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

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

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

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

Right fielder Cesar Puello hit two solo home runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Binghamton Mets defeated the Trenton Thunder, 5-4, Thursday afternoon at NYSEG Stadium.

The red-hot Puello hit four home runs in the series and now has 12 on the season while batting .320/.401/.588 in 50 games this season.

In a Boom or Bust feature on Sunday, I wrote the following about Puello:

It seemed like Cesar Puello was left for dead after the 2012 season after appearing on many a Top 10 Mets Prospects list. He was a virtual no-show on every prospect list including ours at the start of 2013.

What many people forget is that Puello just turned 22 last month and yet here he is in Double-A Binghamton mixing it up with players 3-4 years older than him on average.

At 6’2 and 195 pounds he’s built for power, but it wasn’t until this season that he started to show himself to be the slugger many scouts thought he would be.

He’s having a solid season overall, but to me the most important number is that .506 slugging percentage given the desperate situation in Flushing.

Oh and don’t let his size fool you, this kid can run too and has racked up 95 stolen bases in the last four seasons.  Look for him to be a part of the 2014 outfield equation by next season’s All Star Break.

His slugging has risen to .588 since I wrote that.

Puello is one of the players involved in the Biogenesis scandal although nobody has been officially named yet. But even if he were to be suspended, it won’t put a damper on his chances of making his MLB debut sometime in 2014.

(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)

As the Mets wrap up the month of May and close in on the second-third of the season, here are where they rank on pitching and offense in the National League.

Offensive Ranks

Runs Scored (207) – 11th

Batting Average (.228) – 14th

On-Base Pct. (.297) – 13th

Slugging Pct. (.371) – 14th

Home Runs (51) – 9th

Stolen Bases (23) – 11th

Pitching Ranks

Earned Run Average (4.28) – 13th

WHIP (1.32) – 9th

Wins (22) – 13th

Saves (10) – 14th

Save Percentage (59%) – 12th

Strikeouts (383) – 12th

Batting Average Against (.260) – 12th

The Kitchen Sink…

• Here’s an interesting stat I discovered… The Mets have grounded into 23 double plays this season. That’s the best mark in the league by far. The Nationals are second with 31 GDPs and the D-Backs lead the league with 55.
•  The Mets are last in the league with a .77 Groundball to Flyball Ratio.
• Mets outfielders have committed 8 errors this season, tops in the NL.
• The Mets are batting just .215 at home this season with a .647 OPS. After posting a .698 OPS in April, the Mets slipped to a .639 OPS for the month of May.
• With all the focus on Ike Davis there’s a seldom talked about black hole in center field. Mets center fielders are batting .193 this season with a .576 OPS.
• Mets batters are hitting .217 when leading off an inning. Mets leadoff hitters are batting just .198 this season with a .528 OPS. With No. 8 hitters batting .174 and the No. 9 spot batting .191 those are three dead spots in a row in the lineup.
• With the Mets trying to see more pitches during their at-bats the results aren’t very encouraging. They are batting .190 in three ball counts, .148 in two strike counts and .183 on full counts.

Maybe I can help…

Mike Puma of the New York Post writes that David Wright has zero regrets, and continues to believe in the direction of the franchise.

“I’m disappointed in our performance so far,” Wright told The Post. “As far as specifically what Sandy and I talked about and I guess the plan moving forward, a big part of that plan is pieces we have in the higher minor leagues.”

David Wright, who signed an eight-year, $138 million contract extension over the Winter, is currently batting .300 /.402/.494 with six home runs, seven doubles, 11 stolen bases and 28 RBI in 160 at-bats this season.

“I’m disappointed in our performance as a team. I’m not disappointed in [what] I believe what the plan is going forward and what I believe this organization is capable of doing in the near future.”

The Plan. I hope one day they write a book and make a movie about this plan.

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright copped his third MMO Player of the Week honor after what may have been his most productive week of the season.

The feisty third baseman had a few run-ins the umps this past week which is something we don’t see too much of from him, but it’s what a player does in the box score that matters most for this weekly staple at MMO.

Wright posted an incredible .333/.368/.889/1.257 batting line to lead the team while also clubbing a team high three home runs – all of them coming in his last three games to close out his week with a BANG!

Additionally, he led the team with 16 total bases and six runs scored, more than double any of the other players for the week.

Wright saw his franchise record of 77 games without an error come to an end, and it was also the longest active streak among all MLB third basemen.

Honorable Mentions

John Buck

John Buck may have had a rough day yesterday behind the plate, but offensively he batted .278/.350/.667/1.017 in 18 at-bats with two more home runs to give him a team-leading ten homers for the season. He also drove in six runs and now leads the NL with 29 RBI.

Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey didn’t get the win, but delivered another solid start in which he allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched. The right-hander allowed seven hits and uncharacteristically walked three batters, while striking out seven. He’ll get the start tomorrow on seven days rest as the White Sox roll into town.

Jeremy Hefner

Hefner was the hard-luck loser after pitching the best game of his young career against the Miami Marlins last week. The righty did a nice job of changing speeds and using his assortment of pitches to keep the Fish off balance all night for eight solid innings of work. He allowed two earned runs on just four hits and struck out three while walking three.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

1. David Wright – 3

2. John Buck - 1

2. Matt Harvey - 1

First and foremost, how do you define a superstar?  For the purposes of this post, I’m going to say that a superstar has to have been in the league long enough to be compensated like one.  This will provide a “track record” that we can use to see where Wright lies amongst his peers.  Does this leave out the Mike Trouts and Bryce Harpers of the world?  Yes, but its important to consider money because it is always an important dynamic in this argument.

With that said, if there is anything both Wright’s supports and his critics can agree on, its that Wright’s new contract compensates him like a superstar.  Despite making only $11 million dollars this season, he will average $17.5 million over the length of the deal.  So for the purposes of comparison, I will use this $17.5 million dollar figure so Wright goes up against players considered to be the best in the league.  IF Wright were to make $17.5 million dollars this season, he would find himself to be the twenty-third highest paid player in Major League Baseball.   As it turns out, there are eleven higher paid position players in the game under this scenario.  Therefore, for the purposes of this comparison, I will use those eleven players and the first eleven that fall below him.  Each of these players have been productive enough on a consistent basis to be amongst the highest paid position players in the league.  Does Wright belong in this group?

This is how they match up over the course of their careers in the major statistical categories:

Click to enlarge. All statistics obtained from www.baseball-reference.com. All statistics are averages over every 162 games played.

I chose these statistics because they are the most commonly known offensive categories for the average/traditional baseball fan.  I included batting average with runners in scoring position as a way to measure “clutchness”, which always seems to come up when discussing Wright.  So what have we learned…

Wright is actually above average when it comes to runs, hits, runs batted in, stolen bases, batting average, OPS, and finally, “clutchness”.  Consequently, he is slightly below average when it comes to power numbers and also averages a few additional strikeouts than his peers, neither of which should come as a surprise to anyone who watches Wright on a daily basis.  Which of these statistics you value most will go a long way in making your determination of whether or not Wright is in fact, a superstar.

I’ll allow you to make that determination for yourself.  What I do take away from all of this is that David Wright has earned his place amongst the highest paid players in the league.  He may never hit the epic home runs that some on this list do.  That alone may be enough for some of you to never deem Wright a superstar, and that’s okay.  However, there are other aspects of his game that help to fill his power void, which may lead others to the exact opposite conclusion.  What do you think?  How does he match up?  Is David Wright a superstar?

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

Disclaimer: I did not include defensive statistics in this comparison because each of these players play different positions, with several serving as a DH who don’t play defense at all.  Salaries were obtained from www.baseballplayersalaries.com/salaries.

According to this tweet by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Mets may have something cooking with the Texas Rangers who are seeking to move outfielder Julio Borbon.

Borbon, 27, was designated for assignment last week and the Rangers have until this afternoon to trade him or place him on irrevocable waivers. He has a slash of .283/.324/.358 over parts of four years in the majors.

Last season, Borbon hit .304/.349/.433 with 23 doubles, eight triples, 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 28 attempts for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate.

The Orioles have previously been tied to the Rangers outfielder and remain the heavy favorites to land him.

Thoughts from Joe D.

This doesn’t say much about the current Mets center field situation if the Mets connection to this rumor is true. For now the Mets have had a merry-go-round out there that has included Collin Cowgill, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Jordany Valdespin for the most part.

We certainly could use the help, but Borbon doesn’t look like an answer or a solution to me.

Plus if this involves other teams bidding, the odds the Mets come out on top seems like a longshot.

When the Mets won 11 of 13 games earlier this month, they stole at least one base in all 11 victories and failed to register a steal in the two losses.  Their thievery against the San Francisco Giants last week, led by Carlos Beltran’s critical steals of third base and David Wright’s four steal game, led directly to wins in the first three games of the series.  Once they stopped stealing (no stolen bases in the next three games), the wins stopped coming.

The Mets must steal bases in order to do well in Boston.  The Red Sox are leading the majors in stolen bases allowed.  Opposing runners have stolen 38 bases in 47 attempts against Jason Varitek.  Backup catcher George Kottaras has fared even worse, allowing 11 steals in 13 attempts.  Between the two, that’s 49 stolen bases allowed in 60 attempts.  No other American League team has allowed 40 steals yet, let alone 49.  If the Mets can exploit this glaring weakness the Red Sox have, they will put pressure on the Red Sox pitchers throughout the series and will give themselves a better chance to end their long road trip on a positive note.  Let’s hope once the Mets start their engines, they never shut them off.

The seven stolen bases set a new Mets club record.

For David Wright it was his fourth steal of the night and a new career best.

Carlos Beltran also swiped third base (again!) and came around to score the run that put the Mets on top in the ninth inning.

Wow… That’s all I can say, Wow.

All this on a night that Jose Reyes was given the game off.

Amazing…

But so far this season, the team’s stolen bases are down and not where we expected.

Currently, the Mets have 5 stolen bases and have been caught 4 times after 12 games. When you compare that to some of the other teams, you’ll see that the Mets find themselves in the lower tier of the stolen base ranks.

With 19 stolen bases and only one caught stealing, the Tampa Bay Rays are clearly the leaders in stolen bases. They are followed by the Los Angeles Angels who have 17, the Texas Rangers who have swiped 14, and the Los Angeles Dodgers who have stolen 12.

Overall, the Mets are tied for 20th with three other teams. 

Jose Reyes has gotten off to a slow start with just three swipes in 12 games, a pace that will put him at 40 stolen bases this season, his lowest total in five seasons.

Sometimes a drop off in stolen bases can be symptomatic of not getting on base, but the Mets are actually ahead of last season for the same period in batting average and on-base percentage.

I’m sure things will pick up at some point, but it’s just another facet of the Mets game that seems to be a little off right now.