On Wednesday, the Rockies designated Young for assignment giving them 10 days to trade him.

Young, 28, hit just .261 with a .671 OPS in 313 career games and is a .211 career hitter away from Coors Field.

Young was hitting .246 on the season with one home run and eight stolen bases, but his defense was the subject of plenty of scrutiny over the course of his time with the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.

Mets VP Jay Horwitz also announced that OF Andrew Brown is on his way to join the Mets. To make room for Brown, the Mets have designated Collin Cowgill for assignment.

Here is a complete wrap-up of Day One of the 2013 First Year Player Draft which includes the first two rounds and the competitive balance rounds.

FIRST ROUND

1. Astros select: Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford University

Well then… The dominant young Mark Appel ends up going first. Was Johnathan Gray’s positive test for Adderall a factor in him slipping from #1? Perhaps, but Appel is not the #1 pick by luck. He is clearly a top-tier talent and assuming there are no signability issues, he may make the MLB team in a hurry.

2. Cubs select: Kris Bryant, 3B, University of San Diego

Gray gets passed over again… Bryant has the best raw power in this entire draft and is a really great kid. This is a great pick no matter how you slice it. I love MLB Network’s comparison to Troy Glaus.

3. Rockies select: Jonathan Gray, RHP, Oklahoma

So the Rockies, who were going offensive this entire time, decide to take a chance on Gray. I can’t blame them because Gray was projected to be the #1 pick and was ranked as the #1 prospect from Baseball America going into this draft. You always draft BPA and the overall package that Gray provides is undeniable.

4. Twins select: Kohl Stewart, RHP, St. Pius High School

This is absolutely no surprise. His secondary pitches, namely his slider, make him one of the top arms in the draft.

5. Indians select: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High School

Frazier was one of the top outfielders in the draft if not THE top outfielder. Many were hoping by some miracle that he would drop to the Mets, but he would never have gotten past the #10 pick. Comparisons to Mike Trout have been running wild about this kid. 5-tool talent. No matter what Bud Selig says, he plays Center Field…not 3B.

6. Marlins select: Colin Moran, 3B, North Carolina

I had the Marlins taking Shipley in this spot… That is interesting. Shipley will likely still go in the top ten – but I see a flip between the Marlins and Rockies who went ahead and drafted against the knowledge we had from their camps. The Mets wanted Colin Moran but did not see a scenario where he dropped to their #11 spot.

7. Red Sox select: Trey Ball, LHP, New Castle High School

The left-handed pitcher and outfielder, who has very impressive offensive talent, has been scouted and appreciated more as a pitcher as time has gone on. You could basically go either way here. He will likely stay as a pitcher, though. I guess the Red Sox liked him more than Shipley here.

8. Royals select: Hunter Dozier, SS, Stephen F. Austin High School

WHAT?! … Saving money for later, huh? This is definitively the reach of the draft…wow.

9. Pirates select: Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson High School

Damn the Pirates. That’s my analysis. I mocked them to take Reese McGuire along with the rest of the world, but they’ll probably look to take him with the 14th pick if he sticks.

10. Blue Jays select: Phillip Bickford, RHP, Oaks Christian High School

Great high school arm. MLB Network’s comparison to A.J. Burnett makes sense… but now onto the Mets… 

11. Mets select: Dominic Smith, 1B/OF, Serra High School (California)

Simply put, he could be the best all-around hitter in the entire draft. Has a chance to be a plus hitter, with plus power and plus defense at first base. MLB comparison: Todd Helton. Read more right here: 

12. Mariners select: D.J. Peterson, 3B, University of New Mexico

Aw…that’s a nice emotional moment in the Peterson household. Well, a lot of draft gurus had this guy mocked to the New York Mets, with comparisons to Jedd Gyorko. I like Dom Smith over him, but he’s a natural hitter.

13. Padres select: Hunter Renfroe, OF, Mississippi State

This guy is going to become a very impressive hitter. Plain and simple. He was one of my favorite targets for this draft and I am a little miffed that the Mets passed on him. Very impressive raw power. Padres got a great pick here.

14. Pirates select: Reese McGuire, C, Kentwood High School

Called it. McGuire is the top catching prospect in this draft and is very athletic. I love his swing. I wasn’t too hot on the Mets grabbing him, but he is an overall strong pick. He has a VERY HIGH ceiling as a left-handed hitting catcher. The Pirates got an incredible haul with McGuire and Meadows.

15. Diamondbacks select: Braden Shipley, RHP, University of Nevada

Not only did they get a kid generally in their area, but man, this could work out being the steal of the draft. I honestly thought that he was going in the top 10 to the Marlins so the Diamondbacks picked themselves a future stud in this one. Touches 98 with the fastball and good movement.

16. Phillies select: JP Crawford, SS, Lakewood High School

Top shortstop in this draft class. ‘Nuff said, because it’s the Phillies.

17. White Sox select: Tim Anderson, SS, East Central College

A multi-sport talent that likely becomes a top positional prospect for the CWS, who have a low rated system. I think his pop profiles out to be average for shortstop, but he’s got a contact swing and good athleticism should contribute to good defense.

18. Dodgers select: Chris Andersen, RHP, Jacksonville University

Well, this is a guy that I looked into for the Mets, but decided that we would have reached for him at the #11 pick. That being said, he’s a big dude who throws four pitches. The fastball is solid, and the curve/slider/change are all passable. He could turn into a very nice value pick in the middle of the 1st round for the Dodgers, who play in a pitcher’s park to begin with.

19. Cardinals select: Marcos Gonzales, LHP, Gonzaga

I rated Gonzales a little later down in the draft that he was picked here but the Cardinals have a great eye for talented. Solid left-handed pitching talent here. I thought he would be a second-rounder, so they’re giving up potential ceiling for the maturity of a college player.

20. Tigers select: Jonathan Crawford, RHP, Florida

No surprise here. Coming off an up-and-down year, he is fairly talented for a pitcher with his frame. He’s a polished college pitcher so I guess the Tigers are giving up some upside with this one.

21. Rays select: Nick Ciuffo, Lexington High School

Third best catcher in the draft, behind McGuire and Denney. I really like this kid though. I think he has real potential. Vague, I know, but he’s got such a sweet swing and left-handed hitting to boot.

22. Orioles select: Hunter Harvey, Bandys High School

Love this pick. Not only does he have a really cool name, but I think I had him just behind Shipley and Stanek. Really nice arsenal of pitches and should be the #1 prospect in the organization after Dylan Bundy makes his MLB debut, IMO. Very raw — but can be turned into an ace.

23. Rangers select: Alex Gonzalez, RHP, Oral Roberts High School

He likely won’t turn into an ace but they could have drafted a solid pitcher here. The Rangers need homegrown starting pitching considering their home ballpark, so nice pick. But no Ryne Stanek…?

24. Athletics select: Billy McKinney, OF, Plano West High School

Interesting pick… A’s don’t usually go HS. I’m surprised Aaron Judge hasn’t gone yet, considering he’s one of my favorite in the draft.

25. Giants select: Christian Arroyo, SS, Hernando High School

This is…a bit of a reach. I will assume the Giants see something in him that they feel they can develop. Shortstops are always at a premium, though.

26. Yankees select: Eric Jagielo, 3B, Notre Dame

I don’t think he’ll stick at 3B. If he makes it to the Yankees, he’ll have many good days with the short bandbox dimensions of Yankee Stadium. Good power…not great.

27. Reds select: Phillip Ervin, OF, Samford

Yeah, this was Teddy Klein’s guy. He can end up rating out as a five-tool player. This is a great value pick for the Reds.

28. Cardinals select: Rob Kaminsky, LHP, St. Joseph Regional High School

This is basically one of those hometown guys… I had him mocked to the Yankees later on in the draft and I’m really surprised to see the Cardinals take him. That being said, what you see is what you get. A left-handed equivalent of Dillon Gee, maybe, with better control? He has time to prove himself better.

29. Rays select: Ryne Stanek, RHP, Arkansas

This really isn’t fair. The Rays get Matt Moore, David Price, Ryne Stanek… Man, their home-grown pitching is just outlandish. This is a guy that I would’ve been happy if the METS took at No. 11. Chew on that.

30. Rangers select: Travis Demeritte, SS, Barrel High School

Talented infielder – he played shortstop and calls himself a third base man. He’s quite an athlete, working as a pitcher and playing football as well. I’m fairly certain he’ll stick at shortstop and could project out to be a solid player in the future.

31. Braves select: Jason Hursh, RHP, Oklahoma State

As MLB Network points out, he has already undergone Tommy John surgery…and yet reached triple digits. That’s ridiculous. The fastball is incredible, but he needs secondary pitches to really become a starter. I think he’ll turn into a strong bullpen arm.

32. Yankees select: Aaron Judge, OF, Fresno State

Damn it. Even if Judge fails, the Yankees will just buy an outfielder in his place. I think he has 30 home run power…which is why I’m so upset the damn Yankees got him.

33. Yankees select: Ian Clarkin, James Madison High School

Man, I just continue to hate the Yankees. Great upside pick here — and he’s a left-handed tosser to boot. I can’t imagine why he lasted till the last pick of the first round, but of course the Yanks would get him… Best High School curveball. Oh… he does hate the Yankees, though. Haha.

COMPETITIVE BALANCE ROUND A

34. Kansas City, Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana St.

35. Miami (from Pittsburgh), Matt Krook, LHP, St. Ignatius College Prep, Hillsborough, Calif.

36. Arizona, Aaron Blair, RHP, Marshall.

37. Baltimore, Josh Hart, OF, Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.

38. Cincinnati, Michael Lorenzen, RHP, Cal St.-Fullerton.

39. Detroit (from Miami), Corey Knebel, RHP, Texas.

SECOND ROUND

40. Houston, Andrew Thurman, RHP, UC Irvine.

41. Chicago Cubs, Rob Zastryzny, LHP, Missouri.

42. Colorado, Ryan McMahon, 3B, Mater Dei HS, Yorba Linda, Calif.

43. Minnesota, Ryan Eades, RHP, LSU.

44. Miami, Trevor Williams, RHP, Arizona St.

45. Boston, Teddy Stankiewicz, RHP, Seminole St. JC.

46. Kansas City, Cody Reed, LHP, Northwest Mississippi CC.

47. Toronto, Clinton Hollon, RHP, Woodford County HS, Versailles, Ky.

48. N.Y. Mets, Andrew Church, RHP, Basic HS, Henderson Nev.

Good fastball and good curveball. We passed on Austin Wilson or Jon Denney… but Church has really impressive upside, so I won’t be too angry. Read more here.

49. Seattle, Austin Wilson, OF, Stanford.

50. San Diego, Dustin Peterson, 3B, Gilbert (Ariz.) HS.

51. Pittsburgh, Blake Taylor, LHP, Dana Hills HS, Dana Point, Calif.

52. Arizona, Justin Williams, SS, Terrebonne HS, Houma, La.

53. Philadelphia, Andrew Knapp C, California.

54. Milwaukee, Devin Williams, RHP, Hazelwood (Mo.) West HS.

55. Chicago White Sox, Tyler Danish, RHP, Durant HS, Valrico, Fla.

56. L.A. Dodgers, Tom Windle, LHP, Minnesota.

57. St. Louis, Oscar Mercado, SS, Gaither HS, Tampa, Fla.

58. Detroit, Kevin Zomek, LHP, Vanderbilt.

59. L.A. Angels, Hunter Green, LHP, Warren East HS, Bowling Green, Ky.

60. Tampa Bay, Riley Unroe, SS, Desert Ridge HS, Mesa, Ariz.

61. Baltimore, Chance Sisco, C, Santiago HS, Corona, Calif.

62. Texas, Akeem Bostick, RHP, West Florence HS, Florence, S.C.

63. Oakland, Dillon Overton, LHP, Oklahoma.

64. San Francisco, Ryder Jones, 3B, Watauga HS, Boone, N.C.

65. Atlanta, Victor Caratini, C, Miami Dade CC.

66. N.Y. Yankees, Gosuke Katoh, 2B, Rancho Bernardo HS, Poway, Calif.

67. Cincinnati, Kevin Franklin, 3B, Gahr HS, Cerritos Calif.

68. Washington, Jacob Johansen, RHP, Dallas Baptist.

COMPETITIVE BALANCE ROUND B

69. San Diego, Jordan Paroubeck, OF, Serra HS, Redwood City, Calif.

70. Colorado, Alex Balog, RHP, San Francisco.

71. Oakland, Chad Pinder, SS, Virginia Tech.

72. Milwaukee, Tucker Neuhaus, SS, Wharton HS, Tampa, Fla.

73. Miami (from Detroit), Colby Suggs, RHP, Arkansas.

The Amazins’ come away with first baseman Dominic Smith and righthander Andrew Church after Day One of the First Year Player Draft. We’ll be back for Day Two of the MLB Draft tomorrow at 12:00 PM. The Mets will have two picks in the third round.

Live Blog From Citi Field Pressbox

Top First: It starts to rain right after the anthem and moment of silence for Boston and Texas. The weather isn’t Minnesota-Denver bad, but I thought there would be more people here for Harvey-Strasburg. Harvey strikes out his first hitter and gets out of the inning with a runner on second.

Bottom First: Jordany Valdespin leading off again. Glad to see Terry Collins running with this. Valdespin reaches on E6. Takes third on Daniel Murphy’s hit-and-run single and scores on wild pitch. Murphy takes third on fly ball and scored on John Buck’s RBI. That’s 20 RBI for him. Really is amazing. I like Murphy’s aggressiveness in advancing on fly to right.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Second: A lot of attention in the press box on what’s going on in Boston. Harvey breezing. Fans Chad Tracy. A 1-2-3 second.

Bottom Second: Marlon Byrd doubles, but is stranded on third as Strasburg punches out Valdespin. That’s a wasted opportunity and you don’t get many off Strasburg. We’ll see if this haunts them later. Strasburg nearing 50 pitches already.

End Second: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Third: Strasburg doubles, but Harvey gets out of it by striking out Jayson Werth.

Bottom Third: Rain gone. Doc Gooden gets a nice ovation when they show him on the video board. He tweeted Harvey is the real deal. Looks like it. … Meanwhile, Boston PD has suspect cornered. That’s where a lot of the attention is. … Ike Davis strikes out for second time. Buck fans and another runner is left in scoring position.

End Third: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Fourth: Harvey finished the fourth with one hit and two walks and five strikeouts. He’s thrown 62 pitches, 41 for strikes. Everything is working for him tonight.

Bottom Fourth: There’s a steady falling mist again. Strasburg walked Duda, but set the next three hitters down. He’s settled down since the first, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and five strikeouts. He’s pitching a good game, too.

End Fourth: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Fifth: A 1-2-3 inning for Harvey, Strikes out Suzuki swinging. They have apprehended the second suspect. Pressbox buzzing.

Bottom Fifth: Valdespin, Murphy, Wright go down in order. Just in – Brandon: Nimmo is 3-for-3.

End Fifth: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Sixth: Everyone watching the breaking news of suspect capture in Boston. Terrific job by law enforcement across the board. Boston can sleep easier tonight.… Harvey throws DP grounder started by Murphy, who is looking better and better at second. … Valdespin makes diving catch to end inning.

Bottom Sixth: Davis and Duda homer. Davis hit his to left and Duda’s went to center. … Crowd chanting “Harvey’s better.’’ Actually, pretty funny. … Strasburg already over 100 pitches, so this figures to be his last inning.

End Sixth: Mets 4, Nationals 0

Top Seventh: Harvey enters the inning with a two-hit shutout on 82 pitches. But, a walk and a couple of hits later and his shutout was gone. … Perhaps even more impressive was getting out of a bases loaded jam with no outs without giving up further damage. … Harvey finished with one run given up on four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Bottom Seventh: Strasburg didn’t come out. He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings. “USA – USA – USA -USA!” The crowd chants as news of arrest shows on scoreboard.

End Seventh: Mets 4, Nationals 1

Top Eighth: Big cheer when news on the scoreboard announced second suspect was captured. … Another cheer when Boston Police Department was saluted. … Scott Rice pitched a scoreless inning.

Bottom Eighth: Drew Storen now pitching and gives up leadoff triple to David Wright and two-run homer to Davis. … Duda added another homer, his fifth of the season.

End Eighth: Mets 7, Nationals 1.

Top Ninth: Sweet Caroline was played as Bobby Parnell threw his warm-up pitches. The Mets did it before, but it sounded better tonight. … Sweet, diving play by Murphy to get the second out.

Final: Mets 7, Nationals 1

Mets Starting Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. John Buck C
6. Lucas Duda LF
7. Marlon Byrd RF
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Matt Harvey RHP

Game Notes

No Surgery for Travis d’Arnaud! The Mets’ top prospect suffered a nondisplaced fracture of the first metatarsal in his left foot when he was struck with a foul ball in the sixth inning of Triple-A Las Vegas’ game Wednesday night. He has been placed in a walking boot and will miss approximately eight weeks, Terry Collins just said..

Shaun Marcum got through yesterday’s extended spring training game fine. Mets will try to get him to 80 pitches next time. He tossed four hitless and scoreless innings in an extended spring training game, struck out five.

Relievers Josh Edgin, Scott Atchison and Jeurys Familia combined to allow six runs in the seventh inning, and the Mets lost to the Rockies 11-3 Thursday afternoon at Coors Field. The Mets dropped to .500. Hopefully, Matt Harvey gives the pen a day of rest tonight. They need one.

New York had two games postponed on its recent road trip. They will play the Rockies at Coors Field on June 27 at 6:10 PM, and will make up its game against the Twins on August 19 at 2:10 PM at Target Field.

Game Preview

The Mets finally get out of Colorado and return home to Queens tonight to one of the most anticipated pitching matchups in a long time. The Mets entered Denver with a 7-4 record and were swept, dropping them down to a record of 7-7. While there is plenty of blame to go around, the bullpen, who saved the Mets in an earlier Laffey start at home and was strong at the start of the season, fell apart on the road. Anyway, Matt Harvey looks to keep his strong start going against Stephen Strasburg.

Harvey is 3-0 in first three starts with a 0.84 ERA over 22.0 innings. In that stretch he has allowed only 2 ER and only 6 hits while walking 6 and striking out 25 batters. He’s leading the league in WHIP, Wins, and H/9. He faced the Nationals once last year picking up the loss after allowing only one earned run over 5 innings of work while striking out 10 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Matt:

Desmond 1-2
Harper 0-3
LaRoche 1-3
Werth 0-2
Zimmerman 1-2, HR
Suzuki 0-2

The Mets will get a crack at the National’s phenom today in Stephen Strasburg who is 1-2 over 18.1 innings and 3 games so far this year while posting a 2.95 ERA. He has had two dominant games where he went 7 shutout innings 6 innings allowing 0 earned runs (2 unearned). He also had one start where he allowed 6 ER over 5.1 innings. He was good against the Mets last season holding them to one earned run over 13 innings and two starts, who have posted the following numbers against him:

Buck 2-9
Davis 3-8, HR
Tejada 1-8
Murphy 1-5
Wright 1-6
Byrd 1-3
Duda 0-2
Valdespin 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea!

As the great Bob Murphy once uttered, “The damned thing is over.” That describes the sentiment as the Mets wrapped up this seemingly never-ending road trip with a four day, three game debacle at the frozen tundra known as Coors Field. I give you a very rare 6 Down and 0 Up edition of this series’ 3 & 3.

THREE DOWN

Gee Whiz: Dillon Gee was ineffective in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader going 4.2 innings and letting up five runs to the hot-hitting Rockies. On the season Gee is now 0-3 with a whopping 8.36 ERA in 14 innings pitched. He’s averaging less than 5 innings per outing and that’s just not good enough.

No Laffey Matter: Aaron Laffey pitched the nightcap on Tuesday, and while he wasn’t as bad as Gee, he does not look like a major league ready pitcher to me. In three starts he now has a 4.52 ERA with just 9.1 innings pitched, averaging about three innings per start. The Mets need to get more out of Laffey, he’s taxing the bullpen for five-plus innings in each of his starts.

Ruben On Awry: What’s going on with Ruben Tejada? Last season Ruben was so good, he had me saying “Jose who?”. Tejada is now producing very little at the plate, and he’s made way too many errors this season and has the worst UZR and fielding percentage among all qualified shortstops as well as leading the majors in errors with six through 14 games. Hey, I get it, it’s cold. But it’s cold for both teams,.

THREE MORE DOWN? (This is madness!)

Oh No, Not D’Arnaud: The official report is a broken first metatarsal of the left foot, in other words his big toe. That’s a tough break for Travis and the Mets and even if he does get back behind the plate before July, we may not see d’Arnaud until the September call ups, and that’s a shame.

Crashed Davis: Ike Davis and his slow starts are starting to get on my nerves. So far this season Ike is batting a smooth .136 with just one homerun, and two RBI. Not exactly what you expect to see from your cleanup hitter after three weeks. Ike was supposed to be the big run producer, but instead has become a big rally killer. And with John Buck now coming back back to earth, 2-for-16, how much longer will the Mets put up with Ike?

This Pen Is Mightier Than Nothing: It was the first time the Mets blew a lead of at least six runs in a loss since August 26, 2008, when they were up 7-0 against the Phillies and lost 8-7 in 13 innings. The Mets’ bullpen had a 13.09 ERA during the three games in Denver compared to 0.77 for the Rockies. Might be time for a big shakeup.

The season gets a lot tougher on this homestand as the Washington Nationals roll into are in this weekend, then the Dodgers come to town. Let’s Go Mets!

Mets Starting Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin – LF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. John Buck – C
6. Marlon Byrd – CF
7. Mike Baxter – RF
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Jonathon Niese – LHP

Game Notes

• The team called up right-hander Jeurys Familia from Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday, optioning submariner Greg Burke to the Minors. Familia, who broke camp with the Mets in an eight-man Opening Day bullpen, has not allowed a run in five innings since his early-April demotion to Vegas.
• With an MLB-worst six errors in 13 games at shortstop, Tejada entered Wednesday’s play with more miscues than eight Major League teams.They’ve been mostly throwing errors. Terry Collins insists that Tejada is doing nothing technically wrong and will stick by him. Good call.
• Lucas Duda is second in the National League with 11 walks and also ranks third in the NL with a .469 on-base percentage. The Mets’ left fielder is hitting .368 (7-19) with two home runs and three RBI on this current road trip.
• Meanwhile, Daniel Murphy continues to rake and is hitting .393 (11-28) with eight runs scored, six doubles and five RBI on this road trip…Overall, Murphy is hitting .340 and is tied for 11th in the National League with 11 RBI, is tied for third in the NL with six doubles and is tied for third with nine extra-base hits. Nice!
• The Mets will not need the fifth starter’s spot again until a week from Saturday according to Adam Rubin’s calculations. That means Shaun Marcum, who is supposed to pitch in Port St. Lucie today, could be ready to return and make his Mets debut. We hope he’s armed and ready!

Game Preview

The Mets will try to salvage a game of this series today this afternoon in Denver. After dropping both games of the doubleheader, the Mets were postponed due to snow yesterday. The Mets are playing their regularly scheduled game today and there is no word yet on when a make-up game will be played. Jon Niese will get his normal start today, yesterday’s starter, Hefner, will get pushed to Saturday which will push Laffey out of the rotation this time around.

Jon Niese is 2-0 over 3 starts with a 3.57 ERA over 17.2 innings and 9 runs, 7 earned. Niese’s numbers were fantastic before the Minnesota game on Friday night however Niese had problems throwing/gripping the ball in the cold and snow, thus laboring through innings. It also didn’t help that the Mets bats stayed out forever in the first and second inning. Anyway, Niese looks for some normalcy today. Niese hasn’t faced the Rockies since 2011 where he allowed 10 ER over 12.1 innings. The Rockies have the following numbers against Jon:

Helton 7-16, 3 2B, HR
Tulo 5-13, 2B, HR
Gonzalez 0-7
Fowler 1-6
Herrera 3-6, HR
Garland 0-2

Garland is 1-0 this season over two starts and 12 innings of work allowing 5 ER and 10 hits in that stretch. He missed the 2012 season in its entirety and in 2011 he had a 4.33 ERA with a 1-5 record over 9 starts and 54 innings of work. In 2011 he had one start against the Mets where he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings and 7 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Jon:

Buck 10-42, 4 2B, HR
Byrd 5-18
Wright 2-15, 2B
Murphy 2-7, 2B
Davis 2-5
Tejada 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

Starting Lineup (Game 1)

1. Jordany Valdespin – RF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. John Buck – C
6. Lucas Duda – LF
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis – CF
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

Right-hander Shaun Marcum, who has yet to pitch this season due to neck and shoulder issues, is scheduled to throw three to four innings in a game-type atmosphere Thursday in Florida, according to Collins. That will preclude Marcum from rejoining the Mets this weekend, but could put him in line to do so next week.

Matt Harvey, who tamed the Philadelphia Phillies, then took a no-hit bid two outs into the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins last week, earned NL Player of the Week honors.

Coors Field will have a nostalgic feel to it Tuesday as the Rockies and Mets belatedly celebrate Jackie Robinson Day and commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first game played in the history of the Colorado franchise.

The clubs will play a split doubleheader thanks to a snowstorm sweeping through the Denver area on Monday. Both of the scheduled Tuesday games could be in danger as well with wintery conditions remaining on the forecast.

Doubleheader Preview

The Mets were postponed again yesterday due to snow and that is going to force a Colorado Day/Night Doubleheader. This article is being written at 8 PM Monday Night, so there is a possibility that these pitching match-ups may be off. At this time it looks like Dillon Gee will take on Juan Nicasio. The second game is murkier. Mets.com is reporting that Laffey will get the start vs Jeff Francis although there still may be the possibility of Hefner getting the start. Below is yesterday’s game preview for the first game, since it is still applicable and that will be followed by a Laffey/Hefner preview.

GAME ONE:

Dillon Gee has had two very different starts so far this season. In his first start he picked up the loss despite pitching 6.1 innings allowing only one earned run. In his second start against the Phillies, he allowed 7 ER and 10 hits over 3.0 innings. Last year he made one start against the Rockies where he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 7 innings of work. The Rockies have the following numbers against Gee:

Herrera 0-4
Cuddyer 1-3
Fowler 0-3
Gonzalez 1-2
Helton 1-2, 2B
Tulo 2-3

The Mets hope to keep their warm bats with them in chilly Denver tonight as they take on Juan Nicasio who is 1-0 over two starts this season with a 4.91 ERA pitching 11.o innings, 7 BB’s and 4 K’s. Last season Nicasio pitched 58.0 innings over 11 games with a 5.28 ERA. This will be Nicasio’s first start against the Mets and the only person on the Mets who has faced Juan is John Buck who is 0-3 lifetime against him.

GAME TWO:

Aaron Laffey will probably get the start in the night cap. His first start for the Mets was rough as he allowed 3 runs and 10 hits over 4 innings of work in a game the Mets eventually won. He followed that outing up with a clean inning of work against the Twins. He has made one career start against the Rockies where he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings of work. The Rockies have the following numbers against Laffey:

Cuddyer 8-22, 3 2B, 3B, HR
Helton 0-2
Brignac 0-2

There is also the possibility that the Mets will go with Hefner tonight as well (and if they don’t, then I have part of tomorrow’s preview done). Hefner has had one good start and one poor start on the season. His first start of the season he allowed 1 ER over 6 innings of work and in his second start, he allowed 5 ER over 3.0 innings. The 5 ER was disheartening but Jeremy has not had success against the Phillies in Philly. Hefner has never faced the Rockies in his short career and has never faced anyone on the Rockies’ roster.

The Mets bats will finish off their day against Jeff Francis who is 1-1 over two starts this season allowing 8 runs, 5 earned 7.2 innings and 12 hits. Last season he was 6-7 over 24 games with a 5.58 ERA and 113.0 innings. Last year he had one successful start against the Mets where he allowed only one earned run over 5 innings of work against the Mets, who have the following numbers against Jeff:

Wright 6-13, 3 HR
Buck 3-11, 2B
Byrd 1-3
Tejada 1-3, 2B
Davis 0-2
Laffey 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

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.

After discussing my earlier post with me on Twitter, Mike Newman of FanGraphs conducted his own polling to one of the largest trafficked sports sites on the web. There are the results.

My conclusion?

Too many Mets fans are prospect drunk…

I would speculate that a similar poll on MMO would be somewhere in the middle with the majority of them pulling the trigger on such a deal without hesitation.

Original Post 9:00 AM

I am well aware of how every Mets’ site has their own readership of Mets fans, especially so when it comes to their commenting community, for those few sites like ours fortunate to have a steady commenting community. The differences are stark.

I was very surprised this morning when I saw the results on a poll Mets Blog took yesterday on if they would swap prospects d’Arnaud and Wheeler in exchange for Giancarlo Stanton. Actually, the word “surprised” might be a bit too mild, I think “stunned” would be a better choice.

Wow, almost two thirds would say NO to the younger and more established Stanton who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

“In a heartbeat,” said one Mets official, who is not in general manager Sandy Alderson’s inner-circle of decision makers but has a voice in discussions. “Nothing against those kids, but it’s Giancarlo.”

Stanton put up those gaudy numbers at ages 20-22. He just turned 23 and is still four years away from his prime 5-6 years of peak production.

I asked no less than – I don’t know – 10-12 different media types from Rosenthal to Callis to Heyman and not one said they wouldn’t pull the trigger. I asked three Mets players who requested to remain anonymous and one said, “Do you really have to ask?”

That is the majority sentiment on MMO as well. That poll up there just showed me the difference between MetsBlog regulars and Mets Merized Online regulars. The two couldn’t be more different.

Almost 75% of MetsBlog readers would rather keep the two unknown quantities rather than adding a proven 23-year old superstar even under the current Mets outfield situation… Wow!

To all of our MMO daily readers… All 16,000 of you… Well 17,000 if you just go by Monday… Have I ever told you how much I love you? :-)

I think it’s cool that when hot button issues come up like this one, that we have two megalithic sites for Mets fans that offer a nice contrast and together comprise the whole of the entire fan base.

Original Post 3/11

The Mets “retain an unfilled craving for a marquee outfielder,” writes Andy Martino of the Daily News.

Martino says that the team is monitoring star outfielders such as Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.

One Mets person told Martino “there is heat there,” in regard to the team having a preliminary discussion with the Marlins about Stanton, suggesting serious interest.

There is no evidence that GMs Sandy Alderson and Larry Beinfest have discussed a Stanton deal, only speculation. But it does sound like there’s some serious interest on both sides.

This adds to what Ken Davidoff of the New York Post said in a different report yesterday, where he said Stanton, Gonzalez and Andre Ethier are among seven outfielders the Mets might consider acquiring this season or next winter. I didn’t much care for the other four outfielders on his list. Soriano? No thanks.

If the Mets are truly serious and this isn’t just them blowing some smoke up our behinds, they must know it would cost them likely two of their top prospects, namely starting pitcher Zack Wheeler and catcher Travis D’Arnaud.

Surprisingly, someone close to Alderson’s told Martino the the Mets GM does not have any particular attachment to either of those players, simply because he traded for them.

The Mets had already considered, but then declined on trading Wheeler to get Justin Upton or Wil Myers, during the Winter Meetings.

There’s nothing  close here so don’t get the wrong idea. But usually where there’s smoke there’s fire so let’s keep an eye on this.

That said, the Mets obviously need a marquee outfielder and they have to stop playing pretend with this current group of flawed outfielders, many of whom wouldn’t be starting on a lot of teams not named the Mets.

Through the use of the scorecard, let’s take a look at how Johan Santana did this week:

Despite not having any wins this week between his two starts, the Mets won both games. Santana had an absolutely stellar start Tuesday against the Marlins, holding them to 1 run through 6.2 innings, striking out 11. Yesterday, the Mets finally scored with him on the mound, spotting him a 4-0 lead, which he left with, but the bullpen blew the lead and he wound up with two non-decisions this week.

Honorable Mentions

These players, although not winning the Player of the Week award, had a very strong showing this week and deserve to be recognized. We will also show how strong a showing they had through the use of the scorecard.

David Wright

Lucas Duda

Ruben Tejada

Not So Hot

The Not So Hot area mentions a few players who did not have a good week this week.

Ike Davis

Frank Francisco

Manny Acosta

Miguel Batista

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

This area shows the scoreboard of the Players of the Week, and who has won already this season and how many times.

T1. David Wright – 1

T1. Kirk Nieuwenhuis – 1

T1. Johan Santana – 1

Trivia

To finish off the Player of the Week announcement each week, I’ll be asking you a trivia question. The answer will be announced during the next Player of the Week announcement, as well as the first person who answered correctly. Another question will then be asked. Last Week’s Answer is: Pittsburgh Pirates. Alex68 was the first person to correctly answer the question. So here is this week’s question:

What Met was traded for himself?

But then something happened.  After Mike Pelfrey won a stunning 5-0 decision in Colorado, the Mets took one game out of three with the mighty Cardinals — a marathon 20-inning contest in which Jerry Manuel clearly out-managed Tony LaRussa (with Pelfrey coming in to earn the save two days after his gem).  And then things really turned when the team brought up young phenom Ike Davis.  They took 3 of 4 from the Cubs, swept the Braves, and last night won the first two of three against the Dodgers.  So as we speak, the Mets are 12-9 and in first place, having jumped from last to first in that two-week span.

I’m not quite sure what to say.  I am baffled by this awesome start….incredibly happy, but baffled.  And it’s even more baffling to look at how the Mets are winning.  You might remember that the media, fans, and pundits from both the media base and fan base were throwing imaginary rocks at Minaya for not bolstering a weak starting rotation.  Yet, here we are 21 games in and the Mets have a 3.11 ERA, third-best in the majors.  And while they lead the league in walks with 106, they also lead in strikeouts with 170….almost one per inning!  That’s pretty amazing.

Then you look at the other side–the batting, which was considered to be more of a strength this season and at worst an improvement over 2009.  But the Mets are hitting just .237, tied for fourth worst in the majors, and have only 14 home runs, also ranking near the bottom.  By contrast, the Blue Jays lead the league with 28 homers. Of those 14, David Wright, Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas each have 3, and no one else has more than one.  That’s a bit troubling, but then again it’s only April and power numbers usually spike in the summer months.

So we can’t do anything now but enjoy this ride while it lasts.  And hopefully the team will continue to find ways to win as they have the last 10 days or so, and the winning ways will last for several months.

Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun are reporting that the Orioles have inked former Colorado Rockie, Garrett Atkins, to a one year deal.

Atkins, who was non-tendered by the Rockies last week, is coming off the worst full season performance of his big league career. He hit only .226 with 9 home runs and 48 RBIs with on OBP of .308.

These numbers are down significantly from the year prior where he hit to the tune of .286 to compliment 21 home runs and 99 RBIs and an OBP of .328..

However, with Atkins’s track record I think he would have been a solid pickup for the Mets to possibly platoon at first base.

For what it’s worth, Bill James predicts that he will rebound in 2010 and hit roughly .285 while slugging somewhere in the ball park of 15 home runs and 70 RBIs.

That was not Andy Macphail’s only acquisition of the day. He also signed free agent reliever, Mike Gonzalez, to a lucrative two year contract worth somewhere between $12 and $16 million.

Last year Gonzalez was rock solid, posting an ERA of 2.42 in 74.1 innings pitched. Additionally he struck out 90 batters, while only walking 33.

With such impressive numbers, Gonzalez projects to be the team’s closer heading into next year.

However, I’m not as high on this acquisition as I was about Atkins. While Gonzalez is lights out when healthy, his ability to stay healthy is questionable.

Although if Gonzalez can prove me wrong than the Os will have made two very significant, in my opinion, acquisitions that will help turn this club into a winning team.

Fast forward to 2009.  In various e-mail exchanges with Tom this season, he would tell me before each series that the Mets were going to sweep.  And a few times they did, but a few too many times they were the on the sweep’s receiving end.  As recently as last week, Tom sent me a message saying “Go Mets…if we sweep the Rockies we can gain ground in the wild card race.”  I replied, “Do you know how many teams we have to climb over?”  Then I remembered Tom’s optimism from ’86 and thought that yes, stranger things have happened.  Tom was even telling me I should root for the Phillies against the Giants last weekend because our best chance was the wild card.  Dude was serious.

But then this morning, he sends me this….”Don’t even discuss our Mets…I can’t talk…I am close to throwing in the towel.”  And therein lies a sure sign that the season is basically lost.  Tom went on to talk about the injuries, and about how all of these 15-day DL stints have turned into 90 days or more.  Really, the current level of talent in the starters we’re fielding is pretty much on par with the Royals, so yeah, the injuries don’t matter in the short term, but over the course of a whole summer they sure do. 

These last few weeks I’ve been feeling a bit detached from our Mets.  I watch the games but I find myself not getting as upset over the outcome.  How can I let it bother me when we’re in fourth place and almost as far out in the wild card race as in the NL East race?  We’ve reached the point of looking toward 2010, and hoping Reyes, Beltran, Delgard, Putz, Maine and Wagner will all be back and healthy. 

I know many of you feel the same way, but then again….if you’re even more optimistic than Tom, I certainly wouldn’t fault you, either.