Usually at this time, the team is at least still somewhat relevant and playing somewhat exciting baseball.

But not this year.

Sure, there are some good things to look forward to with the big-league club, especially the much-anticipated debut of Zack Wheeler on Tuesday.

However, later on in the day Tuesday, the Mets’ short-season Single-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones, will open their 13th season in Coney Island.

I have been tabbed the Cyclones’ beat reporter for Mets Merized Online, and I’m excited for this opportunity to get to know the prospects who are way down on the farm.

Many of these guys are right out of high school and college and have a long road ahead of them. But they surely will be showing up each night with enthusiasm as they begin their baseball careers.

Just look at the Mets’ roster right now. Daniel Murphy, Bobby Parnell, Lucas Duda, Dillon Gee, Josh Satin, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jordany Valdespin and Juan Lagares all were Brooklyn Cyclones. Not to mention some first baseman in the Mets’ farm system named Ike Davis.

I will be covering the majority of the home games this summer and will try to provide brief updates on road games. I will have player insights, and maybe I will try to develop a weekly spot with manager Rich Donnelly – a coach who has seen it all in his experience with baseball.

I’m always open to suggestions about my coverage. Got a question for a prospect? Got a story idea? I’d love to hear about it. I will be checking the comments section of my stories frequently, so drop me a note and I’ll take care of the rest.

I hope you enjoy the coverage of the future Mets. It’s certainly a luxury to have a minor-league affiliate so close to the parent club.

And MCU Park is truly a great venue to watch a ballgame. After Hurricane Sandy, the Cyclones ripped up the damaged grass field and installed a beautiful FieldTurf surface. It will be interesting to see how this affects the game.

I’ll be bringing you all that and more this summer. Thank you in advance for following the Cyclones!

On Monday night, I watch the replay of Johan Santana’s no-hitter on SNY and was just as captivated as the night I watched it live on television.

But this time around, I kept thinking to myself what could have been with Santana had his Mets’ tenure not been decimated by injuries.

Then I of course looked to the future hope of the Mets’ starting rotation that almost certainly does not include the veteran lefty.

Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jon Niese, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero are an impressive starting five, right? But odds are against the Mets in having all of these players pan out as expected.

That’s where Santana comes back into the picture.

The Mets have a $25 million team option for 2014 on Johan. He will make $25.5 million this season after not throwing a single pitch.

That option would have vested if Santana won a Cy Young with the Mets in any of his years here or pitched 215 innings this season.

The team has a $5.5 million buyout, which it will obviously exercise. Santana at that point becomes a free agent.

So would the Mets be interested in bringing back Johan on an incentives-based minor-league deal?

The answer is likely yes, since there would really be no consequence if his comeback attempt fails. They’ll be paying him $5.5 million anyway, so maybe the team can squeeze out the final ounces of talent left in Johan.

Even if he only regains some of his once dominant form, he can still wins some ballgames. When healthy, he pitched to a 3.18 ERA in New York.

More importantly, he can serve as a mentor to the unproven guys like Wheeler, Syndergaard and Montero. The Mets will almost certainly need some starting pitching insurance, so what better than having a former two-time Cy Young Award winner in house?

But the problem with all this is that Santana may still be able to earn a guaranteed Major League deal with another team. If that’s the case, he’ll likely choose that over a minor-league deal.

There is no sense of loyalty in the game today. Even though the Mets paid Santana $137.5 million for 46 total wins (about $3 million per win), he probably doesn’t feel like he owes the Mets anything.

As a fan, I can easily sit here and say that Santana owes the organization at least one more year in which he accepts minimum salary to account the for the money he’s earned during all the time he’s missed.

But then I put myself in Santana’s shoes. My talent has diminished since coming to New York. I’m coming off major shoulder surgery and have a very uncertain future. I’m attempting a comeback, and I would have much more confidence if a team showed confidence in me by giving me a guaranteed deal.

Maybe the Twins would step in and reunite with Johan for his last go-around so he could finish his career where it started.

Even so though, odds are the Santana won’t receive a guaranteed deal based on his age and recent string of injuries.

It’s a tricky situation to say the least. Many Mets’ fans probably just want the Wilpon’s to sign the $5.5 million buyout check to Johan and be done with him for good.

Yet, I’m sure many of us wouldn’t mind if he’s brought back (on the right deal of course) to try to give it one last shot in the orange and blue.

And if that’s not the case, then at least he’ll always be etched in Mets’ lore as the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in franchise history.

The unfortunate thing about it all is that the no-hitter was supposed to only be one chapter in a storied Mets’ career. Santana had a handful of other great moments here, but sadly his injuries will cloud his on-field performance.

Updated with thoughts by Joe D. on 5/31

When Terry Collins removed Dillon Gee in the eighth inning last night after registering one out, I like everyone else who were interacting on Twitter busted a gasket.

Here was Gee, pitching the game of his life and in the midst of retiring 15 consecutive batters – including the last five via a strikeout – and Collins decided to pull him despite only throwing 88 pitches to that point? Has he gone mad?

We’ve seen this so many times before from Collins and as usual his reasoning was as irrational as ever citing that “he didn’t want Gee to lose the game.”

Time and time again he’s done this and in fact it had the inverse effect resulting in losses for Jeremy Hefner, Shaun Marcum and Jon Niese. Despite his illogical attempts to secure a win for his pitchers, in most cases it led to a loss or no-decision.

Also, what does it say to his pitchers that Collins doesn’t trust them enough to win their own games?

Last night worked out okay for Gee, but that still doesn’t make what Collins did rational or right.

It was a terrible call, and to compound it by going to Scott Rice who desperately needs a day off, only made the decision even more foolish.

Rice leads the league in appearances and has played in 31 of the Mets’ first 51 games. That’s a recipe for disaster for the rookie who is on pace for 100 appearances – smashing every franchise record in the books.

Original Post 5/30

So picture yourself as Dillon Gee.

You’ve had a rough start to this season after coming off surgery.

Questions about your role have been brought up with the impending arrival of super prospect Zack Wheeler.
You take the ball in the Subway Series against the Yankees – trying to lead your team to incredibly rare four-game sweep.

And you deliver the game of your life.

But after a career-high 12 strikeouts and retiring 15 batters in row, you see your manager Terry Collins trotting out from the dugout. You’ve only thrown 88 pitches though and have looked great!

Pitching coach Dan Warthen didn’t pay a visit to check on you. You didn’t allow a hit or walk to signal for the pitching change. You simply dominated but wound up being pulled after 7.1 innings.

Now looking back on all this, Scott Rice came in and did another great job retiring the two lefties. Collins looks like a genius for pushing the right button at the right time, but was that button pushed a bit prematurely?

Once Ichiro was announced as the pinch hitter and with Brett Gardner on deck, the decision to bring in Rice to face the lefties made sense at the time.

But here’s the thing: Gee didn’t seem to have much trouble with the bevy of Yankee hitters thrown his way all night, except for a meaningless solo homer he allowed to Robinson Cano.

This could be considered a case of over-managing by Collins, but the result was favorable for the Mets.

Gee showed little emotion after being pulled, but he had to have been perturbed. He easily could have gone the distance if he kept up his pace.

At least give him a chance to get through eight innings. Now that the Mets have a somewhat established closer in Bobby Parnell, the ninth inning was his based on the save situation.

But Gee would have had even more of a confidence boost if he’d been given the chance to put up eight frames of one run ball.

In the end, this really isn’t that big of a deal. The most important thing is that the Mets won the ballgame and pulled off the four-game sweep.

Gee now needs to focus on building upon this effort to erase the rough start to his season. This is the type of effort that can really get him going.

And with Wheeler not too far away, each start for Gee – and Jeremy Hefner for that matter – will be highly scrutinized.

The team is 10 games under .500, the first baseman is batting .147 and virtually no one is showing up to Citi Field.

It seems that every time the Mets fall behind, the game is over. Sure, the team has had a few exciting late-game wins, but there is very little fight right now.

One issue that has hindered the team is giving up three or more runs in a single inning. The Mets have done this 31 times this year, which leads the bigs.

On the flip side, the team has scored three or more runs offensively in an inning just 19 times.

Even if this team can get on some sort of hot streak (unlikely), it won’t be by overpowering its opponents. It would be by playing sound baseball and scratching out enough runs to win a close ballgame.

But if the team plans on changing its ways, limiting the big inning from a defensive standpoint is a good way to start.

Rallies happen; they are part of the game. Minimizing the damage though is key to winning – or at least staying competitive – in ballgames.

Other than Matt Harvey and Bobby Parnell, the Mets’ pitching staff has been very inconsistent. Scott Rice has been good lately, but collectively the unit has struggled.

The pieces for future success are on the farm, so we’ll just have to be patient until they are ready. But for the time being, the team is still responsible for at least providing somewhat of a decent product for its fanbase.

Because if they don’t, that fanbase will dwindle even further than it already has.

Every day we hear the same thing from Terry Collins, and who could blame him?

There have been times this year when the team has shown it can play exciting baseball, and now they just have to try to do that more consistently. Obviously as they’ve shown, that’s easier said than done.

Limiting big innings is a good start. This team is not going to score many runs, so the runs it does score are sacred.

There is still time, and there’s no better time than the present to turn things around.

One of my greatest wishes as a relatively young Mets fan is wanting to have seen Tom Seaver pitch.

Sure, I’ve seen the highlight videos and World Series tapes that portrayed his dominance, but it’s still not the same as seeing the best pitcher in Mets’ history actually toe the rubber.

However, albeit still very early, we younger Mets fans are seeing firsthand what it was like when Seaver took the mound in the form of Matt Harvey – just throwing it out there that I was also too young to remember Doc Gooden as well.

Harvey has been dominant this year, and his body of work is very similar to that of Seaver.

Harvey has a slightly bigger build than Seaver when he pitched, but Seaver still fit the mold of a powerful right-hander.

Both have explosive fastballs and aren’t afraid to challenge hitters up in the zone – again going back to at least what I’ve seen from Seaver on the tapes.

Both have at least one good secondary pitch: Seaver mostly a slider and Harvey a curveball, slider and change-up. Harvey already has shown great command of each of these pitches, just like Seaver demonstrated with his slider.

Certainly, the mental approach by each pitcher resembles one another. That “bulldog” mentality if always wanting to win allowed each to experience success very early in their careers – and we naturally hope Harvey’s success continues for plenty more years.

But of all the similarities between the two, the fact that each came up with an inept offensive team is just uncanny.

The Mets really have never been known as an offensive team, but to not somehow scratch together a run when your pitcher is working on a perfect game really is embarrassing. Yes, Hector Santiago threw a very good game Tuesday night for the White Sox, but that’s where you have to dig deep and dent the plate at least once.

I looked at Seaver’s rookie year in 1967 and compared it with the first few months of Harvey’s career. Seaver made 34 starts during his Rookie of the Year campaign and finished with a 16-13 record.

However, he had just a 2.76 ERA, and in those 34 starts, he only gave up four or more runs eight times. He also threw 18 complete games, but we’ll overlook that for now since today’s game is much different than back then – especially when dealing with pitch counts and innings limits.

As for Harvey in 17 career starts, he’s given up four or more runs in a start just once and has a collective 2.07 ERA. Yet his career mark is only 7-5.

Now I don’t want to only point the finger at the offense for a lack of production. There likely were times – albeit few – that the Mets actually scored a comfortable amount of runs for Seaver, and the same will be true for Harvey eventually.

It may not even out fully, but there will be times when Harvey doesn’t have his best stuff and the Mets score enough runs to get him the win.

But just imagine if Seaver and Harvey had any sort of consistent run support. Is it so much for a pitcher to ask his team to score four runs per game? If that was the case for Harvey, he could potentially be 11-1, not to even mention the no-decisions.

Ok, it’s definitely not as cut and dry as that, but what I’m saying here is that it’s just the typical Mets way to have an ace-type pitcher yet not be able to score a single run.

Let’s hope that changes as Harvey continues to progress. Based on what we saw Tuesday night, he may only need one run per game.

Luckily, he’s a decent hitter too, so he should be able to help himself at the plate. Like a typical Little League superstar game, Harvey could pitch a complete game shutout and hit a home run to win the game.

That might be his only chance to consistently pick up wins.

Phillies 5, Mets 0 before we even blinked.

But then I realized that Citizens Bank Park is band box, and one or two big swings would get the Mets right back in the game.

Sure enough, homers from the red-hot John Buck and Lucas Duda made it a 5-2 game heading into the fifth.

With one out and runners on second and third in the fifth, Ike Davis lifted a ball to shallow center that it looked like Ben Revere might not get to. Revere made the catch on the run, but there was no way he’d be able to set himself and throw out Jordany Valdespin trying to tag up from third.

OK, we got ourselves a 5-3 game. We’re right back in this.

Hold on just a second.

I again cringed as I saw Daniel Murphy had been doubled off second base on a play that was right in front of him. That’s inexcusable.

Unfortunately, the Mets are not a talented enough team to have mental mistakes. Physical errors of course are part of the game, but the mental mistakes are the ones that can cost games.

Now, even if that run counted and the game was 5-3, that does not automatically mean the Mets would have come all the way back to tie the game or even take the lead. But again, in that type of ballpark, anything can happen.

It’s impossible to think that any team – even the best teams in the league – will play perfect all-around baseball. It just doesn’t happen. But the teams that limit the mental mistakes always put themselves in a better position to win games.

Had the Mets lost the game on a Murphy error at second base in the bottom of the ninth inning, it would still leave Mets fans with a bad feeling, but at least we could say that errors happen and it was just terrible timing.

But the mental mistake in the fifth inning was a huge rally killer for a team that struggled putting together any sort of rally in the final two games of the Philadelphia series.

If the Mets goes out there each night and makes a bunch of errors and loses, so be it. But the losses will sting even more if the team beats itself by making mental mistakes.

Murphy at least seems like the type of player that will learn from that mistake to ensure it never happens again.

That hasn’t stopped me before, but based on the wind, I had a feeling I was in store for a low-scoring game.

I even turned to my buddy before the game and told him to look at how quickly the flags on the top of the stadium were blowing in from the outfield. “We’re not going to see any homers tonight,” I said.

I sometimes like when I’m wrong.

Lucas Duda and Ike Davis crushed pure bombs deep into right field, while John Buck hit an impressive opposite-field two-run shot to right as well.

Duda’s ball was actually still rising as it cleared the yard and landed halfway up the Pepsi Porch. Davis’ blast was a moonshot that reached Shea Bridge. So much for the wind blowing in!

These home runs were an excellent sign for both players.

Duda struggled to open the spring but seemed to gain his stroke over the final few weeks. The contact he made on his homer last night was so solid, and he even added a booming double to right center as well.

For Davis – who had a good spring – that home run washed away any lingering thoughts about his Opening Day “Golden Sombrero.” Davis is going to strike out; it’s a fact. But if he’s dropping bombs like last night, the strikeouts won’t be too much of a concern.

Even more impressive is that these two lefties hit their homers off lefty Clayton Richard, who is no slouch on the mound after a 14-14 campaign last year for a mostly poor team. Davis and Duda don’t necessarily struggle against lefties, but it’s a great sign to see them display power against a southpaw.

Davis and Duda’s offense is one of the keys to this Mets’ season if the team stays relevant. The power they can provide in the middle of the order if they’re hitting can really go a long way.

Throw in right-handed hitters David Wright, Marlon Byrd and the hot-hitting Buck, and all of a sudden you have the makings of a balanced offensive lineup. And just imagine if Travis d’Arnaud pans out like expected!

It’s just two games, I know, but there is some potential here, which is exciting from a fan’s perspective. For a team that’s not supposed to set any home run records, Davis and Duda can at least provide a little bit of thump for the Amazins.

K-Rod said he would welcome a reunion with the Mets and would be extra motivated if given a second chance to redeem himself.

Rodriguez is currently a free agent, and the Mets showed minimal interest earlier in the offseason.

But please, please, please Sandy Alderson: Don’t bring this guy back!

The Mets have moved on from K-Rod and his antics, and there’s really no point in reverting. Why watch a washed up reliever struggle when we have some young guys capable of getting the job the done?

And if those younger guys struggle, give them the chance to work through their mistakes rather than keep giving the same guy numerous chances.

He has already been given a second chance with the Mets. After the whole incident with his girlfriend’s father in 2010, he returned to the Mets in 2011 – after many rumors of a potential release – and actually pitched pretty well.

In fact, he pitched so well that the Milwaukee Brewers traded for him for their stretch run, and he resurrected himself as a setup man.

That was his second chance. The Brewers re-signed him for the 2012 season, and he tanked to 2-7 record with a 4.38 ERA.

So basically he’s now seeking a third chance. Well, he’s come to wrong the place.

With the game on the line in the seventh and eighth inning, I’d much rather see the ball handed off to Bobby Parnell (if he’s not closing), Jeurys Familia, Josh Edgin or Robert Carson.

Give these guys a chance. We know that K-Rod is more of a headache than what his production will be on the field. He was actually charged with domestic abuse in September, 2012, so it doesn’t seem he’s changed too much.

It’s great that K-Rod wants to redeem himself to Mets fans for a three-year period of craziness. But hopefully, the Mets stay far away from this guy.

I’m sure many of us are excited to see the Mets’ catcher of the future, Travis d’Arnaud, take the field this spring.

Sure, he likely won’t head north with the big club right away, but all reports indicate that he is the real deal.

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely seeking the reassurance that d’Arnaud has what it takes to be a Major League catcher. Luckily, I received that reassurance a few days ago.

I had a conversation with Anthony Iapoce, an Astoria native and the new special assistant to the general manager of the Chicago Cubs.

He spent the last few seasons as the roving minor league hitting coordinator for the Toronto Blue Jays, and that’s where he was able to provide expert analysis on d’Arnaud.

“Travis is a gamer and a great teammate,” Iapoce said. “He can handle the bat and knows how to play the game.”

These are certainly encouraging words from someone that has seen him play. Many of the reports we’ve all read on d’Arnaud were from the Mets’ beat reporters, who likely will be seeing him play live for the first time this spring.

Iapoce went on to say that the young catcher is a leader and a rare talent as an offensive-minded catcher. He said the Mets are very lucky, and fans will be excited to see this kid develop.

One concern that Iapoce mentioned, however, is that d’Arnaud has spent time on the disabled list in each of the past few seasons, with his major injury – a torn posterior cruciate ligament last summer – shutting him down for several months.

If d’Arnaud can stay healthy, he’s going to be fun to watch and will hopefully contribute to some competitive Mets’ teams in the near future.

Certainly, Iapoce’s words have me really excited to see the 23-year-old stud in action.

Updated by Joe D.

According to Mike Puma of the NY Post, after telling reporters that Frank Francisco has been shut down due to inflammation in his right elbow, Mets manager Terry Collins told Puma that “he wants Bobby Parnell to take over as the team’s closer.”

“We keep talking about 2014 … why not get a head start?” Collins said. “I’m not panicking, but you’ve got to get somebody ready, and Bobby to me is that guy.”

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York quotes pitching coach Dan Warthen, who says:

“His last 11 outings, he didn’t give up anything. I thought his maturity changed. I thought he and [Jon] Niese both had breakout years last year. And I think he’s there. I think he’s ready to close.”

Not surprising news, but big news nonetheless.

The Mets developing their own homegrown closer? This is unheard of, somebody pinch me!

I would love to see Parnell grab this opportunity and run with it.

I want to see him succeed and earn a big, huge paycheck next season as a top shelf closer – hopefully, still with the Mets of course.

Take the bull by the horns, Bobby… This your time to shine…

Original Post 2/8

Frank Francisco told the New York Post yesterday that he is the Mets’ closer.

Sure, he might have been signed last offseason to be the Mets’ closer, but it’s not like he went out last year and was stellar on the mound.

In fact, his numbers (5.53 ERA and 23 saves) were pretty poor for a closer.

So while he “thinks” he is this team’s closer, nothing is set in stone.

The Mets today agreed to a contract with another veteran reliever, Brandon Lyon. He’s been mostly a setup man in his career, but he does have experience closing. He may push Francisco for save opportunities.

In a perfect world, Francisco, who will earn closer’s money at $6.5 million in 2013, will have a great season and cement his role as the closer early on. Meanwhile, the veteran bullpen options like Lyon, Scott Atchison and LaTroy Hawkins will push youngsters Bobby Parnell, Jeurys Familia and Josh Edgin in spring training to pitch at a high level.

But nothing in this world is perfect.

With the expectations low for the Mets this season, the organization needs to have a short leash with overpriced veterans. If Francisco tanks, get him out of there. He’s not part of this team’s future, so the Mets should just bite the bullet on his salary if necessary.

I’d rather see Parnell, Familia and Edgin, as well as a few others, get the chance late in games rather than run a struggling Francisco out there. Leads will be precious for the 2013 Mets, so the most qualified relievers – not the highest paid – should get the first crack at saving games.

Again, maybe the most qualified relievers this season will in fact be Francisco and Lyon. They’ve shown in their careers that they can be effective late in games, so it’s certainly possible that they can be productive.

But as far as Francisco claiming that he is the Mets’ closer before spring training has even started, that’s a little much.

I’m glad that he’s confident in his abilities, but he should have said that he’s willing to work super hard to rebound from a poor year last year in order to re-earn his spot.

He could have said, “I am this team’s closer, and I am going to prove that right from the start of spring training.”

The key word here is “prove.” It’s not like Francisco is Mariano Rivera. Even with Rivera coming off an injury, his track record suggests he’ll be just fine.

Francisco’s career has been middling at best, and with Parnell waiting in the wings, Francisco’s job should be far from safe.

The Mets seem to be rolling the dice when it comes to bringing in veterans on minor-league deals to compete for spots in the bullpen.

The team will likely head north in about two months with seven relievers, but spring training will decide who those lucky seven are.

LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Atchison were recently signed to minor-league deals. Do these guys have enough left in the tank to be contributors to this year’s bullpen?

Seriously, what do the Mets have to lose? At the very worst, Hawkins and Atchison will light a fire under the younger relievers who are battling for a roster spot.

Robert Carson and Josh Edgin had strong moments in 2012 but were inconsistent for the most part. Bobby Parnell is expected to keep progressing, and Jeremy Hefner will likely latch on as the long man in the pen.

The Mets signed side-armer Greg Burke to a minor-league deal early in the offseason, so we’ll see what he’s got this spring. Youngsters Jeurys Familia and Elvin Ramirez will also be given a long look.

With the exception of Parnell (who has been inconsistent in his own right), none of the above in-house bullpen candidates are proven commodities. But since relief pitching in general is such a volatile position, the Mets could either have the makings of a solid bullpen, or they could completely tank.

If a few of these arms can get hot at the right time, they could form a strong unit, especially if either Hawkins or Atchison (or both) can be effective. With the team’s lack of offense, it will be imperative for the bullpen to hold rare leads late in games.

And then of course there’s Frank Francisco. The Mets took a gamble bringing him in last year, and for the most part that backfired. But it wasn’t just a one-and-done with Frankie; he signed a two-year deal.

I wish the Mets would bring in some legitimate closing competition for Francisco. Parnell is on the doorstep of becoming a closer, but he needs to work through his inconsistencies to take the next step.

On the free-agent market, Brian Wilson, Matt Capps and Jose Valverde are still available. Valverde fell out of favor with Detroit in last year’s playoffs, while Wilson has already auditioned for the Mets but seems unwilling to accept a minor-league deal.

But as spring training nears, Wilson may be forced to lower his demands and prove that he can still close.

On a minor-league deal, I would love to see the Mets sign Wilson. Nothing would be guaranteed, and he would have to show the organization in spring training that he’s still got it.

Maybe Capps could be a guy the Mets bring in to push Francisco. However, he missed several months last season with the Twins dealing with shoulder inflammation.

Capps will probably draw interest on a Major-League deal, but again as the clock keeps ticking, he too may be forced to swallow his pride.

Signing one of these two closers to a minor-league deal would fit with Sandy Alderson’s theme of trying to piece together a bullpen of reclamation projects trying to resurrect their careers.

The good thing about this plan is that if it falters, not only would it be a short-term problem, but also none of the contracts would be guaranteed.

The Mets were the only team in the game to have not signed a Major League free agent before the Marcum deal.

Of course, the Mets are going through a rebuilding phase, but the team didn’t even sign a bench player or relief pitcher to a pro deal.

What this means is that the team will be relying on youngsters to get them through this season.

“Get them through” can be interpreted in one of two ways.

First, these young guys can burst onto the scene and form a competitive team. Maybe we’re not talking about going all the way to the World Series, but the team could have the potential to play exciting baseball.

Look at the Oakland A’s last year. A team of young no-names went on a run and won the AL West division over the likes of the powerhouse Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Mets will be trying to unseat the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies atop the NL East, but it might take more than just an extended late season run to do this.

But the more likely scenario is that the young players will be under constant scrutiny to see if they belong in the Majors. “Get them through” in this case would apply to just getting through this season – no matter what their record winds up being – in anticipation to be a competitive team in 2014, when superstar prospects like Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud are ready to contribute to the big club.

This year will be telling for guys like Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter, Josh Edgin and others. They’ll be given every chance to succeed to see if they fit into the mix in 2014.

Players like Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Dillon Gee and Bobby Parnell are not off the hook. They too have to prove that they can have sustained Major League success.

Marcum is a nice stopgap who can eat innings if he’s healthy, but the future of this team lies far from the hands of Shaun Marcum.

After the trade sending R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays, I started thinking that the Mets really have never developed a top-notch catcher out of their minor league system.

Todd Hundley is closest thing to being a productive home-grown catcher, which isn’t exactly saying much.

Of course, the most productive catchers in team history, Gary Carter and Mike Piazza, were acquired via trade.

Now that the Mets’ catching future in the hands of Travis d’Arnaud, hopefully he can change that trend. Though the Mets didn’t draft him, he will at some point make his Major League debut with the Amzain’s.

Then I also got to thinking: Not only have the Mets really never developed a strong catcher, but they also really have struggled in developing any sort of hitters from their system.

Scouts will say that pitching and defense win championships, but you have to score some runs as well.

The Mets have actually been known in their history to have all sorts of good pitching prospects but not much hitting.

Really the bulk of the Mets’ strong hitters have been acquired via trade or free agency: Piazza, Carter, Keith Hernandez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Howard Johnson, Cliff Floyd, etc.

I looked back in Mets’ MLB Draft history to see if any of their offensive-minded draft picks ever made it big, and I came up with just two: Darryl Strawberry and David Wright.

That’s right, in all the years of drafting players, they’ve only developed two draft picks into superstar Major Leaguers.

Sure, they drafted role players like Lee Mazzilli, Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman and Lenny Dykstra, but I’m talking about face-of-the-franchise type players.

Now along the way, there have been players that have signed as minor league free agents that became good Major Leaguers, including Cleon Jones, Edgardo Alfonzo and Jose Reyes.

But even so, five players in the history of the franchise? That’s weak.

But on the pitching side, the Mets have been more successful. They drafted Nolan Ryan, Jim McAndrew, Jon Matlack, Dwight Gooden, Bobby J. Jones and Scott Kazmir.

Though not all these pitchers had their success with the Mets (especially Ryan), at least the Mets saw the talent in these arms.

And of course, the Mets signed and developed amateur free agents named Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.

Currently, guys like Jon Niese and Matt Harvey can continue the trend of strong pitching prospects panning out, and Zack Wheeler (though acquired by the Giants) isn’t too far behind.

Maybe the problem with the Mets organization is that the team has focused so much on developing young pitching that the hitters have suffered. Or maybe the scouts are not taking the proper time to assess young hitters while breaking down pitchers.

Keep in mind, this is an organization that used first round draft picks on Lastings Milledge, Jason Tyner and Terrence Long. Not exactly offensive-minded players.

Maybe this trend will be put to rest if Ike Davis and d’Arnaud develop into the hitters that they are projected to be. But even so, it’s something to be considered.

As it stands, even if Mets’ pitching only allows one run per game, the Mets’ offense will struggle matching that.

You need hitters, especially a few power hitters, in this league, and that’s just something the Mets do not develop well in their minor league system.

Mike Olt

Just in case you haven’t noticed, the Mets signed David Wright to an eight-year contract extension.

Also a friendly reminder, David Wright is a third baseman.

The Mets also have a guy named Ike Davis, who despite a slow start in 2012 managed to club 32 home runs.

Davis plays first base and is just 25 years old just so you know.

Of course, as Mets fan, you know all this information through and through. But the real question is why the Mets would even remotely consider trading R.A. Dickey to the Rangers for a package centered around prospect Mike Olt.

Olt is a power hitting third base prospect who is also a solid defender at the hot corner. He’s played 212 games at third since being drafted by the Rangers in the first round in 2010, and he’s only made 32 errors – not bad at all.

Though he’s said to strikeout a lot, he’s displayed a good power bat from the right side, which the Mets desperately need.

Sounds like a good prospect to get back for Dickey, right?

Wrong, in so many ways.

Why on earth would the Mets want a young third baseman after signing Wright for eight more years? And after a strong second half showing by Davis, Olt, who has only played 13 career minor league games at first base, would not make sense at first either.

Olt played three games in right field in the minor leagues last year and two games after being called up to the Rangers.

What’s with Sandy Alderson thinking he can turn infielders into full-time outfielders, since that’s the only position Olt would play on the Mets as of now?

There were rumors that the Mets were interested in Mark Reynolds, a corner infielder, as an outfielder before he signed with the Indians.

Of course, the Mets could trade Davis for an outfielder and insert Olt at first, but what’s the point of having an unproven commodity trying to replace 32 dingers?

If the Mets were to make a deal with the Royals based around Wil Myers – an actual outfielder – a Dickey deal would have made sense, but the Royals flipped Myers to the Rays in the James Shields trade.

A Dickey trade still does make sense, but the Mets need to get back pieces in which they don’t have – either a catcher or an outfielder.

Olt may turn into a great Major Leaguer, but unless the Mets involve a third team to take Olt, a trade with the Rangers just doesn’t make sense for the Amazin’s.

Heading into this offseason, Sandy Alderson was bound to make some changes to the Mets’ roster.

Even with a limited supply of funds, how long can a team deal with mediocrity before making a change?

That same limited supply of funds virtually made it hard to think the Mets would pursue free agents, so Alderson came out and said that he’d be creative in exploring trade possibilities.

We’re only in late November, and already it seems the Mets are changing their course. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin recently reported that Mets don’t expect to be making trades and will instead sign free agents.

So basically Alderson made one claim, now he’s making another claim, and by the time the Winter Meetings roll around, there may be a completely different story.

Pretty confusing, huh?

Luckily, it’s not even December yet, and the Mets right now are solely focused on contract negotiations with David Wright and R.A. Dickey. And rightfully so, since they are two huge pieces to the puzzle, even if that puzzle means trading one or both for younger talent.

So if Alderson sticks to his guns this times and says he will pursue free agents, let’s see who he might be talking about.

The Mets seem content heading into the season with a starting pitching rotation of Dickey (assuming he’s here), Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Matt Harvey and Dillon Gee. They may bring in a few insurance arms, but that’s looking pretty set.

As for the infield, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada and Wright (assuming he’s here) are likely the starters.

The bullpen this year will probably be a combination of what we have (Bobby Parnell, Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia and Josh Edgin) and some cheap options that the Mets hope can produce.

So likely we’ve been saying all along, the Mets will look for help in the outfield and at catcher. And preferably, the Mets seek a right-handed hitter at both those positions.

At catcher, the really only viable options that the Mets can afford are Kelly Shoppach, Miguel Olivo or Chris Snyder. Mike Napoli is way out of their price range, and the rest of the crop of catchers has seen better days.

In terms of outfielders, Scott Hairston is looking more and more like a possibility to return, especially now that B.J. Upton signed with the Braves. It’s not like the Mets were in on Upton, but now the market for right-handed hitting outfielders may pick up.

An intriguing name could be Matt Diaz as part of a left or right field platoon with Mike Baxter. Diaz crushes left-handed pitching and especially Mets’ lefties over the years.

Ryan Raburn or Juan Rivera would come cheap and could also be platoon partners.

The bigger names in the outfield like Cody Ross and Delmon Young (more of a DH anyway) are likely seeking multi-year deals, and the Mets are likely to stay away there.

No one really knows how the rest of this offseason will play out. It would be nice as fans to have some sort of clear path on the direction of the team, but I guess that’s just the nature of the business these days.

The first priority is to take care of the Wright and Dickey situations, however they might play out, and then worry about the rest of the roster.

Every year they’re fighting for a World Series crown. If they don’t make it, they go out and spend millions of dollars to bring in players who will help the franchise achieve its goal of a championship.

And if it doesn’t work that year, they’ll repeat the process until they get it right.

On this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for a variety of things including a great family, friends and for the most part my health (I’m currently recovering from a torn Achilles tendon).

But I’m also thankful for the Mets.

It’s always interesting with the Mets. When they have money, they’ll sign Jason Bay, and like now when they don’t have money, they’ll sit back and hope their prospects develop.

Unlike the Evil Empire, that’s the nature of baseball. Teams go through streaks of being great and being bad depending on their finances and how their prospects shape up.

The Mets have been in a down swing since really 2009. Many will say the losing began when Carlos Beltran sat there and watched strike three go by in Game 7 of the NLCS.

But remember, the Mets were a great team for five months in 2007 before the collapse and even played very good baseball in 2008 before another late season swoon.

Despite the losing, I, as well as many of you reading this, have stuck by my team. I’m thankful that the team makes it interesting. That’s why it’s so much fun to follow them.

And that’s why it’s going to be incredible when (hopefully not “if”) the Mets win the World Series. I wasn’t around for 1986, and 2000 was a great run that came up short.

Keep making it interesting, Mets. But if so, lower ticket prices!

Now that it’s official that R.A. Dickey has won the NL Cy Young, hopefully the trade talks surrounding him begin to subside.

It’s sad that the Mets are in such a financial bind that they can’t find the money to lock up a Cy Young award winner to a contract extension.

Sure, the arguments for trading him make sense. His value is at an all time high, and the Mets could maybe get back a few Major League ready prospects in return.

But here’s a guy who (surprisingly) actually wants to stay with the Mets because this is where he got his shot to succeed.

Dickey was 20-6 in 2012 with a 2.73 ERA and led the league in strikeouts (230), complete games (five) and innings (233.2). In those innings, he only walked 54 batters, which is extremely rare for a knuckleballer.

Let’s take a look back at baseball history to see how many Cy Young award winners started their next season for a different team the year after winning the award.

Reliever Mark Davis won the 1989 NL Cy Young for the San Diego Padres after posting a 1.85 ERA and 44 saves. However, he signed with the Kansas City Royals for three years and $10 million prior to the 1990 season.

In 1992, Chicago Cubs hurler Greg Maddux won the NL Cy Young with a 20-11 record and 2.18 ERA. He had played seven seasons in Chicago, but contract negotiations stalled, leading Maddux to sign a five-year, $28 million deal with the Atlanta Braves. How did that one work out for the Cubs? Well, Maddux wound up winning the next three Cy Youngs pitching for the Braves.

In the strike-shortened 1994 season, former Met David Cone won the AL Cy Young with the Royals after finishing 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA. But right after the strike ended, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Chris Stynes, David Sinnes and Tony Medrano.

The 1997 season saw Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos win the NL Cy Young after going 17-8 with a 1.90 ERA and 305 strikeouts in 241.1 innings. He also threw 13 complete games that year. However, the Expos knew they wouldn’t be able to sign him long-term, so the team traded him that winter to the Boston Red Sox for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. Martinez signed a six-year, $75 million contract in Boston, which was the largest ever awarded to a pitcher at that time.

Roger Clemens won the 1998 AL Cy Young with the Blue Jays, finishing the year 20-6 with a 2.65 ERA. Even with two years left on his contract, Clemens was traded to the Yankees for David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd.

Three Cy Young Award winners – Frank Viola (1988, Twins), C.C. Sabathia (2007, Indians) and Cliff Lee (2008, Indians) – started the following year with the same team but were traded near the July trade deadline.

So excluding those last three, that’s five pitchers in the 56-year history of the award that pitched for a different team immediately after winning a Cy Young. Further exclude Maddux and Davis since they signed free agent contracts, so just three pitchers – Cone, Martinez and Clemens – were traded after winning the award.

Dickey would fall into that category if the Mets traded him, since he was put under contract for the 2013 season once the Mets exercised his option. He would join impressive company if traded, but hopefully this award and his desire to return convinces ownership to get a deal done.

His age and pitching style are certainly risk factors, but now that he’s finally shown consistency over the past three years, it would be a worthy investment.

Maybe a two- or three-year extension with a higher base salary could get the job done. But seeing Dickey become just the fourth reigning Cy Young winner to get traded would be tough to swallow.

So the inevitable has occurred, albeit much later than originally expected: Jason Bay is no longer a New York Met.

I’m sure there is much joy about this decision in Mets nation and rightfully so. The Bay signing will go down as the worst free agent contract in Mets history.

That said, I’m wishing Bay the best of luck in resurrecting his career with another team, preferably in the American League.

I’ll be the first to admit that Bay’s time in New York was downright terrible. He played in less than 60 percent of the team’s games in the past three seasons, and he hit just .234 with 26 home runs and 124 RBI during that time.

However, it would be unfair to say that Bay merely gave up and collected his lucrative paycheck.

The reason Bay was constantly hurt was because he constantly put his body on the line defensively. On the plays he got hurt, there was really no reason for Bay to even be close to those balls, yet he hustled all the time in the outfield.

Of course, paying $16 million for a defensive specialist in the outfield is ludicrous, so once Bay continued to show that he was inept at the plate, his release was just a matter of time.

Everyone in the organization admired Bay for his work ethic despite the poor results. Unfortunately, this is a results-oriented business, so Bay had to go.

In the one time I met Bay at the Mets’ 2010 Holiday Party, you could see and hear his tone that he truly wanted to improve and make an impact on this team, and that was only after his first poor season.

Some players will just shrug off a slump and not let it affect them, but Bay was different in that regard.

You almost have to feel bad for the guy, since it looked like he forgot how to hit. Here’s a guy who was a Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star. You don’t just forget how to hit with that sort of resume.

Maybe the pressure of playing in New York got to him, or maybe the injuries really messed him up more than we all originally thought.

Either way, I admire Bay for realizing that his time in New York was finished even with one year remaining on his contract. It was a mutual decision for the Mets and Bay to part ways.

He could have been stubborn and looked to the fact that he signed a four-year contract and that’s where he would be for those four years, regardless of the lack of production.

But instead, Bay did the right thing for the team.

I hope Bay gets another chance somewhere, even if it’s on a minor-league deal. Let’s be honest, at age 34 he’ll never regain the form of his Pittsburgh and Boston days. But maybe he can be a productive pinch hitter and fourth outfielder.

So to reiterate, I was thoroughly disgusted by Bay’s on-field performance these past three seasons, and he was enormous financial drain. But as a man, I admire Bay for not giving up sooner than he did.

I hope Mets fans can agree with this.

ESPN’s Jim Bowden presented five potential trades for David Wright if the Mets are unable to work out an extension, stating that the negotiations so far have been “slow and grinding.”

Hold up for a minute.

Let’s all be a little bit more patient with all this. The World Series ended less than four days ago.

Of course, there’s also a sense of urgency when negotiating with a star player. But before we fly off the deep end, at least the team has somewhat begun contract negotiations – unlike last year at this time with Jose Reyes.

If the Mets do decide to trade Wright this offseason, they would need to be blown out of the water by a potential package, which would have to include at least two-three Major League ready players or prospects.

This wouldn’t be the type of trade in which the Mets get a handful of promising low-level prospects who have the potential to pan out. You can’t trade the face of your franchise for prospect potential.

The players the Mets would receive would have to be significant contributors to the 2013 roster or, at the very least, be on the horizon for 2014.

Looking at Bowden’s proposed trades, some of them would be interesting. The Mets of course would look to acquire a young third baseman to replace Wright as well as either an outfielder or starting pitcher.

Boston’s Will Middlebrooks or Kansas City’s Mike Moustakos could fill in immediately. Of course, these guys aren’t David Wright but potentially develop into a similar-type player.

And imagine if the Diamondbacks would be willing to part with Trevor Bauer. Bauer, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler in the same rotation…that could be scary.

Peter Bourjos would have an immediate impact in the Mets decimated outfield, and he’s expendable with the emergence of Mike Trout.

But of all the teams Bowden listed, it would really be a stretch for a deal to be made. The Angels are in search of pitching as are the Royals. It would be strange for the D’backs to commit to Wright long-term when they’re looking to trade Justin Upton. And the Rangers have Adrian Beltre locked up at third.

The Red Sox would make the most sense, especially since they cleared payroll with the summer’s blockbuster trade with the Dodgers. They also could use a new beginning after a terrible season.

The majority of Mets fans want to keep Wright, but if a trade is the only option, the team better get several quality players back in return.

Contract extensions will be all the buzz this offseason for the Mets.

The team’s only superstars, David Wright and R.A. Dickey, both are coming up on option years, so all the talk has been centered on them agreeing to contract extensions before making any other moves.

But there’s another potential extension that may be discussed this offseason: an extension for manager Terry Collins.

Collins signed a two-year contract in November, 2010 with a third-year option for 2013. Sure enough, even before the 2011 season was through, the Mets exercised Collins’s 2013 option.

Through two seasons in Flushing, Collins has a record of 151-173 with two mediocre-at-best teams. The team finished in fourth place in the NL East both seasons.

At least last year, the Mets had a little bit of firepower with Jose Reyes and a half-season of Carlos Beltran. This year, it was really a team of unproven players other than David Wright.

Maybe Collins’s two seasons didn’t end up so favorably, but there were times during each season that he had the Mets overachieving and playing great baseball. That’s really all you can ask from a manager on a cash-strapped team: getting the most out of his young talent.

Sometimes, the manager takes the blame for all of a team’s problems. Look at Bobby Valentine this year for the Red Sox. Granted, he didn’t always say the right things, but he wasn’t the one on the field underperforming.

But for the Mets, Collins so far has been considered more part of the solution than the problem. Many of the younger players gained a familiarity with him before he became manager, since he was the team’s minor league field coordinator in 2010.

The Mets should consider a multi-year contract extension for Collins, with reasons being two-fold.

First, Collins has earned this extension. Keeping a team of the Mets’ caliber in contention for as long as he did each season is certainly an accomplishment and should be rewarded with a vote of confidence.

Second, managers always seem to perform better when they are not on the hot seat. Rather than worrying about if his job is safe, Collins can focus on putting the 2013 Mets in the best position to win ballgames.

In all likelihood, 2013 will not be the second coming of 1986. But Collins has done enough in his time here to be a part of the next Mets’ playoff run, assuming that is sometime in the next five years when the team may actually have a bit more money to spend.