A high-ranking team official told he New York Post on Thursday that barring a setback, Zack Wheeler is expected to make 2-3 more starts for Triple-A Las Vegas and then join the Mets. If Wheeler remains on normal rest, that would put his Mets debut somewhere in the June 6-11 range.

“If not for the minor setback with the shoulder, he might already be here,” the club official said. “We are at the point where you can say it’s probably two or three more starts for Las Vegas.”

Kristie Ackert of the Daily News also adds this:

“He’s ready,” a team source told the News Thursday, but the front office will want to see him throw consistently after the injury.

Wheeler allowed three runs on five hits, two home runs, two walks and two strikeouts, over five innings pitched against Triple-A Iowa. It was his first start since May 11 when he was put on the disabled list for a sore clavicle. He received a cortisone shot in the AC joint of his throwing shoulder.

With as bad as the team’s doing, declining revenues, falling attendance, and SNY viewership down 22%, the Mets need Wheeler more than he needs them.

However, he’ll need to burst out of the gates like Matt Harvey did if they expect him to save their season from total financial loss.

Original Post 5/22

Zack Wheeler took the hill this afternoon for the first time after a brief stint on the disabled list due to inflammation in the AC Joint of his throwing shoulder. He received a cortisone shot, and missed his scheduled start this past Saturday.

Wheeler looked a tad rusty from the get-go. He didn’t have great command over his pitches, and in fact, he missed the strike zone wildly a couple of times. He got hit hard throughout his five innings of work, and ended up giving up two home runs and a triple that narrowly missed being a third home run.

The two strike outs that Wheeler got in today’s game was his lowest total of the season (opening day he had three). It was promising to see that even though he didn’t have great command, he only walked two batters. Wheeler gave up three runs on five hits, two of which, as I stated earlier, were home runs. It should be noted that the ball was flying out of the park in Iowa today, and through the sixth inning (when I am writing this), there have been a total of six home runs hit between the two teams.

Coming on the heels of what Sandy Alderson said about Wheeler needing about two or three more solid outings before he will be promoted, today’s start was a disappointing one. The good news is, it looked as though he was pitching without pain, and was clocked at 96 mph with his fastball. This outing seemed to be nothing more than Wheeler experiencing a little lag from not pitching in over a week, and I look for him to get back on track with his next start.

Have you checked out MetsMinors.net yet? What are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Come see why almost 5,000 different readers checked us out on Tuesday. We are rewriting the book on Mets minor league coverage and it will never be the same again. Over a dozen dedicated quality posts per day – each packed with insights and quotes we get from the players themselves. Come see what all the commotion is about and I guarantee you’ll be hooked…

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas defeated Iowa 9-4.
• Binghamton beat New Britain, 8-3.
• St. Lucie dropped Dunedin, 5-3.
• Savannah lost to Charleston, 4-2.
  

Prospect Pipeline

• Zack Wheeler was back in action after missing a start due to inflammation of the AC Joint in his throwing shoulder. Wheeler looked a tad rusty from the get-go. He didn’t have great command over his pitches, and in fact, he missed the strike zone wildly a couple of times. He got hit hard throughout his five innings of work, and ended up giving up two home runs and a triple that narrowly missed being a third home run. You can see a full recap of his start at MetsMinors.net.
• Rafael Montero got sent back to Double-A Binghamton after his fantastic start on Monday with Las Vegas. Montero impressed against Iowa yesterday, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. While it was labeled as a “spot start”, I had a feeling that if he proved himself worthy, he would be staying with Las Vegas. Sandy Alderson squashed those thoughts on SNY, saying that Montero would be heading back to Double-A. he GM did mention he would likely return to the 51s mid-season, and went as far as saying he wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the big leagues by the end of the year.
• In his first start since earning his second SAL Player of the Week honors, Rainy Lara only lasted 4.2 innings against Charleston last night. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
• Josh Rodriguez led the B-Mets offense with a 3-for-4 day, including a walk, double, and two RBIs to help Binghamton defeat New Britain.
• Noah Syndergaard faced his former organization for the first time since the Blue Jays traded him last winter. He took the loss against Dunedin, throwing 5.2 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
• Francisco Pena hit a two-run homer against Iowa yesterday, and Adam Rubin tweeted that we shouldn’t be surprised if he makes his way to Flushing sometime this season.
• Cory Vaughn continues his strong start to 2013, raising his season average to .302 with another two-hit game last night in New Britain. With the mess that is the current New York Mets outfield, Vaughn could also be making his big league debut sometime this year.
• XtreemIcon covered the B-Mets in Great Britain on Monday and Tuesday and was able to spend some time with pitching prospect Logan Verrett. He wrote a must-read article about him that includes quotes from Blake Forsythe, Jack Leathersich, pitching coach Glenn Abbott and manager Pedro Lopez.
• Curious as to how the Mets’ top prospects are performing? Catch up with this week’s Top-10 Tracker.

Stat Line of the Day

Francisco Pena: 2-for-4, two-run HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

Transactions

Rafael Montero was transferred from Triple-A Las Vegas back to Double-A Binghamton.

RHP Dylan Owen transferred from Las Vegas (AAA) to Binghamton (AA)

Quote of the Day 

Cory Vaughn on his improved hitting approach:

“I think I’m just not panicking as much. I’m just going out there and having fun. Up here, if it’s 3-1, 2-0, they’re not just going to be throwing a ‘cookie’ every time. If they throw me a slider 3-1 and I’m not looking for it, or looking wherever they throw it, I’m going to take it as opposed to just swinging and getting a rollover groundout.”

(Photo credit: Michael G. Baron)

Forget Ike Davis’ struggles for a second. Forget even the payroll constraints, which is asking a lot to look past.

Here’s one question that rarely gets asked: Where are the Moneyball players with the Mets?

And by that I mean: Why have there not been more productive free agents signed to those $2 million to $4 million contracts? Or how about some low-cost acquisitions via other routes that provide placeholders until a prospect is ready to assume the role?

Bam!

Finally, this is getting some attention.

We all know about having to operate with a $90 million payroll constraint, but wasn’t winning on the cheap supposed to be Sandy’s hallmark?

As Rubin points out, wasn’t finding those hidden gems supposed to be a Mets front-office strength because of the executives’ small-market pedigrees?

The article ends with a sobering reality:

So if you’re looking for reasons why the Mets today sit at 10 games under .500 this early in a season for the first time since 2001, blame the lack of spending. Blame the deliberate pace of building from within. But also blame the lack of identification of placeholders who can contribute at reasonable costs in the interim.

It’s still five days until Matt Harvey next pitches…

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…

Rubin spoke with Scott Hairston who dismissed rumors that the Mets had made him an offer, but understood the situation and respected Sandy Alderson’s decision.

“There were times where I wasn’t sure what they wanted to do, so I waited. But as a player you can only wait so long, so I knew I had to move on and I had to move forward, and that’s just the way it was.”

Hairston, who was clear he wanted a two-year deal, did not get any offer from the Mets. Not even one year.

“There were reports that it happened, but the Mets never made me a one-year offer,” he said.

For what it’s worth, Hairston is off to a slow start and is batting just .125 in 48 at-bats with three home runs. But on the flipside, his replacement Collin Cowgill has already been demoted to the minors.

Read Adam Rubin’s full article here.

I only was in the car long enough to hear his opening monologue, but you know what? He was dead on.

Look, Valdespin is a jerk – he’s an immature bench player who constantly finds himself on the wrong side of the headlines. But he’s our immature bench player.

It’s not about race, it’s not about having it out for a kid who doesn’t deserve it – it’s about the entire team being an utter disaster. If somebody wants to inject race into this issue, they are missing the point and doing a disservice to anybody who has ever dealt with real race issues.

You know, everybody wants to pin the failure on Sandy. That’s fine, everybody who hates him will always hate him. But the truth is, Sandy Alderson cannot magically turn Ike Davis, Jon Niese and Lucas Duda into the players we all thought they’d be. He cannot turn Ruben Tejada into a kid who can handle big league pitching when pre-Jose Reyes, Tejada was pegged as the future 2B. So you cannot even use the Reyes dismissal as an excuse. The players have to perform.

I’m sorry but guys like them mean more to the failure of the Mets than guys like Collin Cowgill or Anthony Recker.

The “plan” was that next year could be a big turning point, but that can’t be true when the guys you are counting on are playing in various level of mediocrity. Ike Davis is an embarrassment. He’s not a star 1B, he’s barely a big league 1B and that changes everything. Spare me this idea that come June he’s going to show up again. Too little too late.

Jon Niese is proving he’s a #2 on a bad team, #3 on a good one – and Duda is proving he truly is one dimensional.

You pair that with the fact Terry Collins who I do like mind you, is more of a minor league instructor than a big league manager. His handling of Valdespin was a “teaching moment.” At this level, the education should be complete. The best example of this is – when David Wright would have gotten beaned last year, Collins wouldn’t let him go out there. He said he knew he’d get hit and so he took him out. He did the reverse with Valdespin. Not because Valdespin is Dominican – because he thinks its his job in the major leagues to educate Valdespin and he forgot that this is a big league club and not a collection of kids.

I think Valdespin is an over hyped bench player, but it’s my job as a fan to think that and shake my head at his antics. It’s not the Manager’s or his teammates job.

Who is the most liked Met player in the clubhouse? I truly don’t know – but lets just say it’s Justin Turner. What if the Pirates decided rather than plunk Valdespin, they were going to hit Turner? What would the Mets players have done? Turn and wag a finger at Valdespin or react to the Pirates? In the major leagues when you want to get your point across to a player, you bench him and talk to him. You don’t air your dirty laundry and you certainly don’t send him out to get beaned.

The screams are becoming louder than Wally Backman needs to be the Manager. I love Wally Backman – he’s my favorite all time player because he was my first favorite player. But he is not the guy for this team. The Mets need an outsider. They need somebody who hasn’t been here, who hasn’t been a part of this dark cloud that has hung over the franchise for the last 7 years. I do not know who that is yet. Part of me is hoping that Mike Scioscia is the guy, and the other has me imagining what would happen if Don Mattingly became available.

Big day on WFAN for the Mets – or at least during Mike Francesa’s time slot. After a 10 minute rant against the Mets to open the show, he had Sandy Alderson on for 15 minutes a few hours after that. There was a lot said by both of them – good and bad. Tonight you’ll get the rant, tomorrow you’ll get the interview along with my thoughts and summary.

This wasn’t easy to transcribe so I apologize now for any typos. Buckle up…

How bad must it be for the kid Matt Harvey? I mean they can’t score any runs for this kid. If the Mets could score just four rotten runs in a game this kid would be 8-0. When Harvey doesn’t pitch now, the Mets are so bad that it is embarrassing. They are so listless. They are so unwatchable. This is as bad as I have ever seen it. This is Craig Swan bad for these Mets.

I have a different take on the Valdespin thing. To me, the Valdespin thing speaks volumes about what the Mets have become. I don’t care if you don’t like Valdespin. He’s on your team. I don’t care if you detest Valdespin. He’s still wearing your uniform. And when the other team does that to him, and you guys act like you condoned it, and want to go out there and applaud it, that speaks volumes about what a bunch of losers you are.

To have a lowly team like the Pirates, who have sucked for 20 years, you’re telling me you’re gonna worry about how they feel about Valdespin hitting a homerun in a blowout game? How about worrying about winning a game instead of the Pirates’ feelings? How about not worrying about getting your nose rubbed in it everyday?

Valdespin – you don’t like him, it’s been very clear. I know Valdespin acts like a jerk sometimes. But you know what, he goes up to the plate with some gumption. He’s not an everyday player, but the Mets don’t have any everyday players in the outfield. I know Valdespin is different. And I know none of the other players like him. But that’s no excuse for a big guy like Buck to take his nose off when he hits him in the face with a pie after hitting a game winning grand slam. And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough now you treat your own guy as if he’s a leper on your own team and don’t even stand up for a guy wearing your uniform? Shame on the Mets.

I’m not sticking up for Valdespin, I know he’s half a jerk, but he goes up there and he tries. He goes up there and he tries to turn on a fastball late in games. He goes up there and comes up big sometimes and at least puts a little life into your stinking team. You want to jettison him, fine. Cut him. That way he can come back and hit a grand slam in a pinch hitting role against you guys and you can count on it.

You know what, he brings a little moxie to the team. But for the Mets to just stand there and say “oh my, what are the Pirates gonna think”, what the hell do you care what they think!

And then you watch him get hit by a pitcher wearing another uniform? Awful. To me that doesn’t say anything about Valdespin, that says all you need to know about the rest of these Mets. That just shows you what a sorry club the Mets have become. They are not just a joke – they are a bad joke. I thought they were trying to change the culture of this team around?

And another thing, I’ve been the biggest Ike Davis fan in the world, but enough is enough. That at-bat in the eighth inning last night after they pitched around and walked Wright – that at-bat was cryingly painful. It wasn’t even major league worthy. And the Mets crying and saying the ball hit the bag – oh gimme a break. What a joke.

Keep Wright, keep Harvey, keep 2-3 other guys, but other than that back up the truck and get rid of the other 20 guys because they are awful and we’ve seen enough of of them to last us a lifetime. They should be paying fans to watch this team because this is unbelievable and it has to change NOW. Except for the days that Harvey is on the mound, they are absolutely unwatchable.

I think Sandy Alderson is a smart guy and other than getting Wheeler and getting stuff for Dickey, all the other moves he’s made have been from hunger and I bet he has to admit that.

Another bullpen revamp and already half of them are gone, he signs this guy Marcum and the guy can’t even pitch five innings. He pushed and couldn’t stop talking about Cowgill and look at him now in the minor leagues. And who thought it was a good idea to have every hitter go to two strike counts every time  For what? They are going to end up leading the world in strikeouts? This team started out 7-4, but since then they are 7-16. Seven wins and sixteen losses… But worse than that, there’s no heart, there’s no life. there’s fire, there’s no toughness. It is really sad, and you know what? Enough’s enough!

* * * * * * * *

Now if you think that was hard to read, imagine how I felt having to write all of that for you?

Is he wrong about feeling bad for Harvey? Is he far off the mark on how bad this team is playing? Can you really say he was wrong about the Mets having a pity party for the Pirates because Valdespin rubbed their nose in it a little? You go ahead and discuss all of that in the comments. I’d love to read your thoughts.

I’ll have the Sandy Alderson interview up in the morning along with my thoughts.

Frank Francisco

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

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

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

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

The July 2012 promotion of the Mets’ second best pitching prospect was met with much fan fair.  Harvey promptly rose to the occasion in the eleven strike out win that was his debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  For an encore, he went on to post an ERA well under three in ten starts comprised of almost sixty innings pitched.  For certain it looked as though the Mets had another quality starter on their hands, but no one could have anticipated what Matt Harvey had in store for the Mets and their fans in 2013.

Entering last night, Harvey’s 2013 campaign featured a 4-0 start which saw him yield more than one earned run on only one occasion over six starts, in route to the National League Pitcher of the Month award for the month of April.  Coming off a full seven day’s rest, Harvey spent Monday night victimizing the White Sox lineup in route to nine scoreless innings of one hit ball with twelve strike outs and exactly zero walks.  This saw Matt drop his ERA to an impressively low 1.27 while assuming the league lead in strike outs with 58.

The stats are impressive enough, but they are easily trumped by the undeniable presence that Harvey brings with him to the bump every night.  Each start celebrated as “Happy Harvey Day” on various social media forums, the fans have fully accepted Matt as the absolute ace of this staff, no questions asked.

Harvey’s rise to what will soon be, if it isn’t already, super-stardom, will make it that much harder for those that come behind him, namely Wheeler.  Having been billed as possessing the best repertoire in the system, its hard to believe that Wheeler can match the ridiculous change-up and slicing slider that Harvey has used to carved through opponents thus far this season.  While the Mets will need Wheeler to be a productive member of the rotation in short order if they hope to stay in the hunt this summer, Matt Harvey has made most, if not all fans forget that someone other than he may be the savoir for the Mets pitching woes.

Recent history has seen pitchers as unproven as Mike Pelfrey toe the rubber as the team’s ace.  Those days, at least for the time being seem to be behind us.  Having been drafted by Omar Minaya in 2010, Harvey will be ineligible for free agency until the 2019 season at the earliest and now represents the youth movement envisioned by Mets general manager, Sandy Alderson.  The franchise will need others to rise through the ranks in order to realize Alderson’s vision, but regardless of whether those who will soon follow his path are able to do their part, Matt Harvey is here and the Mets have their ace.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

However, fairness is irrelevant in sports. A manager’s job security always becomes an issue when he has lame duck contractual status and his team has lost six straight games.Losing streaks get everybody edgy, with questions directed to management, in this case, GM Sandy Alderson, who was asked the inevitable by The New York Post.

“That’s not something that has entered my mind or any mind within the organization,’’ Alderson said. “Has it entered the minds of others in the media or what have you? Yes.’’

Well, of course it has. It’s been on the back burner since pitchers-and-catchers in February. And, I don’t think for a second it hasn’t crossed Alderson’s mind, either.

Walter Alston used to work on one-year contracts, but he was Walter Alston and his Dodgers teams were perennial winners. They were an organization that believed in consistency. They were the exception to the rule.

By contrast, Collins manages the Mets, a franchise that last went to the World Series in 2000. Thirteen years later, and they are on their fifth manager. That’s not even three years each, and that’s no stability. While this trend doesn’t suggest good things for Collins, it might work in his favor for at least this summer. If the Mets aren’t going anywhere, there’s no reason to make a change and have owner Fred Wilpon pay two managers.

Bobby Valentine managed that World Series team, but frequently clashed with then GM Steve Phillips – one of four since 2000 – and with his personality wore out his welcome. Art Howe was the polar opposite of Valentine, and that didn’t work, either. I thought Willie Randolph had a chance, but he was hamstrung from the beginning when he wasn’t given full reign to hire his coaches and had to deal with clubhouse spyTony Bernazard, who usurped his authority. Jerry Manuel was overmatched, but that’s what you get when you sack a manager after midnight.

Now there’s Collins, who was brought in by Alderson to clean up the mess. However, Alderson doesn’t have free economic authority to spend, and consequently Collins doesn’t have the pieces. He’s basically a custodian; here to keep things clean.

The pieces he’s been given don’t fit, but here’s the rub, Collins is judged on what he does with those pieces, much like on those cooking shows where the contestants have to make something out of a basket of random ingredients.

“He came into the season without a contract for next year and may not have one for next year through this season,’’ said Alderson, meaning don’t expect an in-season extension. “But as I’ve told him and said before: This isn’t just about wins and losses. It’s about how we approach the game and fully taking into account what he has to work with.

“We talk from time to time and the [job status] subject comes up. I’m not trying to avoid the topic. It’s status quo. You go through a tough week and people like to immediately jump to conclusions and start discussing a doomsday scenario. A good first week isn’t necessarily any more of an indication than a bad fourth week.’’

So, there you have it: Collins is the care taker for 2013.

Alderson wants to know more if his roster can work and play nice with each other rather than if it has any talent. He’s telling us – again – that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but how you play the game.

Unfortunately, they keep score and results do matter. Major League Baseball isn’t new wave, liberal physical education where everybody gets a prize for showing up.

Winning does matter on this level. Teams pay big money to get players capable of winning and fans pay big money to watch those players.

If the losing continues, attendance will eventually drop as it has every year since Citi Field opened. But, the players will get their money. And, Collins could be out of a job. Not fair, but that’s how they play the game. It is also something Alderson needs to think about concerning his own job status.

Thoughts from Joe D.

While I don’t think any manager can get more out of this team than Terry Collins is — and that is mostly because he’s been dealt a rotten hand by GM Sandy Alderson — I see too many flaws in Collins for me to defend him.

As an in-game strategist I disagree with more than half of the decisions he makes. No manager is perfect, but Collins makes too many bad decisions, many of which have negatively impacted the results of a game.

I thought it was a bad idea to let Collins play this season out as a lame-duck manager. Any of my regular readers know that. I wasn’t worried as much about his status becoming a distraction as much as I was concerned over the impact it would have on Collins as the manager and his decision-making process.

He’s making far too many bad decisions now than at any other time since taking over for Jerry Manuel. I think it’s a result of managing with a monkey on your back or your boss constantly hovering over your shoulder.

I don’t believe Sandy Alderson wants Terry back and that’s fine by me. But it should have been delineated that way before the season began. They could have handled it differently and just announce that this would be Terry’s last season as manager before assuming a new role in the front office. That would have made more sense, avoided all the constant questions, and let Tery and the players breathe a little easier throughout the season.

I got the sense from something David Wright said last week, that he and the team need to perform well because they like Terry and don’t want to let him down. ERRRRRRGGGHHHH. Wrong answer.

Collins has had to manage a team that is unworthy of being called a big market team and attendance has never been worse than this recent three-year run. As bad as the results have been, I doubt Gil Hodges or Davey Johnson could have done better with the same bad outfield, bullpen and backend of the rotation. This isn’t Terry’s mess, it’s Sandy’s mess – and he should be the one responsible for any of the bad results as well as cleaning it up.

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 day started off on a sour note. I had my weekend MMO press credential clipped to my tie as I walked up to Target Field to see the Mets take on the Twins. I arrived on time for the pregame press conference only to be confronted by a big no-nonsense Security Guard at the entrance to the Met clubhouse. I explained to him that I was with Metsmerized Online, that I had a press credential. Didn’t matter. My credential included a field pass and access to the press box but not the clubhouse. “See, right there,” he said pointing to my card. “But I got in last night,” I said. “Terry Collins said we should be back at 11:45.” He just shrugged his shoulders. I felt like I did in the third grade when I couldn’t go on the field trip to the zoo because I forgot to get my permission slip.

I decided to walk out onto the field and calm down. Watching the groundskeepers on this frosty April morning prepare the field was about as soothing an image as I could ask for under the circumstances. I’d take it in stride and do what I could outside of attending the press briefing I thought. I went back up to the press box and started sorting through some pictures and chatting with some of the Minnesota press corps. They were about as nice a group of guys as you could assemble. Maybe they knew I’d been left out and were trying to cheer me up, or, maybe it was a Minnesota thing. People in Minnesota sure can be nice. I saw that the Mets had gone back out to the field and figured I’d head out and take some photos.

I went down the elevator into the bowels of Target Field (sub level -2!) with food prep people and racks and racks of cotton candy lining the long circular corridor … I turned down a door marked “Field Access” and walked up beside the Met dugout.

I could see David Wright signing some autographs, Justin Turner clowning around with his bright red beard, different groups of players stretching. Eventually one of the conditioning coaches came out and guided the majority of the team in what looked like some sort of abbreviated stretching routine. It reminded me of boot camp only the salary here was probably a little better.

At that point I notice Sandy Alderson walk up from the dugout. He looked around and started up a conversation with Jay Horwitz. I thought here’s my chance, go up and ask for an interview. I paced around awkwardly and finally just walked over and introduced myself and my affiliation with MMO, and asked Sandy if he could answer some questions.

Amazingly, he agreed, which took me completely off guard – I was expecting him to say “Sorry, no time.” I’d gone into this way too quickly. My mind went blank. He looked at me, waiting. “Hmm lets see,” I said, trying to stall. C’mon brain, DO something, THINK … a question, ANY question. I was about to blurt out “So how about this weather?” when all of my many Mets related questions came flooding back. It’s a good thing too because I think Sandy was about to walk away, most likely thinking they’re missing one at the funny farm.

I held up my handy iTouch video recorder and began. My first question was about the Stanton rumors which he responded to by cutting me off with a simple emphatic, “No.” No? I thought? That’s it? No to what, the question, or did he reconsider granting the interview? Another awkward pause. Fortunately I gathered my senses and asked for clarification. When it was all said and done he’d graciously answered every question. What a great guy I thought as I walked away. I couldn’t wait to watch the replay when I looked down at my recording device and noticed … I hadn’t pressed the record button.

I felt dizzy, the stadium was spinning around me as the blood rose to my head and I started to sweat. I went up and down the steps searching for the video in vain but it was not there, it would never be there. I wanted to punch myself in the face 26 times and then I wanted to bang my head against the concrete wall another 17 times or so until I’d pass out, but I didn’t because the security guards were eying me suspiciously by then. Maybe I could find an out of the way empty room where I could scream for about 10 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. My one chance and I’d blown it spectacularly.

I dragged my sorry self back up to the press box running the interview over in my head. Maybe I could go back and ask him for another interview? HA! He’d really think I was crazy. “Excuse me sir, but I forgot to press this big red button the first time, could we do the whole thing over again?” Yeah, not happening. The day was turning into a nightmare, with my luck Harvey would get shelled and blow his elbow out.

I went back up with the same dejected look on my face that I had after I’d missed the press briefing.They must have thought jeez why are these Mets people so sad? I told a couple of the guys about the video and, surprisingly, they said “yeah, it happens.” Which made me feel quite a bit better. “Get it down on paper.” They said. So I did.

By the time I was done the game was about to start and I thought the written interview and commentary afterwards wasn’t half bad. There were a lot more people around by then and there was a buzz in the air. I got up to use the rest room and turned a corner too quick nearly running into Keith Hernandez. I looked up and thought, wow, it’s Keith Hernandez … look like you belong Matt look like you belong … I nodded my head in greeting and he looked at me suspiciously, like he knew what I was up to or something (I swear I’m not making that up) … I think maybe he was messing with me. Keith is an interesting guy … he should run for Mayor.

The day turned out to be a pretty good day after all. Harvey was again unbelievable, pitching a no-hitter through six and two-thirds innings. The Mets won 4 – 2. Jay Horwitz talked to the uptight security guard and got me into the post game briefing, and the Mets had saved me yet again from my own foolishness.

Updated on 4/18 by Joe D.

And right on cue, in his column for the New York Post, Joel Sherman says that injuries to D’Arnaud’s back, knee and now foot could suggest that he is “injury-prone.”

Let us also remember the ticking clock does not stop. D’Arnaud is no baby,” Sherman writes. “He is 24 — six months older than Jason Heyward. The Mets’ best-laid plans had D’Arnaud and Zack Wheeler breaking in this year and being part of a serial contending cornerstone for next season.

The thing of it is that the knee and now this foot injury were both freakish in nature and just something that all catchers are subject to.

How many times a week do we see a collision at the plate or a foul ball off the bat hitting the catcher? This is what happened both times with D’Arnaud and it could have been any other catcher as well, just fill in the blank.

Original Post by Joe D. on 4/17

Sandy Alderson just announced that Travis d’Arnaud has a non-displaced fracture in the first metatarsal in his left foot.

Alderson said d’Arnaud is in a walking boot and will fly to New York to visit team doctors at the Hospital for Special Surgery for further evaluation and to evaluate the severity of the injury. Currently, there is no timetable for his return.

As we first reported late last night, Sacramento’s Tyler Ladendorf was at the plate as 51s pitcher Adam Kolarek broke off a 1-2 curveball that Ladendorf fouled off d’Arnaud’s foot. After being attended to by the club’s athletic trainer, Joe Golia, d’Arnaud stayed in the game.

However, manager Wally Backman opted to replace him a half inning later as Landon Powell pinch hit for d’Arnaud, striking out in the bottom of the sixth inning.

D’Arnaud was hitting .250 with five doubles, one home run and eight RBI in 36 at-bats this season.

I’m so depressed over this. We were actually planning to attend Zack Wheeler‘s next start this weekend and were hoping to secure some time with the top Mets prospect. This is so disappointing.

I know that by now the haters are coming out in full force and will look to throw Sandy Alderson under the bus.

I got two words for them…

One of the most exciting things I was looking forward to this season was the day we’d first get to see Travis d’Arnaud catch Matt Harvey and then eventually Zack Wheeler. It was going to be the highlight of my season. I remain optimistic however, and it still could happen.

I spoke to an injury expert who practices sports medicine and he told me these types of injuries can take as little as four weeks and as long as eight weeks to heal properly. But he then added that because Travis is a catcher it would probably be closer to eight weeks as the Mets will make sure his foot is sturdy and strong enough to support his weight when he crouches behind the plate. It sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

We at MMO all hope for a speedy recovery and wish Travis d’Arnaud the best. He’s a great talent and still has a great future ahead of him.

Updated by Joe D. on 4/17

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, spoke to Mets GM Sandy Alderson who essentially said that Zack Wheeler’s performance at Triple-A Las Vegas is the primary consideration for him to be promoted to the big leagues. Or in other words, what I’ve been saying all along and you can read below this update.

“Super Two status is a consideration”, Alderson told Rubin.

“But his level of performance is probably the major consideration. He pitched at Triple-A last year. He’s pitching at Triple-A this year. His last outing was excellent. Let’s see how it goes.”

Wheeler allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings against Colorado Springs in his last start, walking none  and racking up eight strikeouts.

“If he pitches extremely well over the next several starts, that will indicate one thing. If he doesn’t, that might indicate something else,” Alderson explained.

“And, of course, we’d have to have input from our player-development people as well as Las Vegas manager Wally Backman and pitching coach Randy St. Claire and so forth.”

Makes sense to me and my thoughts are right below…

Original Post 4/15

Zack Wheeler bounced back from a couple of less than optimal starts and delivered a solid performance Sunday at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

The Mets’ top pitching prospect allowed three runs on six hits including one home run, in 5.1 innings while walking none and striking out eight. All told, Wheeler threw 97 pitches, 61 of them for strikes.

Wheeler struggled in his first two starts this month, lasting just 3.1 innings in his season debut and letting up two runs on three hits, three walks and striking out three. His second start was hardly better, allowing four runs, one earned, in 5.1 innings, but still struggled with his command.

The Mets later announced that Wheeler was dealing with a blister/avulsion on the middle finger of his pitching hand, something that he’s dealt with in the past. A precautionary MRI revealed nothing serious.

Sunday’s performance alleviated any fears as Wheeler looked dominating and even had his curve working unlike his first two starts. His fastball had great late movement today and was ranging from 95-97 mph and even touched 98 mph twice. Of course it was his control that stood out the most – allowing no batters to reach on a walk. One thing to note was that veteran catcher Landon Powell caught this game and not Travis d’Arnaud.

Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson both have said that promoting Wheeler wouldn’t be a consideration until he showed that he could dominate in the PCL. That of course is the logical way to proceed as they look to safeguard the young right-hander’s future and avoid setting him up for failure. I was chatting with Mike Newman of FanGraphs on Friday and he believed that Wheeler should follow the same course of action they took with Matt Harvey last season.

Fans however, will continue to rant and call for his immediate promotion at the hint of any positive sign as they focus solely on the strikeouts and not much of anything else. Let me remind them that this afternoon’s performance by Wheeler, though a big improvement, wouldn’t have been considered a quality start by the major league definition.

Hopefully, Wheeler can build on his latest effort and continue to improve in future starts. I want to see him take control of a game when runners are on base. I want to see fewer hitters dig in on him and would love to see Wheeler take over the inside part of the plate and own it.

You could tell that he was very focused and determined on throwing strikes, which was good to see. But I want to see Wheeler use his command to paint the corners with his fastball and keep hitters off balance. Then he can drop that hammer curve on them to seal the deal.

Until Alderson and his team see Wheeler use all four of his plus pitches with greater efficiency and more deliver consistent and impressive results, they will keep him in Vegas until he starts rising up the ranks of the WHIP and ERA leaders in the Pacific Coast League. That has been their barometer and mandate since the beginning of spring training.

The last thing on the minds of the Mets front office right now is Super Two or not losing a year of his service time. Wheeler is simply not at the place he needs to be for them to even consider a promotion. Sandy flat out said in our conference call that his destiny is not tied to injuries or poor performance by the team’s major league rotation. And that’s exactly the way it should be.

Early afternoon at Target Field.

Jon Niese taking an early jog around the the park.

Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson watching batting practice at Target Field.

Marlon Byrd is waiting for his turn to take some hacks.

None of the players goof off whenever Jay Horwitz is close by.

Justin Turner says, “Hey you’re Metsmerized… I know you guys!”

Sandy glares right at me and says, ”There’s those crazy guys from MMO again.”

Here is a video I shot from Terry’s presser and a clubhouse interview with John Buck.

More to come later, guys….

When the Blue Jays forced Sandy Alderson to take John Buck‘s $6 million dollar contract as a condition of making the deal for Travis d’Arnaud, many people including me groaned. I loved the fact that Buck could actually catch (unlike Josh Thole) and would be an asset overall, but six million samoans for Buck was simply too much for me to swallow.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and Alderson sure lucked out on this one despite holding his nose and agreed to take Buck in that Dickey deal.

Fast forward to April 9, 2013…

Through seven games, Buck is now batting .375 to lead the Mets and throw in three homers (tops on the team) and 12 RBIs (tops in the NL). Somebody get me a shot of Chivas…

Are there still a lot of skeptics out there? Of course and rightfully so, but that doesn’t faze the Mets catcher one bit.

“I don’t really care,” he said. “I figure if I just keep doing what I’m doing, they can be surprised at the end of the year.”

Before joining the Mets, Buck was merely a career .236 hitter over his nine years in the majors. He has bounced around from team to team and has logged time with Kansas City, Toronto and Miami before hitting the streets of Flushing.

The power however, shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone as Buck has belted 15 or more homers three times in his career. But what’s happening right now? This is a first…

Last night, he blasted a three-run shot off of the once great Roy Halladay and clinched the win for the Mets. But it’s not just his bat that has been impressive. Mets starters have the second best ERA in the majors when he’s behind the dish and calling the game. He’s been the complete package for the Amazins.

I have always said that Omar Minaya struck gold when he picked up R.A. Dickey off the scrap heap. John Buck could end up becoming Sandy Alderson’s first real nugget and ironically, he didn’t even want him in the first place.

As I said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Yesterday, I faulted Santana for not keeping the Mets in the loop this Winter about his questionable shoulder and how he was progressing, but shouldn’t there be some accountability on the Mets’ part as well?

Wasn’t there an obligation to track Santana down and schedule at least one follow-up examination of Santana’s shoulder which was 18 months removed from capsular surgery?

Or what about checking up on his sore back or his bum ankle that was the apparent reason for shutting him down last season in the first place?

If you were a first-year GM and just a mere greenhorn, wouldn’t checking up on Johan Santana be the first thing you do before pursuing offers for R.A. Dickey?

So how did a 35-year seasoned MLB executive like Sandy Alderson fail to do his due diligence as he admitted on his conference call on Thursday?

No general exam. No X-rays. No MRI. No poking and prodding. No follow-ups on any of the three major areas of concern. Nothing.

Maybe he didn’t want to know?

Maybe he was so dead-set on trading Dickey all along – even when he was saying publicly that the reigning National League Cy Young was not being shopped?

“I’m not actively shopping Dickey our priority is to sign him to an extension, but like any player we’ll listen to any offers,” Alderson said before taking off for the Winter Meetings in Nashville.  ”But we won’t trade him unless we get a difference maker in return.”

I believe in being fair, and in the last two days I’ve given Johan Santana a few good knocks to the side of his head for the way he handled himself in these last three months and how he let his pride and ego get the best of him.

But make no mistake that there were errors of omission and commission made on both sides. It took two sides to created this fiasco – not one.

We’ll never know the real truth and as usual we’ll be left to our own suspicions and speculations. But what does it say about the 2013 season when you traded your ace for no MLB ready pitching in return, replaced him with a late Winter scrapheap signing who came to camp with a sore shoulder and needing a cortisone shot, and didn’t know the condition of your would-be ace until he showed up on reporting date lobbing 69 mph fastballs?

The answers to those questions can all be found in the 2013 Mets Opening Day rotation. We have already moved the timetable for an apparent Mets dynasty from 2014 to 2015. We may have to move it again from 2015 to 2016.

The fact is that the starting rotation in 2013, may be as underwhelming as the outfield. Year three of the Alderson Era is looking pretty alarming on paper thus far. But baseball isn’t played on paper, so I’m willing to see the season play out before completely unleashing my own version of hell.

Can you please tell me why there is always some debate on your site about Bill Rigney and his connection to Sandy Alderson? I don’t understand why this is always such a hot debate on Metsmerized and was wondering if you could educate me a little on this.

Joe D. says…

Dan, I’m the wrong guy to answer this but will do the best that I could. The only two people on MMO who seem to write the most about the guy both have opposing versions of his role so asking either of them would only make the matter more cloudy rather than adding clarity. Mind you, over the past two years yours is the fifth or sixth such question to me regarding their connection, so maybe it’s time to seek out an answer.

I decided to do some simple research via Google and came across this quote by Sandy Alderson in an article featured on SFGate.com. I included the context as well as the quote to eliminate any gray areas:

After the A’s won an American League pennant in 1988, then-A’s executive Sandy Alderson said, “When you talk about people who have contributed to our success, you have to single out Bill Rigney. His contributions have been enormous.”

“He has been involved in every one of our player acquisitions since I came here in 1982. I’ve watched 600 or 700 games with Bill, and it’s been an education.”

Alderson recalled nights at the Pink Pony Steakhouse in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“Rig would know everybody in the place, and have a story about them,” he said. “And he had the great ability to draw people in. He had great knowledge but he never talked down to people.” Alderson recalls watching games with Rigney and the late club owner Walter Haas from the club box at the Coliseum. “It was like having our own personal color man,” Alderson said. “And we would have some wonderful conversations, not just about baseball.”

Even though he had several decades in the game and had played against some of the greatest names of all time, few players regularly sought him out to talk baseball.

“They don’t want to know,” he said. “They really don’t want to know. All they say is, ‘Hey, man, that was 40 years ago. Things are different now.’ Oh, really? How different? Do they run to third base instead of first? Come on.”

I think the best qualified people who can tell you about the connection between Bill Rigney and Sandy Alderson, are Rigney and Alderson themselves. Unfortunately, Rigney has passed away, but that was what Alderson had to say on the matter.

Other than that, you can read more about Bill Rigney on his wiki page where it says he was a a 26-season major league veteran who played for the New York Giants from 1946 – 1953, and served as the Giants manager from 1956 – 1960, leading the club in its first season after moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958.

After an 18-season managerial career, Rigney served as a front-office consultant and a radio and TV broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics in the 1980s.

He died on February 20, 2001 in Walnut Creek, California, at the age of 83.

Updated on March 13 at 2:00 PM

According to Andy Martino of the Daily News, Johan Santana spoke with Sandy Alderson today to clear the air about what’s been reported about him and his coming to camp unprepared and not ready to pitch.

Santana didn’t say anything all the newsworthy, says Martino, but the Mets lefthander looked like he was in a better mood, talking, and clearly wanting the subject changed.

“I’m not going to get into you said, I said, all that,” Santana said. “But we’re all on the same page now.”

Well, I’m glad to see him finally take a proactive approach, but until he gets on that mound and starts pitching like he’s capable of, I won’t be completely satisfied.

That said, I’m pulling for his success…

Originally Posted on March 12 at 11:00 AM

It’s amazing to me how just one player’s status can have such a widespread reaction on the whole team. Take Johan Santana for example. He was supposed to be all rested and ready to go and instead he showed with his arm in no condition to participate with the rest of his teammates in drills, bullpens, live batting practice and appearing in Grapefruit League games.

One little comment from Sandy Alderson who simply stated that Santana’s arm was not ready, and all of a sudden the world stopped turning.

Immediately the GM is getting blasted by some for igniting a powder keg big enough to blow Tradition Field to Iowa. But give me a break, all he did was answer a question and did so honestly. My problems with Sandy have always been when he did the opposite so I’m sure as hell not going to get into his face for being forthright.

And for those fans who seem intent on blaming him for what has ensued ever since with regard to Santana’s piss-poor behavior, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

The problem here is Johan Santana, not Alderson, not Terry Collins, and not the Mets.

For a player whom I’ve always looked up to as a warrior, he’s been acting more like George Costanza; always whining or pouting and blaming everyone in the world except himself for his problems. For crying out loud, quit your bitching and just try to remedy the situation rather than making it worse.

Santana has yet to make his spring debut because he is still in the process of building strength in his shoulder, or basically exactly what Sandy Alderson told reporters over a week ago. Nothing’s changed.

If things have gotten worse it’s because Santana decided upon himself to toss an unscheduled bullpen session – weakened shoulder and all – just to prove that he was the ultimate macho man – the ultimate warrior. But instead he came away looking like a big sour puss and worse yet risked another potentially costly setback, and now a trip to the DL is all but inevitable.

Compounding things even further is Santana’s continued whining and moaning. He told columnist John Harper that he remains bitter toward the ballclub and is barely communicating with club officials. Are you freaking kidding me?

Santana, 33, is still owed $25 million this season and more like $31.5 million when you include his buyout. What is this guy’s major malfunction? In a matter of two weeks, Santana has gone from warrior to wimp. I’m tired of wasting time on him and this situation…

Onward and upward.

Instead I’m quite happy with the way Jonathon Niese has performed thus far in Spring Training, and I’m glad that it looks like he’ll be the Opening Day starter. The Mets couldn’t have picked a more deserving pitcher and I’m sure Niese will rise to the occasion.

“He’s really gotten better; he’s growing up,” Collins said. “To me, he deserves that opportunity to start on Opening Day this year. He’s reached that point where I think you can look up, hopefully, at the end of the year and this guy’s one of the top pitchers of the game.”

As for Johan’s spot in the rotation, and as I’ve been saying all along, we’re in capable hands with Jeremy Hefner. A pitcher with average stuff, but an above average heart and above average instincts on the mound. He’ll be just fine until Zack Wheeler is ready to contribute and if Hefner does falter, I have no problem with Collin McHugh or Jenrry Mejia getting a few starts.

Would I prefer that Santana was healthy and ready to go on Opening Day? Of course I would, but I’m not going to cry over spilled milk if he goes on the DL. Maybe the time off will do his brain some good as well as his shoulder, because clearly he’s got some emotional issues going on, and we don’t need him spreading that negative karma onto our very young rotation who did come to camp early, ready to pitch, and eager to help this team win some ballgames.

He’s an outfielder. He has some power. And, he’s still breathing. What’s not to like? And, he’s coming off a strained oblique muscle, so he should fit right in with the Mets.

Boesch is a lifetime .259 hitter with 42 homers in three years as a role player with the Tigers. He can play both outfield corners, which is an obvious need for New York.

Boesch is to make $2.3 million this year and is arbitration eligible for next winter. At 27, he’s not, well, he’s not Marlon Byrd. Boesch appeared to have a breakthrough season in 2011 when he hit .283 with 16 homers, but he missed the postseason with a thumb injury.

He regressed last year, and his strikeouts spiked to 104. Maybe it was just a bad year or perhaps there were lingering effects from the thumb injury. Whatever, he’s still young enough where he can rebound.

Given the Tigers’ depth, they have the luxury of not waiting for him. The Mets don’t have that luxury.

In 2011, Boesch had a respectable .341 on-base percentage, but after last year’s regression it is at .315 for his career, which could work against him in Sandy Alderson’s system.

Even so, he’s worth a look, because afterall, the Mets aren’t dealing from a position of strength in their outfield.