Mets’ relievers Frank Francisco and Pedro Feliciano threw a simulated game in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday.

Francisco continues to recover from off-season elbow surgery, and is currently on the disabled list, retroactive to March 22. The righty threw an inning of work, which consisted of 20 pitches.

Mets lefty reliever Feliciano continues to work on his arm strength, and also threw one inning of work in Tuesday’s simulated game.

Both Francisco and Feliciano remain serious candidates to join the Mets bullpen, should someone falter. Francisco is more likely to get the first crack first due to his contract ($6.5 million) and potential to close games, especially if Parnell struggles early this season.

“…if there is no hope with Dickey returning, the Mets might choose to trade him (and keep Niese) for prospects to help down the road… plus they’d add back Dickey’s $5 million in to the available budget. I think it’s one or the other, though, not both.”

I realize that with the possible exception of David Wright, Jon Niese and RA Dickey are probably the team’s most marketable players, but at what point did it become one or the other?  Furthermore, it frightens me that the Mets could opt to trade a twenty-six year old leftie, whose shown progress on an annual basis, is coming off of the best season of his career and is currently signed to an amazingly team friendly contract, instead of trading what will amount to be a more expensive, nearly forty year old knuckleball pitcher with no history of success.  If it has to be one or the other, certainly the Mets have to keep Niese, right?

Bear in mind I’m not saying that Matt is incorrect.  As someone who has much more access than myself, I’m inclined to give his insight the benefit of the doubt.  I just don’t see how there can be much debate.  To be perfectly honest, I realize that one of them has to go if the Mets are going to add a quality outfielder with a power bat.  I’ll even go as far as admitting that Niese’s youth, when combined with the aforementioned team friendly contract may make him more valuable on the trade market than Dickey, but as he prepares to enter his fourth full season, Niese has the potential to anchor one of the youngest (and most exciting) rotations in baseball with the eventual departure of Johan Santana.

With a contract in place that would keep Jon Niese in Queens through the 2018 season at no more than $11M annually, how on earth could the Mets consider trading him away.  Niese may never have a twenty win season, he may never win the Cy Young and he may never be an “ace”, but for a front office that has stressed value contracts, this has to be a no brainer.  I’m sorry..I love RA Dickey and all the unique things he brings to the table, but if it can’t be both, it has to be Niese.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83

This has been due in part to injuries, but it has also been the product of the Mets organization’s unwillingness to deal with mediocrity.

Jack Egbert, the “power-hitting” Jeremy Hefner, Chris Schwinden, Rob Johnson, Omar Quintanilla, Jordany Valdespin, Vinny Rottino and even Kirk Nieuwenhuis all started the year in the minors and weren’t expected to be big-time contributors this season.

Especially in the bullpen, we have seen much turnover. That’s because the bullpen has been the team’s Achilles heel all season.

Manny Acosta

Michael Baron of MetsBlog reports that the Mets bullpen is 12-14 collectively this year and that this is way too many decisions for a bullpen through the first two months of the season. Too many times, the bullpen has blown a late lead, which resulted in either a late win or, more often, a loss.

Recently, D.J. Carrasco and Manny Acosta were designated for assignment after their abysmal performances. Though both were under contract, the Mets brass grew tired of their underachieving, especially Acosta, who showed flashes last season of being a capable reliever.

Ramon Ramirez appears to be next on the list if he can’t right the ship. Elvin Ramirez is heading to Flushing, and spring training sensation Josh Edgin may get the call soon.

Baseball is a “what have you done for me lately” business. If a player—especially a role player—struggles, there is usually someone waiting in the wings to take his place.

In the case of Ike Davis, the team has been patient, since Davis has shown in the past that he can provide pop in the middle of the order. But as Davis continues to struggle and Scott Hairston and Mike Baxter keep hitting, maybe Davis gets sent down and Lucas Duda plays first base.

I would much rather see the young players—and even the minor league veterans like Rob Johnson and Vinny Rottino—get a chance than see the same guys struggle all year.

The injury bug seems to be biting the Mets, but it’s not as bad as what the Phillies are going through, especially with the most recent injury to Roy Halladay. The Mets have a chance to pull away from the Phillies, despite losing two of three to Philadelphia this week.

Let’s see where this uncanny cast of characters can take us this summer. We are likely to see even more names, like Chris Young and Jenrry Mejia, join the big club at some point.

If everyone pulls their weight, we could be seeing the makings of an improbable playoff run forming before our eyes.

Earlier today I had the pleasure of being joined by MetsBlog.com blogger, Michael Baron on my radio show “Mets Talk Live! Wright or Wrong?!? and he has a lot to say on the K-Rod trade as well as the Mets going forward in 2011 and beyond.

Here is what Michael had to say on Sandy Alderson’s conference call earlier today regarding the K-Rod trade:

JS: Hey Michael, I saw the news break last night on the K-Rod trade via twitter, I doubled take and had to look it up. I didn’t really see anything but sure enough within minutes it was confirmed the closer had been dealt to the Brewers. What’s been the feeling around the Mets concerning the trade?

MB: Just in talking about the conference call, Sandy Alderson said that the option vesting was just one of many the factors in trading K-rod, I have to believe it was a larger factor than he made it out to be. He’s doing the right thing by not making a big deal of that option, I’ve been saying it all along, and as you mentioned it on your show, it wouldn’t have mattered whether they were ten games up or ten behind, from a financial standpoint this was the absolute right move to make in my opinion.

Also, here’s what Michael had to say on replacing Rodriguez:

JS: As far as replacements go for K-Rod is Bobby Parnell the first man up?

TB: He’s certainly the strongest candidate on paper, I don’t necessarily believe they are going to stick with Parnell whether they win or lose. If he doesn’t perform I think they will look for someone to fill those shoes. Okay, he throws 100 MPH but he has had his share of command problems. He’s thrown great of late, but he has to be a shut down pitcher in the 9th inning, if he can’t prove he can do that than Terry Collins probably won’t stick with him. They have Jason Isringhausen, but he’s struggled over the past month or so, and it still remains to be seen whether he’s going to remain a Met in three weeks. I think there’s still a lot we don’t know, but we’ll have a better idea when Terry Collins and Pitching Coach Dan Warthen speak at their press conference tomorrow before team work outs at Citi Field.

Hear what else Michael had to say about the Mets moving forward in 2011 and beyond. Topics include, Michael’s grading of the Mets to this point in the season, Carlos Beltran’s future as a Met, the Mets seven game home stand following the All-Star break, and Jose Reyes’ impending free agency.

If you’d like to listen to this and everything else Michael had to say concerning the Mets here’s the link:

Mets Talk Live! Wright or Wrong?!?