Your Friday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
The Mets defeated the Nationals 7-5 on Thursday. Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out four batters and walked none in 3.2 innings with one run allowed. Noah Syndergaard allowed three runs in 3.2 innings of his own while striking out five and walking two. Anthony Seratelli went 2-for-2 at the plate.
In response to the Wall Street Journal story about Dan Warthen's use of a racial slur in a joke with Matsuzaka's interpreter, Jon Niese tells reporters to stop tweeting about the clubhouse.
Greg Prince wonders how damning Warthen's comments are.
Just like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler before him, Syndergaard will probably be spending some extra time in the minors this summer even though he's an intriguing fifth starter option right now.
Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs researches how much of Zack Wheeler's control issues might be the fault of his 2013 catchers.
Despite the perceived inconvenience David Wright is not complaining about shipping off to Vegas for a weekend series with the Cubs. He's a company man, through and through. Either that, or "work trip to Vegas" sounds just as good in baseball as in does in any other profession.
ESPN ranks the Mets 11th in MLB and third in the NL East in its future power rankings (subscription required). Keith Law sees a big year for Brandon Nimmo ahead.
Around MLB
Eno Sarris on how interviewing athletes can get awkward sometimes, especially if you're asking them about ground ball rates.
Ryne Sandberg manages the Phillies with a lot more intensity than Charlie Manuel did. That might take some getting used to for Jimmy Rollins and his teammates.
Stephen Drew reportedly regrets not accepting Boston's qualifying offer. The Red Sox, however, seem to be just fine so far with Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks on the left side of the infield.
The Orioles are interested in making a deal for Seattle's Nick Franklin, according to Jon Heyman. The Mets and Rays are also considered in the mix for the young middle infielder.
One of baseball's top prospects, 22-year-old outfielder Oscar Taveras, has been optioned to minor league camp by the Cardinals. Naturally, St. Louis has plenty of talented players to man the outfield while they wait for their stud to get over some lingering injury issues.
The frontrunner for 2014 grission champion: Kyle Seager.
Yesterday at AA
On this date in 1961, George Weiss became the first president in Mets history. He was the de facto general manager, signing manager Casey Stengal and putting in place many of the pieces that the Amazins would need to capture the 1969 championship.