Your Tuesday morning does of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
Ike Davis caused a bit of a ruckus in the Mets clubhouse on Monday morning when he angrily spoke out against a recent report that an oblique injury affected his performance last season. "I sucked last year because I sucked," Davis said, "It's not because I had an injury. You always have injuries. And now it just looks bad."
Last week, we learned that the Mariners were making middle infielders Nick Franklin and Brad Milleravailable for trade. Yesterday, Adam Rubin reported that there have indeed been talks between the Mets and Mariners regarding a swap for Franklin.
The fact that Chris Young is doing all his drills in center field with Juan Lagares gives us some idea about how serious Terry Collins is about Eric Young Jr. being his starting left fielder.
With a fastball that "only" touches 93 miles per hour, Rafael Montero isn't as sexy a hurler as number one Mets prospect Noah Syndergaard. That won't stop triple-A pitching coach Frank Viola from raving about Montero's command, though.
If Omar Quintanilla appears in a game with the Mets this season, he'll be just the 14th player in MLB history to wear jersey No. 0. The last Mets player to wear the digit was Rey Ordonez (before he switched to No. 10) in 1997.
Should Quintanilla find his way into a game, it will likely be at the expense of Ruben Tejada, who the Post's sources say is not in much better shape than he was before attending strength and conditioning camp in Michigan. In related news, Stephen Drew has reportedly rejected a one-year, $9.5 million contract offer from the Mets.
Around MLB
It's official. The baserunner is no longer allowed to deliberately railroad the catcher, and the catcher is no longer allowed to block the plate when he doesn't have possession of the ball. The catcher can, however, step in front of the plate when he has the ball or is attempting to field the ball. Read more about the new rule here.
Does Nelson Cruz's deal with the Orioles signal a trend towards front offices favoring speed and defense in free agent outfielders? The Shea Faithful explores that question.
The Rangers have extended manager Ron Washington's contract through 2015. When asked about his bunting strategy over the weekend, Washington said his critics could "take the analytics on that and shove it up their [bleep][bleep]."
Outfield extensions: The Angels and Mike Trout are reportedly discussing a deal that would pay the all-star outfielder around $150 million over six years. Meanwhile, the Yankees appear to be giving Brett Gardner $52 million over four years starting in 2015.
The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies International League affiliate) are topping off their new Saturday uniforms with a bacon hat.
Yesterday at AA
All 25 profiles for the top 25 Mets prospects have been completed. Here are links to all of them in one place, along with a behind-the-scenes look at the ranking process.
Our season preview continued with profiles of Josh Edgin and Eric Young Jr.
Former Mets swingman and 1986 world champion Ed Lynch was born on this date in 1956.
