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Jon Niese surrendered a career-high four homers and matched a career high by allowing eight runs as the Mets were routed by the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-5, Friday at Rogers Centre. Catcher Rob Johnson proved the Mets' most effective pitcher, tossing a 1-2-3 eighth while topping out at 87 mph with his fastball and utilizing three pitches. Left-hander Robert Carson also tossed a scoreless frame in his major league debut. The Mets look to get back on track Saturday with Miguel Batista, coming off seven scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers, opposing Brandon Morrow.

Saturday's news reports:

• Right-hander Jeremy Hefner is expected to be promoted from Triple-A Buffalo and join the Mets on Saturday, baseball sources told ESPNNewYork.com. We should learn the corresponding move this morning. If no one lands on the DL, it would seem possible that Hefner gets Manny Acosta's roster spot. Otherwise, the Mets could send Carson immediately back to the minors. Hefner tossed three scoreless innings for the Mets in his major league debut against San Francisco, then immediately returned to Buffalo.

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

• Ken Rosenthal reports Roy Oswalt auditioned for the Phillies and Red Sox, and also will do so for two other teams. He will not land with the Mets, ESPNNewYork.com is assured.

• The area surrounding Citi Field, which has been part of eminent domain claims, has more concrete plans for redevelopment. The Associated Press writes:

Under the agreement, the developers, Related Companies and Sterling Equities, would clean up the area and construct retail stores, including a mall in the Queens neighborhood. Then, no later than 2025, they would start construction on a mixed-use component that would include housing and measure anywhere from 1.3 million square feet up to 4.5 million square feet. The founders of Sterling Equities are Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the owners of the Mets.

• Terry Collins plans to for David Wright to rest on Saturday, which was prearranged before Wright became sick. The Mets are in a 20-games-in-20-days stretch. Wright actually was pulled from Friday's game in the bottom of the sixth with the Mets trailing, 10-1. Before departing, Wright recorded his 1,300th career high, matching Jose Reyes for second on the franchise's all-time list. He can now set his sights on Ed Kranepool's record: 1,418. Wright's average sits at .409. Read more in the Daily News and Star-Ledger.

• Citi Field will be packed Sunday, even though the Mets are away. A group of ultra-orthodox Jews has rented the stadium for a gathering to discuss the evils of the internet. Read more from the AP via USA Today.

• The stadium also will host a Latin-themed concert, on July 14. The scheduled performers: Gloria Estefan, Ricardo Arjona, Juanes, Alejandro Sanz, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Paulina Rubio, Prince Royce, Jenny Rivera, Tito El Bambino, Toño Rosario, Plan B, Silvestre Dangond and Secreto among others. Tickets to go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. at Tickets.com, by calling (718) 507-TIXX and at Citi Field.

• Collins said Ike Davis is not platooning, and will start Monday in Pittsburgh against left-hander Erik Bedard. Justin Turner started Friday against former college roommate/southpaw Ricky Romero. Read more in Newsday.

• Johnson said he nearly pitched in a game with the Padres last season against the Reds. He threw one inning in college, but had not been a pitcher since high school. Todd Zeile was the Mets' last position player to pitch, eight years ago. Read more in the Post and Record.

• Jason Bay ran and played catch at Rogers Centre on Friday, and Collins said the left fielder should take batting practice during the next series, in Pittsburgh, as Bay aims to ramp up activity toward a return from a fractured rib. Josh Thole, cleared for physical activity following a concussion suffered nearly two weeks ago, should head to Port St. Lucie after the weekend. Ruben Tejada (quadriceps) is fielding grounders but not running the bases. Chris Young's next minor league start, which would have occurred Sunday had he stayed on an every-five-days schedule, has been delayed, but for a good reason -- his wife is having a baby. Jenrry Mejia's third minor league start since Tommy John surgery is scheduled for today, with Double-A Binghamton.

• Class A St. Lucie second baseman Danny Muno was suspended 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, MLB announced. Read more in Newsday.

• Jared Diamond in the Journal discusses Bobby Parnell's role. Writes Diamond:

On the surface, this seems like the perfect antidote to the Mets' most pressing issue: They desperately need help surviving the late innings of games. New closer Frank Francisco owns a ghastly 8.04 ERA, while setup man Jon Rauch lost two games in the last two weeks alone. The Mets' cumulative bullpen ERA of 5.00 ranks 28th in baseball. As virtually every Mets reliever besides Parnell continues to struggle, it raises a reasonable question: Why not start trusting Parnell in more pressure-filled situations? Sounds simple enough, but as the Mets learned last season, it doesn't always work out quite so easily. "With what Bobby went through last fall, I'm going to try to avoid that and let him build up to that closer's role," manager Terry Collins said.

• Tim Bontemps in the Post chats with Binghamton third baseman Jefry Marte.

• Matt Harvey struck out a season-high 11 batters and Valentino Pascucci homered twice as Triple-A Buffalo beat Gwinnett, 5-3, Saturday. A scout who watched Harvey originally expressed disappointment with the prospect not throwing a changeup until his 42nd pitch and 10th batter faced. But, the scout added, Harvey ultimately threw 10 changeups by the end of the night and was "very good after a rough first inning" that included surrendering a pair of solo homers. Read Friday's full minor league recap here.

TRIVIA: Which players were involved in the last Mets-Jays trade?

Friday's answer: John Gibbons managed the Jays in 2006, the last time the Mets visited Rogers Centre.

Johan Santana will attempt to up his pitch count to 80 in his fourth Grapefruit League start as the Mets travel down I-95 to Jupiter to take on the Cardinals this afternoon. Also scheduled to pitch: Miguel Batista, Bobby Parnell and Manny Acosta. Jake Westbrook starts for St. Louis. Bullpen catcher Eric Langill, after serving a team-imposed seven-day suspension following a DUI arrest, is listed for the trip, according to the Record.

Wednesday's news reports:

• Jeff Wilpon golfed with Terry Collins on Monday and was visible at the Mets' spring training complex Tuesday, but Sandy Alderson spoke to the media on behalf of the organization. Alderson suggested the owners' settlement of the Bernard Madoff-related lawsuit resembled clouds parting over the organization. The GM said the Mets were on much firmer footing with the clawback lawsuit resolved and with a $240 million infusion of capital from minority investors. While Alderson said the Mets still primarily will focus on their farm system, the GM noted the positive financial developments will make it easier to have the option to pursue free agents. Alderson added that the developments do not materially change how the organization will deal with David Wright as free-agency eligibility approaches. Alderson also did not promise the payroll would rise next season from this year's roughly $91 million. Listen to a podcast of Alderson's comments here. Read more in the Post, Journal, Times, Record, Newsday, Daily News and Star-Ledger.

• The Mets formally announced the sale of 12 ownership shares at $20 million apiece, although they did not identify the investors. Fred Wilpon previously has acknowledged SportsNet New York would buy four of the shares. Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz, who is Fred Wilpon's brother-in-law, purchased two others. The Times reported three of the shares are actually going to family members and that only five shares -- worth $100 million -- are from outside investors. The Wall Street Journal outed two investors who combined to purchase part of one 4 percent, $20 million block -- Bob Pittman and Kenneth Lerer. The infusion allowed the Mets to pay off a $25 million emergency loan from Major League Baseball as well as a $40 million bridge loan from Bank of America, the team announced.

• Andres Torres departed after two innings on Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals after suffering a strained left calf muscle. With Scott Hairston (oblique) still sidelined, Collins resolved to take a look at left fielder Jason Bay and infielder Jordany Valdespin in center field. Torres hopes he is day-to-day and the injury is not longer term. Hairston started to work out with teammates Tuesday, but is not yet swinging a bat and is iffy for Opening Day. Read more in the Daily News, Record, Post and Newsday.

• Wright said he is purposefully taking "baby steps" in returning from his abdominal muscle tear. Collins hoped to have the third baseman in a game this weekend, or no later than early next week. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• The Mets snapped a nine-game winless streak in Grapefruit League play with a 2-0 victory against the Nats on Tuesday night at Digital Domain Park. Dillon Gee contributed 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Lucas Duda had an opposite-field solo homer against phenom Stephen Strasburg. Ruben Tejada played five innings in his first game action in nine days and turned a pair of double plays with Daniel Murphy. The Mets are now 4-11-1 in the Grapefruit League.

• 2010 first-round pick Matt Harvey allowed three earned runs in six innings for Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday. Jean Luc Blaquiere had a two-run homer in the Bisons' 4-4 tie with the Miami Marlins' top affiliate. Read the minor league recap here.

• A team official said the Mets do not intend to sign any of the left-handers on the market -- C.J. Nitkowski (who auditioned in Port St. Lucie), Hong-Chih Kuo, Scott Kazmir or Dontrelle Willis. Willis actually is headed to the Baltimore Orioles, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports.

• Ken Belson in the Times notes the trustee recovering funds for victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme and the Wilpons are now allies. That's because every dollar trustee Irving Picard collects on behalf of victims helps defray the $162 million settlement amount to which the Wilpons agreed. The Wilpons are entitled to apply to recover $178 million in losses, which will lessen their settlement burden. "In a sense, we’re now partners,” Picard's chief counsel, David Sheehan, said according to Belson. “They have an interest in us getting 100 percent recovery and they should be supportive, and we will be supportive by trying to collect all those funds.”

• Columnist Harvey Araton in the Times says there is no secret method to energize a fan base and give it hope: Just spend money. That will continue to be easier said than done with the Mets. Writes Araton:

Winning apparently clears the slate and cleanses the soul. Wilpon could spend the next few years climbing trees, saving cats and parking fans’ cars. They won’t stick with him if his team can’t play. Fans in the 21st century, often feeling like victims of another kind of Ponzi scheme, are just willfully blind that way.

TRIVIA: Which player in Mets major league camp was selected with the earliest pick in the draft?

Tuesday's answer: Bubba Bell led Triple-A Buffalo in stolen bases in 2011 with nine.

On Monday, Mets co-majority owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz settled with the government in their long-running Bernie Madoff fraud lawsuit. This has been portrayed as a win for Mets ownership, but is it good for the fans?

From Mets end Madoff mess with a win:

"This is bad news for Met fans. The best thing that can happen right now is anything that gets the Wilpons out. As long as they own the team, it will take years to dig out of this mess."
- Suzyanne33

Ed.'s note -- You're not alone in that estimation.

From Mets, Madoff trustee settle for $162M:

"Fredo Wilpon screwed tens of thousands of people out of their life savings

"It really didn't matter if he was in on it or just INCOMPETENT"
- NYC2255

Ed.'s note -- It makes an enormous difference. Legally, it is the difference between guilt and innocence, and morally it would make a huge difference as well. The Fredo reference conjures the collective voice of Mets fans saying, "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart.".

"Nope true Met fans will not go to any Met games because that is the only way the owners will lose the team. If you don't spend the crazy amount of money that is going to go into the pockets of the Wilpons they will go broke and then they will have to sell the team which will be the greatest day in Mets history. It would be better then winning the World Series."
- Victor-Cruz-Salsa-Instructor

Ed.'s note -- This is how it is now? Wilpon selling the team would rank above the 1986 season AND the 1969 Miracle Mets?

"As bad as this Braves fan has always hated the Mets (Phillies as well) I hate this for the Mets organization."
- Sambo8964

Ed.'s note -- You know things are bad when Braves fans are rooting for you.

From Mets settlement open thread:

"I'm very happy for the Wilpons.

"It's just too bad that part of the fan base are committed to never stepping foot again inside Citi Field when the team turns it around. If these fans are honorable people, they will keep their word and never come back. Citi Field will fill without them, that's inevitable, that's the cycle of baseball....winning fills seats.

"There's just a subset of Mets fans who are committed to destroying the team. I personally don't consider any of these people to be fans, that's sort of like the good husband whose agenda also includes beating his wife. Just my opinion."
- AmLongTimeFan

Ed.'s note -- If fans feel their hard-earned money is going to a man they hate, then they should probably stay home.

"they wilpons just played like they were broke so fans would accept the payroll cut a lil easier. They still have a very profitable network in SNY. MLB knows this, and that's why they haven't stepped in, while in fact giving them an extension on that loan. Also, lets not forget that CITI Corp. still pays 20 mill a year for the next 17 years. Broke? 160 million use to be 1 yr of payroll.

"2 yrs from now we'll be buyers again. just a cycle. like bobby bonilla in '93 . still paying that dude too. lol"
- bronxborn718

Ed.'s note -- Finally, someone thinks the Mets will bounce back!

Mets fans have spoken!

After an eventful off-day, much of the narrative about the Mets' looming financial ruin is due to take a backseat for the near future.

First, at the U.S. District Courthouse in lower Manhattan on Monday morning, the parties in the Bernard Madoff-related lawsuit against Fred Wilpon and family announced they had settled the case for $162 million. In reality, the Wilpons ultimately will be responsible for repaying far less than that sum, since trustee Irving Picard will allow the family to claim losses of $178 million from other Madoff investments. The Wilpons won't be reimbursed that entire $178 million sum, but the fraction to which they are entitled to recoup after Picard collects money from net winners in the Ponzi scheme will be deducted from the $162 million they owe in the settlement. Also relevant: The Wilpons will not have to pay Picard whatever they ultimately owe until 2016 and 2017.

Secondly, word came that the Wilpons successfully had received a $240 million equity infusion from minority investors, allowing them to pay off a $25 million emergency loan from Major League Baseball and a $40 million bridge loan from Bank of America. The investment -- albeit with at least half coming from SportsNet New York, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz -- should allow the Wilpons to withstand any 2012 operating losses and meet immediate debt obligations without jeopardizing their ownership of the team in the near term.

Still, this does not mean the days of payroll austerity have ended for the Mets.

More may come Tuesday when the Wilpons are expected to be at Mets camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Tuesday's news reports:

• Although the consensus is the Wilpons fared very well with the settlement, both sides had compelling reasons to reach a compromise, which was brokered by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Even if the Wilpons felt they did not act in bad faith in their investments with Madoff, a jury could have found otherwise and awarded Picard an additional $303 million aside from the up to $83.3 million to which Judge Jed S. Rakoff already had decided the trustee would be entitled. On the other side, by settling for $162 million -- the Wilpons' profits from certain funds in the six years before Madoff's arrest -- Picard restored that six-year clawback period as the appropriate standard. Rakoff had ruled that Picard could only go back two years, which would have capped the amount Picard could have recovered at $83.3 million -- unless the trustee could have demonstrated to a jury that the Wilpons acted "willfully blind" to Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The Wilpons, as part of the settlement, are free and clear of any bad-faith accusations.

Wrote Anthony M. Destefano and Steven Marcus in Newsday regarding Cuomo's role as mediator:

About 10 days ago, he called Wilpon and Katz again into his office at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in Manhattan for a frank talk. "They came. I spoke to them, I simply made the pitch. 'This is your last chance,' " recalled Cuomo. Then, in the past week lawyers for Picard, Wilpon and [Saul] Katz started to hunker down for some serious deal making. Each knew a trial had risks. "Number one, they may lose. Number two, they may win and then face an appeal. Number three, in either case it's going to cost a fortune," Cuomo said. Lawyers for Picard and the Mets owners swapped proposals and counterproposals through Cuomo, his partner Brian E. O'Connor and firm associate Emma J. James. At times, opposing lawyers talked directly by phone. What solidified the deal for Wilpon and Katz was Picard's willingness to drop his claim they were willfully blind to Madoff's fraud, an allegation that stung them deeply -- and could have cost them $303 million in damages if it stuck.

Read more settlement coverage in the Journal, Times, Daily News, Post, Star-Ledger and Newsday.

• The $240 million equity infusion -- which comes in $20 million blocks each worth 4 percent of the team -- averts any short-term danger of the Wilpons being unable to meet their debt obligations. The only known investor without existing ties to the Mets is Steve Cohen, who is a finalist to purchase the majority share of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which would force him to divest his new share of the Mets.

In addition to paying back the $25 million to MLB and $40 million to Bank of America with the newly infused funds, Josh Kosman in the Post reports, $100 million of the money immediately went to pay down roughly $430 million in team debt. Kosman wrote:

The Mets have not refinanced their remaining loans, but have bought the team goodwill. Last year, team lender JPMorgan wrote a letter warning that the team had breached its debt covenants. The owners first must prove they can come close to hitting their budget after missing it badly the last two years, one source said. In 2011, the Mets lost roughly $70 million. After big payroll cuts in the off-season, the team could break even this year.

Marc Ganis, the president of a prominent sports consulting firm, told Newsday: "This is a good day for the Wilpons, but their financial troubles with the Mets are still very significant. It's really a situation that needs a lot of work before Mets fans can start feeling like a corner has turned."

Read more on the minority ownership sale in the Journal and Daily News.

• Columnist Bob Klapsich believes Mets fans are losers in the settlement. Writes Klapisch:

So it’s fair for Mets fans to ask the Wilpons what’s in store, other than years and years of debt pay-down. The family owes $430 million in principal of a loan against the team, due in 2014. They owe $450 million in principal of a loan against SNY, back in 2015. They owe an estimated $600 million, due in $25 million increments every six months, on the ballpark. These are the fiscal realities that figure to keep the Mets locked in a nasty catch-22. They haven’t had enough extra cash to upgrade the roster, but without enough on-field talent to compete with, say, the Phillies and Marlins, let alone the Braves and Nationals, how are the Wilpons going to generate ticket-sales that would fund a renaissance?

ESPNNewYork.com columnist Ian O'Connor has similar concerns about the Wilpons as owners. Writes O'Connor:

The Mets are a big-market joke with small-market bottom lines, and Wilpon's dreadful decisions in business and baseball are to blame. His fan base wants him out, and even the Mets' loyal, good-natured customers were hoping for some outcome before a judge and jury that left them with a new rich guy in charge. So when Mario Cuomo, the Kissinger of this case, told reporters outside federal court in Manhattan that this resolution would allow Mets owners to "return to normalcy," no season-ticket holder was seen popping open a bottle of chilled champagne. For Mets fans, normalcy is a team in the world's biggest, noisiest marketplace that slashes payroll by more than $50 million.

• Anthony McCarron in the Daily News got brief reaction to the settlement. "As players, we’ve never been preoccupied with Madoff, but we understand it’s a huge burden lifted off the shoulders of Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz,” R. A. Dickey told McCarron. Said Terry Collins: "I’m glad this episode is in the past now."

• The Mets return to action Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the Washington Nationals after a team day off. They are winless in their past nine Grapefruit League games and have the worst exhibition record in baseball at 3-11-1. On a positive note, Daniel Murphy and Ruben Tejada are expected to start against the Nats in the middle infield. The two have logged only six innings together in Grapefruit League play because Tejada has nursed a groin injury for the past week. Read more in Newsday.

• Andrew Keh in the Times wonders what the settlement means for the future of David Wright. Writes Keh:

The theory was that the Mets, if they found themselves buried in the standings this summer, would be tempted to trade Wright to a contender before the July 31 trading deadline and receive prospects in exchange. But that was before Monday’s settlement did away with the financial threat the trustee posed. Whether Wilpon might now feel more tempted to try to keep Wright for the long term remains to be seen. But he might, if for no other reason than to send a signal to the team’s discontented fan base that he is willing to make at least one investment in the team’s future at some point this season. Jose Reyes was let go this winter without a fight; letting fans know that Wright might be staying put might soothe some wounds.

TRIVIA: Who led the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in steals last season?

(Monday's answer: The trial was due to begin Monday in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan, which was named for the late U.S. Senator from New York.)

Here are statements from Mets principal owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz:

Statement from Saul Katz

“We’re pretty pleased to have this behind us. As we’ve said all along, the fact is we have done everything in good faith. The settlement itself bears that out—that we’ve acted in good faith. I want to thank all my friends who backed us during this period of time, and our lawyers from Davis Polk who were incredibly supportive and critically helpful during this incredibly difficult time, and now we’re moving forward, which is the most important thing. We can now refocus our lives on taking care of our families, our business, and our community involvement. So I thank you very much.”

Statement from Fred Wilpon

“I am very pleased for ourselves and our families to get the litigation behind us. I want to thank everybody, because this really was a team effort. Our partners were fantastic— our families were behind us and our friends. Mario Cuomo did a great job—he never gave up. As we’ve said from the very beginning when this lawsuit started, we are not willfully blind, we never were, we acted in good faith, and we’re very pleased that this settlement bears that out. That’s very important to us. Now I guess I can smile—maybe I can take a day off, but I can’t wait to get back to our businesses which I love. The first order of business and the first priority will be getting down to Florida tomorrow, getting to the spring training camp, and trying to bring the New York Mets back to the prominence that our fans deserve and the City of New York deserves.”

Jury selection begins Monday in lower Manhattan as Fred Wilpon and his family try to stave off a "clawback" lawsuit in U.S. District Court by the trustee charged with unraveling jailed financier Bernard L. Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

Judge Jed S. Rakoff has already determined that the Wilpons will need to return as much as $83.3 million -- representing profits from the final two years of their investments with Madoff. At stake is an additional $303 million, representing the alleged principal from the family's investing with Madoff during that period.

Wilpon family members and fellow investors will have to prove that they were not willfully blind to the fraudulent nature of the Madoff investment scheme. The Wilpons reject all assertions that they acted improperly.

The trustee charged with liquidating assets from the Madoff business is Irving H. Picard, who is setting out to show that the group of investors affiliated with the defendants were sophisticated enough to spot potential fraud. Picard contends that the Wilpons were so motivated by the Madoff money that they were not more diligent in verifying the fund.

Security will be tight, and reporters will have to jockey for a limited number of seats in the courtroom.

Once the jury is selected, the Wilpons have asked to call Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax as a witness, as well as former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau. The judge has yet to rule on several contested issues, notably the appearance of Koufax, a Wilpon friend and Madoff investor. Picard has asked Rakoff not to allow the former pitcher to testify, claiming his celebrity could sway the jury.

Picard's most interesting witness could be Noreen Harrington, a former Wall Street whistle-blower who is expected to testify that she told Wilpon and Saul Katz -- Wilpon's brother-in-law -- that Madoff's returns were too good to be true.

Ultimately, the outcome of the trial could affect the ability of the cash-strapped Wilpons to keep the Mets, who are seeking investors and operating under an austerity budget this season.

Wilpon addressed the media at spring training, saying fans didn't have to worry about the outcome of the case. "They shouldn't be concerned about us owning the franchise, because we intend to own the franchise for a very long time," Wilpon said.

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

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

Friday's news reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Terry Collins addressed his players and the first full-squad workout is in the books. Now, the countdown to Grapefruit League games begins. The Mets' opener is Monday night, with Dillon Gee getting the start against the Washington Nationals at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie.

Tuesday's news reports:

• Principal owner Fred Wilpon gave a 22-minute interview to reporters Monday morning, as the Mets took the field for the first full-squad workout. Wilpon said the Mets will, in fact, sell as many as 12 minority shares in the team, each at $20 million for 4 percent. He acknowledged, however, that two have been bought by immediate family, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz. He also said another four are being purchased by SportsNet New York. Seven of the up to 12 blocks already have been approved by Major League Baseball and the money is in escrow. He also stated his family will remain majority owners for the long haul.

He said David Wright's future will be a front-office decision, and that Jose Reyes' departure was a prudent move based on the perils of long-term contracts. He tried to put the onus for the payroll dive on that being Sandy Alderson's preference before allowing that he sets the parameters. He also said he remains "optimistic" the 2013 All-Star Game will be held at Citi Field as planned, and that the delay in a formal announcement is because New York City officials and MLB are negotiating over picking up expenses.

Read the transcript of Fred Wilpon's interview here.

Column Mike Vaccaro in the Post was turned off by Fred Wilpon pulling out the roll of bills with $5 on the outside. Writes Vaccaro:

If nothing else, the Mets should have the common sense and the common decency to realize their fans are not idiots, that if there are real financial concerns hanging like a millstone around the Wilpons’ necks -- and no matter how much Fifth Avenue Freddie tries to spin it, every few minutes, it seems, another bill for another few million comes due -- then it is particularly stupid to taunt their customers so blithely, and so blindly. Alderson can get away with it. For one thing, he has a better sense of humor and a better sense of timing. His Tweets land and they get retweeted by thousands of anxious Mets fans who think they’ve got an ally, who think Alderson’s voice represents their own, and it’s one that says: Yes, we have cash issues. And you know what? Either we laugh about it or we cry about it.

Writes columnist Ken Davidoff in Newsday:

Even if the Mets' owners prevail in the Madoff mess, however, they still face an uphill climb. They have not yet closed on the 10 to 12 shares (4 percent each, at $20 million a pop) they need for a cash infusion, which will allow them to pay back loans to MLB ($25 million) and Bank of America ($40 million). And there's the issue of so little money coming in from the actual team. "We've got to win the fans back," Wilpon said. "No, strike that: Win the fans and the customers back. ... The only way we're going to get that revenue is if we have a competitive, interesting team on the field." The problem lies deeper than that, though, as Wilpon joked. According to Michael Weinstat, an investment adviser / portfolio manager from Woodbury who owned Mets season tickets from 1987 through 2009, about 25 percent of Mets fans are rooting for the team to lose to expedite the Wilpons' departure.

Writes columnist Bill Madden in the Daily News:

Listening to Fred Wilpon delivering his impromptu State of the Mets address Monday, he sounded far less concerned about becoming one poor owner than he did about assuming the dubious distinction of being one dumb owner. For obvious legal reasons, Wilpon could not discuss the court case looming in the wake of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme -- which reportedly could cost his family from $83 million to $386 million in clawbacks -- other than to say he was "optimistic -- I'm always optimistic." But when it came to the significantly shrunken Mets payroll, a hot button topic of conversation ever since Jose Reyes split for Miami for $105 million, Wilpon reiterated the company line that the estimated $50 million reduction from $140 million was mostly a subtraction "of people who weren’t producing" and in no way related to the Madoff situation, but rather the hundreds of thousands of empty seats at Citi Field.

Fred Wilpon tried to put the onus on a fiscally conservative Alderson for a $91 million payroll, but it seems pretty clear the GM would have spent somewhat more if it were available. Tyler Kepner in the Times quotes Alderson saying: "There's no question success is a function of two things: good management and resources. If you have both, you can have a pretty long and successful run. If you don't have both, your run is going to be short or it's never going to happen. But if you have resources and you have good management and execution, then we've got a shot. Resources are always going to be important, but they don’t need to be determinative."

Here are Jon Heyman's take at CBSSports.com and Howard Megdal's take at Capital New York.

Read recaps of the principal owner's comments in the Star-Ledger, Times, Record, Journal, Post, Daily News and Newsday.

• The Mets distributed orange T-shirts to the players with the "Underdog" logo. The idea was Jeff Wilpon's, according to Collins. Read more in the Post, Star-Ledger, Newsday, Daily News and Record.

• Right fielder Lucas Duda's power is on display in camp ... and he's becoming slightly less introverted, according to teammates. Collins, by the way, said he is not entertaining flipping No. 6 Duda and cleanup hitter Ike Davis in the order at this point. Read more in Newsday.

• Wright donned a University of Michigan football jersey for Monday's workout after losing a Sugar Bowl bet with Jeff Wilpon.

• Neil Best in Newsday chats with Josh Lewin, the new sidekick to Howie Rose on Mets radio broadcasts. Lewin, 43, called games on TV for the Texas Rangers in 2004, after the departure of Alex Rodriguez and what was the largest single-season payroll slashing in MLB history until the Mets decided to drop $52 million this offseason. "There were zero expectations that year, everyone crying about the payroll and kind of negative," Lewin told Best. "I'm not going to make any wacky predictions, but I've seen this movie before and it came really, really close to a happy ending. ... At the risk of being Pollyanna, I don't think it will be terrible." Writes Best:

Josh Lewin feels your pain, Mets fans. It is an emotion earned the hard way, as a youngster in Rochester who in 1978 favored the last-place Mets over the two-time World Series champion Yankees. "For whatever reason, the Mets seemed to resonate more," said Lewin, the team's new radio voice opposite Howie Rose. "Reggie [Jackson] was hitting three home runs and all that, but I was a Willie Montaez guy. And I loved Nino Espinosa's hair. There was something about the Mets and the underdog-ness. They were the Jan Brady to the Yankees' Marcia. I always was a Jan guy when I got a little older."

TRIVIA: Who has surrendered the most homers to the Mets among active pitchers? (Hint: He once was a Met.)

(Monday's answer: Before Ruben Tejada and Manny Acosta, left-hander Bruce Chen was the last Panamian-born player to appear with the Mets, in 2001 and '02. The lone other play born in that country to play for the Amazin's: Juan Berenguer, from 1978 to '80.)

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

Friday's news reports:

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

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

Wrote Anthony M. Destefano in Newsday:

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

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

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

Read more in the Journal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mets undergo physicals today, with the first official workout Wednesday. Still, there will be plenty of activity at the Port St. Lucie complex today, including Johan Santana scheduled for his second mound session since resuming activity after a winter hiatus. Terry Collins also gives a state-of-the-team briefing.

Tuesday's news reports:

• Francisco Rodriguez is mulling filing a grievance or taking legal action against his former agents, USA Today reported. The issue stems from K-Rod's no-trade list not being properly submitted, which allowed the Mets to trade the reliever to the Brewers last July, despite Milwaukee being on the intended 10-team no-trade list. Rodriguez's side contends that the Brewers using him as a set-up man diminished his value as a closer during the offseason, and he was forced to accept arbitration and return to Milwaukee on a one-year, $8 million contract. Writes Bob Nightengale:

Attorney Richard Johnson said Rodriguez was pondering a malpractice and fraud suit after a 10-hour mediation hearing last week with his former agents, Paul Kinzer and Arn Tellem of the Wasserman Media Group, did not produce a settlement. He could file a grievance with the MLB Players Association. "They did something atrocious," Johnson said. "Their arrogance makes this so evil. It's like rear-ending somebody but instead of stopping your car and trading insurance information they blew up the car and ran away. They committed negligence and turned it into a fraud case."

An attorney for K-Rod's former agency told USA Today the issue is not really the no-trade clause. "This is a fee dispute," attorney Bert Deixler told the newspaper. "The no-trade-list issue is a red herring. We promised to keep confidential what has occurred, will occur in mediation, and we think it is proper for us to keep that promise."

• In advance of Thursday's scheduled court hearing on motions to dismiss and summary judgment in the clawback lawsuit against Fred Wilpon and family, Richard Sandomir in the Times reviews last week's court filings. The trustee suing the Wilpons uses the term "Saul's cookie jar" to refer to the consistently high returns Bernard Madoff delivered to the family and asserts the Mets purposely deferred players' contracts because the interest they had to pay out on those deferrals was dwarfed by the returns Madoff could produce with the additional available capital that wasn't immediately distributed as player salary. Writes Sandomir:

Who is in the end right on matters of the Madoff “vig” -- and much else -- could well be settled at a jury trial that is set to begin March 19 in federal court in Manhattan. The filings that included references to the Madoff “vig” were contained in the last big legal swings of the bat before a formal hearing Thursday. That is when both sides make a final argument to have all or part of the multimillion-dollar legal action dismissed or ruled on immediately. The vig was described by David Katz, one of Saul’s sons, during a sworn deposition in late 2010 when he was questioned about one way that the family company, Sterling Equities, made money with Madoff. “You borrow money at 5 percent and you’d make 10 percent,” David Katz said. “You’d make a ‘vig,’ as my father would say, on the Bernie investment.”

• Mike Kerwick in the Record profiles 6-foot-11 Jon Rauch, who signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal to serve as the set-up man to former Toronto Blue Jays teammate Frank Francisco. Kerwick notes that despite his large frame, Rauch is no longer a flame-thrower, having undergone two shoulder surgeries. “I don’t throw hard,” Rauch told Kerwick. “Everybody expects me to throw 96, 97, 98 mph because of my size. But I’m not that kind of pitcher.” Writes Kerwick:

The Mets reliever has ink running up and down both arms, ink canvassing his back, ink sneaking up the right side of his neck. For those keeping score, that’s how many tattoos? “A lot,” Rauch said. “And several more to come.”

• Before Carlos Beltran was traded to the San Francisco Giants in July, he suggested to Jon Niese to get a nose job, and told Niese he'd foot the bill. Well, Niese went through with it in October, and said a positive byproduct of his aesthetic decision is that he is now breathing easier. Niese said instead of his nasal passage being like a partially open door pre-surgery, it was like "somebody ripped the hinges off the door and smashed it sideways into the wall." The southpaw lightheartedly said he plans to send Beltran the medical bills. Read more in Newsday, the Star-Ledger, Times, Post and Daily News.

• Beltran's Sands Point home on Long Island is now for sale, Newsday reports. Asking price: $5.8 million. Writes Valerie Kellogg:

Apparently the stolid St. Louis Cardinals outfielder has a knack for music -- the more than 7,500-square-foot home includes a karaoke bar. Built in 2005, the seven-bedroom, six-bath house comes with a pool, a home theater, a gym and an outdoor stone bar and kitchen. The property is more than two acres. The home features a courtyard in front of the home as well as coffered ceilings, a great room with a barrel ceiling, French doors, a cedar roof and copper gutters, according to the listing.

• Top prospect Zack Wheeler is not in major league camp, but he worked out with major leaguers Monday, after arriving in Port St. Lucie a few days ahead of the step camp for top prospects, which opens next weekend. Wheeler is a profilic tweeter, which Andy McCullough notes in the Star-Ledger. Writes McCullough:

His public persona creates a contrast with fellow hard-throwing prospect Matt Harvey. “People have asked me that before,” Harvey said. “ ‘Why aren’t you on Twitter?’ ” He shrugged. “I don’t really like people knowing what I’m doing all the time.” Wheeler harbors none of those inhibitions. Each day he provides updates on his life. On Mondays, he likes to visit Moe’s Southwest Grill for their $5 burritos. He shoots pictures of his offseason bullpen sessions and provides running commentary during the Grammys. He watches “Eastbound and Down” and “Swamp People.”

Read more on Wheeler in Newsday.

• R.A. Dickey regrets that Tim Wakefield's retirement means he's the lone active knuckleballer in the majors. Read more in the Post.

• Columnist Mike Vaccaro in the Post says there are an awful lot of "ifs" that have to break right for the Mets if they are to amount to anything this season. Writes Vaccaro:

If everything goes perfectly ... then Jason Bay and David Wright will press the rewind button on their careers, and Lucas Duda and Ike Davis will press fast forward, and Daniel Murphy will figure out a way to stay out of the way around second-base pileups, and Ruben Tejada’s knack for getting on base will give you at least one substantive argument against the segment of your soul that already misses Jose Reyes. If everything goes perfectly ... then Santana will deliver 25 to 30 starts that resemble what he used to be, and Mike Pelfrey will -- all together now -- “finally figure it all out,” and Jon Niese and Dillon Gee will patch together a six-month season, rather than the three-month fragments they have specialized in, and the bullpen will catch magic, and hey, why not, if the Giants can uncover a Victor Cruz and the Knicks can unearth a Jeremy Lin, maybe the Mets can find someone somewhere who we’ve never heard of this morning and will be all we can talk about four months from now.

• Harvey Araton in the Times talks Jeremy Lin with David Wright. “It’s a little different, basketball from baseball,” Wright told Araton. “In basketball, one guy can make so much difference. At the same time, it should give every sport, every team, this refreshed look on what they have, what certain players can bring to the table. You never know. I’m sure now -- whether it’s basketball, football, baseball or hockey -- people are going to think twice before they just waive a guy. Everybody is going to be looking for that next Jeremy Lin.”

TRIVIA: Who has the most career strikeouts as a Mets hitter?

(Monday's answer: Miguel Batista threw the final pitch of the 2011 season. In fact, Batista tossed a two-hit shutout in a 3-0 win against the Cincinnati Reds in the Mets' season finale. Batista, who turned 41 on Sunday, became the oldest pitcher in franchise history to toss a nine-inning shutout.)

The owners of the New York Mets disregarded a warning in 2003 that Bernard Madoff was doing illegal trades or faking his statements, according to a new court filing by the trustee suing the family for $386 million. The Wilpons call the allegation "suspect" and "unsubstantiated" in court papers.

Read the full news story here.

The Mets mounted their biggest ninth-inning road comeback since 1973 (when Willie Mays delivered the go-ahead blow). This time, they startled the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. The six-run frame lifted the Mets to an 8-6 win and dropped St. Louis two games behind the idle Atlanta Braves in the wild-card race. The Cardinals appeared poised to pull within a game before the collapse -- great shape considering they close the season with series against the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.

“Don’t make a mistake and say we’re heartbroken,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told St. Louis reporters afterward. “Our heart’s beating. We won the series. Get ready for tomorrow.”

Friday's news reports:

• Chris Capuano said he was unaware until after Thursday's start against the Cardinals that Sandy Alderson had discussed trading him to the Boston Red Sox in recent days. Capuano -- a Springfield, Mass., native -- would not have been eligible for the postseason, but would have helped Boston limp to the finish line by starting Sunday against the Yankees. Read more in Newsday, the Post, Journal and Star-Ledger.

• SI.com reported the Mets are not likely to extend Terry Collins' contract anytime soon, but the Daily News reports the 2013 team option could be picked up within 10 days. Sources told ESPNNewYork.com that team officials are not ready to guarantee the full coaching staff will be back, which will lead to speculation about Dan Warthen. The News continues to speculate third base coach Chip Hale might bolt to join friend Bob Melvin's staff in Oakland, which could land Triple-A manager Tim Teufel or Double-A manager Wally Backman on the staff.

• With a decsion expected from Judge Jed S. Rakoff by the end of the month whether to toss all or part of the $1 billion Bernard Madoff-related suit, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz as investors are profiled in the Times. Write Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson:

Wilpon and one of his senior partners say they were aware of investigations of Madoff by the Securities and Exchange Commission but were always comforted that nothing seemed to come of them. Katz, for his part, even appears to make light of his investing I.Q. With a mix of pugnacity and pride, Katz testified that he had earned nothing more than a 2.1 grade-point average at Brooklyn College. He testified that he had not bought stock on his own in 19 years and “got killed” trading stock options a quarter-century ago. “I’m not good at it,” he said. “It’s not my business.”

• Lucas Duda did not play Thursday, but suggested he felt fine a day after becoming dizzy crashing into the outfield wall.

• Read recaps of the Mets' comeback in the Post and Times.

BIRTHDAYS: Long Island native/Fordham product Pete Harnisch, who went 10-21 for the Mets 55 appearances (54 starts) in the mid-'90s, turns 45.

Trustee Irving Picard, who is suing Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and their families for more than $1 billion, filed an answer in U.S. Bankruptcy court to the defendants asking for the case to be dismissed or a summary judgment in their favor.

The simplest version: Picard is opposed to the case being dismissed. He cited emails which attempt to show the Sterling (Wilpons') own hedge-fund managers congratulating themselves for staying away from Bernard Madoff investments after he was arrested. The emails also purport to lament the Wilpons becoming personally involved despite supposed warnings from them. The Wilpons have countered that the warnings were merely recommendations to diversify, not alerts to potential fraud.

Good luck to mediator Mario Cuomo, by the way.

One portion of Thursday's filing reads:

The March 13, 2006 Sterling Parntner meeting minutes state: "[Sterling hedge fund operator] Peter [Stamos] has a concern about [Sterling Equities'] exposure to Madoff."

Further, Arthur Friedman testified that Peter Stamos issued a "warning" to the Sterling Partners sometime between 2002 and 2005 regarding the potential investigation of BLMIS [Madoff funds] and the possible freezing of their accounts with Madoff, and that this warning was reported to the Sterling Partners "at a partners meeting."

It also cites a purported December 2008 email from Peter Stamos, the Wilpons' own hedge fund operator, after Madoff was arrested, which states:

Fortunately our firm did not invest with Madoff. That firm and fund wouldn't make it through our risk and ops controls -- lack of transparency, no third party administrator, etc. Unfortunately, our partners -- Saul and Fred -- against our recommendations invested as individuals and through their real estate firm.

The Wilpons shot back later in the day, sending out this lengthy statement:

For months our reputations and our businesses have been subjected to the Trustee's false allegations, and today's filing recklessly rehashes the same fictitious claims. As the Partners have said all along, they did not know Bernie Madoff was engaged in a fraud. There were no red flags and they received no warnings. The Trustee's opposition papers filed today say nothing different. The only thing the Trustee has debunked is the veracity of his own story.

The Trustee filed a complaint, then an amended complaint, and attacked the Sterling partners in the press, throwing everything he had at them. They challenged him. Now he has responded. And what has he shown? NOTHING.

He has rehashed what is in the amended complaint, he has pointed to documents that he already has cited -- which either support the partners' case or are irrelevant -- and he has done nothing to defeat the truth.

The Sterling Stamos witnesses NEVER warned that Madoff was a fraud. They thought Bernie Madoff was honest, honorable and a securities superstar. No one else warned the partners about fraud. The SEC did not warn about fraud. The Sterling Partners were innocent customers of a highly respected and regulated broker, and the Trustee has shown you NOTHING that changes that reality.

The Trustee took extensive discovery that he continues to REFUSE to disclose. If he had evidence from this discovery to support his claims, he would have included it in his opposition. But he did not. Instead, he says he needs MORE discovery. He also cannot refute the testimony of his chief witnesses, which indisputably contradicts his own complaint.

This was the Trustee's third chance to put forward his evidence, and it is clear: He has no evidence, and no witnesses, to support his baseless claims against the Sterling Partners."

Jason Bay is scheduled to return Thursday as the Mets try to salvage the series finale against the Houston Astros with Chris Capuano on the mound. The Mets are 1-9 at Citi Field this season and have the worst record in the majors at 5-13.

Thursday's news reports:

• Major League Baseball announced it was taking control of operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Read the MLB statement here.)

Columnist Ken Davidoff in Newsday notes that Bud Selig will give Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz a lot more rope than Dodgers owner Frank McCourt because of the close relationship the Wilpons have with the commissioner.

Wondering if the Mets are next for takeover, Daily News columnist Bill Madden writes:

No one -- except the Mets owners themselves -- knows how close they are to being in the same precarious situation as McCourt. At least they are able to sell a substantial part of the team to secure the necessary capital to continue operating the Mets while they fight the $1 billion lawsuit leveled against them by Madoff trustee Irving Picard. With the ownership of the Dodgers entangled in the divorce case, McCourt can't even do that -- which presumably is what makes the Dodgers' situation more imminently critical for Selig. As one baseball executive familiar with the Dodgers' situation said Wednesday night: "Selig had no choice taking over the team." ...

He might have added that Selig can't stand McCourt and is making every effort to get him out of baseball. ... With Wilpon, however, it's just the opposite. Selig considers Wilpon a close friend and ally and, no doubt, is taking the Mets owners at their word that the $200 million they get from an investor will keep the club solvent for the foreseeable future.

• Bobby Parnell is due to have an angiogram on Thursday to determine whether there is clotting in his arm that might be causing numbness in his middle finger. The belief is that's the case, but that it can be treated with aspirin, which thins the blood. Parnell will officially land on the DL to make room for Bay. That will give Terry Collins a five-man bench for the first time since April 10, when Ryota Igarashi and Jason Isringhausen were promoted and Lucas Duda and Blaine Boyer departed, which upped the bullpen to eight members.

Finger numbness caused by clotting is not unprecedented among pitchers. Tom Glavine underwent an angiogram on Aug. 21, 2006 while with the Mets after experiencing coldness and numbness in his left ring finger. The need for surgery was ruled out in that case. A decade earlier with the Yankees, David Cone experienced finger numbness and the digits turning blue. Doctors discovered an aneurysm in Cone's shoulder after an angiogram and the right-hander required surgery.

Read more on Parnell in the Times, Newsday, Star-Ledger, Post and Record.

• A day after going 4-for-4 with two homers with Class A St. Lucie, Bay completed his rehab assignment by going 1-for-3 with two walks for the Florida State League club. Contrasting last year's concussion to the rib-cage strain he suffered two days before the Mets broke camp in Port St. Lucie this year, Bay told ESPNNewYork.com:

"Maybe this is a little more frustrating because when you run into a wall you get a concussion. 'OK, hey, what happens, happens.' But to come in healthy and feeling good, then take a swing in batting practice two days before the season starts? That stunk. That was the toughest part. If it had happened at the beginning of spring, I could deal with it and move on. I keep telling people my timing is impeccable because it couldn't have happened at a worse time."

Bay has not appeared in a major league game since July 25, 2010 at Dodger Stadium.

Carlos Beltran tells Newsday about Bay's return: "That would mean I'm going to see a lot of fastballs, and that's good for everybody."

Post columnist Joel Sherman has this take on Bay being back:

For now, [Sandy] Alderson's administration is at the mercy of the mistakes enacted during the [Omar] Minaya regime. So he has had to oversee the limping exchange of Carlos Beltran from center to right. He had to release Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez with the Mets eating $18 million. He has to worry about Francisco Rodriguez finishing 55 games, which would trigger a payroll-killing $17.5 million salary for 2012. And, now, here comes Bay today; who has a chance to be yet another booby prize from the old administration. He is just a year and a month into a four-year, $66 million contract. ... All in all, Bay's signing is taking on all the earmarks of another Mets' financial disaster, especially because his contract runs through 2013.

• R.A. Dickey summed it up after the Mets again lost to the Astros on Wednesday. "We have to be honest with ourselves about what kind of team we are," the knuckleballer told reporters. "We can't just keep telling ourselves, 'We're a better team than this.' We may not be. And we've got to be honest about that and identify what we're doing wrong and do it better." Read game accounts in Newsday, the Times, Daily News, Star-Ledger, Post and Record. The Times also has more detailed Dickey comments here.

• David Wright on Thursday tries to snap an 0-for-19 drought, which matches the longest of his career. Wright also has 22 strikeouts, one shy of Pittsburgh third baseman Pedro Alvarez's NL-leading 23. The third baseman tells Howard Kussoy in the Post: "Some of them have been good at-bats and the pitcher makes a good pitch with two strikes -- nothing you can really do about it. I'm feeling alright. I'm having some good at-bats, just not really much to show for it, but I think if I continue having good at-bats, the results will be there."

• Lenny Dykstra was freed on $150,000 bond. Read more here.

BIRTHDAYS: Former closer Jesse Orosco turns 54. Besides being the pitcher who closed out the 1986 NLCS and World Series, Orosco had the unusual distinction of having his win and loss totals (47-47) match his primary uniform number. ... Former Mets pitcher Randy Sterling turns 60. Sterling took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his major league debut against the Montreal Expos on Sept. 16, 1974, and ended up with a 3-2 win, his only major league victory. A future Met also debuted in that game. Gary Carter went 0-for-4 at catcher for the Expos. ... Ronny Paulino, who now takes his rehab tour to Buffalo in preparation for activation from the DL on Tuesday, turns 30. -Mark Simon

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.