Fielding a team that can win enough to hold back the onset of apathy in the fan base is a standard goal for a front office engaged in rebuild mode. Failing that, constructing a roster that features young, exciting players that provide the promise of greatness to come can compensate to a degree, an approach that has been used before during the “Bring Your Kids to See Our Kids” campaign of 1979 and again in 1983 when the slogan “Catch Our Rising Stars” was employed to communicate the same enticement.  It is possible that the law of averages alone will dictate a better level of performance by certain key players (guess who) and the team overall as the season progresses, but it will likely coincide with the arrival of Messrs. Wheeler and D’Arnaud. At that point, we may be looking at a roster that has undergone some significant changes.

In the last piece in which I speculated about Met trade possibilities, I concentrated on potential targets for the team to pursue by leveraging their apparent surplus of pitching prospects. Today I intend to look more closely at trade chips on the major league roster, probable suitors for their services, and some possible acquisition candidates. Some of this may represent examples of wishful thinking, but I have striven to keep things realistic.

BULLPEN: Seriously? Other than Bobby Parnell is anyone really going to want these guys? Well, contending teams are typically looking to shore up their relief corps with veteran arms, and capable left-handers are always a desirable commodity, so yes, I expect some interest to be shown in the Met Fire Brigade by at least a few teams. With “veteran” being a key word here, one should assume that the more senior members of the bullpen staff will be shopped and will generate a goodly amount of interest as long as they remain reasonably effective. LaTroy Hawkins, Brandon Lyon, Greg Burke, Scott Rice and the rehabbing Tim Byrdak all fit the bill of future marketable trade fodder, Rice’s “older rookie” status notwithstanding. Just about any contending team qualifies as a possible destination for these players, but those with the most obvious need at this point include Tampa Bay, whose bullpen is ranked one notch from the bottom in all of MLB despite their being only 4 games out of first at the time of this writing, and St. Louis, currently in first place in the NL Central but with a bullpen ranked fourth from last and only one tick higher than that of the Mets.

Relievers  are among the more transient assets in baseball (as Met fans can attest), so the payoff in trade is generally a prospect or two of less than stellar quality, with quantity often compensating for the relative lack of star potential. These players often come from AA and below, so I don’t foresee much in the way of quick fix material arriving in any hypothetical deal that could materialize. However, with the philosophy and track record of the Alderson team being what it is, we can expect that any return package obtained by New York will include at least one prospect that merits a flyer.

STARTING ROTATION: Not that the Mets have any to spare, but as starters  are at a premium at all times, you can’t rule out the possibility of someone making a good enough offer to pique the Sandman’s interest. The only candidates I can truly envision going in a deal of this nature would be Shaun Marcum, who would probably have at least a couple wins by now on a team with a decent offense, and  Jon Niese, whose youth, left-handedness, experience, highly affordable contract, and relatively successful track record make him a highly marketable chip. Clearly the team will not be looking to deal Harvey, and Gee’s inconsistency and injury history are not likely to interest many looking to arm up for a stretch drive.

Teams with the greatest need in this area include Baltimore, Oakland, San Francisco, and Colorado, all of which are either leading their divisions or in contention despite having starting staffs that rank lower than that of the Mets (thanks largely to Mr. Harvey), and other than the Rockies (who barely escape this distinction) are firmly in the lower 33% of MLB rotations. Trades of this type usually involve pitching going in both directions, where one team swaps inexperienced, often erratic arms full of promise for the hoped-for consistency and veteran mound presence that can help carry them to glory. Of course, teams also deal from strength, so, recognizing the Mets’ shortage of viable outfield options, it is probable that trade partners with a surplus in this area will come calling.

Baltimore’s highest rated prospect is pitcher Dylan Bundy, but both his injury status and outrageous potential pretty much exclude him from the picture. Their best AA pitcher, Kevin Gausman has already been promoted to the big club due to their desperation for starters. He’s a big hard-throwing righthander with a terrific K/BB ratio and any deal involving Niese would have to include him in my opinion. After the whole Wheeler/Beltran thing, Brian Sabean might not be as anxious to do a deal with the Mets so soon after, but outfielder Gary Brown is pretty well blocked by in their system by Angel Pagan so there appears to be a fit. Oakland’s top outfield prospect is Michael Choice, a corner outfielder with the kind of power bat the Mets crave. Colorado has Kyle Parker at AA, an outfielder who profiles similarly to Choice, but is probably at least two years away.

POSITION PLAYERS: Before you start, even if there were any takers on Ike now, which is questionable, I’m not inclined to sell low on anyone. Anyway, I’m still looking for him to snap out of it. No, the real potential trade chips here are the veteran outfield bats of Marlon Byrd and the surprising Rick Ankiel (provided he keeps it up), along with the soon-to-be superfluous John Buck and the versatile Daniel Murphy. Of this group, Murph is probably the most valuable, being able to adequately man three infield positions and going through the occasional unconscious period at the plate where line drives materialize out of his bat seemingly at will. Speculation has already arisen that the Nationals could look to acquire him to replace the ineffective Danny Espinosa.  Knowing the Alderson approach, he would likely ask for Washington’s top outfield prospect Brian Goodwin, a five-tool CF currently at AA Harrisburg, but trades between division rivals are tricky and I’m not sure even Sandy could pry him away. A more realistic target would be AAA CF Eury Perez, a speedy leadoff type whose slot in the big club is held down by recent acquisition Denard Span.

Buck is attractive to teams for his veteran presence, defensive prowess, and occasional power, but I wouldn’t expect him to command a big return. Byrd and Ankiel profile as the type of players teams acquire to strengthen their benches for the stretch run, but again, the return on trades of this type are not likely to include anything of top-tier value. We will have to put our faith in the scouting ability of Alderson, DePodesta, et al to help insure that something useful comes back on this end of any deal.

The Mets are clearly in transition mode and changes are to be expected. Hopefully we can all glean some excitement from those shifts even if we have to wait longer for the eventual payoff. I just hope the wait isn’t too much longer.

Well, sort of.

This past Friday the Miami Marlins designated former-Met Jon Rauch for assignment and in the past 24 hours there have been conflicting reports regarding his potential release. If talk of his release is accurate, the Mets should be biting.

As my colleague Ed Leyro pointed out back in February, this Mets ballclub doesn’t quite measure up in comparison to last year.

With the non-tendering of the 6’7″ Mike Pelfrey, and the non-signings of the 6’10″ Chris Young and the burly 6’11″ Rauch, the Amazin’s lost their three tallest players. At the time of Ed’s article, not a single Met on the active roster was listed at over 6″4″, however both LaTroy Hawkins (6’5″) and Scott Rice (6’6″) have since trumped that mark.

Rauch has had an unfortunate start to the year, going 1-2 with an ugly 7.56 ERA in just 15 outings with Miami. His stats across the board are pretty unsightly, however given that he was one of the more dependable arms out of the ‘pen last season, Rauch is worth taking a chance on.

The now 34-year old has a career 3.80 ERA–discounting this year–and pitched effectively in 2012 with the Mets to the tune of a 3.59 ERA and 0.988 WHIP. Given the lowly state of the Mets’ bullpen that has somehow found a way to be even worse than last year, he is at least worth taking a look at.

If Alderson and company were to choose to take a flyer on him, Rauch could once again stand tall as a go-to arm of out of the mess known as the bullpen. What is there to lose?

What does everyone think? Anyone up for a Rauch reunion?

Updated Post 7:40 PM

Straight from the files of Believe It Or Not, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported via Twitter that Ike Davis is unlikely to be demoted before the end of the weekend.

“Was told Ike is on double, secret probation, but likely still be a Met on Friday. Mets will use weekend to get a “better understanding.”

If the Mets still need more time to get a better understanding of Davis, they’re not as smart as I thought they were. Obviously I’ve been giving them far too much credit…

Original Post 5:30 PM

Ike Davis has lost his way. Not just at the plate, but in the field too. Terry Collins said after the game today, that the first baseman’s slump at the plate has not affected his play on the field. I beg to differ.

Maybe Terry feels a desperate need to defend his players, but to say that his last few miscues on the field are unrelated to what Davis is going through at the plate doesn’t ring true.

We’ve all seen Ike Davis at his best and have all marveled as fans over his gold glove caliber defense. But that was then and this is now. His instincts at first base are deteriorating and I believe it’s because he has something else eating at his mind. Davis is so unfocused and frequently looks like he’s in a daze.

During the 2010 through 2012 seasons, Ike Davis makes that play today down the first base line rather than just staring at it. The same can be said about his faux pas two days earlier when he stood in front of the runner on the basepath like a zombie and got called for obstruction.

Why can’t Terry Collins see what is so apparent to the few thousand fans who still go to the game? There’s a good reason why Davis is absorbing all the boos at the plate and now in the field. This isn’t the same player we grew to love almost from the first moment he made his debut three years ago. Remember how excited we were? Who didn’t think Ike Davis was a core player right from the start?

We want that Ike Davis back again. The only way that happens is by doing the right thing and sending him to Triple-A where he can sort out his problems and rediscover his stroke, his glove, and more importantly his confidence that is evidently shattered.

I’m not mad at Davis, I’m really not. But I am angry at Terry Collins who constantly makes excuses for bad baseball. There seems to be no more accountability on this team, only a boatload of excuses after each game. I guess that’s what I’m most concerned about. I want a manager who gets pissed off when he sees a breakdown in baseball fundamentals and not cover for his players.

Maybe Ike Davis’ biggest problem is Terry Collins who seems to have become his enabler… I don’t know, I’m not a psychologist, but it sure looks that way…

Davis is a very likable guy and I still believe he has a world of talent. But it’s time for the Mets to save him… It’s time for the Mets to try and get Davis back on track and that’s not going to happen in the major leagues. Don’t let this situation reach the point of no return because if that happens, we all lose. Just do the right thing.

Terry Collins

It won’t be fair, but we know few things in baseball aren’t fair.Collins doesn’t have a contract beyond this season, and his lame duck status rises to the surface when the Mets go into a tailspin, as they did last week when they lost a season-high six straight games, and he later blasted the fans over the Jordany Valdespin episode.

I ripped him over Valdespin with no regrets, but Collins does deserve some points for his clarification the next day. He didn’t retract, which is fine, didn’t say he was misquoted, which is commendable, but said there was room for interpretation.

Sometimes, I don’t get where Collins is coming from when he waffles – for example, I don’t think he gaveCollin Cowgill a long enough opportunity in center/leadoff at the start of the season – but for the most part realize he’s dealing with a lack of depth and talent.

Assuming there’s no turnaround, this will be Collins’ third straight losing season, enough to get most managers sacked, but there is a unique scenario in Flushing.

Collins was not hired to take the Mets to the playoffs. He was hired as a caretaker and to change the culture. He is being asked to win a poker hand with five cards worth of mismatched talent. When it comes to discarding cards, Collins might keep David Wright and Matt Harvey, but that’s about it.

Sandy Alderson – also hired as a caretaker – and ownership, which is trying to stabilize its financial ship, have not given Collins a genuine opportunity to win.

Collins has not changed the culture, but he’s not had total support from Alderson in that regard. How else can you explain Valdespin’s presence on the roster? Also, Alderson’s comments yesterday about it not being imminent Ike Davis will be optioned shows a lack of changing the culture.

And, not for a second do I buy there’s no other alternative. The issue isn’t who will play first base for a month in a lost season, but why won’t they make the decision to do something to help Davis?

That falls on Alderson, not Collins.

A way you determine whether a manager is reaching his players is if they’ll still hustle for him and if he loses his clubhouse, and there’s not enough evidence of either. The captain, Wright, plays hard and is the proper example.

However, keeping Valdespin’s toxic attitude and Davis’ dysfunctional bat could gradually eat away at this team’s psyche. Collins’ lame duck status can also do the same.

If the Mets are to be financially whole after this season and show a willingness to spend to add talent, then Collins should get the opportunity to manage that team. He should get the chance to manage with some degree of talent in his dugout.

In looking at the Mets’ 25-man roster, I only see a handful of players I can say with certainty will be back next year: Wright, Harvey, Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell. I can see Daniel Murphy back, but also dealt in July. I can see somebody else playing shortstop next year. Everybody else I can see gone.

That indicates no core or organizational depth, and that’s not Collins’ fault. Give Collins time with a full deck and then make a decision. It’s not fair to do so otherwise.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post, pops the question and defends Collins, saying:

“It is relatively easy to argue his second-year team had worse talent than his first and this, his third team, has worse talent than his second…That is why I have no idea if Collins is a good manager or not. Showalter would lose big with this team, and so would Tony La Russa and Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel. Or some cloned combo of all of them.”

Sherman draws a comparison between what Collins has been given to work with as compared to the last Mets manager to succeed, Willie Randolph.

“He was given Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner to team with the young Jose Reyes and David Wright and the still-succeeding Tom Glavine. Collins has had the opposite, pretty much — the removal of anything approaching veteran talent from this roster and a bunch of booby prizes put in their place.”

This is about lack of talent, not Collins, he goes onto write. And as I’ve been maintaining since the offseason, Collins will indeed be the sacrificial lamb – that much was true when he was allowed to go into this season as a lame duck manager.

But as Sherman concludes, no Mets manager ever will get a truly fair judgment if Sandy Alderson never figures out how to enrich the talent level of the 25-man roster.

Last week, I wrote how the most frustrating thing about Alderson’s first three years as the Mets’ GM, is that there is not one keeper he brought in on the MLB squad – not one major league player in three seasons.

While we hope the farm is as good and improved as we think it is, ultimately those determinations are only made in the major leagues and not from a prospect ranking list. That’s how it’s always been in the ol’ ball game…

Byrd captured the attention of Mets fans and earned himself a spot on the roster with an incredible spring training, in which he hit .357 with a .965 OPS and a team-leading nine doubles, five more than anyone else on the team. However, once the calender turned and regular season play began, Byrd struggled, and was relegated to a lesser role. He finished the month of April with a .232 batting average and a .759 OPS.

Since May began, Byrd has turned it on at the plate. Despite having a diminished role, Byrd has hit .357 with a  .988 OPS this month along with two home runs in 29 plate appearances.

The reason for Byrd’s decline over the past two seasons (other than just getting a little bit older) may very well be his plate discipline. Byrd, in his best years, was swinging at pitches outside the strike zone somewhere in the range of 29 to 30% of the time. That number has increased to the high-30% range over the past few years. This year, he is swinging at a career high 40.9% of pitches outside the strike zone, but recently, has improved on that dramatically. He stuck out in almost 32% of his plate appearances in April, striking out at least once in almost every game, but has lowered that significantly, to just 24% this month.

Compared to the rest of the outfield recently, Byrd has been by far the best hitter. Here is how he compares to the rest of the outfield this month:

Byrd has been overlooked the entire season, when in reality, he one of the best options the Mets have on the 40-man roster. Remember, not too long ago, Byrd was a reliable 10-15 home run hitter with a .280-.290 batting average, which isn’t great, but it is certainly better than the struggling Mike Baxter.

Updated by HoJo at 4:30 PM

Gary Apple of SNY announced that GM Sandy Alderson spoke personally with slumping first baseman Ike Davis before today’s game.

The message was that he has until the end of this month to turn his slump around or he’s going back to the Minor Leagues.

Original Post 11:30 AM

Discussions of demoting Ike Davis have intensified within the Mets organization says Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Although the Mets slumping first baseman snapped his 0-for-24 streak yesterday, he may only have until the end of this weekend series in Chicago before the Amazin’s ship Ike off to Vegas.

Rubin cites the use of Andrew Brown at first base Friday for the Las Vegas 51s–the first time this season–as a “telltale sign” a move might be coming soon. Brown was 3-for-15 in his short stint with the Mets before being sent down Monday with the acquisition of Rick Ankiel. Since Brown has to stay in the minors for 10 days before being recalled, he would not be able to be promoted until mid-next week.

Rubin also lists Zach Lutz and Josh Satin as other potential first base candidates, however Satin is not on the 40-man roster and he believes the Mets would favor Brown for the job over Lutz.

Davis is batting an ice cold .160/.245/.267 with 46 strikeouts and only four homers and nine RBIs in 131 at-bats.

The time has come for Ike to be sent down. As Gary Cohen pointed out in yesterday’s broadcast, when Davis struggled last year, he at least had a decent RBI total and was able to be productive in other ways. Now he is entirely lost and is showing no signs of figuring things out at the major league level.

I could see Justin Turner getting some time at first once Ike is sent down. Given that he has seen time all over the diamond this season and that he has one of the only consistent bats on the roster, they need to get him in the lineup somehow.

“Niese’s masterpiece aside, the Mets have been careening toward disaster for most of May and are now on pace for 100 losses. No one should be surprised; this roster has been badly flawed from the outset. Still, it’s disturbing how quickly the season has unraveled, leaving in its wake the sense that it’s hopeless from here to September.”

Klapisch says manager Terry Collins made himself an easy target in light of recent comments disparaging Mets fans. He says, “It’s hard to repair the damage once a wedge has been placed between the players and the ticket buyers. It’s how managers get themselves fired.”

He does go onto saying that Collins isn’t really the problem and replacing him with Wally Backman wouldn’t change the real problem which is the makeup up of the entire roster.

“GM Sandy Alderson chose to populate his bullpen with aging relievers…Alderson’s bullpen will keep breaking their hearts. At least until the Mets can score more runs.”

The most discouraging thing was what one national League Official told him:

“That tells me the Mets really have no plan, they’re just going from crisis to crisis,” said one league official. “What can Ankiel give them? I’m sorry, you just don’t belong in the big leagues when you’re striking out [35 times in 62 at-bats before being released by the Astros last week]. You have to try to be that bad.”

One scout also doesn’t understand the fascination with Ike Davis saying, “What’s he even doing on that roster?”

There’s some good points made coupled with a few bad ones, but definitely worth taking a look.

Where would this team be without Matt Harvey?

Is it safe to say that as of this moment, the only proven and legit core player under the age of 30 this team has is The Dark Knight of Gotham?

I like Jon Niese a lot, but is he a core player? Or just an number three pitcher who plays the role of an ace on a very bad team?

I quickly threw some numbers into a spreadsheet and I can’t believe how appalling the numbers are once you take Harvey out of the equation.

Two of our top three starters have ERA’s of 5.93 for Jon Niese and 6.13 for Dillon Gee. Our number four starter, Jeremy Hefner has got them both beat with a 4.28 ERA. You may recall me saying back in January that he would be a sleeper and best choice for fifth starter? (Hey Alex68, remember this? Underrated????? SMH!!!)

Then you have the pitcher who was supposed to help replace R.A. Dickey‘s innings in Shaun Marcum. The Mets gave marcum a guaranteed $4 million dollars and in return he’s already missed one month and since his debut is averaging 4.1 innings in three starts and has a team worst 8.31 ERA.

Mets pitchers are now officially the worst in the National League and second worst in the Major Leagues. And that’s with Matt Harvey who is in the top five in over a half dozen pitching categories.

That’s kind of embarrassing, wouldn’t you say?

Gee has been the latest starter to deliver an abysmal performance after allowing six runs and nine hits against the Cardinals last night in 4.0 innings.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know what to say, really. I didn’t feel all that bad tonight”, said Gee after the game. “Physically I feel great. There’s nothing going on there. I don’t know. I’m kind of lost.”

You don’t say?

Gee and Co. is partly why the Mets bullpen has been as abysmal as it has. They are burning through arms at an unprecedented rate. Six weeks in and already eight transactions related to the bullpen alone. And it’s not as if it was a great bullpen to begin with. It was put together with sticks and Krazy Glue.

So while everyone is piling on when it comes to the Mets offense, the truth of the matter is that this team is quite atrocious on all fronts. Take a look at the evidence:

METS PITCHING RANKINGS

METS HITTING RANKINGS

That stinks to high heaven. It’s a shock to the system to even look at those awful, awful numbers.

I can tell you right now that Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud alone are not going to fix that. In fact I think it’s a sin that those two are being setup for an unfair amount of undue pressure, as if trying to stick in the majors wasn’t already challenging enough.

On Wednesday, Sandy Alderson seemed concerned that Wheeler is being looked upon as some sort of savior and he admitted to Mike Francesa that he wasn’t. But the fact that both he and d’Arnaud will be walking into this disaster is going to be something to behold and I don’t mean that in a good way. I wonder how they will handle it, and God forbid if they don’t produce immediate results and hit the ground running.

The other day on Twitter I tossed out the suggestion of just letting both of them stay at Triple-A and don’t bring them up unless this team turns it around. Losing is contagious. I know you all know that. If this is what those two kids are going to walk into, I’d rather wait and call them up in September.

At least in September they can come up without the pressure of having to carry a team that was poorly constructed. It’s bad enough that Matt Harvey has had to deal with this. I totally feel sorry for that kid. On any other team, but the Mets, Harvey would probably be 8-0 right now.

I don’t know if this is rock bottom, but heaven help us if it isn’t and it continues to get worse.

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Andrew Brown – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Matt Harvey – RHP

Game Notes

• The Mets went 2-3 on their recent road trip. The club begins a six-game homestand tonight. New York is 7-8 at home this season. Saturday’s rain out in Atlanta is now scheduled for Tuesday, June 18 at 1:10 p.m. as part of a split doubleheader. That series is now a five-game series.
• New York is 2-0 this year in Interleague play after beating the Twins twice in Minnesota. The Mets were 8-7 vs. the AL last season. The Mets are 137-127 all time in Interleague play. The 137 wins are the fourth-most among NL clubs. Since 2010, the Mets are 11-3 vs. the AL Central.
• The Chicago White Sox make their first trip ever to Flushing. The Mets have hosted every other American League team at least once. New York has played the White Sox just once: the Mets lost two of three to the Sox in Chicago in 2002.
• David Wright has 94 career Interleague RBI, the most in team history. The 94 Interleague RBI are tied for the fourth-most among any major leaguer since 2005, the first season Wright played an Interleague game. Wright has hit a home run in three straight games. It’s the fifth time he’s hit a home run in exactly three consecutive games, his career-best is a home run in four straight games, June 7-10, 2007.
• Matt Harvey has allowed one run or less in 10 of his first 16 major league starts and has not allowed more than one run in seven of his last eight starts. Since July 26, 2012 (his ML debut), he ranks fourth in the majors with a 2.26 ERA (25 ER/99.2 IP). Minimum of 70 innings.
• Harvey also has 116 strikeouts in his first 16 major league starts, the 11th-most since 1921 by a pitcher making his first 16 career starts. Kerry Wood is first with 148 strikeouts in 1998. Harvey is third in Mets history, behind Dwight Gooden, who had 125 strikeouts in his first 16 starts and Nolan Ryan, who had 117 strikeouts.
• Frank Francisco pitched 1.0 scoreless inning last night for St. Lucie of the Florida State League vs. Daytona. He allowed a single. He’s tossed 4.0 scoreless innings in four rehab outings.
• Edgardo Alfonzo, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt and 92.3 NOW’s Ty Bentli will serve as judges for Banner Day on Saturday, May 11 at Citi Field. The judges will select three finalists to join the online Banner Day winner then fans at the ballpark and at home will vote for the winner through texting, Twitter and Facebook.

Game Preview

The White Sox finally visit Citi Field as the Mets will meet up with an old friend in Robin Ventura tonight. The Mets are coming off of a 9-4 loss where just about everyone on the field was experiencing a collective off day. Since then the Mets have had an off day and for the first time on 7 days rest, the Mets will enjoy another Harvey day as Matt takes on Hector Santiago.

Sandy Alderson told the Daily News that the Mets still have confidence in Ike Davis even though he is batting .172 to start the season. “I don’t think he’s happy with what has happened to date,” Alderson said. “We would have hoped for a better performance to this point, but the evidence is he can do it, and he could do that again this season, we’ll see what transpires.” Last year was batting .173 last year at this time, but he was dealing with a case of valley fever, a one-year layoff, and recovering from a serious ankle injury.

Matt Harvey is 4-0 on the season with a 1.56 ERA over 40.1 innings of work. He bounced back from his worst start of the season (3 ER over 6 innings, quality for everybody else) to pitch 5.1 innings allowing 1 ER in Miami, a game he really had to labor through. He allowed 7 hits in that game, a season high, but paired that with 7 strikeouts. Not really all that surprisingly, Matt has not faced the White Sox in his career and has not faced any batters on the roster.

Hector Santiago gets the nod for the White Sox. On the young season he is 1-1 over 8 games, 1 start with a 2.29 ERA over 19.2 innings. His last outing was the first start of the season where he allowed 1 ER over 5.1 innings of work while striking out 6 batters. Last season, he was in 42 games including 4 starts with a 3.33 ERA. In his four starts, he pitched 19.2 innings allowing only 4 ER. Also not really surprising, but he has not faced anyone on the Mets roster in his career.

Let’s Go Mets!

Philadelphia recalled left-hander Joe Savery to temporarily take Halladay’s place on the 25-man roster. A replacement for Halladay’s spot in the starting rotation will be named before Friday’s game in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. Candidates to make the start include Triple-A left-hander Adam Morgan and right-hander Tyler Cloyd.

After allowing nine runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 14-2 loss to the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, Halladay revealed that his shoulder had been bothering him.

“It started the morning after I pitched against Pittsburgh [on April 24],” Halladay said Sunday. “I woke up and didn’t really think anything of it. It was just kind of regular soreness. This kind of progressed over the last two weeks or so. It’s right-shoulder discomfort.

“This is something new this spring. I felt good all spring. I felt good all year. I just got up after that start against Pittsburgh and had soreness in there and wasn’t able to get rid of it.”

Updated on May 3 at 2:40 PM

The Mets have selected the contract of OF Andrew Brown from Triple-A Las Vegas and added him to the 40 man roster, the team announced.

The 28-year old was batting a sizzling .367/.440/.622 to go along with 13 doubles, three triples, and two home runs. He was leading the team in several different offensive categories including 27 RBI and 61 total bases.

To make room for him, the team optioned Collin Cowgill to Triple-A which is exactly what I figured would happen.

Cowgill batted just .157 with a .467 OPS in 51 at-bats after being named the Mets everyday center fielder on Opening Day. Maybe he’ll have better luck at the Black Jack tables.

Original Post May 2, 2013

According to what a source told Adam Rubin, the Mets will be promoting right-handed hitting outfielder Andrew Brown from Triple-A Las Vegas, where Brown was tearing it up at the plate.

Rubin says that Brown will be on hand for tonight’s game against the Braves in Atlanta.

Ironically, in our Mets Minors Report yesterday morning we wrote:

Andrew Brown went 3-for-5 last night with a home run, double and 3 RBI as he continued his “Seriously, call me up to the MLB team” tour.

The 28-year old was batting a sizzling .367/.440/.622 to go along with 13 doubles, three triples, and two home runs. He was leading the team in several different offensive categories including 27 RBI and 61 total bases.

They will have to make room for him on the 40 man roster and I’m betting Collin Cowgill will get the boot as I’ve been suggesting the past week and a half.

Brown probably won’t set the world on fire, but he’ll certainly be an upgrade over Cowgill and Mike Baxter. As one of our readers wrote yesterday, he has a chance to do what Scott Hairston did for us last season.

One thing to note is that Josh Satin took over for Andrew Brown in the outfield during last night’s game for the Las Vegas 51s. He’s another player the Mets could use right now and his ability to play first base, third base and outfield could pave the way for another roster move in the very near future.

His contract stipulates that Lyon is to receive roster bonuses of $100,000-$125,000 roughly once a month.

The 34-year-old righty who signed a  a guaranteed $750,000 deal with the Mets before the season, received his first $100K bonus check by making the Opening Day roster. But then this morning, Lyon took in his second check, also worth $100,000.

In his last ten appearances, Lyon has allowed five earned runs in 9.0 innings pitched with a 5.00 ERA during that span.

Lyon’s ERA for the season has risen to 4.35 in 12 appearances after a rough two weeks. That ranks last in the Mets bullpen among relievers with five or more appearances.

Overall, the Mets bullpen has a 5.29 ERA which ranks 29th out of all 30 MLB teams.

Most baseball pundits cast off the Mets’ outfield as being the worst in the league heading into the season.

On paper, maybe that is correct, but based on performance, the Mets outfield hasn’t been all that bad.

Lucas Duda has looked good offensively, Marlon Byrd has had some big hits, Mike Baxter gives all-out effort every time he’s on the field, and Jordany Valdespin proved last night what a great asset he is to the ball club.

Of the group, Collin Cowgill has struggled since his Opening Day grand slam, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis really didn’t have a place on this roster.

So Juan Lagares was called up to replace Kirk. But the timing of it all is somewhat strange.

Lagares was hitting .346 in Las Vegas so a call-up was certainly warranted. But where does he fit on the big league roster at this point?

Duda is entrenched in left field. That’s a given. In right, Byrd hasn’t exactly played himself out of the batting order, and again Baxter – as exhibited by his key hustle double last night – produces when given the chance.

Center field has been the revolving door, but Valdespin has shown that he could be productive if given the chance. Cowgill might be in a cold spell, but he could very well regain his hot form from spring training.

The thing that confuses me is that Lagares should not be in the Majors unless he’s playing every day. He’s said to be a great defensive center fielder – which is of course important – but he needs to consistently be put up against top-notch pitching.

If Terry Collins is insistent on trying to get Cowgill regular at-bats, then Lagares should still be in Vegas. And throw Valdespin in the mix, and who knows what’s going on in center?

Even a platoon situation with Lagares and Valdespin would not do the kid much good. If he ever plans on being a regular, he’ll need to face both righties and lefties.

Here’s a potential scenario, that I hope does not play, out but could be an option. If Ike Davis continues his abysmal stretch, the Mets may consider sending him down to Vegas to find himself. Duda then moves to first, and Valdespin can play left with Lagares in center.

We learned last season that even after a slow start, Davis can turn it on in a big way. His second half last year has basically earned him a free pass to struggle early on this year. But if he doesn’t find his stroke like he did last season, maybe a change would do him good.

Again though, let’s hope Davis finds his stroke.

Right now, let Valdespin play; he’s an electric talent. Everyone keeps saying that he’s so raw, but the only way to get more refined is to constantly be in the lineup.

Not many players can say they are not in the starting lineup the day after hitting a walk-off grand slam. Sure, the Mets are facing a lefty, but again, you have to give Valdespin the exposure.

Same goes for Lagares. If Collins can find him regular at-bats, that’s one thing. But if Cowgill is getting the start over him, then he should be playing every day in Vegas.

Maybe I haven’t given this enough time to properly play out, but there’s no point in having a prospect sit on the bench in the Majors when he could be refining his game every day in the minors.

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (who else), posted the full details of the deal the Mets signed with Shaun Marcum. The one-year deal guarantees him $4 million as well knew, but here’s the breakdown of the other $4 million he can earn with incentives:

– $250,000 apiece for reaching 120, 140, 160 and 170 innings.

– $375,000 apiece for reaching 180 and 190 innings.

– $500,0000 for reaching 200 innings.

– $375,000 apiece for 90 and 120 days on active roster, or on disabled list for injury unrelated to his right arm.

– $500,000 apiece for being on active roster or DL for injury unrelated to right arm for 150 and 170 days. (The major league season is 183 days.)

Marcun tossed 52 pitches over five scoreless innings in an extended spring training game yesterday in St. Lucie. He’s on target to make his Mets debut on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Rubin says that Marcum will most likely will be capped at 90 pitches.

Remember, Marcum was supposed to replace the 200 innings we lost in R.A. Dickey. Nobody expected him to replace what the reigning Cy Young did last season, but Marcum was being relied upon to be an innings eater for the team despite missing a good chunk of the season with arm troubles last season.

Since arriving to camp in February, he has dealt with one ailment or another ranging from weak shoulder, neck pain and biceps tendinitis.

So far, he is already out of the running for the $500K bonus for being on the active roster for 170 days. That ship has already sailed.

I think it’s a safe bet to say he won’t pitch more than 160 innings this season which wipes out another half dozen of those incentives.

My question is this…

If Marcum was supposed to replace Dickey’s innings as stated by Sandy Alderson after he signed him, why then did he need all those incentives to simply achieve that end?

It appears to me that Alderson had some deep and abiding concerns about whether marcum could even pitch 100 innings, hence all these incentives. So why give him $4 million guaranteed in the first place?

Why didn’t we invest the $8 million he apparently was willing to commit on a less riskier starting pitcher who was a proven innings eater that didn’t have the injury concerns that Marcum had?

Throw in the fact that Johan Santana was still incommunicado on January when Marcum was signed and nobody knew if Johan would be ready to pitch in Spring Training. And I do mean nobody.

All I’m saying is that we could have put our money (what little of it we had) on a safer bet.

Thank God for Matt Harvey and Jon Niese or the Mets placing in the NL East standings would be much more different right now. Those two alone have accounted for seven of the Mets nine wins.

The Mets have announced that they have recalled LHP Robert Carson from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Carson, 24, is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in eight appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas and has allowed two hits, two walks, while striking out seven in 7.2 innings pitched.

To make room on the active roster for Carson, the Mets have designated LHP Aaron Laffey for assignment.

In four appearances and two starts for the Mets, Laffey had a 7.20 ERA, allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits with four walks and nine strikeouts in ten innings.

The 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Original Post 4/21 at 1:00 AM

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, left-hand reliever Robert Carson, who was beaten out by fellow lefty Scott Rice for a bullpen spot at the end of spring training, is due to join the Mets, a baseball source told him.

Carson, 24, is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in eight appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas and has allowed two hits, two walks, while striking out seven in 7.2 innings pitched.

Rubin did not mention who could be cut from the active roster, but earlier today Joe D. speculated that Carson was primed for a promotion and identified Josh Edgin as a primary candidate for demotion as well as Greg Burke. Both have struggled out of the bullpen this season.

Life would have been better if no one said the phrase – ever — but it’s too late now. By the time Tim Leary first heard someone say it in his presence all he could do was go out and try to provide evidence to support the claims.

Leary, a UCLA graduate, overpowered hitters with a 96-mile per hour fastball, then buckled their knees with a biting curveball. In 1980, his first season of professional baseball in the New York Mets organization, he was unhittable. Leary was named Most Valuable Player of the Texas League. Honestly, that only made matters worse.

The occasional mention became an everyday occurrence. Scouts, fans, analysts were singing a chorus of praises that always ended in similar refrain: Leary was going to be “the next Tom Seaver.”

Mets manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson watched his 22-year old prospect blow away major league veterans in the Spring of 1981. Torre told the media Leary was “overpowering.” The Mets manager wasn’t alone in his praise. ”You look at him pitch and know that someday he’ll be a super baseball player,” added St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

”I like that son of a gun on the Mets. What’s his name, Leary?” Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda told New York Times reporter Joe Durso. “He can throw the hell out of the ball.”

Torre and Gibson knew they’d have to convince GM Frank Cashen to get Leary on the 25-man roster. Cashen was staunchly conservative in his approach to promoting young, developing arms.

By the end of Spring, Leary made it difficult for Cashen to say no. The Mets GM gave in. Leary was in. He earned it. He pitched his way North. Leary would join a 1981 rookie class that included Cal Ripken Jr., Fernando Valenzuela, Tim Raines, Tony Pena and Mets Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks.

It was a typical cold, windy 46-degree Sunday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was a day filled with hope for the Mets. Hopeful that rookie Tim Leary would be all the things he was promoted to be, hopeful the 22-year old would not feel overwhelmed by the pressure, hopeful that they were witnessing the beginning of “the next Seaver.”

Leary struck out Ivan DeJesus swinging and Joe Strain looking at a called third strike. Two batters, two strikeouts and now hope was floating in the Windy City. Bill Buckner grounded out and Mets fans were confused. Was this Tim Leary or Tom Seaver?

In the second inning, after Steve Henderson lined out and Bull Durham struck out, Cubs third baseman Ken Reitz worked walked. Leary threw a wild pitch and Reitz moved to second. But Leary retired Scot Thompson on a fly ball to end the inning.

Did you see it? What … the wild pitch?

No. Leary felt “a searing pain” in his elbow as he worked to Reitz. Something was wrong, really wrong. “I felt some pain in my arm on the way north,” remembered Leary.

When the Cubs came to bat in the third inning it was Pete Falcone, not Leary pitching. Four days later he was placed on the disabled list. He wouldn’t throw a major league pitch for another 30 months. Cashen never forgave himself – or Torre – for what happened wrote Peter Golenbeck in Amazin’.

”Since I was 8 years old, I pitched hundreds of innings and was never hurt,” remembered Leary. “Now, I was hurt. Any time you even sit in a whirlpool, you get criticized. And I was taking whirlpools twice a day for months. When I went home to Los Angeles, I’d walk the beach. I became a loner.”

The whispers about being “another Seaver” faded – fast. Injury trumps all in professional sports. Being a “head case” is a close second and Leary was branded with both. Once a player is tagged, the climb to the majors becomes Mount Everest.

“The pressure is on in New York,” former teammate Terry Leach told Peter Golenbeck, author of Amazin’. “Some people can’t handle the attention, because they expect so much of you. Or you think they expect so much of you, so you try to do more than you’re capable of, and that’s not good. And that’s what happened to Tim Leary in New York. He was young, it’s hard to cope. You don’t know what it’s like until you play big league ball in New York. That is the big leagues.”

Leary reported to Spring Training in 1982, hopeful. He spent the winter exercising, strengthening his elbow. Leary pitched one inning against the Philadelphia Phillies and he was “roughed up.”

”Every time I threw, it hurt,” said Leary. “I couldn’t even pitch. I went back home, and didn’t do much of anything except walk the beach and worry. That was the low point.”

In June 1983 Leary visited Dr. Daniel Alkatis, a nerve specialist in New York. In minutes Alkatis diagnosed Leary with a pinched nerve. “I’d been lying around for eight months, he found it in five minutes,” he said. “I still had a long way to go, but my mind was finally free.”

Sure the modest crowd that peppered the box seats on the final day of the 1983 season was a far cry from the dreams Leary once carried on his right shoulder, but No. 38 was pitching again. The “next Seaver” comparisons were gone, maybe for good, but he was back in uniform, on the mound, in the major leagues at Shea Stadium. And that was all that mattered now.

Leary pitched nine innings and beat the Montreal Expos. It was his first victory in the big leagues.

1984 was an ironic convergence of the past and then-present. Dwight Gooden, Tim Leary and Frank Cashen arrived in Florida for Spring Training.

Gooden was wearing Leary’s 1981 shoes, Leary was “damaged goods,” a reclamation project hoping for a spot on the roster and Cashen was waxing, bordering on hypocrisy, to the media about the lesson he learned.

”We’re starting to hear Gooden used as a standard of comparison for other young pitchers,” said the Mets GM. ”The scouts are starting to say that so-and- so has a Gooden-type fastball. That’s a form of subtle pressure in a way, but Gooden doesn’t understand what subtle pressure is, while Leary did.

”Gooden is very phlegmatic. He’s not burdened with a lot of hangups. I don’t want to say that Tim Leary was emotionally immature, but he was like Cassius in Shakespeare. You know, ‘Young Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much.’ That can be dangerous.”

Trouble is, he’s not hitting or fielding. He’s not even just holding his own; he’s been poor at both, actually terrible. Tejada has committed six errors in 13 games – a pace for just under 80 – and the Mets have already lost a couple of games directly attributed to his defense.

Tejada’s .905 fielding percentage is the worst among shortstops as are his errors.

It matters little if David Wright believes he’s a Gold Glove caliber shortstop. What matters is if Tejada can catch the ball, and if he does, keep it out of the stands. Both Tejada’s glove and arm have been erratic. It was a throwing error Tuesday night that opened the door for a late-inning collapse. His throwing has been especially poor. Is Tejada going Steve Sax or Chuck Knoblauch on us?

Yes, it was cold and miserable, and yes, the pitchers needed to regroup to get the following hitters, but that doesn’t change the fact Tejada’s defense is hurting the Mets and they have little answers.

They would like to bring up Omar Quintanilla, but would need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.Wilmer Flores is on the 40-man roster, but the Mets don’t think he’s ready, otherwise a Flores-for-Tejada swap would be considered. The Mets certainly don’t want to bring up Flores to have him languish on the bench.

Neither Collins nor Tejada blamed the error totally on the weather, but both said it was a contributing factor because the cold made gripping the ball difficult. News Flash: It’s not going to get better tonight or tomorrow.

Blaming the weather might be easier to accept if Tejada hasn’t been so awful this season. What’s wrong with him? Was last year a fluke? Is there an injury we don’t know about?

Mike Puma of the New York Post says the Mets intend to stay with Ruben Tejada at shortstop, despite his early season problems.

“I’ve seen this guy play too much, and I’ve never seen this — never,” Collins told Puma. “So had I seen this in the past at some time I may be concerned about it, but I’m just saying the conditions have been unfavorable for what’s going on here.”

“He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself,” David Wright said, according to Puma. “You can just tell he’s thinking about a lot of things instead of just playing. The ones that are reactionary plays, he’s fine with. It’s the on

Whatever the reason, his current play is unacceptable and wouldn’t be tolerated if the Mets had a ready backup. If Tejada continues at this rate and the Mets tank in the second half, perhaps they should consider force-feeding the position to Flores or go shortstop shopping in the offseason.

After all, according to the Mets they will be ready to spend and contend next season. They can’t be competitive with a hole on the left side of the infield. Will they need to add a shortstop to their list?

Yesterday, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reported that the Mets decided to send Omar Quintanilla to Triple-A Vegas to start the season so they could minimize the risk of losing him to waivers early in the season. Quintanilla is not currently on the 40-man roster.

Collins said the Mets were wary of carrying Quintanilla out of spring training in part because if they ever needed to free a spot on the major league roster and Quintanilla was the casualty, he would need to be exposed to waivers and the Mets would risk losing a valuable piece.

The Mets decided to carry Kirk Nieuwenhuis as an extra outfielder to provide another option to a weak outfield configuration.

It was a logical decision by the Mets who felt that they could get by for a week or two without having to rest the younger Ruben Tejada. But now it’s time to shore up the infield and cut loose one of the six outfielders.

Kirk has options remaining so he’ll be the one to go whether it’s deserved or not.

Conor Glassey of Baseball America did a very interesting Q&A session with Mets Scouting Director Tommy Tanous. Tanous had some cool insights into the world of scouting, touching on how technology, statistics, amateur showcases, and more have changed the world of scouting. Here is just a little bit of what he said:

Scouting is based on opinions, and it’s always said that you can’t properly evaluate the success of a draft until about five years down the road. So, how do you go about evaluating yourself as a scout, and evaluating the job that your staff is doing?

Nobody knows who has the best draft, until these players actually start playing and start getting deeper into their career. I judge our draft, and our staff, and my own performance by, did we follow our process? There are a lot of different ways of skinning a cat. There are some teams that are stuff-oriented with a pitcher, they want guys with great stuff. There are others who obviously want great stuff, but they’re more concerned about arm action. They’re both right in a way, but what is your process, what is your philosophy, and did you, as a staff, stick to it? I think that’s how you judge yourself as a staff. Because, if your process is solid, and your philosophy is solid—and there can be many different philosophies—but if you stick to them, I think you have the best chance of having success. I think you can get in trouble if you have one philosophy one year, a totally different philosophy another year, and you’re constantly changing. If you have a philosophy you believe in, certainly you’re going to make some small adjustments as the year goes by, but if you have your beliefs and you stick to them, and your staff believes in them, I think that’s the way you have your best drafts.

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Scouting is obviously a subjective business. But it’s important to remain objective, too. I did a feature a couple years ago called “Scouts On Scouting,” where I interviewed scouts about their jobs, and one thing a guy told me that really stuck out to me, that I really thought was neat, is a thing he does when he does pro coverage. The first day he gets there for BP, he takes all his notes without getting a roster, so that he’s not influenced by the names or the statistics. Are there any tricks like that, that you use yourself, or little things you try to teach new scouts?

Well, they call that scouting with your eyes. It’s nice when you do that, and then at the end of your series, or in the middle of your series, you pick up the stats and the guys you circled, that you feel are prospects, are all having good years. Then it makes you feel better as an evaluator. The main thing I’ll try and stress upon all our scouts—our crosscheckers and our area supervisors—is this: You evaluate with a checklist, whatever that checklist may be. Whatever you feel is important—and obviously I’m not going to go into the New York Mets’ checklist—but we have certain things we like in a pitcher, and certain things we like in a hitter. When you evaluate a player in February, you go down that checklist. He does this, this, this, this, this that we like; he doesn’t do this so well. Well, February turns into April, and we want that same checklist. We want that player being graded on the same criteria he was graded two months earlier on. Otherwise, I’ve seen too many scouts, they’ll go in in February, and they’ll have a certain criteria of what they like. By May, that criteria has changed, and really it’s like having two different scouts at the game. You’re not being consistent, and you’re not being true to the list, or to the player. That’s probably the best advice I can give a young scout. Keep changing, keep getting better—look, my criteria for what I look for now, in 2013, is much different than it was in 1996, because I’ve matured and have more experience, and now I’ve seen certain things that make me feel more comfortable with a hitter. But, I try and have the same process when I go to the game everyday. Therefore, I’m giving it more of a consistent opinion.

I think it will be interesting to see how the scouting world adjusts to advanced technology, which has been taking over the game over the last decade. Pitch f/x and other tools now make every pitch’s release point, movement, location, and velocity are available to the public. Here’s what Tanous had to say about it:

I know some teams are using those, and you see them certainly at the Area Codes and the other events, too. Seeing how hard the ball comes off the bat, velocity, spin rates, I think it’s just starting now with these companies, and I think it’s going to take a few years—like anything new—I think it’ll take a few years before teams have total confidence in it. Just like the video camera took a few years, but I think it’ll eventually get there, and there’ll be a system that’s probably used more than others, and a system that teams probably feel more comfortable with.

Tanous has been with the organization since June 2011 and in his current role since November 2011. He was previously the Director of International Scouting for the Diamondbacks in 2009 and 2010. Before that, he worked in the Rangers, Angels, and Brewers organizations as a scout.

Read the rest of the interview here.