Mets Matters

“I applaud that Ike Davis didn’t give up, that he stuck with his plan. I truly believe the fact that we stuck with him gave him some confidence and let him get it going. Ike’s told me, ‘You won’t see that again.’ He’s told me many times, ‘You will not see that first half again from me.’ And, if that’s the case, you tack on another five or six or seven home runs on that list because of what he would normally do in the first half, you’ve got huge numbers coming. Ike Davis is legit.” – Terry Collins

The Mets aren’t ruling out a return before the end of the season for closer Frank Francisco, who is dealing with right elbow tendinitis. Francisco has tallied 23 saves. “It’s tendinitis. It’s not any structural thing,” Collins said. “If that goes away, as long as his muscles are intact — all the tendons and everything else — there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to pitch.” – MLB.com

Justin Turner plans to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic with Escogido, the reigning Caribbean Series champion. Escogido is managed by former Mets bench coach Ken Oberkfell. Turner also played for the squad two years ago. The extra workload may be useful because Turner enters Monday’s series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates with only 175 plate appearances this season. He had 487 plate appearances in 2011. – ESPN New York

MLB Beat

Nationals manager Davey Johnson plans to rest his regular players if Washington clinches the NL East — and he doesn’t care one bit what anyone else thinks. The Nationals entered Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers with a magic number of six for clinching the division title. The rest of Washington’s regular-season opponents are still in the chase for wild-card berths, including the St. Louis Cardinals. And if other clubs hope the Nationals will put their best lineup on the field against the Cardinals? “I’m resting my regulars. End of conversation,” Johnson said. – Washington Post

White Sox have signaled to star right-hander Jake Peavy they are unlikely to pick up his $22 million club option for 2013, effectively make him a free agent. The White Sox may try to re-sign Peavy but it’s not easy to envision them paying him enough to keep him from testing free-agency. Peavy, 31, could be seen as the second-best free agent starter to Zack Greinke on the market as he’s rebounded from a tricky shoulder surgery to go 11-11 with a 3.26 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 177 strikeouts. – Jon Heyman

David Glass sounds like an owner ready to make the necessary financial push in the coming offseason to bolster a suspect starting pitching rotation in order to position the Royals for a postseason run in 2013. “What I’ve always said is when we get to the point where we’re competitive,” Glass said, “we’ll do what we have to do to improve our position. Yes, we’ll do what we need to do. We are committed to improving our starting pitching. Glass indicated a willingness to operate the club at a financial loss in order to improve the rotation. “We’ll do what we need to do,” Glass pledged. – KansasCity.com