and were unable to bounce back, falling by a score of 5-2.

Marcos Camarena took the hill for his start for the St. Lucie Mets and made it one he will soon like to forget. In just five innings of work, Camarena surrenedered four runs on six hits while walking three and failing to punch out a batter. Jake Hager led the game off with a double and was bunted over to third by Taylor Motter, putting him 90 feet away for Drew Vettleson who drove him home with a liner to Travis Taijeron in right that when for a RBI single. Jeff Malm hit a two-bagger of his own in the second to make a 2-0 ballgame and was quickly driven in by Jake DePew who had a Rib-eye steak of his own to make it a three-run lead. Then in the third, Richie Shaffer served up a solo shot that went to left for a home run. Camarena settled down for his final two innings of work but the damage was done as his he takes his first loss of the season while his ERA ballooned to 8.31.

Pedro Feliciano and Frank Francisco each pitched an inning of scoreless relief for their rehab appearances. Feliciano clocked in at 82-83mph as he did all spring. Hopefully he will be able to get his velocity back to his pre-Yankee days.

The St. Lucie Mets on the other hand were baffled by the Stone Crab’s Jesse Hahn. Hahn went only three innings, however surrendered just one hit while striking out six. Jake Floethe took over duties and continued to hold the Mets off the board until the seventh. Aderlin Rodriguez started off the rally with a homer to left to make it a three run ballgame. Travis Taijeron hit a single then got himself into scoring position on a wild pitch. Albert Cordero would drive him in to make it a two-run game however it wouldn’t be enough as the Mets would go onto lose by a score of 5-2, falling to 9-4 on the season overall.

Key Stats

Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Albert Cordero: 2-for-3, 1 RBI

Travis Taijeron: 1-for-3, 1 R

Pedro Feliciano: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (Fastball at 82-83 MPH)

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (Fastball at 90-92 MPH)

Updated by HoJo at 10:45 PM

Pedro Feliciano tossed a scoreless seventh inning for Advanced-A St. Lucie tonight in his first game action in nearly a month and the results were encouraging.

The Mets’ southpaw allowed one hit, one walk, and had one strikeout. But his velocity was in the 84-86 mph range, according to Adam Rubin, which was up from 82-83 in spring training last month.

Original Post 7:00 PM

Other Mets News

• Tonight’s game between the Mets and Rockies has been postponed due to snow. The two teams will play a split doubleheader tomorrow, the team announced. The first game will begin at 3:10 PM, and the second game will  start around 8:40 PM. It was the Mets second straight postponement for the Mets after wintry conditions in Minneapolis on Sunday forced the game against the Twins to be called off. It was rescheduled for August 19. Weather forecasts call for additional snow on Tuesday.
• Pedro Feliciano has officially joined Class A St. Lucie, the team announced today. The lefty reliever spent the past two weeks building up shoulder strength. According to Adam Rubin, the Mets asked Feliciano to give them a month in the minors from Opening Day before leaving the organization.
• Frank Francisco is set to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Class A St. Lucie, a club source told ESPN New York. Francisco underwent surgery in December to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow. He experienced inflammation upon arriving at spring training. An official rehab assignment starts a maximum 30-day clock after which the pitcher is due to be activated. The right-handed Francisco has disappointed since signing his tw year, $12 million deal before the 2012 season.  He went 1-3 with a 5.53 ERA in 48 relief appearances last season.
• Shaun Marcum will not be ready to be activated from the DL until the middle of next week at the earliest. He has been on the 15-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis, retroactive to March 22. Marcum is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Tuesday and then throw a three or four inning simulated game in Port St. Lucie on Thursday. Marcum, who signed a guaranteed $4 million dollar deal in January, has been injured with one ailment or another since he reported to spring training.
• A Monday morning fire damaged parts of the administration building at Citi Field, the club announced, though sprinkler systems contained the blaze before it was extinguished by FDNY. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to the team, though it did not damage areas accessible to fans and nobody was injured or harmed.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Shaun Marcum is expected to throw two innings of a simulated game before the weekend as he attempts to get ready to comeback from a neck injury and bicep tendinitis.

If all goes well without any setbacks, Marcum could appear in a rehab game with Single-A St. Lucie one day next week. Depending on how that goes, Marcum could then be activated from the disabled list and make his Mets debut in the rotation.

Marcum was acquired to replace R.A. Dickey’s 200 innings in the rotation, however he’s been plagued with assorted injuries and missed most of spring training and started the season on the DL.

Original Post 4/7

If Shaun Marcum’s eight-year Major League Baseball pitching career should end sooner than later, no worries, he could always get work playing Cavity Sam.

His medical record is morphing into the legendary patient profile of Hasbro’s Operation board game. With each passing season new ailments  – and new body parts — pile up and pile on Marcum’s resume. Google Marcum and you can also read about his arm, elbow, shoulder, bicep, calf and, as of last Tuesday, neck. His career has been interrupted by a series of pulls, strains, stiffness, tears, inflammations, impingements and tendinitis.

If you can find Marcum’s medical history via Google, his chronic health issues certainly came as no surprise to the New York Mets, but it is frustrating to a team in desperate need of healthy arms. Johan Santana is gone for the season, and probably forever as far as the Mets are concerned. Frank Francisco is on the disabled list; so is Jenrry Mejia. The Mets have $35.5 million in pitching payroll unable to perform. Jeremy Hefner started Friday against the Miami Marlins, despite suffering a bruised elbow on his pitching arm. Sunday afternoon the Mets will hand the ball to Santana’s replacement, Aaron Laffey, who was bound for Las Vegas just three weeks ago. To make room for him, prospect Jeurys Familia was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Marcum missed the entire 2009 season after having Tommy John surgery. He spent the most of the May, June and July 2012 on the sideline too. Marcum has been DL’d for a variety of injuries during his career.  Milwaukee Brewers blogger Jim Breen fired a warning shot in May 2011 when he stated:

(1) Marcum utilizes stressful mechanics on the mound, which suggests arm/shoulder injuries are likely in the future.

(2) Marcum relies upon a repertoire that does not profile well for success as he reaches his mid-30s.

The Brewers are consciously limiting the pitch-counts for Marcum … because the organization understands the health risk and are attempting to protect their asset for the entire season. Am I about to offer a three-to-five year contract extension at market value to a pitcher that has all the warning signs of another major injury around the corner? Not a chance. That would be foolish.

Then, on the day the Mets signed Marcum, an MLB executive told the Bergen Record, “He’s a blue-collar gamer, but he’s hard to count on for any length of time.”

Not much has changed since Marcum signed with New York. He’s been fighting injuries since he arrived in Port St. Lucie for Spring Training six weeks ago. On March 20, Marcum flew from Florida to New York for an MRI on his shoulder. Doctors reported the Mets pitcher suffered an “impingement” and was given a cortisone shot for inflammation. The team, and Marcum, shrugged it off. On March 31, the Mets officially placed Marcum on the 15-day disabled list with “bicep tendinitis.” The team reported it was not a new injury. On April 2, Marcum cut short a bullpen session, complaining of neck pain. He returned to New York for another MRI which revealed “inflamed nerves” in his neck. The Mets medical team treated Marcum with “trigger-point injections,” but there is still concern whether or not the treatment will remedy what ails the Mets pitcher.

In hindsight, Marcum’s entire career has been a chronic pain in the neck.

The Mets signed Marcum to a one-year, $4 million deal, a modest payroll investment for a major league middle-of-the-rotation starting pitcher — unless your the New York Mets — whose payroll has been shrinking since Bernie Madoff. The Mets, under the direction of Sandy Alderson, have been cutting payroll, trading veterans and stockpiling young talent for more than three years now. The organization has been extremely conservative in the free agent market so why sign Marcum, a pitcher with chronic health problems? They had nearly four million reasons to not sign Marcum.

It’s not as if there was a shortage of free agent starting pitchers available. Kyle Lohse, Edwin Jackson, Anibal Sanchez, Joe Blanton, Jason Marquis were all available assuming, based on their choice, the Mets were looking for a right-handed, veteran starting pitcher not asking for Zack Grienke money. All are durable and innings eaters. Instead, Alderson waited until the end of January before finally committing to Marcum — and all the baggage that comes with him. It just doesn’t make sense.

The pre-game buzz was Matt Harvey being a growing hot property and Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay on a downhill slide. Both bandwagons got a little more crowded Monday night as Harvey was superb as his Mets pounded Halladay, 7-2. The Mets also received big nights from John Buck and Ruben Tejada in winning their third straight game.

ON THE MOUND: Harvey gave up a run in seven innings, giving up three hits and striking out nine to win his second start and lower his ERA to 0.64. With bullpen worked hard for 4.2 innings Sunday, the Mets received the innings they needed from Harvey. Harvey has struck out 89 in his first 12 starts.

AT THE PLATE:  Buck hit a three-run homer in the second and the Mets never looked back. … Tejada hit a two-run single in the fifth when the Mets broke the game open. … David Wright and Lucas Duda also drove in droves. … Daniel Murphy doubled twice.

METS MUSINGS: Manager Terry Collins said Aaron Laffey could be in the rotation indefinitely. His next start will be a week from Tuesday at Colorado. … Shaun Marcum threw today in Port St. Lucie, but Collins said he’s not close to pitching in a game. … Also not close is reliever Frank Francisco. Collins said he must twice throw in consecutive games to prove he’s ready.

Thoughts from Joe D.

Wow, what a game and what a start to Matt Harvey‘s season – he’s already 2-0. We have something very special here and even guys like Ron Darling and Bobby Ojeda are amazed. Tonight, Bobby-O said, “Harvey has everyone that has seen him pitch in awe.”

Harvey now has a 0.64 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 14 innings this season.

John Buck has been a revelation and now has a mind boggling 12 RBIs in seven games – that is an incredible pace. Obviously it won’t last, but at this point is it a stretch that he’ll have a 20 home run season with 80 RBIs? That begs the question, what about Travis d’Arnaud  Honestly, I have no idea. Buck is the second highest paid player on the team after David Wright, and if he keeps getting great starts out of our rotation and continues to hit like this, d’Arnaud will not push him to the bench this season.

Daniel Murphy is going to have a breakthrough season with his new focus on driving the ball and not hitting everything to the opposite field. Collins told him he wants him to pull the ball more and so far it’s looking like a stroke of genius.

Crazy thought of the day? The Mets have beaten Halladay and got a win against him for the first time since 2001. Umm.. That’s sick….

Hey, the Mets are 5-2. Yes it’s April, but who cares, they are playing fun and exciting baseball and anything can happen.