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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie famously wouldn't run for president, but he will campaign for the Mets GM job if Sandy Alderson wants to step to the side.

Christie, whom we are assuming is a Mets fan, made his statements here on MSNBC's Morning Joe. He was half-joking.

The Mets will open the second half of the season with a three-game set at home against the Phillies this weekend, starting on Friday night. They'll begin a crucial stretch of the season as it relates to the future of the team. If the Mets can stay in the race, there's a possibility that the team will stay largely intact after the break. If not, the front office is more likely to deal away more big contracts. The Mets are currently 11 games out of first place in the National League East and 7 1/2 games out of the NL wild card.

Here are Friday's news reports:

• Ike Davis is still feeling pain in his injured ankle. He received a cortisone shot earlier this week and will rest for the next three weeks with the hope of avoiding season-ending surgery. If he feels pain though, he will likely undergo a season-ending procedure to fix the ailment. David Wright will play a rehab game in St. Lucie on Friday. Jose Reyes has yet to start running due to an injured hamstring.

Read more about Davis and other injury updates in the Star-Ledger and the Post.

• Terry Collins decided against naming one closer to replace Francisco Rodriguez. Instead, he will go with a closer-by-committee of Bobby Parnell, Jason Isringhausen and Pedro Beato. All three said on Thursday that they were excited for the opportunity.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal and Star-Ledger.

• Mets players realize that the beginning of the second half is a crucial time in the season. They hope to show team execs that they have what it takes to compete for a playoff spot and, therefore, should remain intact after the July 31 trade deadline. Also, Post columnist Joel Sherman says the second half of the season is the last chance for Wright and Reyes to show they belong together as a tandem.

Read more about the second half in the Post, the Daily News and the Times.

• Sandy Alderson on Thursday confirmed a New York Times report stating that K-Rod's former agent never filed a no-trade list. K-Rod said in Milwaukee that he was confused by the lack of a list and that he thought the Brewers were on his list. But he is happy to be in Milwaukee.

For more on the agent snafu in the Daily News.

• The attorney for the woman involved in a civil suit and countersuit with Johan Santana is demanding that the pitcher's attorneys turn over documents that allegedly indicate Santana made pre-settlement offers to make the case go away.

Read more in the Daily News.

• The Mets announced Thursday that they signed outfielder Joe Tuschak (Northern York High School, Pa.), their sixth-round pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Also, Justin Turner reports that his injured thumb is feeling better after the break.

BIRTHDAYS: Big day for birthdays for former Mets: Don Bosch (69), Fernando Nieve (28), Wilson Delgado (38), James Baldwin (39).

The Mets will hold a workout at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon in advance of the weekend series against the Phillies to open the second half.

This will be Terry Collins' first opportunity (in person) to convince the Mets players that Tuesday night’s trade of Francisco Rodriguez did not indicate that management has given up on the season.

Collins will also clarify which member of his bullpen (Bobby Parnell, Jason Isringhausen or, less likely, Pedro Beato) will fill in at closer.

Thursday's news reports:

• Sandy Alderson says that the Rodriguez trade does not signify a team-wide fire sale. He essentially explained on a conference call with reporters Wednesday that the deal was a salary dump and was independent of any other deals the team makes. He hesitated to speculate how this would affect the team's pursuit of Jose Reyes and acknowledged that teams have shown interest in Carlos Beltran.

Read more Alderson coverage in the Post, Bergen Record, and Newsday.

• New York Times reporter David Waldstein writes that K-Rod's former agent, Paul Kinzer, never submitted a "no-trade" list for Rodriguez. Waldstein reports that, with the list never filed, Alderson wanted to get a deal done before Scott Boras, Rodriguez's new agent, could complicate the proceedings.

Read more here.

• Injured players such as David Wright, Ike Davis and Johan Santana may return soon but how long will the roster remain intact? Adam Rubin expands on that that issue here. Post columnist Kevin Kernan believes that the K-Rod trade signifies a waving of the white flag.

• Our Mark Simon offers a breakdown of Parnell, who may get the Mets closer job with K-Rod out of town.

Read more about Parnell in the Times and Record.

• Alderson said confirmed that Wright is expected to play his first rehab game on Friday night for Class A St. Lucie at Lakeland, and if everything goes according to plan, Alderson hopes Wright will be back playing for the Mets on July 22. But he said Ike Davis is a ways away.

• Ryota Igarashi will likely replace K-Rod on the roster.

BIRTHDAY: Former Met (and Yankee) Robin Ventura, who hit the famous grand slam single in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, turns 44 Thursday.

Here's what Sandy Alderson had to say postgame about Fred Wilpon's comments, as well as injuries updates ...

On The New Yorker article: "I think everyone was surprised by the comments. But there's nobody who is more passionate about the Mets, has more empathy for the players, than Fred. I think that we all get caught up in the emotion from time to time and perhaps say some things that on reflection probably were not well chosen. But I know he's reached out to the players involved and has talked to most, if not all of them, at this point. It's time for us to move on."

With respect to payroll, you indicated as early as the winter meetings that it would go down some. Would the Sports Illustrated figure Wilpon cited -- $100 million or less -- be lower than you anticipated? "Are we talking about The New Yorker article? Look, I haven't read Sports Illustrated. I haven't read Mechanics Illustrated. Men's Health. I don't know what stories may be out there. Until I've read those stories, I can't comment."

Let's ask it this way: Are you comfortable or aware the payroll could be at that $100 million level? "No."

That would go beyond what your initial expectation was? "Look, as I said, I haven't read the Sports Illustrated article. I wouldn't overreact to what might be contained in that article. Let's focus on getting past the New Yorker article."

Have you spoken with the players? "I expect to talk with him. I have not at this point. I think the fact that two principals of ownership have done that is probably the right direction to take. I'm here."

If other teams interpret the comments as you're not going to re-sign Jose Reyes, doesn't that affect your leverage at the trading deadline? "I wouldn't read too much into the article that hasn't already been read into the article. I don't think anything is pre-judged. There's no way for us to predict what will or will not happen with respect to Jose or anybody else. So let's not get too far ahead of ourselves."

Did David Wright see the back specialist in L.A.? "Yes, he did see the back specialist. I believe he saw Dr. Watkins yesterday. He may have had an appointment with a physical therapist in Los Angeles today just to go over the Watkins PT formula. I do expect that he'll be on his way back to New York shortly. There was nothing as a result of either the consultation or, as far as I know, the PT appointment that changed anything as far as his diagnosis or the expectations about him coming back."

Any established timetable? "No. I think what certainly I've learned over the last couple of months is that we need to get guys back running, doing some baseball activity, before we can actually lay out a timetable. But at this point nothing has changed from the original prognosis -- rest for 10 days or so and we'll see where we are. ... There's nothing so far that suggests he will be out longer than we originally anticipated. Now will it just be the two weeks? I don't know. But certainly the doctors have been consistent in saying that this injury is on the way to healing. And it ought to heal. And he ought to be back in relatively short order."

On Johan Santana, who threw 25 pitches off the top of the mound Monday: "He did throw some pitches off a mound. So I hesitate to say that we're on our way, but that was a good sign."

On Ike Davis (ankle): "Ike was OK today. Ike felt good yesterday, not so good today. He's able to come off on the 26th, which is -- what -- Thursday? That's not going to happen. So we'll see where we are at that point."

Chris Capuano surrendered a career-high four homers, one shy of the Mets franchise record, as the Mets dipped back below .500 with a 7-3 loss to the Yankees in the Bronx.

Sunday's news reports:

• Read game stories in the Star-Ledger, Daily News, Post, Times and Newsday.

• Gary Carter announced Saturday that four small tumors have been detected on his brain. Columnist Bob Klapisch writes in the Record:

In a clubhouse with few rules (and no one to enforce them, anyway) there always was one caveat when you approached Gary Carter’s locker: Prepare for a filibuster. One question could net you the Gettysburg Address, but that’s not what made “The Kid” unique among the ’86 Mets. It was his cheerful nature – an optimism that was out of place amid his teammates’ savage in-fighting. Carter was the Mets’ co-captain, yet he never was part of the team’s inner circle. He was too nice for that, which is why news that he’d been diagnosed with four brain tumors was so devastating. Good guys like Carter deserve better.

Read more on Carter in the Daily News, Times, Newsday, Record, Post and Star-Ledger.

• Daniel Murphy's footwork at first base may suddenly be getting scrutiny from umpires, Terry Collins believes. Read more in Newsday.

• On the four homers surrendered by Capuano, Collins said: "'I'd say that maybe he threw seven bad pitches all night. It's just that four were hit out of the ballpark." Read more in the Star-Ledger and Newsday.

• If the Mets stay in contention, at least for the wild card, Jose Reyes cannot get traded before July 31. Whether the Mets are able and willing to re-sign him is another story. Columnist Wayne Coffey writes in the Daily News:

With the ongoing ugliness of the Madoff mess looming over the franchise, and Mets fans staying away from Citi Field in droves, this is a club in bad need of income and a good run of baseball. Having a premier gate attraction in his prime is a good place to start. Reyes happens to be as great a show as there is in baseball, every single night. Could you imagine the backlash if the Mets were to have an August fire sale and trade a 27-year-old, home-grown shortstop who can win a game with his bat and glove and legs? Can you imagine what it would do to the competitiveness of the team?

More generally about the trading deadline and Sandy Alderson's approach, David Waldstein writes in the Times:

His penetrating desire to win this year puts Alderson in no hurry to make so-called white-flag trades, and any potential deal that would adversely affect the 2011 Mets will not be taken lightly. “That’s accurate,” Alderson said. “It’s all going to depend on where we are at some point further in the season, where we are competitively, where we are in the standings.”

• Anthony McCarron catches up with George Theodore in the Daily News. His career was altered by a 1973 collision with Don Hahn.

• Daily News columnist/ESPN 1050 personality Mike Lupica speaks with Triple-A Buffalo manager Tim Teufel, whose club has been ravaged by call-ups, including Justin Turner, Fernando Martinez, Nick Evans, Pat Misch, Mike O'Connor and Dillon Gee as well as season-ending surgeries for Jenrry Mejia and Boof Bonser. The organization has signed Brian Sweeney, Jason Botts, Luis Figueroa and Bubba Bell as journeymen plugs. "Yeah, we've lost quite a few since Opening Day," Teufel tells Lupica. "But it's all good. They go up there and contribute, and none of us here are surprised. Triple-A is all about mental approach and being in the grind. The guys we keep sending up there are gamers and grinders and they all love the game and they all know how to play the game. So am I surprised to see what Justin and the rest of them are doing? I'm not."

• Steve Serby has a Q&A with Turner in the Post.

BIRTHDAY: No Mets of prominence were born on this date, though a prominent pitching nemesis celebrates his 68^th birthday. That would be Tommy John, who went 9-2 with a 2.71 ERA in 17 starts against them. May 22 also marks the anniversary of the Mets' 1,000^th regular-season win, which came in 1976. -Mark Simon

After having their six-game winning streak snapped Thursday, the Mets bused to Philadelphia, where they draw call-up Vance Worley in Game 1 in place of Joe Blanton (elbow), then Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Mike Pelfrey starts the opener despite dealing with an illness that has dropped him 11 pounds in the past week-plus. Ronny Paulino joins the team, and should get his first catching assignment Sunday against the southpaw Lee as Terry Collins mostly uses a platoon, except for Josh Thole catching R.A. Dickey regardless of the opposing pitcher.

Friday's news reports:

• The Mets are willling to give up some control to a minority owner, the Post reports. A winning bid is expected to be picked by the May 12 owners' meetings. The article states:

Within the last several days, the team has told some suitors it will give a new investor veto power over a limited number of financial decisions, two sources close to the situation said. The budgetary items covered by the proposed veto power include overall payroll levels as well as larger player contracts, a source said. ... Under the veto plan proposed, the Mets would form a board of directors and each person on the board would have the right to veto decisions on team payroll. This would prevent the Mets from gutting payroll to boost the bottom line, though the Wilpons and Katz have said that is not their intent. The veto plan, whether or not it is included in the final deal, can be seen as a sweetener of sorts for the Mets in order to attract a $200 million bid because it offers potential buyers an added sense of financial security.

There are two groups seen as leaders among the suitors. They are hedge-fund titan Steven Cohen, and the team of former Glencore International commodity trader Ray Bartoszek and private investor Anthony Lanza, sources said. A third bidding group led by Steve Starker and Ken Dichter has dropped back.

• Newsday's David Lennon looks at the rash of rib-cage injuries, including Jason Bay at the end of spring training and Angel Pagan in-season that landed him on the disabled list. Switch-hitting Jose Reyes injured a right oblique muscle last summer in San Juan during batting practice before a game against the Marlins, and then sat only a short period of time before batting righty against right-handed pitchers, never allowing it time to heal. Still, Lennon explains, Collins' suspicion that the injury is more frequent now than in his playing days may be off-base. Writes Lennon:

Reyes and Pagan are two of the Mets' more highly tuned athletes, but [orthopedic surgeon Bal] Raj disagreed with the notion the oblique injuries are related to the greater focus on conditioning the core these days. In fact, he said it's the best defense against oblique injuries -- for a sport that's prone to them -- and Reyes' proactive approach seems to be working. Or at least it seems to be a better strategy than what Collins believes protected the players of the past. He said with a smile, "We were too fat before."

• Reyes and Marvin Hudson exchanged apologies Thursday, a day after the third base ump incorrectly ruled Reyes out on a would-be eighth-inning triple and Reyes went ballistic.

• Turns out Livan Hernandez, who beat the Mets on Thursday, was the subject of a federal investigation while a member of the Mets in the summer of 2009. The money-laundering suspicions reportedly partly involve a drug trafficker having fancy cars registered in Hernandez's name. Writes David Waldstein in the Times:

Evidence presented in court connects Hernandez, at least indirectly, to a convicted drug trafficker in Puerto Rico, and the news broke Wednesday, the day before his fifth start of the season. ... In the summer of 2009, when he was a member of the Mets, Hernandez was questioned by the authorities, apparently regarding the same case, according to three people in baseball with direct knowledge of the situation who did not want to be identified discussing a matter under investigation. But Dan Warthen, the Mets’ pitching coach then and now, said Hernandez never allowed the issue to interfere with his pitching. “That came up two years ago, when he was in New York,” Warthen said. “It didn’t affect him then and I doubt that it’s going to affect him now. These three hours during the game are what Livo lives for.”

• Ike Davis ranks ninth in the National League with 19 RBIs, four behind leader Prince Fielder of Milwaukee. Davis is on pace for 123 RBIs, one shy of matching the franchise single-season record, which is shared by David Wright (2008) and Mike Piazza (1999). "He's a big reason why we're doing what we're doing," hitting coach Dave Hudgens tells Brian Costa of The Wall Street Journal. "You can get a lot of RBIs in the No. 6 spot because all your best hitters are in the middle of the order and you can get on base a lot. It's a good spot for him." Writes Costa:

Could he drive in 125 runs? His high batting average on balls in play (.403 entering Thursday) suggests he'll cool down somewhat. And if the Mets trade Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran in July, it will hurt his chances. But for now, the Mets can dream. "That would be nice," Hudgens said. "We'd be happy about that. RBIs to me are a team stat, so it's hard to project that. If Jose Reyes gets on at a .350 clip and Jason [Bay], David [Wright], all those guys are getting on base, then he's going to get a bunch of RBIs, because he figures out ways to get hits. He takes his walks, too." If nothing else, Davis will have more than his share of chances to drive in runs. Entering Thursday, he had a team-high 25 at-bats with runners in scoring position and a team-high 42 at-bats with runners on base.

• Pelfrey had been tested for an ulcer because he got a burning sensation whenever he ate, but tests revealed he only had a blockage in is system, the right-hander said. Watch Pelfrey talk about his illness in this video. "They told me they're going to watch," Pelfrey said about being closely monitored during Friday's start. "Terry told me all he can do is go off what I tell him. I told him I'd be honest with him. I told him I was fine and I was ready to go. He said they were going to watch me. I don't see any restrictions." Read more in the Star-Ledger, Newsday and Record.

• Read Thursday's game stories in the Record, Star-Ledger, Newsday, Post and Daily News.

• Sandy Alderson downplays his swift roster moves with underperforming players, including dropping Blaine Boyer and Brad Emaus and demoting D.J. Carrasco."I think you have to be careful about that," Alderson tells the Daily News' Andy Martino. "I don't really see it that way. If we have been proactive, we have been proactive at the margins. ... Where we have been proactive, it has been towards trying to see what else we have. You try not to make irrevocable decisions. We lost Boyer, but it wasn't really on purpose. We didn't know it would be irrevocable until he decided not to come back."

• Braves pitching coach/ex-Met Roger McDowell allegedly had an incident with a fan last year as well, the Daily News reports.

• ESPN analyst John Kruk has this commentary about Pelfrey and the Mets in the Post: "The Mets are counting on a guy who would be the fifth starter in the Phillies’ rotation, if that. He has the stuff to be a No. 1 starter, but he doesn’t have the consistency. Pelfrey has to be the guy who wins games for them, otherwise they would be sunk. He is their best pitcher, so he has to perform like he is a No. 1 guy. ... Offensively, they can be as good on anyone in the division. Getting Jason Bay back adds some credibility to the middle of their lineup. [Carlos] Beltran hit a triple the other night and looks like he’s running well. Reyes keeps getting on base.”

• Thole had a three-hit game Thursday, and earlier in the series against the Nats had a career-high three RBIs. "He's not a power guy," Hudgens tells the Post's Dan Martin. "We've gotta make sure he still focuses on hitting to the left side and the middle. Sometimes, I think he's starting to come too much off the ball and that might have led to a few strikeouts."

BIRTHDAYS: Former Mets catcher Omir Santos, who hit a replay-reviewed homer off Jonathan Papelbon at Fenway Park in 2009, turns 30. ... Ed Charles, a third baseman with the Mets from 1967 to 1969, was born on this date in 1933. ... Reliever Wes Gardner, who was traded to Boston in the Bobby Ojeda deal before the '86 season, was born in 1961.

Forty-two members of the Mets organization visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday morning, team officials said. The team annually visits wounded soldiers at the facility.

The visit was voluntary. The only players who did not participate were relievers Taylor Buchholz and Francisco Rodriguez, both of whom were given permission to travel to Washington on Tuesday so that they could spend the Monday off-day with their families, GM Sandy Alderson said.

Alderson, a former platoon commander and company commander in the Marines in 1970 and '71, said his first visit to the facility was meaningful. He had previously visited military hospitals in Bethesda, Md., and San Diego, but never the Walter Reed facility.

"I thought it was meaningful for all of us. But I certainly was taken by the spirit that the wounded soldiers and Marines exhibited, the support that they're getting from the hospital staff and so forth, and hearing their stories of how these injuries occurred was pretty sobering," Alderson said. "I think everybody who was there benefited from it."

Sandy Alderson is standing pat right now with the 5-13 Mets. Truth be told, he acknowledged, there’s not much he can do this time of year, so he might as well just hope the current crop improves and plays to their expectations.

After all, the GM said, it’s too early to make trades. And there isn’t a cavalry coming from Triple-A right now.

“I think you do have to recognize when you have options and when you don’t really have options,” Alderson said. “I don’t even want to suggest that if we had options, we’d do something at this point. We talk about how early it is in the season. But put that aside for a second. Certain players are not performing up to our expectations, or their own expectations. There’s a lot of room for improvement individually and collectively. We’re probably better off waiting for that to happen than doing something precipitous that interrupts that.

“In terms of a trade, clubs aren’t doing anything right now. They’re all assessing their own situations. For us, I think we’ve been pretty clear about that. We just don’t see that there are a lot of options right now for us in the minor leagues. That’s fairly typical going into a season.

“Go back and look at last year and Ike Davis came up and so forth. Typically, guys are taking another step in where they were in the player-development system from the year before. Anybody who had taken a big step might already be with us. We just don’t have right now the kind of depth at the upper level of the minor league system that you’d like to have. And where we can take advantage of that, we will. Options are limited.”

Alderson said the losing is hard, knowing there’s a balance with the long term.

“It’s a nightly crucible really,” Alderson said. “Let’s face it. I know the fans go through it. Every one of us goes through it. Every player goes through it. Every staff member. You want to win the games. It’s not pleasant losing. It’s not pleasant losing night in and night out. I’ve seen one win in this ballpark. At the same time you do have to keep an eye on the long term. Within a six- or seven-day time frame, it’s all-consuming. You also have to recognize you can’t directly impact something. And in this situation, there’s not a lot someone in my situation can do. It’s almost organic at that point. It’ll happen, and it’s going to happen from within. There may be some catalyst -- some player, some play. But probably the best thing I can do right now is stay out of the way. Being a brooding omnipresence, that’s not conducive to changing our direction here.”

Alderson said he has not witnessed fans wearing paper bags on their heads at games. Asked for his reaction anyway, the GM said: “Well, I recall that phenomenon originated in New Orleans. And not too long ago, they won the Super Bowl. So things do change.”

The Mets share first place in the NL East. We'll leave it at that.

On to Wednesday's news reports:

• Phillies manager Charlie Manuel paid the Mets a compliment. “I heard people talk about how many games they’re going to lose,” Manuel said, according to the Post's Kevin Kernan.“But they’ve got good players. They’ve got some speed, power. They had 13 hits tonight. They’re more than a second-division team, I’m telling you.” In the column, David Wright tells Kernan that Cole Hamels, who was battered by the Mets on Tuesday, apologized shortly after once labeling the Mets "choke artists" in a radio interview. Hamels is 1-6 against the Mets since that 2008 proclamation. “I remember he came up to me, soon after that, we were at some charity event and apologized to me about it, that was cool,” Wright tells Kernan. “I think he was doing one of those radio blasts, doing a bunch of interviews after the World Series, and it was just one of those things.”

• Newsday's Ken Davidoff, in the nicest way possible, puts a wet blanket on the Mets' 3-1 start. Davidoff writes:

The Mets -- more specifically, their ownership -- are counting on you to believe. And to go from believing to buying: tickets, concessions, Shack burgers -- or perhaps you'd like to purchase a non-controlling interest in the franchise? Our take: It's way too early to believe. It's up to you regarding the expenditure. But there's no reason not to enjoy it, for now, when your 3-1 Mets slap around their tormentors from down the New Jersey Turnpike.

• GM Sandy Alderson watched Chris Young handle the Phillies on the mound, and with his bat. And Alderson, who was the CEO of the Padres when Young worked there, told Newsday's David Lennon after Tuesday's win: "It was a good night for us, and a good night for him."

• Record columnist Bob Klapisch applauds Young's performance as well. Writes Klapisch:

Young is living, breathing proof that smart pitchers -- the ones who understand how to change speeds and change hitters’ eye levels -- usually enjoy long, successful lives in the majors. Young challenged no one, yet beat the Phillies time and again using a long, complicated windup that looks like a beach chair unfolding on a windy day. Hitters hate facing Young, and for good reason: He’s arms and legs in asymmetrical madness -- a Picasso painting that suddenly appears in your face, not from 60 feet, 6 inches, but more like 53 feet. That’s how tall he is and that’s long he strides. By the time the ball arrives, it’s created the illusion of traveling downhill, which is like asking a hitter to cope with vertigo.

• Here are game stories from the Philadelphia Daily News, Star-Ledger, Record, Post, Daily News and Journal.

• Alderson acknowledged Tuesday Jason Bay is "unlikely" to return from the disabled list Saturday when he's eligible. Terry Collins spoke with Bay by telephone and learned the left fielder, who is on the DL with a strained left rib-cage muscle, only first will start to swing a bat later this week. "The doctors thought he would be ready when his DL expired, but it's hard to predict," Alderson said. Ronny Paulino, who is dealing with an anemia-related stomach issue, also is eligible to be activated Saturday, after completing an eight-game suspension. While Paulino is progressing, according to the GM, Alderson suggested placing the backup catcher on the 15-day DL at that point is more likely. If his blood-count numbers continue to improve during a late-week test, Paulino can resume at least limited physical activity. Read more in Newsday, the Star-Ledger and Times.

• The Times reports Jason Isringhausen threw 23 pitches without complication Tuesday in an extended spring training game. Isringhausen was pulled from a weekend appearance with back stiffness, according to Alderson, but the reliever subsequently minimized the issue. Isringhausen has agreed to remain in Port St. Lucie up to two weeks.

• The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Barbarisi catches up with Mike Marshall, who made a record-setting 106 pitching appearances in 1974 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, to ask if Pedro Feliciano was abused. Writes Barbarisi:

Marshall now has a doctorate in philosophy from Michigan State University, and an expertise in exercise physiology. He consults pitchers and teams on how to alter their pitching motions to put less stress on their pitching arms. In Marshall's opinion, the number of games pitched is hardly relevant. "The Mets did not abuse Mr. Feliciano. Instead, the 'traditional' baseball pitching motion that Mr. Feliciano uses misused his pitching arm," Marshall said. "Misuse, not over-use, injures pitching arms."

• The Journal's Brian Costa speaks with Wednesday starter Mike Pelfrey about how he's progressing without Harvey Dorfman, the sports pyschologist who passed away during spring training. Pelfrey would call Dorfman after each start last season. Writes Costa:

Eight hours after he stepped off the mound, Mike Pelfrey was still awake. It was 5 a.m. Saturday, just after his disappointing Opening Day start against the Florida Marlins. All Pelfrey could do was lay in bed at the Mets' oceanfront hotel, eyes open, replaying each sequence of the Marlins' four-run fourth inning in his mind. These are the nights when Pelfrey used to call Harvey Dorfman, the noted sports psychologist who played a critical role in his breakthrough 2010 season. But now, after Dorfman's death last month at the age of 75, Pelfrey is on his own.

• The Post's Dan Martin chronicles Wright's 4-for-5 game. “The first thing I noticed about him when I got here was how focused he is,” teammate Scott Hairston tells Martin about Wright. “To take pitches the other way three times and get hits every time like he did, that can be hard to do in batting practice sometimes. But he has the mentality of a great hitter.”

• Philadelphia Daily News columnist Paul Hagen writes the former World Series MVP Hamels did not deserve to be booed after getting roughed up by the Mets. Writes Hagen:

Hamels had a tough day. It happens to the very best players in baseball. It's one game. No more, no less. These are verities that shouldn't even have to be mentioned anymore. So why in the name of Adam Eaton did a vocal segment of the 127th consecutive sellout at Citizens Bank Park lustily boo as Hamels trudged from the mound? In the end, that was probably the most disappointing thing of all that happened at Citizens Bank Park last night.

• For Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Penn graduate, talks about growing up a New York Giants fan and hating the Yankees. He then discusses how he became a Chicago White Sox fan (because they played the Yankees 11 times a year, and he hated the Yankees). And how he then adopted the Phillies in addition to the White Sox. Writes Rendell in the Philadelphia Daily News:

I grew up in New York and my father, brother Robert and I were devoted NY baseball Giants fans. From the age of 5 until my teenage years, the Giants' nucleus -- Monte Irvin, Whitey Lockman, Hank Thompson, Willie Mays, Al Dark, Sal Maglie and Larry Jansen -- stayed largely intact. They were my family. But even in today's "rent a player" era, the bond between fan and team, though challenged, has remained solid.

BIRTHDAYS: Third baseman Wayne Graham, who appeared in 20 games with the Mets in 1964, was born on this date in 1936.

Opening Day for the Mets. Mike Pelfrey versus Josh Johnson.

Friday's news reports:

• Andy Martino in the Daily News reports Pelfrey strained the rotator cuff and posterior capsule in his pitching shoulder, likely getting the save in the 20-inning game in St.Louis early in the season. He took pain-killing injections before every start for the remainder of the season, and doctors told him he could do no further damage. "They told me it wasn't going to get worse," Pelfrey tells Martino. "It was just a matter of managing the pain, and I wanted to be out there. That's the thing that I take the most pride in, that I'll take the ball. So I took the ball for [33] starts. There were times when it would get a little better in between, and then you'd go out and throw and it would come right back."

• The Times' George Vecsey catches up with Omar Minaya, who plans to be watching on TV when the Mets play the Marlins on Friday night. Writes Vecsey:

"I’m a glass-half-full guy,” Minaya said. “I’m attached to those guys. I may be wrong, but I think they’re capable of contending. On opening day they might have seven home-grown players in the starting lineup.” He mentioned Mike Pelfrey, Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Jose Reyes, David Wright, Angel Pagan and Lucas Duda, although Duda, it turns out, will be on the bench. He is a scout at heart, and thinks the Mets can compete with the Braves (“a good club, but there’s the Bobby Cox factor”) and the Marlins (“they are still a young club”) and the Phillies (he acknowledged their starters, but also their injuries).

Regarding Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez, Minaya says: “Look, obviously, Luis Castillo and Ollie Perez didn’t work out. But I can’t tell you in retrospect I wouldn’t have done it.”

• Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal looks at Sandy Alderson's reluctance to define a goal for the season. “I don’t try to define that,” Alderson said Thursday, as the Mets began a workout at Sun Life Stadium. “I can say winning the World Series, and anything less would be unsuccessful. But somewhere between where we were last year and winning the World Series.” Writes Costa:

Sometimes, you can learn about a team by the way it markets itself. Four years ago, when the Mets were coming off a playoff run in 2006, their expectations for the 2007 season were reflected by the slogan, "Mets fans, your season has come." Now, as the Mets try to reverse a plunge in ticket sales, their ads are a little more humble. They read, "We play hard for the die-hards." The 2011 Mets: Look, we'll try, okay?

Costa goes on to note that if Alderson and the Mets can demonstrate they're a competently run organization, that may go a long way toward defining success, because fans will believe there are better days to come, despite the owners' financial issues. Terry Collins again recalls an offseason event at Citi Field when a 7-year-old boy asked him how he can get the Mets to play hard. "I know his father put him up to it," Collins tells Costa. "No 7-year-old is going to say that. But obviously the perception is they're not playing hard, and perception in our game is reality."

• When the Mets buses rolled out of Port St. Lucie on Thursday at 11 a.m., Jason Bay was left behind with a left rib-cage strain. The belief is that Bay will be activated on April 9, when he is eligible to come off the DL. But those type of injuries can last a while because of the torque required on those muscles while swinging.

• Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger gets to the root of why this may be Jose Reyes' final Opening Day as a Met. Writes McCullough:

Ignore the beauty of his play, the skills that awe his teammates, the buzz he creates in a stadium. Strip away his speed, the dreadlocks bouncing as he dives into second base, grinning as he brushes off red dirt. Strip away that arm, double-pumping after he scoops a grounder deep in the hole, his throw zooming flat on a low plane and picking up speed as it bursts into first baseman Ike Davis’ mitt. Ignore that high-beam smile and sparkling stud earrings, the rat-tat-tat patter, those Latin farmhands crowding his locker before games and lounging at his spring-training house after workouts to soak up his advice. Ignore the way he connects with teammates, bestowing the nickname “Quien” upon Taiwanese newcomer Chin-lung Hu, shouting to Davis almost every week: “ ‘I like Ike.’ That’s going to be my next tattoo.” Try to forget all that. Find the number that gives Alderson pause, the statistic that he considers the bedrock of the game. For his career, Reyes carries a .335 on-base percentage. And Alderson needs more.

McCullough's profile goes over Reyes' career, including recycling one of my favorite stories. When Reyes was a teenager with limited English skills playing Class A ball in Kingsport, Tenn., he would give the same order at restaurants daily. After a teammate ordered, Reyes would tell the waiter: "Same thing."

• Reyes tells the Post's Mark Hale he's not thinking about this potentially being his last opener as a Met. "No, right now I don't think that way," Reyes tells Hale. "Right now, I'm still here."

• McCullough talks with Francisco Rodriguez about his winter of reflection after a tumultuous, self-induced ugly ending to the 2010 season:

He had time to face his own reflection during this offseason, banished from his teammates, alone on his boat in the Caribbean Sea, searching for swordfish and tuna and red snapper -- and the reasons for “the errors that I committed in the past.” Arrested for assault, injured in the process and forced to surrender $3 million as a penalty, he vowed to change. “I just tried to refresh my mind,” he said, “and, obviously, not be vulnerable to the problems.”

K-Rod tossed 10 2/3 scoreless innings in the Grapefruit League. “I’ve seen a lot of closers pitch in spring training,” Collins tells McCullough. “And I don’t think any of them have walked out there every single time with as electrifying stuff as he’s had.”

• Here's the Star-Ledger's season-preview piece outlining strengths and weaknesses of the Mets, and the Opening Day roster.

• Pelfrey gets the Opening Day start, which is a stark contrast to the faith shown by Jerry Manuel a year ago. Pelfrey was in line to pitch against the Marlins the first series, but Manuel adjusted the rotation late in spring training to have Pelfrey avoid facing Florida because of his career struggles against the club. Pelfrey is 1-6 with a 5.32 ERA in his career against the Marlins, but tells the Post's Mike Puma: "That was earlier in my career. Two of my last [four] starts against them were really good. The bad one was in San Juan, and it was miserable. I didn't want to be there and I don't think anybody else did either." Sure enough, Pelfrey did limit the Marlins to two runs (one earned) in seven innings on Sept. 21 in Miami.

• Post columnist Joel Sherman says for a day you can ignore the woes and allow yourself to dream the possibilities with the Mets:

Ike Davis graduates from 19 to 30 homers, which definitely is within his reach since every fence is within his power. Brad Emaus is no long-term answer at second, but in the short term he is not a disaster on defense while providing a .350-plus on-base percentage on offense with a touch of extra-base heft. The carrot of free agency motivates Jose Reyes to 2006-08 performance, which makes him one of the most entertaining players in the sport and a run-scoring force. David Wright hits 30 homers, drives in 100 and does not again morph into the spokesman for the inexplicable late in another heartrending season. Bay distances himself from the shackles of post-concussion syndrome, a ribcage injury and the mind-warping impact of the far fences at Citi Field to join Davis and Wright in the first-ever Mets three-man class of 30-homer hitters. Angel Pagan makes an All-Star team. Carlos Beltran plays 120 games, enough to remind that there still are skills in his crumbling body.

• The Post's Kevin Kernan chats with David Wright. “We’re not playing fantasy baseball in here,” Wright tells Kernan. “Some teams look better than others, but at the end of the day you have to play the game. ... We go out there and we take care of the Marlins on Opening Day. We can kind of pat ourselves on the back and then worry about Game 2. We don’t have to compare position-for-position against other teams for 162 games. We go position-for-position against the Marlins for Game 1 and then get ready for Game 2. You only have to be better than the team you are playing that night. You play together. You play winning baseball. We have guys in here who are willing to do the dirty work to get the job done.”

• The Daily News finds an expert to tout the Mets still being extremely valuable to potential buyers. Writes the newspaper:

"I personally know seven billionaires who love the Mets and would love to own the Mets," said Andrew W. Kline, founder and managing director of Park Lane, a sports-investment bank based in Los Angeles that has advised on a number of professional sports acquisitions, including the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Lightning and Miami Heat. Kline said the Mets' recent operating losses -- reported by the New York Times to be in the neighborhood of $50 million a year -- and the $1 billion Bernie Madoff lawsuit hanging over the franchise might not have a profound impact on the value of the team or the selling price for a stake in it. "If we were talking about someone buying, say, a chemical manufacturing firm that had a similar set of factors -- a possible Madoff liability and operating losses -- it might impact the valuation and the potential buyer would have more leverage," said Kline, who is advising a client who is exploring the possibility of getting in on the Mets bidding. "But it's different with sports franchises."

• The Daily News catches up with the potential ownership group that includes "Entourage" executive producer Doug Ellin, who would use the show's star power to drum up support for the Mets."I'm a giant sports fan and to be involved in a professional sports franchise would be a dream come true," actor Kevin Connolly, who plays Eric (E) Murphy on the show, tells the newspaper. "Growing up on Long Island, I was a giant Mets fan, so that makes it even more of a dream come true."

• Daily News media critic Bob Raissman explores how the SNY broadcast team of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez will handle the Bernard Madoff-related issues during the season. Writes Raissman:

Cohen outlined the Madoff situation early in the first spring training broadcast on SNY. The situation was also discussed during subsequent spring training telecasts. "We have no muzzles on us," Cohen tells Raissman. "All three of us feel free to express opinions on what we feel strongly about. The problem here is you're talking about a subject we don't have any expertise in. We know a lot about baseball. Keith knows a lot about movies. I know a lot about cartoons. This [Mets' finances] is not an area where any of us have a degree [in finance] or great expertise. So I don't know if the time is going to come where we are going to be comfortable expressing opinions as opposed to talking about the facts."

BIRTHDAYS: Rusty Staub turns 67. ... Daniel Murphy turns 26. ... '62-64 Met Rod Kanehl was born on this day in 1934, and passed away on Dec. 14, 2004. ... First baseman Willie Montanez was born in 1948. Montanez came to the Mets as part of a four-team trade during the 1977-78 offseason that also involved Tom Grieve, Bert Blyleven, Al Oliver and Jon Matlack.

Asked for what would constitute a successful season, GM Sandy Alderson did not take a page out of Fred Wilpon’s “meaningful games in September” playbook. In fact, the GM left himself extremely wide latitude.

“I don’t try to define that,” Alderson said Thursday, as the Mets began a workout in Miami. “I can say winning the World Series, and anything less would be unsuccessful. But somewhere between where we were last year and winning the World Series.”

As for the outside pessimism about the team, Alderson added: “I believe that’s human nature and that’s sort of reality. We just have to deal with it. We have to go out and prove what we feel we can communicate to others. You do that by going out on the field, playing a certain way and winning games.”

While any other GM would say something similar, Alderson said it would be welcome, but is not critical, that the Mets get off to a fast start.

“I think the first part of any season is important,” he said. “I wouldn’t call it crucial in this case, or in any other case. But it’s nice to get off to a good start because it sets a tone, creates a perception. That’s something that only the beginning of the season offers.

“I don’t think this team needs to get off to a good start to build its confidence or anything of that sort. I think there’s plenty of confidence here. I think we’ve played very well in the spring, particularly in the last week or so. If we play as well during the season as we have in spring training, particularly recently, we’re going to win a lot of games. That’s the mindset that they have. Getting off to a nice start would reinforce that. It’s not critical, but it would be nice. And in our case, extra nice because of the low expectations some people seem to have -- not us, but others.”

Said Terry Collins on that subject: “We’re in a situation where we need to build confidence on this club that we can compete, which I do believe it’s here. I watched these guys every day and talked to them. I thought we had a very, very good spring. I know these guys feel they can play with anybody. A lot of times the wins in April sometimes can be ignored, and they’re very important, as wins are in September. For us to build up some confidence and get our fans back on board, it’s important for us to get starts [well].”

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."

While Carlos Beltran is still not playing in exhibition games, Sandy Alderson is not ruling him out of possibly being ready for the Mets opener in two weeks.

"We're still planning on him being ready for Opening Day," Alderson said. "We'll see where he is when we get back [to St. Lucie] on Friday."

Alderson said something interesting that makes it pretty apparent -- if it weren't already -- that Beltran might not be able to play every day at all this season.

"It is fair [to say] it was unrealistic now for anyone to expect him to be able to play center field on a routine basis all season," Alderson said. "At this point, we just have to see where he is at the beginning of the season."

If Beltran couldn't play center on a routine basis, how could he play right regularly?

After today's 4-3 Mets' losss to the Twins, Sandy Alderson spoke. We'll be providing what he says as we go through the tape. He remains "optimistic." There is stuff coming on Ollie Perez and Carlos Beltran. So keep checking back.

Let's start with second base, though. Alderson said that between Luis Castillo, Luis Hernandez, Daniel Murphy, Brad Emaus and Justin Turner, no one is in the lead.

"It is more or less staus quo," Alderson said. "I don't think anybody has broken away from the pack. One would like to see some separation, but maybe we'll see in the next few days. To some extent, this decision will not be made on what happens this spring, but also what we project over a whole body of work over a whole period of time. Don't assume that if somebody goes 3-for-4 they just wont the job."

Whose decision it is to finally make?

"Obviously, you love to have a consensus," Alderson said. "At some point, who is on the team and is not on the team is probably my decision with strong input from Terry [Collins] and the coaches and scouts who watch us on a daily basis."

Does he view as an offensive position?

"I view it as an offensive position, if it can be," Alderson said.

Alderson said he thinks there maybe has been too much focus on second base.

"I think there has been a lot of focus on second base, maybe to the exclusion of some other things," Alderson said. "I'm not saying there is anything else you should be watching, there might be something you might write about."

ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin continues to report Murphy should be on the roster in some capacity, and Emaus is the most likely selection for second base, although there was no firm organization decision yet to release Castillo. Turner has options remaining, making him vulnerable to be sent to Triple-A Buffalo. Hernandez only has an "outside" chance to be picked at second base, a team source said.