Ike Davis is considered to be one of the top young players in the New York Mets organization. The first baseman is being counted on to be one of the centerpieces of the franchise moving forward.

Except that he’s been awful this year. He’s got 5 HR’s while hitting .160. Yep, .160. He makes Freddie Galvis look like Ty Cobb.

So, because he’s so young, the next question is: Will he get sent down to Triple A?

“Terry Collins was not saying Ike is going to minors, but he was not as dismissive of possibility either,” tweets Adam Rubin of ESPN.

Ok, so it sounds like it’s on the table. Davis needs to get hot pretty quickly, or he could be sent down when Jason Bay comes off the DL in early June. No pressure though.

It doesn’t take long for things to go south for the New York Mets. They started out 4-0 and seemed poised to win all 162 games this season. But, while it’s still very, very possible, it’s going to be much more difficult now that David Wright will have to sit down for a bit.

Monday night, Wright dove back to a bag and messed up his pinkie finger. And according to Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger, the finger is busted.

“David Wright has a small fracture in his pinkie. No surgery. Will wear a splint. Timetable is unclear right now,” McCullough tweets.

While there is definitely a crack in the pinkie, Wright is hoping that he doesn’t have to hit the DL.

“No one ever really wants to go on the DL. Hopefully, that’s not the case this time,” Wright said.

As of now, Wright is out indefinitely and we’ll have to see what the team plans to do with him. Obviously, not letting the finger heal properly this early in the season (with an undefeated season on the line) is a bad idea.

UPDATE: Sadly, the Mets lost. So there goes the undefeated season.

We’ve been wondering for a while now (not really) where former New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran would land. Once an elite player, Beltran has broken down physically over the last few years, even though he continues to put up some decent number.

Well, wait no more!

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that the Cardinals have signed Beltran to a two-year contract.

“#Cardinals and Beltran have agreed upon a two-year deal, according to sources. News posted on Stltoday.com #stlcards,” he tweets.

It’s reportedly worth $26 million, which is kind of a lot for a 34-year old who has hardly been a model of fitness and health the last few years.

However, it’s tough to argue with Beltran’s numbers despite the injuries. His power isn’t remotely what it used to be, as he hit 22 bombs and just 84 RBI’s in 142 games in 2011. You’d be well within your rights to point out that he wasn’t in hitters parks in Queens and San Francisco (it’s not Russia after all), but those still aren’t dominant power stats.

However, he did hit .323 at the end of last season with the San Francisco Giants, and there wasn’t much (any) protection in that lineup.

Still, $13 million per year is a lot and he could spend most of the year on the DL.

We mentioned previously that the Miami Marlins hosted free agent shortstop Jose Reyes a few weeks ago. They are trying to lure in big-name talent (especially Latino talent) as they open their new stadium next year. But, it was reported that the Marlins low-balled Reyes, offering him less than $90 million over the length of the deal.

Now, Jim Bowden of ESPN, tweets that the Marlins are going very hard for Reyes.

“Marlins putting an all-out press on Reyes hoping for an agreement prior to Dallas…but don’t count out Mets…Reyes is the FA on the clock,” he says.

This is similar to what Jon Heyman of SI.com reported on Friday when he said that the Marlins are “pretty optimistic” about landing Reyes.

We’re just curious to see what happens with Hanley Ramirez if they sign another big-name shortstop. There had been talks of moving him to the outfield, but he didn’t sound thrilled about that. He’s already got some dickish tendencies, so we’d be curious to see his behavior if Reyes came to town.

That is, if the Marlins ever decide to grow up and offer fair market value for him.

The New York Mets have been in a downward spiral since about 2007. Year after year, they seem to get hit with injuries and aren’t that good to begin with. Especially now, with the powerhouse Phillies and surging Braves in the division. So, one would think that it’s in their best interests to retain shortstop Jose Reyes.

But, that’s not looking good right now. John Harper of the New York Daily News says that the Florida Marlins are poised to make a significant offer to Reyes on Wednesday. He’s told that they are looking at offering him a three-year deal worth upwards of $20 million per year.

Yikes!

One source tells Harper that the Marlins are looking to make a big splash with their new retractable roof stadium and “trying to cultivate the Latino market.”

But, Harper’s story says that they want to pair Reyes with Hanley Ramirez on the left side of the infield. Ummm…they’re both shortstops. It doesn’t say who would move to third. Does it matter? Maybe not, they are both stellar defenders.

If Reyes does walk though, the Mets would have to admit that they are in a rebuilding mode, right? They can’t possibly be a serious contender with that team.

“I don’t agree with that premise,” GM Sandy Alderson said. “We would presumably spend the money on someone else, while being mindful of what some of those long-term commitments can represent.

“Are we keeping the long-term in mind? Yes, while making every effort to be competitive next year as well. Does being as competitive as we can be next year dictate signing Jose Reyes at any cost? I don’t think so.”

Doesn’t sound like they are dying to keep him.

The New York Mets are fighting for a playoff spot as we hit the final stretch run of the MLB season. Only 23.5 games out of the division lead, they need all hands on deck to clinch their first NL East title in a long time.

It should would be nice if they could get Johan Santana back. And after two decent rehab outings, it was sounding like they might get him back in time to make some crucial starts that could land them in the Wild Card. But, according to MLB.com Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo, that’s not looking so hot.

Photo Caption: Santana has been intimidating bullpen catchers all. season. long.

“Collins says “it doesn’t look good” for Niese to return this year. Sounding more and more like Johan won’t be pitching in MLB either. #Mets,” DiComo tweets with appropriate use of hashtags.

It doesn’t really make sense to have him pitch this year, let’s be perfectly honest. Why would they rush him? Give him more rest and hope that he’s some facsimile of himself when spring training rolls around.

New York Mets fans hoping that the team can get it turned around and close the 22.5 game gap between them and the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies will be disappointed (the same fans I saw at the Phils game on Wednesday talking smack in the ninth inning as they held a three-run lead. Keep cheering! Phils fans will see you in the playoffs!). The New York Post says that it is “unlikely” that ace Johan Santana will return this season.

And they were so close!

Santana threw off a mound Tuesday for the first time since a rehab start on July 28th, where he experienced discomfort.

“We’re just taking it one step at a time,” GM Sandy Alderson said. “We had a little setback a couple weeks ago, but we’re back on track. We’ll see where he is.”

The Post writes:

“With the Mets falling further out of contention with each passing day, there is no reason to rush Santana back to the rotation. No one has ruled out a return this season, but it seems unlikely.”

That’s probably safe to say.

“We’re starting to look at Instructional League and winter ball and all those sorts of things, but at some point, he’s going to need a good period of rest also,” Alderson continued.

And besides, who knows what Santana will even be when they do get him back? Not a great time to be a Mets fan.

Bad news for New York Mets fans (besides the fact that they are a gazillion games out of first place and pretty much have zero shot at making the postseason), SS Jose Reyes has left Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Apparently, he tweaked his hammy in the second inning and then exited.

“Jose Reyes leaves game with stiff left hamstring,” ESPN’s Adam Rubin tweets, saying exactly what I just said in the first paragraph.

The big problem is this is the same hamstring that caused him to miss two weeks earlier in the season. We don’t know the extent of the injury right now, but this is exactly why some teams would be terrified to give him huge money on the open market.

With the New York Mets planted 9.5 games out of the NL East and 6.5 out of the Wild Card, it’s not unreasonable to think that they need to start looking towards the future. Some reports are that they are secretly working out a long-term contract with Jose Reyes (although his agent denies it), and others have mentioned the team unloading some of their “stars.”

Specifically, a source tells the New York Post that the Mets are starting to get inquiries on OF Carlos Beltran.

“People are calling,” the source said.

No, Beltran isn’t what he used to be, but he’s still hitting .285 with 13 HR’s, 57 RBI’s and 26 doubles this year. And he’s said that he’ll waive his no-trade clause to go to a contender.

Oh who might fit there? Hmmmm….a team with the best record in baseball that has some lousy corner outfielders? Do I know a team like that?

New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is having quite a year, so when he left Saturday’s game against the Yankees, it cause quite a scare. Reyes felt tightness in his hamstring and now the team is awaiting an MRI. And they aren’t taking any chances.

“Until I know he’s clean, he’s not playing,” manager Terry Collins said.

Reyes is hitting a monster .354 to go with 15 triples and 30 stolen bases. Yikes. That’s production.

Still, if the team has to be without him for a bit, Collins is confident they’ll be okay.

“It’ll be a challenge but I think we’re going to be up for it,” Collins said. “We’ve dealt with some adversity so far this season. We’re resilient. We’ll bounce back. And then when we find out what the situation is going to be with him today, we’ll make sure that our guys are ready to play.”

Let’s be honest, what are they going to do if they miss him for an extended period of time, be way out of first place? And what if he plays? Yeah…they’ll still be far out of first place.

The New York Mets are not nearly as bad of a baseball team as people want to believe. Sure, it’s fun to make fun of them. Of course it is. But the truth is, they just seem unlucky. They went out and got a stud a few years ago in Johan Santana, and of course he’s hurt now. He underwent surgery last September (as opposed to this September) to repair a torn capsule in his shoulder and the team was hoping he’d be back by the All Star break.

Well, that ain’t happening.

Santana was shut down a month ago after he felt some soreness in the shoulder while trying to throw. But, he did throw a successful bullpen session on Wednesday and his next step is to throw off of a mound.

If all goes well, he could begin a rehab assignment and start working his was back to the Mets. It will likely be about six weeks or so after that and that would put his return around mid-August.

Now, what will they get out of him when he does return? Different topic for a different day.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward has been sidelined since May 22nd with shoulder soreness. He said in the past – much to the delight of Chipper Jones – that he didn’t want to come back until he was 100%.

Well, he’s either back 100% or he got enough grief in the locker room about playing hurt, because the Braves have activated him off of the disabled list. He’ll start tonight against Dillon Gee of the New York Mets.

One would think that the Braves would be happy to have the young phenom back, but if he continues hitting .214, they’d probably just as soon have him on the DL. He does have seven HR’s though, so if he keeps hitting those, maybe you can tolerate the average. No, .214 blows, forget we said that.

On May 10th, New York Mets 1B and general up-and-comer Ike Davis awkwardly rolled his ankle and hasn’t played (baseball) since. The problem came when they noticed in the last day or so that it’s not healing properly. So it looks like they are going to put him back in a boot so that the ankle can start to heal.

“The only baseball activities he can do, basically, is play catch, and he’ll be able to swing,” manager Terry Collins said. “But he’s not to do any running whatsoever for the next three weeks. There’s still a hot spot where the bone bruise is. So we’re going to pretty much shut him down from that type of activity.”

Davis has an inverted sprain and a bone bruise down on the ankle. An MRI showed the team that something just isn’t right. So now, Davis is out indefinitely which amounts to more bad luck/news for the Mets.

“If you look at the replay, it was ugly,” Collins said. “I mean, that ankle got in a bad position. And I’m sure that bone driving down on that side like that is more severe obviously than we first anticipated.”

Head trainer Ray Ramirez said that he’s never seen it take this long for this injury to heal. That ain’t good.

Well, sort of. Sources tell ESPN’s Karl Ravech (seriously? Since when does a desk anchor at ESPN break stories?) that the New York Mets have finally sold off part of the team. The team has agreed to sell less than 49% to Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn for $200 million.

In cash. And no funny business.

“(Einhorn’s) investment immediately improves the franchise’s financial position,” Mets owner Fred Wilpon said in a statement. “Equally important, David’s intelligence, integrity and success in both business and civic affairs provides us with another perspective in evaluating what is best for this organization and our fans, and we welcome his input.”

The team’s financial woes are well documented since the owners were tied to the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. They are even facing a lawsuit that claims that they were somewhat willing participants in the scheme.

So this new money (a deal is expected to be finalized in June) could go a long way towards their legal fees.

The New York Mets are a mess. They know it. The fans know it. The media knows it. And it’s probably safe to say that the team’s chairman Fred Wilpon knows it.

In an interview with the New Yorker (read the whole thing, it’s great), he makes a comment about David Wright’s struggles and what he thinks of him as a player. It’s not really something that a player would want to hear from an owner’s mouth.

“He’s pressing,” Wilpon said of Wright. “A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.”

That’s shocking to hear. Yes, Wright isn’t playing well so far this year and is hitting just .226, but he puts up really nice numbers every season. Since coming into the league in 2004, he averages 27 bombs and 106 RBI’s per year. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Some have speculated that maybe Wilpon is posturing and that he’s planning on trading the 28-year old 3B at some point. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t you hype him up and not degrade his trade value? One would think.

He made other comments in the article about other players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, so Wright probably won’t be the only player that gets tweaked.

New York Mets 3B David Wright is out of Monday’s lineup with a back problem, and it looks like he’ll be out a lot longer than just today. According to ESPN.com’s Amy Nelson, Wright actually has a stress fracture in his back.

“Sandy Alderson says David Wright had MRI on his back, tentative diagnosis stress fracture in his lower back. getting 2nd opinion…,” Nelson tweets.

Supposedly, even if the initial diagnosis is correct, Wright should only miss 10 days or so. And a DL stint will be postponed until they get that second opinion.

This shouldn’t be a big deal unless he comes back too soon and has to sit out again. Surgery wouldn’t be required to fix this issue.

I just saw on Twitter from a New York Mets beat writer that assistant GM John Ricco actually likes the fake John Ricco commercials. The writer said to Google it if you didn’t know what he was talking about. So I did.

This is pretty funny. It’s a guy pretending to be John Ricco hyping the Mets for the 2011 season. Some of the high points this year are that Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez and Bobby Bonilla aren’t here (even though Bonilla will get paid for the next 10 years or so) and that Mookie Wilson is the first base coach. “You can pretend it’s 1986!”

I think it’s funny that Ricco saw this and thinks it’s funny. What other choice does he have? His team is in last place in the NL East so he should probably spend most of his time looking at random YouTube videos.

The New York Mets just can’t catch a break. Some might call it karma for the Wilpon family, who many suspect knew exactly what was going on in the Bernie Madoff scam. Regardless, this team has bad luck.

They go out in 2008 and get Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins. His arm is now badly damaged and I don’t think anyone other than maybe his mother think that he’ll ever be the same pitcher that he used to be. She probably dropped him from her dynasty fantasy league too.

To bolster the rotation this offseason, the Mets went out and got a guy who has been dominant in the past in Chris Young. However, injuries have been his problem for years now, and they are again his problem in 2011. Yup, he re-tore his shoulder.

“Young has re-tear of the anterior capsule in his shoulder. Same inj. as last year. Not sure if rehab or surgery. Either way, not good,” Mets announcer Kevin Burkhardt tweets.

Maybe this isn’t exactly bad luck seeing as how they had to expect that someway or another (whether he blew out his shoulder or got forearm tightness from enjoying scholarly pursuits), but Young was pitching pretty well and it would have helped the team tremendously if he could have given them more. Now, surgery or not, he ain’t pitching for the Mets any time soon.

And it’s not like they can call up their kid from Triple-A Buffalo. Nope, Jennry Mejia needs Tommy John surgery, so they would be hoping that he can pitch at some point before the next presidential election.

It’s a shame, but it’s more of the same luck for Young and the Mets organization.

This isn’t good. The New York Mets are not a great baseball team right now and, in case you haven’t heard, they don’t have a lot of money to be throwing around to improve. They are expected to lose tens and tens of millions this year, so we doubt that Queens will be a huge landing spot for free agents.

Because of that situation, they need to really rely on their prospects. Guys like Jennry Mejia, the 21-year old with a 2.86 ERA in five starts in Triple-A Buffalo?

Well, there is some bad news. Mejia has been diagnosed with a complete tear in his elbow and it seems like surgery is likely. He is waiting on a second opinion, but it’s not looking good.

Baseball America had Mejia rated as the 44th most promising prospect in baseball this year (whatever the hell that even means), and in case you haven’t noticed, the Mets don’t have a farm system that can take on a lot of water.

The New York Mets must be used to getting bad news these days. So, hearing that Jason Bay would be scratched from Tuesday’s lineup with a busted rib cage was probably the same as hearing that coffee would be available for breakfast if they wanted.

“Bay strained rib cage muscle. Scratched from lineup. Duda in RF,” tweets ESPN’s Adam Rubin.

And just how could the timing have been worse? These things can cost a player a month or so of time, and it seems likely that Bay will start the season on the DL. Scott Hairston and Willie Harris would probably play in his absence.

But, I’m not upset. Not like I took a late flyer on Bay in a fantasy baseball draft last night. Nope, didn’t happen.

Let’s just hope this is precautionary. The New York Mets are beginning to look like the Philadelphia Phillies with all these injuries. That is, if the Phillies had four less stud starting pitchers and had only one reliable position player. Other than that? Carbon copies!

As it is, the oft-injured and aging Carlos Beltran agreed to move to right field so that Angel Pagan could patrol center. Even that could be a problem now as Pagan left today’s game with a lower back injury.

“Angel Pagan has left the game with tightness in his lower back. More coming on Mets.com. #Mets,” tweets Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.

There is a good chance they are just being careful with it, but the Mess Mets clearly do not need to be weakened with injuries.

Pagan is hitting .262 this spring (not great, but could be much worse) with two HR’s and five RBI’s in 42 at-bats. He also has four steals. This is mediocre production that the Mets need.

As it is in life, it’s very difficult to get someone to hand you $12 million to do something. To do anything, really. So when someone tells you that they are willing to pay you $12 million and have you do absolutely nothing in return, that’s saying something.

And that’s essentially what the New York Mets have told Oliver Perez. They released the struggling left hander today, still owing him $12 million.

Perez was a question mark coming into Mets camp, and that just illustrates what a stupid idea it was to give him a three-year, $36 million deal in the first place back in 2009. He’d been effective at times, but overall was maddeningly inconsistent.

He did nothing to help himself this spring. He allowed nine earned runs in 9 2/3 innings of Grapefruit League work.

Perez is now free to pursue a life of religious fulfillment.

The New York Mets finally severed ties with Luis Castillo this week. He was due $6 million this year, is 35-years old, hit .235 last year and supposedly has no range whatsoever left.

But that doesn’t mean that there is no interest in him. According to ESPNNewYork.com, Castillo is generating interest from the Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs (Castillo wouldn’t confirm this, but sources told the WorldWide Leader that this was the case).

“I feel calm, confident that I will be in a major league roster on opening day of the season,” Castillo said in phone call with ESPNDeportes.com.

“Despite all the negative atmosphere of recent days, I’m positive and in the best shape for a long time,” said Castillo.

For what it’s worth, he’s hitting .283 this spring and is only a year removed from batting .302. A team like the Phillies would really only need him until they can get Chase Utley back (who the hell knows when that will be?).

“Until Sunday I can not talk of contract, but I’m sure I have options. I am not finished as it has been painted,” said Castillo, who will be a full-on free agent after Sunday at 1 PM.

“I enjoyed every moment in New York and will always be grateful to the Mets. I have nothing negative to say about the organization,” he said. “Baseball is a business.”

We all know the New York Mets are a royal New York Mess. The team is broke and its overall talent has fallen off over the last few years. Former elite players like Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran have simply broken down physically.

But, the Mets may be getting somewhat good news on one of them. According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, manager Terry Collins says that Beltran should resume baseball activities in the next couple of days.

“Collins says Beltran will resume baseball activities while team is in Fort Myers next 2 days. BP, fielding etc.,” Martino tweets.

This is good news after Beltran was shut down recently with tendinitis in his knee. And remember they are moving him to right field and letting Angel Pagan take over in center. It’s pretty important that he get some reps out there in right as he hasn’t played that position since 2000 when he was just a kid with the Royals.

Every year, people cheat when it comes time to come up with their fantasy team names. Whether it’s football with names like “Forsett Down Her Throat” or “Somewhere Over Dwayne Bowe,” someone in your league will find these names on a website and use them. OTR thinks this is criminal because you should be responsible for your own creativity.

However, we did create this post so that those who are inclined to cheat as opposed to coming up with your own names, will now have an online resource. These are complete OTR originals, and it all started with a small idea from Micah and Perry.

Micah’s fantasy baseball team name this year was derived from the Eric B. and Rakim song, “Know the Ledge.” Perry took the old school hip hop theme and came up with one based off of the De La Soul song, “Me, Myself and I.”

So here are some more hip hop-based fantasy baseball names for you to steal. Check back, as we’ll probably keep updating them.

“Know the Lidge:” As mentioned previously, this is based off the badass song by Eric B. and Rakim. If you don’t know that it’s a Philadelphia Phillies Brad Lidge reference, then you probably shouldn’t be playing fantasy baseball.

“Me, Myself and Ibanez:” It took Perry roughly a minute and a half to come up with this Raul Ibanez reference.

“99 Problems but a Pitch Ain’t One:” No, these aren’t all about the Philadelphia Phillies, they just happen to be a very relevant team in terms of fantasy stats. And if your team is pitcher heavy, then this is perfect.

“Walk this Bay:” You don’t really need to walk Jason Bay (not the way he hit last year), but his name fit perfectly into the Run DMC/Aerosmith remake.

“Fight the Mauer:” We like this one. Actually, we like just about any Public Enemy references.

“Nightmare on Huston Street:” Going wayyyy back to when Will Smith used to rap and people actually liked it.

“Dumb Burrell:” This is a little weaker unless you really hate Pat Burrell. Run DMC just helps to provide great song titles for us to mash up.

“I Got Five On It:” Your choice. It’s either an Albert Pujols reference, or another reference to the Phillies starting staff.

“Welcome to the Fukudome:” This is a personal favorite. First of all, it’s related to Public Enemy, which we already said will get us every time. Second, who would have thought there would be a player in any sport where you could alter his name in place of “Terrordome?”

“Fight for Your Wright to Party:” Did the Beastie Boys really have David Wright in mind the whole time they were writing this? Sure, Wright probably wasn’t even born, but still.

“What’s up, Doc? Can We Rock?:” Another gem from Perry. Remember when Shaq rapped with Fu Schnickens and we all thought it was awesome? Yeah, that was a long time ago. He started making movies and then we all just wanted him to go back to playing basketball.

“Mama Said Knock Youk Out!:” The people in Boston will like this one. And welcome to L.L. Cool J., who just made his first appearance on our list.

“Me So Bourne-y:” This is a great one. An ode to the speedy Michael Bourne of the Houston Astros. Luther Campbell and 2 Live Crew got in plenty of trouble back in the day, and we all loved it.

“Funky Cold Molina:” Tone Loc not only gave us brilliant music, but his passion was an inspiration to baseball lovers everywhere. We have no clue what that sentence means, but we hope it hits home.

The New York Mets are a mess. They have a huge payroll to go with huge financial problems. And, as it is, they simply don’t have the talent to compete with the Philadelphia Phillies and/or the Atlanta Braves this year.

Making matters worse is the fact that their ace Johan Santana isn’t scheduled to be available until early July because of offseason shoulder surgery.

Well, now it gets even worse. A source tells the Bergen Record that Santana has not been progressing well in his return to light throwing. And some inside the Mets think that the team will be “lucky” if he pitches at all in 2011.

Ouch.

The Mets have had a plan for Santana – however unrealistic it may have been – since he arrived at spring training.

“We have a framework that was provided by our physicians to sort of gauge how Johan is progressing,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said back on Feb. 17. “And it really involves three stages.

“The first is recovery from surgery, the second is a return to throwing and the third is a return to pitching. Johan has gone through phase one, recovery from the surgery. There’s a healing process, a restoration of range of motion, that sort of thing, and that took about 4, 4½ months. The second stage is a return to throwing, which is the stage that he’s in currently. We expect that to last maybe three months. It will involve flat ground, a gradual lengthening of the toss, tossing and also intensity, velocity. We expect that’s going to take about three months. …

“The third phase is actual return to pitching, and the medical expectation is maybe six to eight weeks, so if you do the math, it gets you to the end of June, first part, middle part of July.”

Hell, even Santana didn’t seem overly optimistic about his health this season.

“Injuries are part of the game,” Santana said last month. “You never know when they are going to happen and how severe they will be and how it will affect your career. I am very optimistic and that’s the way I am. I’m going to try and do my best and get in great shape and strengthen my arm.

“It’s hard to tell right now. When you get your arm all cleaned up and fixed, there’s always a question mark. You never know, time will tell. But if everything goes right and I feel good, I’m going to continue playing as much as I can.”

This is all just more bad news for the Mets. At least their paychecks should clear. Possibly.

Brian Costa of the Wall St. Journal reports that Carlos Beltran is not even penciled into the New York Mets’ lineup today in spring training. He was held out Monday because of lingering knee issues, and they didn’t even pretend that he might play today.

“Carlos Beltran is out of the Mets’ lineup again today,” Costa tweets, repeating exactly what I just said.

For the sake of Mets fans, let’s hope the team is just being overly cautious. Beltran missed an ass ton of time last season with knee problems and as he gets older, this becomes more and more of a concern.

It’s also an issue because he’ll need to get reps at his new position in right field. Is it the equivalent of going from linebacker to wide receiver? Hell no. But still, it’s something he has to get comfortable with.

The Mets could very well be in for a long, long season. Watch, now that I said that, they’ll be up like seven games in the division with 17 left to play….and then blow it.

People have been talking about it for a while now, but it looks like it will finally happen. Following a meeting with manager Terry Collins Monday morning, Carlos Beltran will be moving to right field, with Angel Pagan in center.

“I came today thinking in my heart, ‘I still think I can play center field,’” Beltran said. “But, at the same time, this is not about Carlos. This is about team.”

Pagan was then summoned to the meeting to talk about the switch in the outfield. He had done a decent job in that role last year when Beltran was hurt. And at 33, Beltran ain’t getting any faster.

“In order for me to play center field, I need more time,” Beltran said. “I want to be on the same page with everyone here. I want Terry to have his time and to come to the ballpark ready to play the lineup without thinking where he is going to play Pagan, where he’s going to play me. At the same time I’m thinking about Pagan coming to the ballpark and preparing himself and focused to play baseball. I don’t want to create any distractions here. Like I said, I want to play right. I think it’s best for the team. I think it’s going to be best for me also, best for my knee. It’s going to be less active than playing center field.”

Pagan seems honored to be taking over Beltran’s position.

“I feel really fortunate to be passed this torch from the player I always looked up to,” he said. “I think having him right next to me is going to be a great plus for me. I’m going to keep looking up to him and keep trying to pick his brain. He’s one of the best center fielders out there, and I’m trying to be like him.”

At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter as neither player will be able to cash a check from the broke Mets.

The New York Times is reporting that a lawsuit filed by the trustee of victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme accuses the Wilpons (owners of the New York Mets) of ignoring warning signs that Madoff was a fraud.

The suit contends that owners Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon used their profits from Madoff to establish huge personal fortunes, create dozens of family trusts and fund and grow their businesses. These businesses would include the Mets, real estate and their own cable sports network.

The suit says that they “consciously” disregarded numerous warning signs from those close to them and other investors.

However, the Wilpons have – probably wisely – portrayed themselves as victims in the whole Madoff scandal. But this trustee wants to get some $300 million from them in what the suit calls “fictitious profits.” It says that they were willfully negligent and the trustee is seeking even more money beyond those profits. According to the Times, the total could reach $1 billion.

“The trustee’s lawsuit is an outrageous strong-arm effort to try to force a settlement by threatening to ruin our reputations and businesses, which we have built for over 50 years,” Mr. Wilpon and Mr. Katz said in a statement on Friday.

The New York Mets are a mess. However, they do have some decent pitchers and R.A. Dickey is no exception. Yes, he was awful for a long time, but he came in for the Mets and did a really nice job by posting a 2.84 ERA.

Today, the Mets rewarded his good season with a two-year, $7.5 million contract that will cause them to avoid arbitration. The contract also has a club option for 2013.

This could be a great deal for the Mets if Dickey continues to pitch like he did in 2010. OTR crunched some numbers, and figures that if he pitches like crap, it will not be a good deal for the Mets. You won’t see anyone in the liberal media pointing that out.

Dickey is 36-years old, but it’s not that big of a deal because he’s a knuckleballer. Charlie Hough pitched until he was almost 50 for christ’s sake.