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Fourteen of the 21 first-round picks out of college programs in the 2008 draft have now appeared in the major leagues, including Buster Posey (fifth overall), Gordon Beckham (eighth), Brett Wallace (13^th), Ike Davis (18^th) and Daniel Schlereth (26^th).

Reese Havens -- taken 22^nd overall that year, when the Mets had a pair of first-round picks because of losing Tom Glavine back to the Braves -- might be part of that group with major league experience as well had a persistent rib-cage injury not undermined the past year of his development.

But now, after 2010 oblique woes and then offseason surgery to remove an inch of a rib that was causing that area problems, Havens may finally have the issue behind him. He joined Double-A Binghamton on May 27. Scar tissue following the surgery had limited his activities during spring training and during the first month of the season, he suspects.

“The injuries, I’ve had a rough go with them,” Havens said. “But that’s part of it. There have been plenty of guys who have asked me the same question. My answer is: I hate being the woulda, coulda, shoulda guy. I know I could probably be in a different place right now, but I’m here. You know, I’m still in a good place. I’m just happy to be back on the field, to tell you the truth.”

A gifted hitter drafted out of the University of South Carolina, the 24-year-old Havens is hitting .278 with a homer and four RBIs through 36 at-bats with the B-Mets, where his Double-A season ended June 11 of last year because of the oblique woes. Havens is sitting roughly every fourth game with the B-Mets as the organization attempts to ease him back into action without further issue.

“They’ve got me on a schedule right now, for the time being,” Havens said.

A natural shortstop, the Mets moved Havens to second base a year ago. Given the recent major league issues at that position, Havens undoubtedly would have been prepared for a shot already at the major league level absent the injuries.

Havens said he is perfectly comfortable at second base despite injuries limiting his development time. He was working with Tim Teufel at second base with Binghamton last season. Now, Teufel has been promoted to Triple-A Buffalo’s helm, but fellow former second baseman Wally Backman has taken over managing Binghamton.

“I feel real comfortable over there,” Havens said about second base. “I’ve had plenty of time to get comfortable. I feel good turning a double play. I’ve had help from Wally. It’s made it a lot easier and sped up the process.”

Havens said there is no particular thing he needs to work on. Instead, it’s just about getting repetitions and back in a groove.

“Right now I’m getting at-bats back under my belt, and am trying to feel comfortable and make good contact,” he said. “That’s really the name of my game -- hitting early and hitting the fastball. I’m just working on getting timing back and the rhythm of being comfortable. And as far as second base goes, I’m just taking my groundballs every day. I’m just working back to being an everyday player and to where I was before I went down with this injury.”

Organization leaders

Average: Pedro Zapata, St. Lucie, .329; Juan Lagares, St. Lucie, .323; Cory Vaughn, Savannah, .317; Matt den Dekker, St. Lucie, .306; Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Buffalo, .301; Josh Satin, Binghamton, .298; Jesus Feliciano, Buffalo, .284; Michael Fisher, Buffalo, .277; Robbie Shields, Savannah, .274; Stefan Welch, St. Lucie, .273.

Homers: Brahiam Maldonado, Binghamton, 10; Lucas Duda, Buffalo, 9; Aderlin Rodriguez, Savannah, 9; Josh Satin, Binghamton, 8.

RBI: Wilmer Flores, St. Lucie, 36; Josh Satin, Binghamton, 35; Valentino Pascucci, Buffalo, 34; Brahiam Maldonado, Binghamton, 33; Aderlin Rodriguez, Savannah, 33.

Steals: Pedro Zapata, St. Lucie, 14; Jordany Valdespin, Binghamton, 11; Cesar Puello, St. Lucie, 11; Matt den Dekker, St. Lucie, 9; Rafael Fernandez, Savannah, 9.

ERA: Darin Gorski, St. Lucie, 1.62; Chase Huchingson, Savannah, 2.14; Jeurys Familia, Binghamton, 2.21; Matt Harvey, St. Lucie, 2.44; Chris Schwinden, Buffalo, 3.03; Ryan Fraser, Savannah, 3.25; Greg Peavey, Savannah, 3.27; Gonzalez Germen, Savannah, 3.63; Brad Holt, Binghamton, 3.67; Brandon Moore, Binghamton, 3.78.

Wins: Matt Harvey, St. Lucie, 6; Brandon Moore, Binghamton, 5; Greg Peavey, Savannah, 5.

Saves: Josh Edgin, Savannah, 12; Jeffrey Kaplan, St. Lucie, 9; John Lujan, Buffalo, 5.

Strikeouts: Darin Gorski, St. Lucie, 73; Matt Harvey, St. Lucie, 71; Jeurys Familia, Binghamton, 66; Taylor Whitenton, Savannah, 60; Greg Peavey, Savannah, 58.

Short hops

• Left-hander Steve Matz, the Mets’ top pick in the 2009 draft (second round, 72^nd overall), has been backed off throwing because of suspected scar tissue where he had May 18, 2010 Tommy John surgery. Players generally work through scar tissue to break it up, but the Mets proceeded more cautiously with the 20-year-old southpaw, who is a product of Ward Melville High on Long Island. Farm director Adam Wogan said Matz is due to resume throwing Friday, when the extended spring training group returns from a three-day break. Matz, who has yet to throw a professional pitch in a game, will initially be assigned to the Gulf Coast League, not Brooklyn, according to Wogan. That team starts play in Port St. Lucie on June 21.

• Full-season Class A teams had their All-Stars representatives announced, and both St. Lucie and Savannah were well-represented with six players apiece. Selected to the June 18 Florida State League All-Star Game at Clearwater, Fla.: right-handers Matt Harvey, Scott Moviel and Jeffrey Kaplan, left-hander Darin Gorski and outfielders Matt den Dekker and Pedro Zapata. Selected to the June 21 South Atlantic League game in Salisbury, Md.: right-handers Taylor Whitenton and Greg Peavey, left-handers Chase Huchingson and Josh Edgin, infielder Robbie Shields and right fielder Cory Vaughn. Sand Gnats manager Ryan Ellis and first base coach Jose Carreno also will participate.

• A pair of siblings of Mets farmhands were taken in the draft Tuesday. The Mets selected Binghamton right-hander Erik Turgeon’s brother Casey Turgeon, a high school shortstop from Dunedin, Fla., in the 22^nd round. Savannah right-hander Erik Goeddel’s brother Tyler Goeddel was selected by the Rays with the 41^st overall pick, which Tampa Bay received as compensation for losing Carl Crawford as a free agent to the Boston Red Sox. He is a high school third baseman from California. The Mets’ Goedell has not pitched in a game since May 23 because of a shoulder strain, but Wogan indicated he should be back for an inning or two soon -- perhaps at a lower level to ease back.

• Buffalo’s prospects are on the mend. Lucas Duda, who missed three weeks with a back injury, is hitting .410 with six homers and 13 RBIs in 12 games since a May 28 return while primarily splitting duty between left field and first base. Center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis (.301, 6 HR, 14 RBI, .405 OBP), who missed 10 days after landing on his right shoulder making a diving catch, returned Saturday. Third baseman Zach Lutz is poised to rejoin the Bisons after one more Florida State League game on Wednesday night. Lutz originally landed on the disabled list with Buffalo with a hamstring injury after an April 21 game. Then, while inactive and in the dugout, he was struck with a foul ball and broke the ring finger on his non-throwing hand. Lutz’s return to the Bisons will displace hot-hitting Michael Fisher from third base, but not from the lineup, because Fisher has experience at the other infield positions. Fisher, 26, originally was a Braves draft pick, and was signed as a minor league free agent last year.

• Left-hander Mike O’Connor returned to action for the Bisons on Sunday, allowing a homer to Brandon Hicks at Gwinnett. O’Connor had made nine relief appearances at the major league level before the demotion. Meanwhile, in his first start with Buffalo after clearing waivers and accepting a Triple-A assignment, Pat Misch allowed six runs in six innings Saturday against the Braves’ top affiliate. Misch pushed himself to 92 pitches, which was a feat since he had not logged more than 31 pitches in any appearance during a two-week stay in the majors.

• Binghamton infielder Josh Satin homered twice in Game 2 of Tuesday’s doubleheader against Harrisburg. The performance highlighted Satin’s return from a week-long absence, except for one game at DH, while he dealt with a thigh bruise. Satin is hitting .298 with eight homers and 35 RBIs in 178 at-bats with the B-Mets. A natural second baseman, he has assumed the third-base role since Havens’ arrival.

• Oliver Perez, pitching for Double-A Harrisburg, a Washington Nationals affiliate, is due to face Binghamton in a Thursday morning game. Perez is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in four Eastern League starts. He has allowed 15 hits, walked three and hit two batters while striking out 14 in 19 innings.

• Savannah center fielder Darrell Ceciliani, the 2010 New York-Penn League batting champion with Brooklyn, has a seven-game hitting streak, during which he has lifted his average from .225 to .245. That spurt has coincided with a rare rough stretch for the SAL All-Star Vaughn. He is hitting .227 (10-for-44) with no homers and three RBIs in his past 11 games.

• Recent signee Bubba Bell, who began the season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate, was pushed off Buffalo’s roster to Binghamton with the recent return of prospects. Bell has manned center field in his four games with the B-Mets since arriving during the weekend. Carlos Guzman, a Brooklyn native who works out with Jose Reyes and Pedro Beato in Nassau County on Long Island during the offseason, was released. The 25-year-old outfielder was hitting .228 in 123 at-bats with Binghamton.

• Chin-lung Hu continues to experience throwing yips with Buffalo. As a result, he is only being placed at second base, and not at shortstop. He also is being pulled late in games.

• Minor league baseball is not easy, especially when rising from high-A St. Lucie to Binghamton. Right-hander Collin McHugh, an 18^th-round pick in 2008 out of Berry College, can attest. After allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings at Akron in his second Double-A start on Sunday, McHugh (@Collin_McHugh) eloquently tweeted: “There seems to be a learning curve in AA. I'm hoping it's short and not too sharp. And that it has a guard rail.”

• The Brooklyn Cyclones’ season opens June 17 at Staten Island. Twenty-nine former Cyclones have reached the majors. The most recent: outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, who debuted with the Cleveland Indians on May 20. Carrera was one of seven players shipped out by the Mets in the J.J. Putz/Sean Green deal in December 2008. He subsequently was traded by Seattle to the Indians.

• Shortstop Wilmer Flores returned to St. Lucie’s lineup on Sunday after missing a couple of days with wrist soreness. The organization’s top position-player prospect is 0-for-his-last 11, and his average has slipped to .255 in 55 games.

• Harvey, the 2010 first-round pick from the University of North Carolina, takes the mound again for St. Lucie on Wednesday night. Since getting roughed up for a career-worst eight runs in 3 2/3 innings on May 10, Harvey has limited opponents to four runs while striking out 29 in four starts spanning 22 2/3 innings.

• When will a flurry of roster movement occur? Wogan said he never had been a big fan of tying promotions to the midpoints of seasons, after Class A leagues have determined first-half winners. But Wogan said he has now come around to the idea. After all, players get to experience extra incentive and pressure while trying to secure postseason berths for their teams -- even if they will be at a higher level when the playoff games occur in September. As a result, movement among top Mets prospects such as den Dekker and Vaughn may occur in just less than two weeks, after Savannah and St. Lucie complete their first halves. Savannah leads Greenville by 3½ games in that South Atlantic League division, with the Gnats having 11 games remaining in the half. St. Lucie, after a torrid April, is one game over .500 and clinging to a one-game lead over Fort Myers with 12 games to go.

Adam Rubin’s farm report appears Wednesdays during the season

Oliver Perez, who is being paid $12 million by the Mets this season, is due to face their Double-A club on Thursday in a 10:35 a.m. start.

Perez is pitching for Harrisburg, an affiliate of the Washington Nationals. He is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in four starts for the Eastern League club. He has allowed 15 hits and three walks while striking out 14 in 19 innings. Double-A opponents have a .214 average against the southpaw.

Dillon Gee took a no-hit bid two outs into the sixth inning, when Livan Hernandez broke it up with a clean single. The Mets nonetheless beat the Nationals, 1-0. A win Friday at Yankee Stadium would move the Mets to .500 for the first time since they were 4-4 on April 9.

Friday's news reports:

• Terry Collins indicated Fernando Martinez is due to DH the first two games of the Subway Series. Carlos Beltran will DH the series finale. Read more in Newsday.

• Newsday's Anthony Rieber wonders if you would want Francisco Rodriguez or Mariano Rivera to close a game right now. K-Rod converted his 14th straight save Thursday, benefitting from an out call by ump Phil Cuzzi at first base on Jayson Werth. The only longer save-conversion streak in K-Rod's Mets career came to open his first season with the club, when he converted 16 straight until Luis Castillo dropped that infamous pop fly in the Bronx. Writes Rieber:

A safe call on Werth's grounder would have left runners on first and third with one out, the very situation Rivera couldn't escape with a 1-0 lead against the Orioles on Wednesday. The Yankees went on to win in 15 innings, managing to overcome Rivera's blown save and the questionable decision by Joe Girardi to remove a dominant Bartolo Colon after 87 pitches because that's how it's done these days. Yes, yes, we know, Rivera is the greatest closer of all time, so you have to go to him whether you need to or not. If the Yankees have a suitable lead in Friday night's Subway Series opener, Rivera will be on the mound in the ninth inning. "He's the best," Rodriguez said, ending any notion of a Great New York Closer Debate.

• Third base use to be the position of instability for the Mets. Now, it's second base. Newsday's David Lennon notes that since 2003, the year Jose Reyes debuted, there have never been fewer than four second basemen in any season. That came in 2006, when Jose Valentin played 94 games, Chris Woodward 39, Kazuo Matsui 31 and Anderson Hernandez 13. Writes Lennon:

Somewhat surprising is that the list includes three former All-Stars in addition to [Roberto] Alomar: Luis Castillo , Damion Easley and Reyes, who did it at shortstop. Of this group, four appeared in only one game: David Newhan , Andy Green , Wilson Valdez and Jose Offerman. Strangely, the forgotten Danny Garcia actually played 61 games (56 starts) during this turbulent stretch, and the Mets were forced to use as many as seven second basemen in three seasons: 2004, 2009 and 2010. "The guy I played with the longest was Luis Castillo ," said Reyes of Castillo's 342-game run. "Other than that, it's always changing. It's been like that my whole career, so it doesn't really matter to me."

• New Yorker Pedro Beato tells Steve Popper of the Record what the reliever thinks about the Yankees. "I hate the Yankees," Beato said. "My family -- I can tell there are no Yankees fans. I think I know more than those guys, not the older guys obviously because they’ve been in this situation. I’ve been to games. I know how crazy the fans can be. As a player you shouldn’t let that get to you. I know it doesn’t get to me. I’d rather play in these situations than play in a game where there’s not that many fans. That’s the whole excitement of the game, how the fans get into the game, how they cheer their team, the loudness and craziness of the crowd."

• Newsday's Neil Best looks at the Mets' sagging attendance, writing:

[Mets executive VP Dave] Howard said total tickets sold are comparable to this time last year. That suggests more tickets than last season were sold for the summer months, because through Wednesday average paid attendance was down an average of 3,031 per game to 27,288, according to baseball-reference.com. (The Yankees are down, too, by 2,699 per game to 42,265. But, like the Mets, they say sales for the entire season are roughly similar to last year.) Even if the Mets match last season's total paid attendance of 2.56 million -- down from 3.15 million in 2009 -- they will not generate as much revenue, thanks to a 14-percent average reduction in ticket prices.

• Brian Costa of The Wall Street Journal reviews the list of almost no-hitters for the Mets. It's been 7,849 games without producing one in franchise history. The San Diego Padres are the only other team without a no-hitter.

• Read game stories from Thursday's 1-0 win in the Star-Ledger, Daily News, Times, Post and Newsday.

• More paperwork was filed by trustee Irving Picard on Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court regarding his $1 billion-plus lawsuit against Mets owners. Picard notes, as in a previous filing, that the Mets ownership group sought to purchase fraud insurance that would pay out if it turned out the Bernard Madoff investment was a Ponzi scheme. That, alone, may not exactly qualify as a gotcha, though. After all, wouldn't it be routinely prudent given the sum of money invested -- even without suspcision -- to have some sort of insurance?

Writes the Times on that insurance topic:

“The very fact” that Wilpon and Katz and their business partners “were in the market for this ‘one of a kind’ insurance policy” to protect their investments against a Ponzi scheme “establishes incontrovertibly” that they were on “notice” of Madoff’s “possible fraud,” Picard asserted in court papers filed Thursday.

The Daily News provides the rebuttal, writing:

Wilpon and Katz deny knowing anything of Madoff's schemes, and Greg Nero, general counsel for Sterling Equities, said the most sensational claim in Picard's new filing was "just wrong. "They didn't go shopping," Nero said. "A trusted colleague made a recommendation about looking at insurance, so they spoke to an insurance salesman, received some basic information and they ultimately decided not to purchase it because they trusted Mr. Madoff -- and believed that they did not need it."

Read more on the latest legal developments in Newsday.

• This is probabaly the last season of Subway Series for Beltran, unless he somehow winds up with the Yankees. Writes columnist Tara Sullivan in the Record:

The end of Beltran’s distinguished Mets career will come at season’s end, if not before, and with him goes one of the last connections to the tantalizing mid-2000s, when the team was good enough to match the Yankees stride for stride, good enough to fall a cruel called third strike short of a 2006 World Series appearance. Now, the team feels barely recognizable.

• Major League Baseball confirmed it is investigating Nats GM Mike Rizzo's behavior after umpires alleged inappropriate verbal conduct after the game, which included the controversial ninth-inning call that went against Werth at first base. The Daily News reports umpires did a visual lineup of sorts, whipping out a media guide and looking at photos to figure out it was Rizzo who allegedly confronted them. The Nats had no comment on Thursday night about the incident.

• Daily News columnist Bill Madden weighs in on the Mets' recent success. Throw out a one-game series against the Florida Marlins (because of Tuesday's rainout) and the Mets actually have won four straight series. Writes Madden:

If you're Collins, you have to be pretty gratified with how the Mets have responded following the loss of two of their three middle-of-the-order hitters, David Wright and Ike Davis, and their most effective early-season starter, Chris Young, winning as they did yesterday for the sixth time in eight games to move to within one game of .500. A month ago they were 5-13 and seemingly headed for early oblivion.

• Willie Randolph tells Tyler Kepner of the Times he wants another chance to manage in the majors. Randolph is currently the bench coach for Buck Showalter in Baltimore, after serving in that capacity with Ken Macha in Milwaukee. Randolph tells Kepner: “You’re loyal to the people you work for, but you still itch and burn. I’ve always been a competitor, and I talk to my guys about competition and how you want to be the best. For me, you want to get back to that, because I know I’m going to be better, and I know that I’ll be able to get more out of my players than I did the first time because of the experience.”

• Oliver Perez surrendered only one hit -- a triple -- and two walks in five scoreless innings in his debut Thursday with Double-A Harrisburg with the Nationals organization. However, his fastball only touched the mid-80s mph. "There's deception in his delivery," manager Tony Beasley tells the Harrisburg Patriot-News. "There's a funk to it. I'm guessing it's tough for a hitter to try to pick it up right away." Read more of that report here.

BIRTHDAY: Better known as a Cardinal, Ken Boyer was born on this date in 1931. (He died in 1982.) Boyer hit .266 with 14 home runs in 1966, then was traded to the Chicago White Sox midway through the 1967 season. Boyer’s career spanned 15 seasons and he was regarded as one of the top defensive third basemen of his time, winning five Gold Glove Awards. -Mark Simon

Oliver Perez, in his first official game since signing with the Nationals, earned the win for Double-A Harrisburg in Game 1 of a doubleheader Thursday. Perez limited New Britain to an unearned run on one hit -- a triple -- while striking out three and walking two in five innings.

Perez's velocity was no better than with the Mets in spring training, according to the Harrisburg broadcast.

Jon Niese tossed seven scoreless innings and the Mets pulled even with the Nationals in the standings by beating Washington 3-0 in the rain at Citi Field on Wednesday.

Thursday's news reports:

• Terry Collins may soon place Jason Bay in the No. 2 slot in the lineup. Read more in Newsday, the Star-Ledger, Post and Record.

• Angel Pagan began a rehab assignment Wednesday night with St. Lucie. He went 1-for-3 with a solo homer and a walk and played center field for seven innings. Collins expects Pagan to play three additional games with the Florida State League club before being activated. Read more in Newsday.

• Read game stories from Wednesday 3-0 victory in the Times, Star-Ledger, Record, Post, Daily News and Newsday.

• Andy McCullough discusses the beaning of Justin Turner in the College World Series while at Cal State Fullerton. Turner was so recognizable near his campus after that incident, he even dyed his red hair in hopes to going unnoticed (which you can read about here, in the write-up I did after Turner was first promoted to the Mets last season). Writes McCullough:

The baseball struck him flush in his face on his left cheek. His cleat wedged into the dirt as he crumpled to the ground. In the process, he broke his ankle. Blood smeared his batting gloves. While his leg throbbed, doctors examined his face. “Even when I got the hospital, they did all the CT scans, MRI stuff,” Turner said. “And they were about to send me out. And I was like, ‘Dude, what about my ankle?’ ”

• Daily News columnist Filip Bondy discusses Wednesday's soggy playing conditions, writing:

Then Wednesday night, the Mets decided to play the game and handed off responsibility to the umps once the lineup cards were exchanged. The rain poured down intensely at times, yet radar reports convinced the umpires that if they ordered the tarp brought out, it might never come off. "If this is about the weather, you can take it up with the commissioner's office," umpire Bill Miller said after the game, through a messenger. Was it right they played this game at all? Certainly not, although the players had fewer complaints than you'd imagine. The Nationals, for the most part, said they were given the same opportunities as the home team.

• Nats right-hander Livan Hernandez tries to continue his recent success against the Mets in Thursday's matinee. Writes Brian Costa in The Wall Street Journal:

Since the Mets released him in August 2009, Hernandez has become a Mets-killer. In six starts against them, he has posted a 1.96 ERA, allowing just 1.09 walks and hits per inning. Against the rest of the league over that span, he has a 4.27 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.

• Oliver Perez's scheduled debut with the Nats' Double-A affiliate, Harrisburg, was rained out Wednesday and instead is scheduled for Thursday. Nats GM Mike Rizzo told the Post: "His velocity's increased since we've gotten him. When we got him he was in the low 80s, I think he's in the mid-to-upper 80s, and touching 90. We want to see where he's at in his rehabilitation. We want to see where his arm slot is, where his velocity is, where his stuff is. That's what we've been working on down in spring training. He's had flashes of having good major league stuff, and then he'll relapse into having just OK stuff. We want to see consistency of delivery, holding his delivery together, consistency of command, and the consistency of his velocity and stuff with his other pitches."

BIRTHDAY: Ex-Mets reliever Turk Wendell turns 44. Wendell, whose first name is actually Steven, had a 3.34 ERA as a middle reliever in five seasons with the Mets from 1997 to 2001, often extricating himself from difficult situations with timely outs. Wendell tied Dennis Cook’s then-club record with 21 holds in 1999, a mark that since has since been surpassed (due to reliever specialization) six times. -Mark Simon

Oliver Perez is moving from the Nationals' complex in Viera, Fla., to the team's Double-A team in Harrisburg, Pa., The Washington Post reported.

Perez's $12 million salary is being paid by the Mets this season.

Harrisburg plays at Binghamton, the Mets' Eastern League affiliate, this weekend.

No. 5 starter Chris Capuano takes the mound against the Cardinals in Port St. Lucie, R.A. Dickey flies to Nashville for the birth of his son and Carlos Beltran tries to ramp up his activity with an eye toward playing right field this weekend.

On to Thursday's news reports:

• Brad Emaus is destined to be the Opening Day second baseman, with Daniel Murphy also on the roster. Both Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins acknowledged Wednesday that Justin Turner having options remaining was a major factor in deciding to option Turner to Triple-A Buffalo. "I would have liked to have seen how the cards would have fallen if we were in the same boat," Turner said before leaving the major league clubhouse. "I definitely got my at-bats, and I feel like I may have underperformed a little bit offensively. I'm obviously capable of a lot more than that, but it is what it is."

• David Waldstein in the Times reports: The Mets have discussed the possibility of sending [Murphy] to Class AAA Buffalo to play second base every day. It’s considered more likely that he will remain with the big league club as a utility player and pinch-hitter.

• Brian Costa in The Wall Street Journal notes Emaus has a supporter in former Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, who now heads the Mets' pro scouting department. "I think the appealing thing for us is, he sees a lot of pitches," Ricciardi tells Costa about Emaus. "As we go forward, that's the type of team we'd like to have, guys that do get on base, guys that grind out walks." Emaus will wear No. 4 during the regular season. Writes Costa:

The Mets swung at 31% of all pitches outside the strike zone in 2010, according to FanGraphs.com, the sixth-highest mark in baseball. It was no coincidence that their team on-base percentage (.314) ranked just 25th in the majors. Emaus may not be a prodigious hitter, but he takes pride in making pitchers work for outs.

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger looks at the similarities between Emaus and Turner. He writes:

The two players possess similar profiles. Emaus is 24; Turner is 26. Both starred in college, both stand below 6-0. Both starred last year in Triple A: Turner posted a .906 on-base plus slugging percentage in 78 games with Buffalo; Emaus posted an .890 OPS with Toronto’s affiliate. Turner entered the day hitting .231. Emaus was hitting .235. Yet here is the difference, minute but critical, as Alderson made his assessment: Emaus had a nearly 100-point advantage in on-base percentage, a product in his ability to draw walks. He walked twice against Detroit righty Brad Penny on Tuesday.

• The Daily News' Anthony McCarrron also quotes Ricciardi on Emaus, saying: "He has hit. Is he going to be Chase Utley? No. But is he capable of being an everyday, big-league player? I think he is in the right circumstance. Maybe this is it, maybe this isn't. He's a gap-to-gap hitter, everywhere he's been he's been a .270-.280 hitter and he's going to hit 15 balls in the seats once he plays regularly. ... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Dan Uggla was left out there at one time [as a Rule 5 pick]."

• Mike Puma of the Post is the lone dissenting voice and not ready to anoint Emaus second baseman. Writes Puma:

Last night a source involved in this week’s organizational meetings told The Post the position still is up for grabs. According to the source, Emaus will play second base for the next three or four days -- he may receive a day off somewhere during that stretch -- then be re-evaluated by team brass. If he is not deemed capable, the Mets could change course. Mets special advisor J.P. Ricciardi, who was behind the team’s decision to select Emaus in the Rule 5 draft last winter, is on board with the idea, according to the source. Emaus has done nothing to impress the Mets defensively, and his .216 batting average with no homers and one RBI this spring hardly provide a convincing case to make him the starter.

Puma goes on to assert that Chin-lung Hu could become a factor in the second-base competition, and Luis Hernandez could open the season on the disabled list. ... I've heard the Mets are already holding trade talks involving Hernandez, who is out of options and boxed out by Hu as the backup middle infielder.

• Read more on second base in Newsday.

• David Lennon of Newsday notes its no surprise Oliver Perez latched on with the Nationals. After all, he becomes the 11th Scott Boras client associated with the team, by the report's count. One Nationals staffer suggested the likelihood is Perez just stays in Viera, Fla., after teams break camp and tries to rediscover his mechanics and velocity with Nats pitching coordinator Spin Williams, who worked with Perez with the Pirates. Williams is quoted in The Washington Post saying: "We're no smarter than anybody from that standpoint of trying to get the guy better. But I had a pretty good rapport with him. He's struggled as of late, but he's still young enough. It'll be interesting to see where he's at. See if we can give him [something] different."

• Steve Popper in the Record looks at Jason Isringhausen's fight to continue his career. He opens the story with this poignant exchange:

Jason Isringhausen was on his iPhone late Tuesday night, video-chatting with his 8-year-old daughter, when he asked her if she was ready for Dad to come home. With her face pressed close to the camera, she told him he still could play baseball.

Popper also quotes pitching coach Dan Warthen explaining the pop Isringhausen felt in his right elbow during his last Grapefruit League appearance. "Everybody suspected it was scar tissue breaking loose," Warthen tells Popper. "So he came down and saw the doctor who did the surgery, who reiterated the same thing. Everything structurally was in great shape in there. He probably did break scar tissue in there. It moved the tendon down a little farther. That’s what he felt. That was only on the curveball. Everything was taking its natural progression."

As it stands now, Isringhausen has a real battle to make the team. Blaine Boyer has an "out" in his contract next Thursday, on the eve of the regular season, and has very much impressed. If the regular season started today, it sounds like the Mets would take Pedro Beato and Boyer for the final two bullpen slots, joining Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, D.J. Carrasco, Tim Byrdak and Taylor Buchholz.

BIRTHDAYS: Garry Templeton, who appeared in 80 games for the Mets in 1991, was born on this day in 1956. He arrived in a May 31 trade that season from San Diego for Tim Teufel. ... Jesus Alou, uncle of fellow ex-Met Moises Alou, was born in 1942. The outfielder appeared in 62 games for the Mets in 1975.

Oliver Perez will sign a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals. The club feels pitching coordinator Spin Williams, who worked with Perez in Pittsburgh, might be able to revive the southpaw's fastball with work on his mechanics.

"I'm not surprised," Terry Collins said. "I'm surprised there wasn't a couple of other clubs. Left-handed. A guy with his experience and with his background of getting left-handed hitters out, I'm not surprised he got a shot. And I wish him all the luck."

R.A. Dickey starts in Jupiter on Wednesday against the Cardinals. He then heads to Nashville for the birth of his son. Jason Isringhausen will try to throw a bullpen session, with his career at a potential crossroads. And Carlos Beltran, well, we'll see ...

On to the day's news reports:

• Jose Reyes tells Newsday's Jim Baumbach he will make a concerted effort to raise his on-base percentage, which was only .321 last season. Writes Baumbach:

With free agency looming after this season, Reyes clearly knows his best chance at a big payday is not only by staying healthy, but also by becoming a more complete hitter. And in order to accomplish that, he's forcing himself to understand that he doesn't need to think "hit" all the time. "Walks, I need to make that a part of my game again," Reyes said. "Last year I wanted to get a hit every time I got to home plate because in 2009 I only played, like, 30-something games. So I just wanted to do so good every time. This year is going to be different. I'm not thinking like that."

Of the 89 major leaguers to have 600 plate appearances last season, Reyes tied for 74th in on-base percentage.

• David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News talks with Luis Castillo, after his eventual arrival at Phillies camp Tuesday. Castillo must beat out fellow ex-Met Wilson Valdez as injured Chase Utley's placeholder at second base, or win a bench job from a group that also includes Josh Barfield, John Mayberry Jr., Michael Martinez, Pete Orr and Delwyn Young. Writes Murphy:

Castillo blamed his late arrival on a "miscommunication between me and my agents," which is the same thing Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters. The Phillies expected the second baseman to arrive in time to play against Toronto today, one of nine games the team has left before it opens the regular season on April 1. "More importantly, I'm here, and I'm excited to be here," Castillo said. "I'm healthy. I feel good. I'm ready. I'm here to play baseball and help this team win some games." Asked what the Phillies told him about the opportunity he will get here, Castillo responded, "Right now, I know Valdez is doing a good job and Utley is hurt right now. I'm trying to find a job here. I want to compete and I want to win the job. I want to play. I have 10 days to prove and try to get ready."

• Dan Martin of the Post also chronicled Castillo's arrival. The ex-Met continued to maintain he feels he did not get a legit shot with the Mets. "[Collins] wouldn't give me a chance to play," Castillo said upon arriving at Phillies camp. "I told him if he didn't give me the chance to play that I don't know if I have to be on the team. He decided to release me."

• Independent lawyers tell Newsday they don't expect former Gov. Mario Cuomo to be able to compel a settlement in trustee Irving Picard's $1 billion-plus lawsuit against Mets owners. Certainly, they say, there's little chance anything would materialize before a June 29 hearing in which U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland will rule on the defendant's motion to toss the case (which would be a long shot). Writes author Anthony M. Destefano:

Sources familiar with the case and outside legal experts point to the latest exchange between the two sides in the form of dueling news releases and court filings. "I don't think there is anything magical Mario [Cuomo] can do," said attorney Howard Kleinhendler of Manhattan, who represents other Madoff victims.

• The Times delves into the legal wrestling going on, with Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz's lawyers demanding Picard turn over documents and the trustee denying those requests for the time being, until he's compelled to put all his cards on the table. Writes Richard Sandomir:

The team’s owners have now charged that Picard has been deceptive in employing that tactic. They charged in a court filing Sunday that he had withheld some evidence that deeply undercut his lawsuit’s central allegation: that Wilpon and Katz continued to invest with Madoff, and profit greatly from those investments, in the face of repeated warnings that he might not have been clean. ... In denying Wilpon and Katz’s lawyers access to the contested evidence -- called precomplaint discovery -- Picard is not violating any rules, said two law professors with expertise in civil procedure who are not involved in the litigation.

• After watching Beltran go 2-for-8 and require a pinch-runner in minor league games Tuesday, Newsday's David Lennon concludes the right fielder -- who has yet to play right field in a game this spring -- likely will start the season on the DL, even though that's not the organization's official position. Remember, Beltran's DL stint can be backdated to the point where he only needs to miss three-regular season games. That is, as long as he limits his spring work to the minor league side and does not appear in a Grapefruit League game. Regarding appearing full throttle in a spring game, Beltran tells Lennon: "I have to be smart. I just can't throw myself out there like that. It doesn't work that way. Just because it feels great doesn't mean I'm healed 100 percent, you know?"

• Steve Popper of the Record says the Mets have a plan to put Beltran in three Grapefruit League games next week if his knees allow. ... I'm skeptical that happens. Because then if Beltran lands on the DL, the backdating is out the window and he misses a full 15 regular-season days. Frankly, it sounds like something the last front office would do.

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger looks at the Tuesday activities of Angel Pagan and Beltran. Pagan was pulled in the second inning of a game in Lakeland against the Detroit Tigers because his back stiffened, but he insists he will be back in the lineup Thursday as scheduled. Beltran continued to take small steps toward being ready for the season. ... Here are similar accounts in the Post and Daily News.

• Isringhausen, who played catch Tuesday after being shut down for three days with elbow inflammation, knows he's at a make-or-break point in his career. He's supposed to throw a bullpen session Wednesday. "I don't have much time left," Isringhausen tells The Wall Street Journal's Brian Costa. "If I try to throw [Wednesday] and I can't do it, that could be it for me. I know this."

Sandy Alderson candidly noted that putting Izzy on the major league roster from a money perspective is not a concern. He's only slated to make $500,000. The problem is that if he breaks camp with the team, the Mets could lose another pitcher from the organization. Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, Tim Byrdak, D.J. Carrasco and Taylor Buchholz appear safe, and Rule 5 pick Pedro Beato certainly merits being included too. So taking Izzy with the last slot should mean Manny Acosta and Pat Misch get exposed to waivers. Blaine Boyer, who has drawn positive reviews, is on a minor league deal and can go directly to Triple-A, although one teammate continues to think Boyer will make the roster. Left-hander Mike O'Connor is on a minor league deal, too.

• David Waldstein of The New York Times looks at the maturation of Josh Thole behind the plate. Thole caught in high school, but he primarily played first base from the 2005 draft until May '08. That's when first-string St. Lucie catcher Sean McCraw's hitting woes opened the door for Thole to become a full-time catcher, and he ran with it. Writes Waldstein:

Many of the Mets pitchers say Thole’s pitch-calling is noticeably improved. “When he first came up in 2009, I thought he was OK as a pitch-caller,” [Mike] Pelfrey said of Thole’s debut with the Mets that September. “But when he came back last year, he was a totally different man to the point where he’s become a guy you recommend. I want to throw to this guy.”

• George King, the Yankees beat writer for the Post, quotes Brian Cashman on the team's interest in Oliver Perez. "[Team president] Randy Levine asked me to look into it," Cashman tells King. "I have no interest. It's not a fit, not something that makes sense based on what we have seen." ... Even former Mets teammates are skeptical Perez will appear in the majors this season.

BIRTHDAY: Left-hander Mike Remingler was born on this day in 1966 in Middletown, N.Y. He made 15 appearances (nine starts) for the Mets in 1994 and '95 during a 14-year major league career.

Jon Niese opposes Detroit's Brad Penny in Lakeland as baseball now takes center stage with the drama of releases and lawsuits over ... at least for now.

On to Tuesday's news reports:

• The Daily News reports Fred and Jeff Wilpon aren't looking to sell a specific minority percentage of the team. Instead, they want $200 million. Then the percentage will be determined based on how the parties view the overall value of the team. For instance, 33 percent ownership if the sides agree the Mets are worth $600 million, or 25 percent if the sides agree the club is worth $800 million.

Of course, the complicating factor is that if there is $500 million or so in debt borrowed against the team, the value may be greatly depressed since you would seem to be buying into a share of that amount owed too.

• The Times' Jay Schreiber goes back and looks at the 45-page marketing binder that agent Scott Boras prepared when he was pitching Oliver Perez to the Mets and other teams as a free agent. Writes Schreiber:

Consider the table of contents in the binder, with headings that include: Perez Is One of Baseball’s Top 5 Left-Handed Starting Pitchers; Durable Perez; and A Rare Young Left-Handed Starting Pitcher Available on the Free-Agent Market. Or the heading on Page 3 of the binder, which states: Perez Follows Footsteps of Hall of Fame Pitcher Sandy Koufax. That entry then argues through statistical breakdowns that Perez’s career from ages 20 to 26 was similar to Koufax’s from ages 19 to 26, and implies that just as Koufax became great at 27, so might Perez. Page 5 of the binder makes a similar comparison between Perez and Randy Johnson.

• Newsday's Anthony Rieber believes the Mets did themselves a disservice by bringing Perez and Luis Castillo to camp, even though Sandy Alderson said he had no regrets because he wanted to see the players firsthand rather than act rashly. Writes Rieber:

Spring training is a time for hope, even if there's no evidence your team is going to be good. What the Mets did by keeping Castillo and Perez until the last few days was rob the die-hards of the pleasure of deluding themselves. Want to fantasize about Brad Emaus turning into a Rule 5 gem the way Dan Uggla did for the Marlins? Mets fans couldn't even dream about it without Castillo invading their subconscious.

• Jason Bay, who by the way has scrapped his new batting stance, describes the Perez news this way to the Post's Mike Puma: "At the risk of it sounding bad, there is a little bit of closure. It kind of brings a little more finality to those scenarios. From a player's point of view, you hate to see the answer be two guys go home, but there was going to be a decision made, one way or the other. ... The way things have gone, people would wait for the first thing, to pile on, and then it becomes another entity. It gets a life of its own and it gets in here. That was the unfortunate circumstance both those guys were in."

• Post columnist Mike Vaccaro believes Bay, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez may be next on the Citi dwellers most-likely-to-be-booed list. Writes Vaccaro:

A word of advice to Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran: Get off to hot starts. An additional suggestion to Francisco Rodriguez: Replicate your perfect spring come April. Because you three, sirs, are the next men up. They don't have Ollie to kick around anymore. Don't have Luis to boo anymore. Until he shows up in a Phillies uniform, anyway.

• Daily News columnist Filip Bondy has the same theme. Writes Bondy:

You sometimes got the feeling this winter that Luis Castillo and Perez were just being kept around for the inevitable sighs of relief that would come with the good riddances. Nobody took seriously these last-gasp auditions, particularly in the case of Perez. Now, though, the Mets have run out of scapegoats -- at least the ones they can dump before the end of this season. Castillo is gone and may yet come back to haunt his old team with the Phils. Ollie is gone. [Omar] Minaya's mistakes are no longer back-page headlines. In order to distract us, the Mets may have to trot out their 1986 stars on many occasions, the way the Rangers always find another way to honor the 1994 Stanley Cup champions.

• Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal said too much attention was placed on Perez and Castillo. He writes:

For all the attention they got this spring, there are about 50 more important reasons the Mets will win or lose this summer. Among them: Carlos Beltran's knees, Johan Santana's shoulder, Jose Reyes's legs, Chris Young's shoulder, Chris Capuano's elbow and Jason Bay's power stroke. That isn't to say the Mets made the wrong moves in cutting Castillo and Perez. Whatever edge Castillo had in talent over his competitors for the second-base job wasn't substantial enough to justify the headache that would come with keeping him. And Perez's audition for a roster spot was a charade to begin with. If anything, the Mets waited too long to release them, allowing them to overshadow just about everything else going on in spring training.

• There are no shortage of news accounts of Perez's final day as a Met. Read the stories in the Daily News, Record, Times and Newsday.

• Jose Reyes tells Newsday's Jim Baumbach he's happy Luis Castillo landed with the Phillies. Reyes tells Baumbach that Castillo had "too much pressure on him here" and suggested "he can still play." The Phillies will only have to Castillo $414,000 -- the major league minimum -- if he makes the club, which is not assured. Castillo signed a minor league deal. The Mets would then only have to pay Castillo $5,586,000 rather than $6 million during the upcoming season.

• The Mets were back in court Monday trying to get out of a lawsuit. They couldn't get this case tossed, but at least there's not $1 billion at stake. Writes Dareh Gregorian in the Post:

The beleagured owners of the Mets have lost their bid to wriggle out of a lawsuit by a fan who was injured by a falling fat guy at the old Shea Stadium. Sterling Mets had argued it shouldn't be held responsible for Ellen Massey's injuries, because the 300-pound Timothy Cassidy's five row fall onto her neck was "spontaneous and unexpected," and could not have been prevented.

• Because Sandy Alderson may not want to lose a pitcher to waivers to carry a pitcher who could be lost to injury quickly, Jason Isringhausen's brief shutdown with right elbow inflammation could affect his ability to make the team. Isringhausen has orally taken anti-inflammatory medication. "I’ve been throwing a lot more breaking balls," Isringhausen tells the Record's Steve Popper. "It causes [rotation] in my forearm and that leads right into the muscle. I’m not worried at all. I’ve done a lot of work to get ready and I’m at a point where I can take a day, long toss [today] and I think I’m already ready for the season."

BIRTHDAYS: Ike Davis turns 24. ... Ex-Mets reliever Joe Smith, now with the Cleveland Indians, turns 27.

Watch Oliver Perez in a clubhouse interview after being informed he was being released by the organization.

Sandy Alderson spoke Monday about the release of Oliver Perez, as well as Luis Castillo signing with the Phillies on a minor league deal. The Mets GM ate a combined $18 million with the two decisions.

Listen here:  

Sandy Alderson addressed reporters Monday regarding the release of Oliver Perez, three days after Luis Castillo also was let go.

The GM indicated Perez’s velocity, which hovered in the mid-80s mph, was not enough to be successful in the organization’s estimation.

“The velocity was not there. The command was not there,” Alderson said. “It wasn’t going to work in a starting role. It didn’t appear as if it were going to work in a relief role, at least anytime soon.”

Alderson said he had no regrets bringing Perez and Castillo to camp, rather than releasing them early in the winter.

“For a variety of reasons it was important to have them in camp,” Alderson said. “To start with, I didn’t want to do anything rash or reflexive given what I had heard about the situation here. And so I think it was important to bring them to camp, and then once brought to camp give them a legitimate opportunity. I think in both cases we tried to do that.”

In explaining Castillo's release, Alderson mentioned anticipated negative crowd reaction played at least some factor. Alderson said in Perez's case, the southpaw's production relative to the competition of other pitchers in camp was so inferior that there was little need to incorporate into the decision how Perez would be received by fans at Citi Field.

Alderson added that there was no consideration of even asking Perez if he would consider working in the minors.

Even though Alderson ate $18 million of his predecessor's contracts in the span of three days, and even though the money was spent whether Perez and Castillo played for the Mets or not, Alderson was asked if it was difficult to recommend eating those salaries. He said: "It wasn't totally irrelevant, but I fully understood based on baseball considerations if that was the decision we needed to make, we had the flexibility to do it."

As for Castillo signing a minor league deal with the Phillies, Alderson said: "It wasn't a surprise. It wasn't unanticipated. For obvious reasons, one of the questions you ask is, 'OK, are we prepared to see him sign with X?' -- whether that's Philadelphia or Florida or some other team."

Oliver Perez was informed he was being released by the New York Mets on Monday morning, with the club eating his $12 million owed. The Mets also had eaten $6 million owed to Luis Castillo three days earlier.

"When they told me, I almost knew what they were going to tell me," Perez said. "It's one of those times you don't feel great, but I don't want to quit. I think I've got more in my career."

Perez indicated he believed he got a fair shot from the Mets' new regime.

"I think they gave me an opportunity," he said. "They were fair with me when I came here. 'We're going to give you an opportunity to be a starter.' I didn't do anything great. They moved me to the bullpen trying to be a lefty specialist. And the last game, that was a real horrible job."

Read the news story here.

Terry Collins, Sandy Alderson and -- at some point during the powwow Oliver Perez -- meet on Monday morning to discuss what's next for the on-the-ropes southpaw, while Luis Castillo lands in Philadelphia on a minor league deal and the Atlanta Braves come to Port St. Lucie to face Mike Pelfrey.

On to Monday's news reports:

• The Mets filed their official court response to trustee Irving Picard's $1 billion-plus lawsuit. Read the ESPNNewYork.com summary of the defense here. You can download the actual document filed here.

• Newsday notes that part of the Mets owners' legal argument is that they were customers rather than sophisticated investors and therefore don't have to return the money. It quotes their lawyers' press release as saying: "A customer has no way of knowing what his broker is actually doing." Picard co-counsel David Sheehan told the newspaper the Wilpons are incorrect in their interpretation of the law.

• The Daily News chronicles the Wilpons' vindication efforts by noting Picard's complaint ignores a deposition given by the manager of Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz's own hedge fund that he trusted Bernard Madoff and regarded him as a marvel.

Of course, I don't think it was in Picard's best interest to note in the lawsuit that a Wilpon associate was supporting Mets owners' assertions in his deposition. That's probably the defense's job. Picard stuck to pointing out the disputed e-mail Peter Stamos allegedly sent after Madoff was caught in which he appears to suggest Wilpon and Katz ignored warnings. Stamos in his deposition explains that away as saying he wanted the Wilpon family to put no more than 10 percent of their assets in any one place to avoid risk, and now they were screwed because they did not hede his advice and instead put all of their eggs in one basket.

• Read more coverage in the Times. The newspaper notes the Wilpons suggest they could not have been warned by Ivy Asset Management, as is alleged by Picard, that something might be improper with Madoff because that company itself is "being sued by its investors and the New York Attorney General for concealing its Madoff ‘concerns.’"

It also quotes Katz from his deposition asserting the lawsuit's portrayal of him as a sophisticated investor -- even if he had direct access to Madoff -- is false. “I don’t do well in the markets, the stock market," Katz says in a deposition. "I’m not good at it. It’s not my business.”

• Meanwhile, Newsday's Steven Marcus reports the Mets' books are now open to the potential minority investors who have cleared Major League Baseball's screening process. The hope is to have a minority partner in place by June, although the unresolved Picard lawsuit could complicate that. Writes Marcus:

Those on the list were subject to a financial and personal background investigation by MLB with candidates paying a nonrefundable fee of $25,000 for the right to examine the team's finances. After reviewing the records, investors still interested will meet with principal owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz to formulate specific offers.

• After the bus left for Sunday's game in Jupiter, the Star-Ledger's Andy McCullough remained behind to observe Carlos Beltran's progress with his ailing knees. Beltran ran four times about 100 feet in the outfield. Beltran had received a cortisone shot in his left knee Friday, while his right knee is more severely arthritic but not as big an issue in the past week. “I don’t feel anything,” Beltran tells McCullough after the workout. “So I’m moving pretty good. I feel confident.” Still, McCullough writes:

Beltran knows neither when he can return to spring training games nor how many he needs to properly prepare for the season. He frets about neither. “The main thing right here is my [left] knee,” he said. “If my knee feels good, and if I don’t feel pain, I’m going to work hard to get to what I need to be in the games.” Progress comes in increments. He took batting practice from the left side on Friday. He ran Sunday. Monday he plans to participate in outfield fielding practice. He also hopes to track pitches on the minor-league side of the complex to hone his batting eye.

• Newsday's David Lennon quotes Beltran saying: "I feel strong. I've feel like I've been doing the work that I need, so once I start playing every day, it's going to turn out good for me."

Read more about Beltran in the Record.

The tricky thing for the Mets will be whether to actually put Beltran in a Grapefruit League game assuming he's ready to play before the team breaks camp in nine days, or whether they limit him to minor league games. You can backdate a 15-day DL stint 10 days into spring training -- meaning Beltran technically might only have to miss the season-opening series in Florida. (That's because the regular season opens on a Thursday with the Mets not playing, and the Mets have an off-day after the first series.) But, you can only backdate into spring training until the last date a player appeared in a Grapefruit League game.

• The Times spoke with Perez on Sunday as he awaited his fate. "I know I’m not the same guy I was before I signed,” Perez tells the paper, referring to his three-year, $36 million deal that has only the 2011 season remaining. “That’s why I came here. I wanted to get better.” Authors Mark Viera and David Waldstein write:

Perez said it was difficult to hear negative feedback. He said he had visited a sports psychologist -- provided by his agent, Scott Boras -- to try to help his mind-set and performance. “I want to get better; I want to do my best,” Perez said. “It’s not easy that people boo you. You want to get better. Every time I go out, I try to get better. It’s what it is in life. Everybody wants to be great every time, but that’s impossible.” He added: “I know the New York people want to win a championship. I’ve got the same pain for them.”

• With it potentially Perez's final day in a Mets uniform, the Post's Mike Puma notes Collins' response to whether he would like to carry two lefties in the bullpen -- essentially a second with Tim Byrdak, who is widely expected to make the team. Collins' reply to reporters after Sunday's game: "I want to keep guys who get people out. If you have left-handers who don't get outs, they can't help you. If you have right-handers who have good stuff, and they get outs, I don't care who is [batting] -- they get people out."

The Mets' bullpen is expected to include Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, Byrdak, D.J. Carrasco and Taylor Buchholz. Pitching coach Dan Warthen strongly indicated this weekend that Jason Isringhausen also is on firm footing if he stays healthy the final week and a half. Scouts believe Rule 5 pick Pedro Beato would merit the final slot at that point over out-of-options pitchers Manny Acosta and Pat Misch as well as Blaine Boyer and Mike O'Connor, who are on minor league deals.

• Isringhausen felt a pop in his elbow last week. He tells the Daily News' Andy Martino: "We think it's just scar tissue. I saw the doctor, and he said that everything is fine."

• Steve Henson of Yahoo chronicles ex-Met David Newhan's comeback attempt with the Padres from a surfing accident that "snapped the C2 vertebrae in his neck" and left him in a wheelchair.

• Here's the Philly point of view on Castillo landing there on a minor league deal. Writes David Murphy in the Philadelphia Daily News:

Castillo has just 28 home runs in 15 major league seasons and carries a paltry .351 slugging percentage for his career. In 2009, he tallied just 16 extra-base hits in 580 plate appearances, the lowest total for a player with as many PAs since 1978. Still, he represents a low-risk addition to a pool of infielders that includes Wilson Valdez, Josh Barfield, Michael Martinez and Pete Orr. "His game in the last couple years, it's dwindled some," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said on Friday. "I don't know how much is there, but he used to be a hell of a player. I know at one time he was real good. If possible, yeah, he might be someone we'd take a look at."

• Jeff Pearlman in the Wall Street Journal catches up with Doug Sisk, who Mets fans once loved to hate too. Sisk in the piece talks about watching a Seattle Mariners game on TV as a fan later in life and starting to boo at the TV. He then realized he had gone full circle from object of ire to fan dispensing it. Writes Pearlman:

During the team's 1986 world championship season, Mets officials thought it would be fun to use Shea Stadium's JumboTron scoreboard to play a fictionalized computer game between the '69 Mets and the current team. As the battle went back and forth, a sellout crowd cheered. When Keith Hernandez homered, fans stood. When Nolan Ryan came on in relief, they clapped. When the game ended with a triumph for the '86 club, the stadium went wild. Then, WP: Doug Sisk flashed across the screen. Boooooooooooooooooo!

BIRTHDAYS: Tim Leary was born on this date in 1958. ... Shawon Dunston was born in 1963 in Brooklyn. Primarily a Cub, he attended Thomas Jefferson High School.