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BUFFALO 9, CHARLOTTE 3: Buffalo (22-16) put a close to their 10-game trip with a 9-3 triumph over Charlotte at a rain-soaked Knights Stadium on Monday night. Valentino Pascucci homered and drove in three. The Bisons made quick work of Monday's contest by scoring six runs in the first two innings. While the first two tallies came on hits by Fred Lewis and Pascucci, only one was scored conventionally. Pascucci hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season, but before that, Lewis raced home on a throwing error from Osvaldo Martinez after tripling to right field. Oswaldo Navarro closed out the three-run first by driving in Matt Tuiasosopo for his first RBI with the Bisons. Buffalo broke open the game with three more runs in the second inning on a Lewis RBI-double, a Vinny Rottino single and a run-scoring groundout from Pascucci. That was more than enough for Jeurys Familia to earn his third consecutive winning decision. The righty fanned seven in five innings of work and allowed just one run on five hits. Buffalo added single runs in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings for insurance. Pascucci's single in fourth gave him three RBI on the night and a team-high 25 for the season. The final two Bisons runs scored on wild pitches. It wasn't all good news for the Bisons on Monday. Before the game, the club learned that infielder Zach Lutz had a broken left hamate. He was placed on the team's disabled list. Box

SAVANNAH 6, CHARLESTON 2: Savannah (23-13) scored four runs in the 10th to defeat Chalreston Monday night. Tied 2-2 with the bases loaded and two outs, an error by Charleston allowed Dustin Lawley to score the go-ahead run. Brandon Brown then drove in two with a single and Camden Maron made it 6-2 with another single. Jeffrey Walters pitched the ninth and the 10th to secure the win, his third of the year. He gave up just one hit and walked one batter. The game was a pitcher's duel between Rafael Montero and William Oliver. Charleston went up 1-0 in the first but Savannah answered with two in the third when Lawley (2-for- 5, two RBIs) drove in two. Charleston tied in the eighth. Montero gave up four hits and one unearned run over 5 2/3 innings while striking out five. Box

ST. LUCIE 4, BRADENTON 1: Jenrry Mejia pitched six effective innings and struck out seven in his second start of the season since returning from Tommy John Surgery and the Mets (29-8) pounded out 11 hits in a 4-1 victory over the Bradenton Marauders on Monday. Mejia allowed one run on three hits and did not walk a batter. He gave up a home run to former Mets farmhand Stefan Welch in the second.Mejia underwent Tommy John Surgery on May 16 of last year. He picked up his first victory and had excellent command. He threw 73 pitches and 53 for strikes.The Mets hit back-to-back home runs in a three-run third fourth inning to take the lead. Cesar Puello ripped a go-ahead solo homer to left with one out to give the Mets a 2-1 advantage. Francisco Pena followed with a solo blast to left-center. Danny Muno delivered a two-out, RBI single into right field to score Rafael Fernandez to make it 4-1. The Mets jumped out to the lead in the first inning. Muno drilled a leadoff double down the right field line and scored on an RBI groundout by Cory Vaughn. Yohan Almonte pitched three scoreless innings and struck out six to record his first save. Almonte struck out the side in the eighth inning and fanned five straight batters at one point. He did not allow a hit and walked just one. Richard Lucas went 3-for-4 and Wilfredo Tovar finished 2-for-3 at the plate for the Mets. Muno recorded two hits with a run scored and an RBI. The Mets host the Bradenton Marauders on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Chris Young is the scheduled starter for the Mets. Box

Compiled from team reports

Johan Santana, who threw 44 pitches over 2 2/3 innings Sunday, is scheduled to make his third Grapefruit League start today, against the Detroit Tigers in Port St. Lucie. Santana now will get into more serious pitch counts -- potentially four innings and roughly 60-65 pitches this time -- as he tries to continue to demonstrate he can handle an every-five-days pitching assignment.

Also scheduled to work Friday: Bobby Parnell (who has logged four scoreless Grapefruit League innings and will be pitching on a second straight day), Jeremy Hefner, Frank Francisco, Ramon Ramirez and Jon Rauch. Rick Porcello starts for the Tigers.

Friday's news reports:

• Jose Reyes faced his former employer for the first time Thursday, although it wasn't much of a reunion. Reyes hit a comebacker to R.A. Dickey on the second pitch he saw, leading off the bottom of the first, and ended up departing following a 54-minute rain delay in the middle of the third. Reyes spoke with New York reporters afterward and suggested there was no real emotion involved in the Grapefruit League matchup. Reyes said he figures the real first matchup will be when the Miami Marlins visit Citi Field for a three-game series beginning April 24. Reyes seemed particularly concerned about David Wright's abdominal issue. He quizzed reporters about Wright's status and separately asked Terry Collins about the shortstop's longtime teammate. Read more in the Journal, Post, Star-Ledger, Record, Daily News, Times and Newsday.

Reyes tells columnist Kevin Kernan in the Post: "I think this year I'm going to play a full season. I've prepared myself to do that. Right now there is nothing to worry about and all my focus is on the field." Said new teammate Logan Morrison: "When I'm tired, I just look at him. He's like a cup of coffee for the eyes."

• Dickey retired all six batters he faced, but the Mets lost to the Marlins, 3-1. Adam Loewen's two-out dropped fly ball in left field allowed two unearned runs to score. Jason Bay went 2-for-2 against Josh Johnson. Ike Davis drove in the Mets' lone run with a ground-rule double. Collins was ejected for arguing a batter interference call against Jordany Valdespin following a bunt by the prospect.

• Top pitching prospects Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia were among 13 players dispatched to minor league camp Thursday, although Collins said Harvey still would be borrowed for Grapefruit League duty. The Mets now have 42 players in camp. The other cuts, which officially came in morning and afternoon waves: center-field prospects Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Matt den Dekker, reliever Josh Stinson, as well as Robert Carson, Wilmer Flores, Reese Havens, Juan Lagares, Zach Lutz, Valentino Pascucci and Armando Rodriguez. Read more in Newsday, the Star-Ledger, Daily News, Post and Record.

• The final witness trustee Irving Picard plans to call in the $386 million lawsuit against Fred Wilpon and family that goes to trial next week is Noreen Harrington. She was the person overseeing due diligence for Sterling Stamos, the Wilpon-owned investment company set up to try to match Bernard Madoff's returns. Harrington allegedly raised concerns about Madoff to Wilpon's brother-in-law, Saul Katz. Harrington's skepticism about Madoff allegedly angered Katz and money was invested with Madoff anyway over her objections, leading her to quit. In courtroom filings, the Wilpons' lawyers have said Katz does not recall receiving any stern warning from Harrington, and certainly there was nothing presented to the family by her concretely demonstrating Madoff was a fraud.

Harrington has a track record of being a whistleblower, Richard Sandomir notes in the Times. Sandomir discusses how she alerted then-New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer to irregular trading by a Secaucus, N.J., hedge fund in 2003. Writes Sandomir:

When Harrington first called the New York attorney general's office in 2003, she said that she had heard traders bragging about the practice of “late trading” and that she had tried to alert executives at the firm to the practice. Investigators rely heavily on whistle-blowers, Spitzer said, calling tips like Harrington's the lifeblood of his office. Harrington, he said, was a striking truth-teller. "She not only had a level of credibility in her résumé," Spitzer said. "Everything she said came back with precise corroboration."

• Jared Diamond in the Journal visits the Mets' weekly bowling night, which Collins started in his first spring training as manager and continued this year. Wrote Diamond:

One team that included Bay and Dillon Gee came in matching Molson Canadian T-shirts. Bench coach Bob Geren brought two of his own bowling balls, including one decorated to look like a giant baseball. Daniel Herrera, sidelined at the time with a back injury, bought a child-sized Razor scooter at a local Walmart and rode it throughout the evening. The next morning, he cruised into the clubhouse on the scooter, still reveling in his team's success. "Our team is called the Scooters, and I'm the mascot," said Herrera, who stands 5 feet 6. "I have to bring something to the table."

• Tony La Russa says Carlos Beltran is getting a raw deal for taking that infamous curveball from Adam Wainwright that ended the Mets' 2006 season in Game 7 of the NLCS.

"The pitch that he took from Wainwright, you talk about the greatest hitters in our game, they all would have," La Russa said, according to the Post. "That ball was way up here and everyone that ever comes to bat would have seen that pitch and taken it. All of a sudden it drops in the strike zone, and this guy's gotten criticized for taking strike three.

"There isn’t anybody who is going to swing at that pitch. Except for Yogi Berra, who swings at everything."

TRIVIA: Which player(s) did the Mets receive in their most-recent trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Thursday's answer: Reyes has the franchise record for homers in a single season by a Mets shortstop. He hit 19 in 2006.

Highly regarded pitching prospects Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia headlined the first round of cuts at Mets camp.

Also reassigned to the minors Thursday morning: Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Matt den Dekker, Josh Stinson, Jenrry Mejia, Juan Lagares, Reese Havens, Wilmer Flores, Armando Rodriguez and Robert Carson.

The Mets now have 44 players in camp. More cuts will follow today's Grapefruit League game.

"It's not my call. I can't make the decision," Harvey said. "No matter how much I wanted to try and prove that I could, it's never going to be my call. So I can only do what I can do. ... You know, I'm not happy about it. But I can't make the decision, so I'm going to go out there wherever I'm throwing and do the best I can and keep working and try to get to the level I want to be at."

Harvey said he feels like he's ready for the majors.

"I'd like to think so," Harvey said. "Whenever they feel like I'm ready is when I'm ready."

Familia said he appreciated the experience, and especially the tutelage from 41-year-old Miguel Batista.

"I threw with him every day and did my stuff with him," Familia said. "He taught me how to finish my changeup, my slider, my fastball."

There are only 54 players in Mets big league camp. Yet, somehow, the Mets already have amassed quite a massive injury list. The summary:

RHP Pedro Beato: Officially suffering from right shoulder inflammation, Beato is listed to return Wednesday in Lakeland against the Tigers. However, Beato has not yet returned to a mound, so that's unlikely. Regardless, he is likely ticketed for Triple-A Buffalo to open the season.

LHP Tim Byrdak: Suffering from sore left knee. As was the case with Pedro Feliciano before him, the Mets have little depth as a lefty specialist and likely will carry no other southpaw in the Opening Day bullpen. So keeping Byrdak on the field is vitally important. Other left-handers in camp include Chuck James, Daniel Herrera, Garrett Olson and Robert Carson. The Mets also are often borrowing Josh Edgin from minor league camp.

1B Ike Davis: Not showing any ill effects from a suspected case of valley fever and routinely playing in Grapefruit League games, but Davis said the issue could take a year to get out of his system.

RF Lucas Duda: For a third straight day, Duda had been expected in the lineup and did not appear because of back stiffness. Duda did work out with teammates pregame, though.

OF Scott Hairston: Strained the same oblique that landed him on the DL to close last season, and appears likely to be inactive to open this season as well. If Hairston is placed on the DL, that means both backup outfield spots -- the lefty and righty hitter -- are up for grabs. However, Vinny Rottino is the only right-handed person in camp who fits the profile. From the left side, Adam Loewen would have a leg up on Mike Baxter in part because Loewen can back up Andres Torres in center field, which was supposed to be Hairston's role.

2B Reese Havens: Prospect continues to be tormented by back issues and has been idle for most of camp.

RHP Jenrry Mejia: Not a camp injury. Mejia is in the final stages of recovering from Tommy John surgery and should be in minor league games beginning in May.

CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: Added to injury list Sunday with right oblique strain.

3B David Wright: Has yet to appear in a Grapefruit League game because of a left rib-cage issue. So far he has just fielded grounders, but has not swung a bat or thrown. Team doctor Struan Coleman could clear Wright for increased activity tomorrow.

Mended:

LHP Robert Carson: Had a right oblique strain, but returned to Grapefruit League action Saturday in Viera.

CF Andres Torres: Returned to game action Saturday after a limited absence with right glute tightness.

IF Zach Lutz: Drilled a week ago in the left elbow by a pitch from Bobby Parnell, Lutz since has returned to action.

Today, Johan Santana is expected to throw a between-starts bullpen session, although there is no guarantee. Then Mike Pelfrey is due to take the mound for an afternoon Grapefruit League game against the Miami Marlins in Port St. Lucie. The Players Association also makes its annual visit to converse with Mets players today, so we may find out what union chief Michael Weiner thinks about the Mets' payroll level.

Also, please join me for a 12:30 p.m. online Mets chat. Click this link.

Meanwhile, live near Bellmore JFK High School on Long Island? You can hear alums Steve Levy and Adam Schefter of ESPN speak tonight at 7. I'm an alum of Mepham, one of the other two high schools in the district. Details on tonight's event here.

Thursday's news report:

• Not exactly a shocker, even though it was treated as such: Jose Reyes was looking for the most money as a free agent, just $1 more, Marlins team president David Samson reportedly told Miami businessmen. Reyes is not expected at today's Mets-Marlins game. He played the past two nights in exhibition games at the Marlins' new stadium in Miami against college teams -- the University of Miami and Florida International.

Andy Martino in the Daily News doesn't believe Samson. Writes Martino:

According to sources, Reyes would have strongly considered a somewhat smaller deal from the Mets, both in years and dollars, and was shocked when his longtime team did not make an offer.

My analysis: Reyes would not have defected from the Mets to Miami if the disparity in offers were $1, or probably even $1 million. But my information from reliable sources is that the Mets were willing to go to as much as five years guaranteed, with a vesting option for a sixth year that would have raised the value to $100 million if Reyes stayed healthy.

Don't get caught up in whether the Mets made a formal offer to Reyes. Sandy Alderson conveyed to agent Peter Greenberg the parameters the Mets could reach. And Reyes' side decided that would not be enough and went with the superior Marlins offer.

And, by the way, that's no crime. Players almost always go where the salary is highest. The union obviously encourages that, too. Tom Glavine never wanted to leave Atlanta for New York, for example. But the disparity in money offered was too much.

Furthermore, and I know this because I ended up on a plane with a Mets official after the winter meetings, who was candid: The Mets' strong suspicion is that the Marlins would not have been done bidding until they got Reyes. I don't want to minimize the Mets' economic woes as a factor in their tepid pursuit of Reyes, but the fact of the matter is the Mets likely would have just been increasing what Reyes would ultimately have received from Miami had they actively bid. At some point the Mets would have had to stop anyway because the contract would have reached what is beyond a prudent salary versus injury risk and expected decline in performance as Reyes ages.

• Richard Sandomir in the Times notes that Fred Wilpon and family may be at a disadvantage in front of a jury because a group of average folk is probably not inclined to be sympathetic to multimillionaires. The Wilpons' attorneys unsuccessfully had tried to have the $386 million lawsuit heard by Judge Jed S. Rakoff alone. Writes Sandomir:

Rakoff, regarded as a brilliant but unpredictable jurist, alone will question the jury pool. He is a Yankees fan and a partial season-ticket holder. So his neutrality is assured and seems unlikely to be affected by his rooting interests. Anyway, the role of the opposing lawyers in shaping the makeup of the jury will be somewhat limited. Experts suggest that both sides probably already know the sort of jury makeup they want, and that mock trials have likely yielded juror profiles. But neither side will get all it wants. "The real challenge is to ferret out latent prejudices, so it's extremely important for lawyers to suggest questions to the judge beyond those the judge would use to elicit obvious biases," said Mark Zauderer, a partner at Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer in Manhattan. Rakoff need not use their questions. According to several lawyers and a jury consultant, the trustee will want jurors who resent millionaires. But Wilpon and [brother-in-law Saul] Katz’s team, they said, probably want less class-conscious people who might be more inclined to feel the trustee's pursuit of the Mets’ owners was overzealous and unfair.

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger updates the progress of Jenrry Mejia, who is throwing off a mound -- albeit fastballs only. Pitching coach Dan Warthen estimated Mejia is already throwing in the low-90s mph. The Mets are targeting a May return to game action for Mejia, at the one-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery, which is the standard rehab time. Warthen told McCullough that Mejia's delivery looks somewhat calmer now than pre-elbow injury, which should reduce his susceptibility to future injury. It was Warthen a year ago, going against the prevalent organization philosophy, who said Mejia projected to him as a reliever because of the violence of his delivery. Meanwhile, Mejia sought advice from Edinson Volquez while rehabbing, and has been consoled by friend/fellow prospect Jeurys Familia when dejected because of the long rehab process.

• Jon Niese tossed two scoreless innings and Justin Turner went 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs Wednesday as the Mets beat the Marlins, 7-0, in Jupiter.

• Niese is trying to improve his changeup, notes Mike Puma in the Post.

• Bobby Parnell -- who dined with his family at a Port St. Lucie pizza joint last night, according to an eyewitness -- had a perfect inning in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game, bouncing back from a woeful intrasquad appearance Sunday. He is the subject of a feature in the Daily News.

There are five bullpen locks -- Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez, Tim Byrdak and Manny Acosta -- and Parnell is not one of them. He does have a minor league option remaining, but continued outings like Wednesday's should get him onto the major league staff, even if it's not the late-inning role he struggled with last season.

The Mets have not written off Parnell. They were credibly approached at the winter meetings by a team interested in acquiring him and were rebuffed. The Mets were leery of trading a pitcher who throws 100 mph and is under their control for four more seasons and not even eligible for arbitration until next winter in all likelihood. Parnell has only two years, 132 days of major league service time and would essentially need to spend the year in the minors not to qualify for arbitration next offseason for the first of three times.

If Parnell is on the Opening Day roster -- again, no given as of now -- that leaves one more spot. D.J. Carrasco has an existing $1.2 million deal, giving him a leg up, but one team insider said to watch Miguel Batista for one of those final two spots. Relievers facing a more uphill battle to sneak onto the Opening Day roster include younger pitchers Pedro Beato and Josh Stinson as well as left-handers Chuck James, Garrett Olson and Daniel Herrera.

• David Wright (left rib-cage discomfort) does not sound like he will be back for at least a week. Terry Collins said Thursday that Wright should start taking grounders this weekend, but not throw. And Wright may or may not start swinging a bat this weekend. Meanwhile, Beato was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday afternoon, a day after being pulled from a Grapefruit League appearance with right shoulder difficulty.

• Columnist Joel Sherman in the Post uses ESPN's fantasy baseball rankings to note the declining state of third-base play in New York. Writes Sherman:

ESPN was displaying its top 12 fantasy third basemen, and I noticed Alex Rodriguez was ranked ninth and David Wright was not even among the 12 names shown. Now I do not want to confuse ESPN’s fantasy rankings with, say, The Dead Sea Scrolls for relevance. But it does provide a snapshot of third base right now in New York, which is to say the most uncertain since 2004. That was Rodriguez’s first season at his new position and Wright’s debut as a Met. Both are coming off injuries and their worst full years, so suddenly 2012 has a mandate-like feeling for the duo.

Wright told Sherman: "As far as I'm concerned it is a big motivator, not the doubt, but the fear of failure. I just don't like failing. But there is no doubt in me. I am very, very confident in what I am doing and what I need to do."

As for Wright's future with the club, Alderson said: "He is not trade bait. Is he part of the future? I hope the answer is yes. Let's see how he bounces back this season."

• Does Alderson have the autonomy -- there's that word again -- to guide the Mets properly? Columnist Bob Klaspich in the Record wonders if the GM will stand up to the Wilpons. Writes Klapisch:

Alderson has a track record to back up his promises. Then again, he’s never worked in an environment as toxic as this or for owners who are this unpopular. Fans are angry, they want the Wilpons out, many are vowing to stay away from Citi Field until regime change is complete. Alderson knows he’s about two years away from turning into a marked man, himself. It didn’t help matters last week when Fred Wilpon threw Alderson under the bus in explaining why Reyes signed with the Marlins. The owner had the audacity to say it was a "baseball decision" hatched entirely by Alderson. Don't blame me, blame him, is what Fred was saying. It was an outright lie and Alderson knows it. So does every discerning Mets fan who figured out long ago the Wilpons didn't have the resources to write a $100 million check.

• David Lennon in Newsday profiles Ruben Tejada. Writes Lennon:

Just as Reyes did in his early years with the Mets, Tejada is still getting a better feel for English, which makes him come across as a bit shy on camera. "He's a different person from what you see on TV as opposed to what you get behind closed doors," Wright said. "During interviews and stuff, he's very introverted, but he's very outgoing when he's around us. He's got a dry sense of humor."

Read more on Tejada succeeding Reyes at shortstop with the Mets from Andrew Keh in the Times.

• Santana is on track to start Sunday against the Marlins in Port St. Lucie, according to Collins. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Newsday, Times, Daily News and Post.

TRIVIA: Who played shortstop for the Mets the game before Reyes' major league debut?

(Wednesday's answer: The game before Wright made his major league debut with the Mets on July 21, 2004, Ty Wigginton started at third base for the Mets. Wigginton moved to first base for Wright's debut and was traded eight days after that to the Pittsburgh Pirates with now-slugger Jose Bautista and Matt Peterson for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger.)

Jenrry Mejia, who threw on an incline last week for the first time since Tommy John surgery on May 16, 2011, pitched from the top of the mound Sunday and had a positive session.

Bullpen catcher Eric Langill squatted only a few feet in front of the plate, so the distance Mejia threw was nearly the full 60 feet, 6 inches. Mejia had been working his way up the slope of the mound since arriving in camp.

Mejia is projected to return to game action in May.

• Terry Collins spoke after Sunday’s workout about his early morning meeting with Ruben Tejada, which closes the book on Tejada not reporting early to camp.

“I’m sure he got the message,” Collins said. “There wasn’t a lot of back and forth.”

A lot of forth?

“That would be a good way to put it,” the manager said with a laugh.

Collins noted to the media how Derek Jeter perentially arrives at Yankees camp early, and that sets a tone.

“Who was the first guy in their camp? The biggest baseball star in the city of New York,” Collins said. “He does it all the time. It sends a message. If this guy does it, how come others can’t? And [Tejada] got it. He really did. He’s such a good kid. He was very upset to think he messed up.”

Collins had wanted Tejada to work at the Mets’ Florida complex all winter, with the exception of a holiday break to return to his native Panama. The manager explained his preference to Tejada at the end of last season.

Collins said there was nothing lost in translation during that end-of-season meeting, either.

“He recited it word for word to me today. That’s why I knew he heard me and understood it,” Collins said. “He just said, ‘I did all those things you wanted me to do; I just did them back home.’”

• The Mets will stage their first full-squad workout Monday. Collins will deliver an address to the team at 9 a.m. before the players proceed outdoors for the workout.

After another pitchers and catchers workout day, a large Mets contingent will travel down I-95 to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for the 7 p.m. memorial service for Gary Carter. ESPN.com/ESPNNewYork.com should have details later today about how to watch the service on our site. It will be streamed online. The Mets also plan to watch free-agent left-hander Scott Kazmir throw today.

Friday's news reports:

• A helicopter landed on a field at the Mets' spring-training complex late Thursday afternoon and chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, GM Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins and other front-office staff boarded for a chartered trip to Miami to watch Jeremy Lin and the Knicks lose to the Heat. A Miami aviation expert estimated the cost of the charter to be $3,000 per hour. Read more in Newsday and the Post.

• At a hearing inside U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff's courtroom in Manhattan on Thursday, the judge decided to ban three expert witnesses -- two for the trustee suing Fred Wilpon and family, and one for the defense (coincidentally named John Maine). Rakoff also pledged to rule by March 5 whether to toss the case, whether to award $83 million pre-trial to trustee Irving Picard, or whether to allow the March 19 jury trial to proceed without any pretrial motions for summary judgment being granted.

Wrote Anthony M. Destefano in Newsday:

In a three-hour hearing, Judge Jed Rakoff asked attorneys about the deposition given last year by financial expert Noreen Harrington, who at one time worked as a financial executive for Sterling Stamos, the investment arm of Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz's Sterling Equities business. ... In a deposition, Harrington stated that Katz became angered when she said in a 2004 meeting that Madoff's investment returns seemed too good to be true and might represent fictional numbers or the illegal stock market practice of "front running," an illegal trading strategy. ... While Rakoff didn't tip his hand on how he would rule on the summary judgment issues, he raised the possibility through questioning of the attorneys, particularly trustee counsel David Sheehan, that Harrington's testimony might signal to a jury willful blindness by the Sterling defendants to Madoff's fraud. Rakoff particularly asked about Harrington's claim that Katz became very angry with her when she raised questions about illegalities in Madoff's business.

Richard Sandomir in the Times picked up on the same exchange in court. Writes Sandomir:

Rakoff, who read aloud portions of Harrington’s testimony, was curious about Katz’s reaction when she cast doubt on Sterling Stamos investing in a fund that fed its clients’ money to Madoff to invest. "Why get angry at that?" he asked Karen Wagner, the Mets' lead lawyer. He said Katz’s reaction would have made more sense if he had asked her to come up with evidence to back her claims and she did not. "A reasonable juror could say that he got angry before he even asks for an explanation," Rakoff added. Katz said in his deposition that he did not remember the meeting. Harrington testified that when she asked to meet with Madoff, Katz said no. She did not follow up on her request and left Sterling Stamos soon after. “It’s hard to see that the failure to give her that meeting can be taken as evidence of willful blindness,” Rakoff said.

Read more in the Journal.

• Jose Reyes arrived at Marlins camp Thursday. As for bench coach Bob Geren getting his No. 7 with the Mets, Reyes initially was unsure who Geren was. The shortstop then told Ken Davidoff in Newsday: "I'm not there. They can do whatever they want to with number 7." Read more in the Daily News and Post.

• Upon returning to Mets camp, Ike Davis revealed that doctors had sent him to New York for more testing because they discovered an infection in his lungs. Davis was cleared to resume working out and does not need to take medication. He never noticed any symptoms from the medical issue.

• Jason Bay reported to Mets camp Thursday, two days ahead of the official position-player report date. Bay pledged to stop tinkering with his swing every time he does not have success, and said New Yorkers have not yet seen the real Bay. (Watch Bay video here.) Bay's contract vests at $17 million for 2014 if he has 600 plate appearances in 2013, or 500 apiece each of the next two seasons, perhaps setting up an awkward situation, as was the case with Francisco Rodriguez's 55-games-finished vesting option. On Bay trying to rediscover the swing from his Pirates day, Andy McCullough writes in the Star-Ledger:

The 2011 season was, by most statistical measurements, the worst of Bay’s nine-year career. He finished with career-lows in batting average (.245) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.703). In 212 games with the Mets, Bay’s slugging percentage is .386. In 200 games with Boston, he slugged .534. ... Last August, hitting coach Dave Hudgens played dueling sets of video for Bay, a split-screen view of the 45 homers he hit with Boston and the 15 he had hit to that point with the Mets. Hudgens then ... forced the outfielder to relearn his old approach. So Bay did. He geared his entire approach to pull baseballs to left field. He straightened his back. He opened his stance. His hands rotated as a timing gesture before each pitch. The results were eye-opening. From April to August, Bay floundered along with a .660 OPS. After reverting to his old form, he scorched through the final month with a .954 OPS.

Read more in the Journal, Post, Record and Newsday.

• At Cardinals camp in Jupiter, Fla., Carlos Beltran told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he would follow through and pay the roughly $10,000 for Jon Niese's nose job, as Beltran had pledged to do in July before being traded from the Mets to the San Francisco Giants. Read more in Newsday.

• Johan Santana threw his third bullpen session of spring training -- 32 pitches. Afterward, Collins and the southpaw indicated he should be ready to throw batting practice toward the middle of next week, setting the southpaw up to pitch in the Mets' March 5 Grapefruit League opener against the Washington Nationals. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• Andy Martino in the Daily News talks to Santana about ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who requires cancer treatments. "I hope he gets better,” Santana told Martino. "He is a human being just like any one of us. I hope the best for him."

• After signing a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels, two-time ex-Met Jason Isringhausen reported to camp much lighter than a year ago, when he ended a season with the Amazin's inactive because of a herniated disc.

• Andrew Keh in the Times profiles Mike Nickeas, who will be the backup catcher because of his defensive prowess if he proves he can hit at a minimally competent level. Writes Keh:

Nickeas spent the winter working out at Georgia Tech and e-mailing video of his swing to Dave Hudgens, the Mets' hitting coach. The two also had a continuing dialogue over the phone, with the aim of revamping Nickeas’s swing and plate approach in time for spring training. "I'm removing all the inefficiencies from my swing, so I have more time to recognize pitches and see the ball,” Nickeas said. "My goal is to be an extremely tough out. I don’t want to be the guy they get to, put a couple of pitches in, and be done."

• Left-handed reliever Tim Byrdak, who began his Thursday by arriving at work with a platinum-blond-dyed goatee, worked with a drop-down delivery during a subsequent bullpen session. Byrdak told Anthony DiComo at MLB.com that his arm slot typically rises as he gets closer to the season. He's starting lower this season than in the past before drifting upward, because he does not want his arm to be too high once Opening Day arrives. Byrdak last pitched sidearm in 1999. "I know it's going to go up," Byrdak told DiComo. "So if I go a little bit lower and I come up, I'm right where I want to be."

• Mets statistical analyst Ben Baumer reached the finals before losing to Angels assistant equipment manager Shane Demmitt in MLB Network's "Baseball IQ" baseball history/trivia show.

• Jenrry Mejia threw off a mound for the first time since Tommy John surgery in May. Without revealing Mejia's future role, Paul DePodesta noted to ESPNNewYork.com the success the Texas Rangers have experienced by beginning pitchers' careers in the bullpen before moving them to the rotation -- at least suggesting the possibility Mejia works in relief for the Mets during the second half of the 2012 season, then potentially revisits starting in future seasons.

TRIVIA: Reyes last season won the Mets' only National League batting title, but who had the best average for a season in franchise history among qualifiers?

(Thursday's answer: Benny Agbayani has appeared in the most games as a Met among Hawaiian-born players at 322. Ron Darling ranks second with 272 games as a Met, followed by Sid Fernandez at 255, Carlos Diaz at 58 and Tyler Yates at 21.)

Jenrry Mejia threw off a mound Thursday for the first time since Tommy John surgery last May 16, and Terry Collins pronounced the session a success.

“I thought his arm was good and loose,” Collins said. “He had really good extension. And, as I’ve been talking all spring about Johan [Santana], the same thing pretty much holds true with him, with his elbow. You’re looking to see how he acts. I thought he looked great. He said he feels terrific. He wants to obviously do more and more and more. But I told him, and I’ll any young pitcher that’s in his situation, ‘Hey, look, patience is the key. You’ve got to go do the rehab. You’ve got to through the whole process. And in the end it will all be for the best.’”

Collins said Mejia should be ready for games in May. The manager believes Mejia is polished enough that, beyond rehab work, he does not necessarily need more development time.

“I think he may be past that point,” Collins said. “… You know, sometimes you can’t stop people. They force their way.”

So what will Mejia be when he is ready -- starter or reliever?

Paul DePodesta called it an “open question.” And, the Mets VP added, his role this year may not match his role in 2013 and beyond. DePodesta also said the Texas Rangers have had success using guys in the majors as relievers, then making them starters later. (Think Alexi Ogando.)

Combine all those hints and it’s possible Mejia is in the major league bullpen during the second half of this season, then potentially competing for a rotation spot if the organization feels that’s best in future seasons.

Jenrry Mejia is scheduled to return to the mound today for the first time since Tommy John surgery last May. Mejia will proceed gently, according to pitching coach Dan Warthen. The right-hander is scheduled to toss only 15 pitches. And he will do so from the slope, not atop the mound -- and with the catcher moving closer than 60 feet, 6 inches.

Terry Collins said he expected Jenrry Mejia's first mound session since undergoing Tommy John surgery would wait a little longer and not occur Tuesday. Team officials first want to evaluate Mejia's progress before signing off on a bullpen session.

Mejia has thrown at distances up to 180 feet on flat ground and feels strong. He underwent the elbow reconstruction procedure on May 16, 2011.

Jenrry Mejia, who underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on May 16, 2011, should be on a mound soon, but Tuesday probably is a little too soon, manager Terry Collins said.

Mejia appeared on a list of pitchers scheduled to throw off a mound Tuesday, but Collins said doctors first want to examine Mejia, just to make sure his recovery is going well. Mejia has thrown on flat ground up to 180 feet in the Dominican Republic and is strong.

"Now I have to work more hard than 2010," Mejia said, alluding to the year he made his major league debut. "I know I can't make the big league team right now because I had Tommy John."

As for his recovery, Mejia said it's going well.

"Sometimes I feel tight. Sometimes I feel good," he said. "That's the situation."

Tuesday's bullpen sessions are highlighted by Johan Santana. Dillon Gee, Matt Harvey, Frank Francisco, Miguel Batista, Tim Byrdak, R.A. Dickey, Jeremy Hefner, Jeurys Familia, Armando Rodriguez, Fernando Cabrera and Daniel Herrera also are scheduled to throw off a mound tomorrow.

Other Monday morning tidbits:

• Assistant GM John Ricco said he expected all Mets players to report on time and did not foresee any visa issues. "We should be good," Ricco said.

• Justin Turner rolled into camp Monday after watching his alma mater, Cal State Fullerton, lose games Friday and Saturday at Gainesville to the University of Florida. Turner's college team salvaged Sunday's game after he left. Turner attended the games with fellow CSF products Ricky Romero and Cory Abiso, who pitched in Double-A for the Yankees last season.

• Carlos Beltran's original Mets contract called for the organization to have an "enhanced ocular device." That turned out to be a pitching-machine-type contraption that fired tennis balls at players in a cage. Well, Beltran's contract has expired, but the Mets have kept the concept, with Mike Victorn still employed to run the system.

• Jason Bay now occupies the spring-training locker formerly belonging to Jose Reyes.

GM Sandy Alderson spoke with media Saturday morning at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie. Here's a summary:

• Alderson said David Wright's future will not be tied to the team's record, contrasting it with, say, Carlos Beltran's situation last year. Beltran was in the final season of a contract and was not going to be re-signed, so it made sense for him to be traded in July once the Mets faded from contention. In Wright's case, the team holds a 2013 option, so he's not a free agent next offseason if the Mets choose to keep him. Then there are the face-of-the-franchise issues too that make it more complicated.

"I think that his future is independent of club performance," Alderson said. "There are certain decisions that one takes that are a function of where a team is at a particular time and so forth. But if there's anybody on the team whose performance and future is independent of the club's performance, I think it's David's. ... I think it was presumed going into the [2011] season that depending on what we did and how well Carlos performed and given the fact he was in the last year of his contract that he might be traded at the deadline. David's case is little bit different. No. 1, there isn't that presumption. No. 2, he has an option for next year. So I think his situation is somewhat different."

Asked if it was similar to Jose Reyes' situation last year, Alderson did not want to make that comparison (since it probably would lend to the appearance Wright could be gone at some point too).

"Well, I hate to make comparisons to Jose, because he's not here right now," Alderson said. "So I'm not sure that would be a good basis for comparison. But David's future is a function of a lot of different things, and only one of those is team performance. And I'm not sure that that's very high on the list."

Alderson acknowledged the new collective bargaining agreement should reduce the amount a team can get for trading a rental player in the sense that the acquiring team will no longer get draft picks if a player acquired in-season walks after the year as a free agent. But, Alderson said, the addition of a second wild card in each league should mean fewer out-of-contention sellers and possibly more than offset that by shrinking supply of players on the trade market.

"I think the bigger impact on the seller/buyer dynamic will be the second wild card," Alderson said. "I think that if you have a second wild card, you're inevitably going to have more buyers than previously. And if you have more buyers and fewer sellers, then that really impacts the market as well."

• On Johan Santana, Alderson said: "We're hopeful that at the end of the day, at the end of spring, that he's ready to go, or very close to being to ready to go. Right now, as he says, it's one day at a time. I think that's absolutely true in his case. ... This is something we have to monitor literally on a daily basis. But yesterday was a very good start. But it's where he finishes that will be important."

• Alderson said he is not tempted to consider having Matt Harvey or Jeurys Familia make the rotation if one of the incumbents is injured as the team breaks camp. (Zack Wheeler, the highly regarded prospect acquired in the Beltran trade, has not pitched above Class A ball and is not even in major league camp, while Jenrry Mejia still is rebounding from Tommy John surgery.)

"I don't think it's a problem waiting as we sit here today," Alderson said about patience with his big-four pitching prospects. "The problem arises when one of your starting five goes down and you're tempted to bring somebody up at an earlier time. ... Let's face it, some of the guys in that rotation would like to have better years than they had last year. But, at the same time, the real problem is depth in the event somebody goes down. So the temptation with those three guys [excluding the rehabbing Mejia] doesn't really exist at the moment. ... I'd be very surprised if we broke from some sort of timetable. Now that's not to say that somebody doesn't get off to a great start at Triple-A and is doing this and that and we have an injury. But right now, when I look at our rotation, and the depth for our rotation, none of those guys are in there. So of the five guys we have, and then the three to five guys we have backing them up, they're not in that three to five category."

Asked when the farm system will achieve the level he would like it to be at, and at that point how many players it would produce in any given year, Alderson said: "I think the farm system is improving. I say that because the overall quality of our players up and down the system I think is improving. I also think that, once again, we have some players that are close to having an impact on the major league club. I don't think there's any hard and fast rule about how many join the club each year. But it would be nice if we had two or three that were pushing, even if it were in a minor bullpen role or something of that sort. What's most important is that we have the players both coming up at the major league level and also effectively as currency for trades and other transactions. So the farm system is critically important."

• The Mets emphasized the back end of the bullpen, signing Frank Francisco to a two-year, $12 million deal, Jon Rauch to a one-year, $3.5 million deal and acquiring Ramon Ramirez in the Angel Pagan trade. Team officials knew there were more closers on the market than closing jobs available, so they tried to time the market at a point where they would be getting a bargain. In retrospect, several capable arms signed modest deals late, such as Ryan Madson on a one-year, $8.5 million deal with Cincinnati and Brad Lidge for one year and $1 million with Washington.

So how does Alderson feel he did in terms of timing the market?

"Given our need, I think we timed it about as well as we could," Alderson said. "I'm not suggesting that, gee, if we had waited up until the last couple of weeks of January we could have maybe done better from a financial standpoint. But we weren't in a situation to wait that long. We wanted some certainty there. And I think with the fact that we signed or traded for three guys, that we've provided some depth and hopefully are not relying on any one individual to perform well. We should have plenty of options."

• Alderson said he will address players at the start of camp, and the message probably would be comparable to last year, since the team again faces outside expectations that are not lofty. "As I recall last year, there weren't high expectations for the Mets," he said. "There are apparently are not this year on the part of most people. So my talk may be similar to the one I had last year."

Alderson added: "There are very few players who don't have something to prove, and that runs the gamut from the veteran players to the younger guys. Some are trying to make the club. Some are try to reestablish themselves. Some are trying to rebound from an 'off' season. Some are coming back from an injury. There's not a player in this camp who doesn't have something to prove and something to improve. I think that can be as much of a driving force as anything and I hope the Mets, as a team, benefit from that collectively."

• Alderson suggested any improvement in Terry Collins' performance might be the result of having gone through the National League for a year now, after not having been a major league manager since 1999. As for picking up Collins' 2013 option well before required, Alderson said it was partly based on performance and partly based on the perception in New York of having a manager in the last guaranteed year of his deal otherwise. "Look, always in New York you're looking to avoid certain storylines," the GM said. "But far more importantly it was a reward for the job that he had done last year, and also the confidence we have in the job that he'll do this year and going forward."

• On the ceiling for the 2012 Mets, Alderson said: "I've been around baseball for a long time, and I've never been able to accurately predict a ceiling. I've never been able to predict a floor either. I'll leave that to the way the season unfolds. But, look, if things break right for us, I think realistically we can be a much better team than we were last year. If we're a much better team than we were last year, and that's reflected in the won-loss record, then we've got a shot."

• If the Mets are in contention (and hence have fans attending games and additional revenue), Alderson said he could see the payroll growing in-season. How much? "No. I don't know what will be out there, what might be necessary. The nice thing about the trade deadline is you're only paying half the salary or less -- maybe a third of the salary. So a lot of good players can become available during that time frame. But certainly I believe that if we're in contention for a wild card or what have you, we definitely could be looking to add to our club."

• Bobby Parnell has an option remaining, while Pedro Beato has three options and Manny Acosta is out of options. Acosta, as a result, is a solid bet to join a bullpen that also includes Francisco, Rauch, Ramirez and Tim Byrdak. Parnell and Beato have little assurance, although Parnell probably has a better shot. It may be partly contingent upon whether the Mets carry a second left-hander such as Daniel Herrera and/or long reliever such as Miguel Batista, Alderson added.

"I think Bobby has got an outstanding future, and it's just a question of where he'll pitch and to what extent it clicks this year," Alderson said. "But, at the same time, we've got fewer spots available than we have quality arms at this point."

Jenrry Mejia is so eager to get back onto a mound, he wanted to arrive early to Port St. Lucie for spring training. But the Mets told the hard-throwing right-hander to stay in the Dominican Republic and work out at the team’s complex there on flat ground, to avoid the temptation to try to do too much too soon as he rehabs from May 16, 2011 Tommy John surgery.

Terry Collins worried Mejia would see Bobby Parnell throwing gas off a mound if Mejia arrived to camp early and ramp up his activity too quickly.

Make no mistake, though, Collins said the 22-year-old Mejia is progressing well. And Mejia is slated to begin throwing off a mound as soon as pitchers and catchers officially report on Monday.

Collins believes Mejia should have no problem returning to regular minor league activity in May, at the 12-month mark of the elbow surgery.

Mejia suffered the ligament damage while working as a starting pitcher for Triple-A Buffalo last season, after the Mets reverted to using him in the rotation to allow him to develop.

Mejia appeared in 33 major league games (30 in relief) in 2010, in the final season under Jerry Manuel, before the organization recommitted to using Mejia as a starter at least for the time being. Pitching coach Dan Warthen has said Mejia ultimately projects as a reliever.