ESPN

BUFFALO 1, MEMPHIS 1 (10 innings): The Bisons began their 12-game spring-training exhibition schedule with great pitching from a pair of hurlers from last year's squad in a matchup with the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate. Southpaw Mark Cohoon struck out three over three scoreless innings. He made 18 starts with the Bisons in 2011 and finished fourth on Buffalo with 94 1/3 innings. Right-hander Dylan Owen also threw three scoreless innings. Owen was 6-7 spanning 20 starts and five relief appearances for the Bisons last season. Infielder Wilmer Flores accounted for the Bisons' lone tally with a solo homer. The Bisons are back in action Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans Zephyrs at Jupiter.

BINGHAMTON 9, SPRINGFIELD 3: The Double-A B-Mets collected 15 hits, including two homers, against St. Louis' affiliate. Travis Ozga led the charge at the plate, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. Ozga, a 41st-round pick by the Mets in 2009, teamed with outfielder Cory Vaughn to produce back-to-back homers in the second inning, giving the B-Mets a 2-1 lead. Top prospect Zack Wheeler allowed one unearned run in three innings. Wheeler was acquired by the Mets in a trade last July that sent Carlos Beltran to the San Francisco Giants. He gave up one hit, walked three, hit a batter and collected one strikeout. The B-Mets will travel to Jupiter on Sunday to take on the Jacksonville Suns, the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

Compiled from team reports

Here's a second-inning at-bat in Saturday's Double-A game between Mets top prospect Zack Wheeler and St. Louis Cardinals farmhand Rainel Rosario.

Zack Wheeler took the ball for the Mets' Double-A team as the organization's minor league squads began their spring-training schedule Saturday.

Wheeler, topping out at 97 mph, allowed one hit and struck out one while walking three and hitting a batter in three innings. Two errors were committed behind him. Two of the innings were called after two outs because Wheeler had reached his pitch count. He typically sits at 92-95 mph.

"Your first time out there you just try to go out there and throw a lot of strikes, and get your groundballs and stuff," Wheeler said. "You're just working on a couple of things that you've been doing in the bullpen with your pitching coaches and stuff.

"I've been working in the bullpen on a few things with my mechanics -- not bringing my hands all the way down when I'm going through the wind-up, just bringing them like right to my belly button. That's been helping me throw 'through' the catcher and stuff and just pound the zone. I just have to work on my curveball after that, because it feels a little bit different. So I'm just making adjustments with that."

As for his slider, Wheeler said: "It's more of a cutter right now, which I'm not meaning to do. It's going to end up being a slider once I get a little work with it with my new mechanics. It started out as a cutter. So that's what I have a feeling for. All I have to do is get my fingers in front of the ball. That's how that works. It's just getting the feel for it."

Wheeler, 21, is the Mets' top prospect. He arrived in a trade with the San Francisco Giants last July for Carlos Beltran. Scouts, even those who like Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia, say Wheeler is head and shoulders above those minor league peers. "For me he is, ceiling-wise," said one scout.

Said Wheeler: "I don't feel any pressure or anything. You just try to go out there and do your job and just worry about everything later."

Dillon Gee, Matt Harvey, Chuck James, Josh Stinson and Garrett Olson are scheduled to take the mound as the Mets head to Disney today to face the Atlanta Braves for the first time this spring training. (See the full upcoming pitching probables here.)

Friday's news reports:

• Fred Wilpon was not present, but Sandy Koufax nonetheless visited Mets camp Thursday. Koufax offered advice to Bobby Parnell at Terry Collins' request. Koufax, who keeps close tabs on the Mets from a distance by watching on TV, particularly wanted to meet top pitching prospects Zack Wheeler and Harvey. The Hall of Fame pitcher got to see Wheeler pitch in a minor league intrasquad game and apparently came away impressed. Koufax plans to return to camp later this month.

Wrote Mike Puma in the Post:

Sandy Koufax talked mechanics, and Parnell mostly shut up and listened. Koufax had seen enough of the fireballing right-hander in recent years to know what kind of message to impart. The Hall of Fame left-hander said Parnell has an "exceptional" arm, but could benefit from small changes. "Where you hold [the ball], how you hold it and how you use it," Koufax told The Post when asked to summarize his chat with Parnell. "Times have changed in what people believe, and I just believe a little differently sometimes."

• Left-hander C.J. Nitkowski, who turns 39 today, auditioned for the Mets as J.P. Ricciardi and Dan Warthen watched, on the same mound where Johan Santana had just completed his bullpen session. Warthen was Nitkowski's pitching coach with the Detroit Tigers. Nitkowski, who has not appeared in the majors since 2005, had a procedure last year in which his own stem cells were injected into his left shoulder. He also was tutored on a Pedro Feliciano-like sidearm delivery by none other than former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson, who is now in his first year as Baltimore Orioles minor league pitching coordinator.

"Hopefully it gives me an opportunity to extend my career," Nitkowski, who pitched for the Mets in 2001, told reporters about the sidearm delivery. "Realistically, I knew after not playing in the States since 2006 and wanting to come back, I knew I was going to have to do something different. I was kind of hitting a wall even when I was here."

Nitkowski played in Japan and South Korea from 2007 through 2010, then in winter ball in the Dominican Republic this past offseason. He is a product of Don Bosco Prep and St. John's. Read more in the Record, Journal, Newsday and Post.

• Union chief Michael Weiner visited the Mets on Thursday as part of his tour of spring-training camps. Weiner did not take the opportunity to chastise Wilpon and family for what likely will be the largest single-season payroll drop in major league history, currently projected at $52 million. Read more in the Times, Journal, Star-Ledger, Newsday and Daily News.

• After throwing a regular between-starts bullpen session, Santana pronounced himself ready to make his second Grapefruit League start, three innings Sunday against the Miami Marlins. "I'm not the doctor," catcher Mike Nickeas told Mike Kerwick in the Record. "I don't know how [the shoulder] feels. But I thought his stuff was A-plus today."

Columnist Joel Sherman in the Post notes you could tell from Santana's body language that his shoulder feels well. Writes Sherman:

A pitcher concealing pain will cut a session short. He will not motion for Mike Nickeas to stay in his squat. To take a few extra pitches to the catcher’s mitt. "What you saw is what Johan Santana always looks like, except for when he has not felt good," Warthen would say afterward, his lingering smile also proof that, well, Santana feels better than good.

Watch Santana discuss the session here. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Daily News and Newsday.

• The Mets lost Thursday's Grapefruit League game, 5-4, to the Marlins. Mike Pelfrey had a rough outing as he struggled to control his sinker, which is a point of emphasis this spring as he tries to reduce the career-high home run total he allowed last season. Pelfrey allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Read more in the Times and Newsday.

• Pedro Beato has rotator cuff inflammation, according to a team spokesman. Beato, who underwent an MRI in Florida, may begin light tossing as soon as Sunday. Meanwhile, center fielder Andres Torres was scratched Thursday with a tight right glute. Collins said Torres may return to the lineup as soon as Saturday.

• Columnist Bob Klapisch in the Record suggests Collins is putting on a brave front of confidence as impending doom looms. Writes Klapisch:

Terry Collins is standing on a back field at the Mets’ spring training facility, separated by 1,000 miles and the 90 or so losses that likely await him at Citi Field this summer. By all accounts, there should be an anvil floating over the manager's head, but Collins is to optimism what Saudi Arabia is to oil. It overflows. "Cinderella stories happen, so why can’t it be us?" he said. "I have to think good things are in store for us. It's my job to believe, and then get my players to believe it, too."

Collins also tells Klapisch: "People say we didn’t sign anyone, but hey, we’re getting Santana back. That's the same as adding a free agent -- an ace pitcher who looks like he’s healthy again. We’re getting a healthy David Wright. We've got Ike Davis fixed up. You put all three of those guys on the field at the same time, and you never know. That’s not a bad little team."

Of course, you can also rank the 25 starting pitchers in the National League East and see where the Mets' pitchers check in. Or, you can look at the paper-thin depth, where for every start not made by a member of the rotation, Miguel Batista or someone comparable gets one.

• Columnist John Harper in the Daily News notes that Frank Francisco does not hold runners on well. That's often a problem for closers, but it is particularly bad in Francisco's case. Thirty-three of 36 attempts against him over the past four seasons have been successful, Harper notes. It's not so much a disregard for runners as a problem throwing to first -- as in consistent off-line throws. A scout told Harper teams would bunt on Francisco too while he closed for the Toronto Blue Jays because of his throwing issues. Warthen said the issue is more on throwing fielded balls to first base, rather than pickoff throws. Writes Harper:

In Frank Francisco's first spring training appearance for the Mets on Monday, he gave up a single and, on the next pitch, pinch-runner Eury Perez took off for second. In a conversation about his new closer a few days later, Terry Collins said he knew the runner would go on the first pitch. Why? "Because they know Frankie doesn't throw over," Collins said. Huh? "It's something we're working on," said the manager.

TRIVIA: Who is the only active major league pitcher to have a better winning percentage than Santana (minimum 125 decisions)?

(Thursday's answer: The game before Jose Reyes made his major league debut on June 10, 2003 at Texas, Joe McEwing started at shortstop for the Mets.)

Johan Santana is good to go for Tuesday's home split-squad game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Terry Collins said Monday afternoon.

Santana is scheduled to pitch two innings and no more than 35 pitches, according to pitching coach Dan Warthen.

"I'm really excited to see him out there," Collins said. "Obviously two days after tomorrow is when I want to really see how he's doing, because that will be a test on how he's going to bounce back. I just said to him the other day, 'Look, all I want you to do is approach this like you've been approaching your side [bullpen session]s.' He's going to have his adrenaline flowing and we've got to realize that. And I certainly will. But he's smart enough to know that it's all a process."

As for Santana facing the Cardinals, Collins added: "I don't care about the results. All I want him to do is come back in two days, throw a side and be ready for his next start. If we've got that, we're going to be fine."

• 2011 first-round pick Brandon Nimmo will play in Tuesday's home split-squad game. "I like to play those guys," Collins said. "I want those minor league players, when they walk out of this camp, to walk back over there and say, 'That was fun. That was really fun. How do I get back over there to stay?'"

• Collins went and saw top prospect Zack Wheeler, who is in minor league camp, throw on the minor league side. Asked what he liked, Collins whistled and said: "Everything."

• 2010 first-round pick Matt Harvey is the first pitcher due in after starter Dillon Gee tonight. Collins said he is looking for command. "If he throws the ball over the plate," the manager said, "he'll get people out. He's got that kind of stuff."

• Ike Davis is slated for three innings at first base tonight, and three more tomorrow, Collins said.

• Collins said he is not very concerned about seeing how his starters look together tonight, such as Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy working as a tag team in the middle infield.

"Not tonight," Collins said. "It's our first game. I think it's nice to have the fans see who we've got. Obviously David [Wright] is not going to be in the lineup, but Jason [Bay] is and Ike is and [Lucas] Duda and everybody else. And Justin Turner had as big a part last year in us playing well as anybody. So I feel real comfortable with him in there."

Center fielder Matt den Dekker and right-hander Matt Harvey were the only prospects not on the 40-man roster to be invited to major league camp.

Several other minor leaguers, though, have been invited to a top-prospect camp at the team's complex in Port St. Lucie, ahead of the regular reporting date for farmhands.

The list of participants:

Right-handed pitchers
Yohan Almonte
Gonzalez Germen
Erik Goeddel
Michael Hebert
Cory Mazzoni
Collin McHugh
Rafael Montero
Dylan Owen
Greg Peavey
Tyler Pill
Domingo Tapia
Logan Verrett
Zack Wheeler

Left-handed pitchers
Mark Cohoon
Angel Cuan
Darin Gorski
Chase Huchingson
Jack Leathersich
Alex Panteliotis

Catchers
Juan Ceteno
Albert Cordero
Blake Forsythe
Kai Gronauer
Dustin Lawley
Cam Maron
Francisco Pena

Infielders
Phillip Evans
Jefry Marte
Danny Muno
Aderlin Rodriguez
Wilfredo Tovar

Outfielders
Darrell Ceciliani
Brandon Nimmo
Cory Vaughn

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.)

Zack Wheeler became the top prospect in the New York Mets organization when he arrived in a July 28 trade with the San Francisco Giants for Carlos Beltran. Yet the 21-year-old right-hander suggested he feels no burden with that tag.

“I mean, it might be pressure to some other people, but not me,” Wheeler insisted Monday, after arriving at the Mets’ complex for his first spring training with the organization. “I haven’t always been good, but I don’t feel any pressure. I think not always being good has sort of made me humble and fortunate for what I have right now.”

Wheeler was the sixth overall pick by the Giants in 2009, but said he has far more humble beginnings. As a 15-year-old, he went undrafted in the famed East Cobb Baseball league in his native Georgia.

“When I was 15, there was this big open tryout, and nobody picked me,” Wheeler recalled. “And my dad knew one of the guys that he played men’s senior-league baseball league with. So he picked me up. It was one of the lower teams, and I never got a chance to play.”

Wheeler said his career finally took off the following year, and now he’s in the stratosphere. Although he has not yet thrown even a Double-A pitch, he has 9,389 followers on Twitter (@wheelerpro45).

Wheeler’s recent tweets have included such gems as:

I seriously think a mosquito flew up my pant leg and just sucked all the blood out of my leg #nobueno

Mall food is the best. With my boy @LanceGray21

“I just like the reactions and stuff like that. I just try to get people riled up and stuff,” said Wheeler, who spent the winter working out with fellow Atlanta-area product Jason Heyward. “You just have to think before you say something. You can’t just go out there and say anything. You hear about that stuff on ESPN all the time.”

Wheeler went 2-2 with a 2.00 ERA while striking out 31 and walking five in six starts spanning 27 innings with the St. Lucie Mets after the trade. He is unsure where he will open the 2012 season, but the bulk of his activity should be spent at Double-A Binghamton, where he could form a stellar rotation that potentially also includes fellow highly regarded prospects Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia.

ESPN’s Keith Law ranks Wheeler as the No. 27 prospect in MLB, with Harvey at No. 38 and Familia narrowly missing the top 100.

Wheeler -- whose fastball sits from 91-94 mph and touches 97 mph -- only arrived in Port St. Lucie from his native Atlanta on Sunday night and had yet to meet Harvey.

Wheeler’s brother Adam played four seasons in the minors with the Yankees, so Wheeler had a sense of professional baseball even before the draft. “Bus rides everywhere and how to carry yourself around the team,” Wheeler said about the advice he received from his brother. Adam last played pro ball in 2004 with the Yankees’ Class A Battle Creek affiliate. He tore a labrum and is now remodeling houses in the Atlanta area.

Asked how he felt with a fan base pinning their hopes for the future on him as well as Harvey, Familia and Jenrry Mejia, Wheeler said: “It makes me feel good, but then again you’ve got all these other guys who are doing the same job as me, and they’re pro baseball players. And so you’ve got to respect them and respect their abilities. They go out there every day just like me. You’ve just got to perform when you’re out there.”

Making the majors this year is unlikely. Still, Wheeler said about reaching Citi Field in 2012: “I mean, I would hope so. You never know. I just try to go out there and pitch and do my thing.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandy Alderson (@MetsGM) returned for a second day of tweeting, and this time directed his humor at the automotive retailers and mechanics across the street from Citi Field (and who are the subject of eminent domain eviction attempts):

Alderson tweeted Friday afternoon: "Prepping for trip. Bought 4 like-new tires at chop shop across from Citi. He threw in free wiper fluid. Better than the Wheeler deal!"

Wheeler is Zack Wheeler, now the Mets' top prospect, who was acquired from San Francisco for Carlos Beltran in July.

Mets right-handed pitching prospects Zack Wheeler (No. 27) and Matt Harvey (No. 38) check in on Keith Law's top-100 MLB prospects list, which is available to insiders here.

Fellow right-hander Jeurys Familia is on the list of 10 prospects who just missed the cut.

Law writes about Wheeler:

Wheeler was stolen from the Giants for two months of Carlos Beltran's services in a deadline deal that should benefit the Mets for much of this decade. He will touch 97 mph and sit at least 91-94 with an above-average curveball that has shown it can miss bats. He has a fringy changeup that's a little too firm, giving up a .283/.375/.452 line to left-handed hitters as a result (although that improved after the trade in a small sample). His control is still below-average, and he'll have to show durability to match his frame, as he retired more than 18 batters just twice all year.

Regarding Harvey, Law opines:

Harvey's strong season in Double-A showed that he's not that far away from contributing in the big leagues, but also masked some of the ongoing questions about his repertoire and command that probably push him toward a good No. 3 or average No. 2 ceiling. He will sit 91-97 mph as a starter with good downhill plane, and his changeup is a weapon for him against both left- and right-handed hitters. His curve and slider tend to run together, and he'd probably be better off just picking one or the other and using it exclusively to avoid throwing in-between pitches that will get hammered at higher levels. The UNC product didn't dominate Double-A like you'd expect him to based on his velocity, but a sharper breaking ball could produce those results and get him to the big leagues by the middle of this year.

Sandy Alderson plans to meet with Scott Boras, the agent for Francisco Rodriguez as well as Ryan Madson, on Tuesday afternoon. But the GM said Mets fans should not expect there will be a K-Rod reunion. In fact, Boras also reps free agents such as Rick Ankiel, Xavier Nady and Jason Varitek as well, and those players seem more within the Mets' salary parameters. Varitek could make sense as a complement to Josh Thole.

"We haven't decided not to pursue him," Alderson said about K-Rod. "... So I'm sure Frankie will come up in conversation."

Still, Alderson added about K-Rod: "Absolutely not. You shouldn't expect this is a likelihood. I hope I didn't create that impression."

Alderson noted that K-Rod has been offered salary arbitration with the Milwaukee Brewers, which he can accept and return to that club for one year with an award based on last season's $11.5 million salary.

Alderson said rather than obtain one high-priced closer, the reality is the Mets likely will bring in two second-tier relievers to spread the cost around -- in that Jon Rauch, Frank Francisco level seemingly.

"I'd be surprised if we throw all of our money at one guy," Alderson said. "Our bullpen is such that we definitely need somebody at the end. We can use more depth in our pen also. I think if we can do it, it probably would be better to be a little bit conservative with our top-end guy and still have some money to provide depth.

"If you look at the market, you've got arguably two or three higher-end guys (Madson, K-Rod and Francisco Cordero perhaps). You've got a couple just below that. And then there are some other pitchers who probably are not closer caliber. With the top-end guys, there are a couple of things: One, I think there's a demand for more than one year. And, secondly, there's also an unwillingness right now to drop down below what had been their expectations over the last month, probably since (Jonathan) Papelbon signed. ... The problem with a top-end guy is a number of different things have to happen. It all kind of has to fall into place. And the question is whether you want to wait that long."

Alderson also met Tuesday with Jose Reyes' agents about their other clients -- popular Endy Chavez as well as infielders Cesar Izturis and Ronny Cedeno. The powwow was described as "a little awkward."

As for starting pitching, Alderson laughed off reports linking the Mets to Mark Buehrle.

Speaking collectively about C.J. Wilson, Buehrle and pitchers of that caliber, Alderson said: "No, that's not happening for us."

Alderson also noted players such as Chris Capuano and Chris Young were late acquisitions last year, and that pattern should repeat itself this offseason.

"Starting pitching hasn't been a focus for us yet. It's not to say it's not important," Alderson said. "We've just been looking at other things. So, for example, the Capuano market didn't even materialize until January or so of last year. But we'll have to make some decisions in that area over the next handful of days."

The Mets technically have five starting pitchers -- Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee. But they desperately need depth to compete with Gee and as a hedge against continued Santana difficulties or another injury issue.

Alderson said at where the organization is at this point, the Mets will retain their top prospects. He didn't mention names, but there will be no trading of Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia, Matt Harvey, etc.

"We're not going to compromise the top end of our player-development system," Alderson said. "If you want to look at the top four or five prospects in our system, they're not going anywhere. Beyond that, we'll talk about it. But I'd be surprised if we take many of our prospects and turn them into very experienced major league players. I don't think that's where we are right now. ...

"I think that fans understand we have a general direction we're taking. I think most fans, understanding that general direction, would be shocked if we traded one of those three, four, five guys. So I don't think I'm disclosing anything that wasn't otherwise understood by people.

"Are we one player away? I think we need more than one player to assure ourselves of success in 2012. The fact is no team, apparently, is one player away.

"It didn't work for some teams last year that thought they were that close," Alderson said with a smirk, potentially talking about the San Francisco Giants and Carlos Beltran.

Will the Mets leave with a free agent, or will the winter-meetings haul be limited to the Rule 5 draft, the route the Mets obtained Pedro Beato and Brad Emaus last December?

"We continue to work at it," Alderson said. "We're talking to free agents, talking to clubs, meeting again with certain free agents and clubs. So we continue to work toward it. I can't predict we'll do any one thing or more than one thing or nothing at all. It's hard to predict at this point."

As for what the Marlins are doing, Alderson said: "We're cognizant of what they're doing, just as we were last year when Philadelphia was making all of the news. It's too bad all the news is being made in the National League East. To put it in perspective, teams -- whether they're in our division or out of our division -- we all have a number of choices that we are able to make over a period of time. And once you make those choices, you live with those choices. And they can be good ones. They can turn out to be poor ones. So they're making those choices. They'll live with them over the next several years. They could turn out great. They could turn out poorly. Just as in our situation, what we're trying to do is create the opportunity for us to have more of those choices in the near term."

Baseball America has announced its top 10 Mets prospects. The list:

1. Zack Wheeler, rhp
2. Matt Harvey, rhp
3. Brandon Nimmo, of
4. Jeurys Familia, rhp
5. Cesar Puello, of
6. Jenrry Mejia, rhp
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, of
8. Michael Fulmer, rhp
9. Reese Havens, 2b
10. Wilmer Flores, ss

As for other categories, the magazine named Juan Lagares as the best hitter for average, Zach Lutz as the best power hitter, Danny Muno as the best strike-zone discipline and Pedro Zapata as the fastest baserunner.

In pitching categories, Wheeler claims the best fastball and curveball, with Harvey the best slider and Darin Gorski the top changeup and best control.

R.A. Dickey combined with Josh Stinson and Manny Acosta on a 1-0 shutout of the Marlins in Mets' final visit to Sun Life Stadium. (Read more about the Marlins' new 36,000-seat ballpark here.)

The Amazin's now return to Citi Field for a 4:10 p.m. single-admission doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves in a makeup of postponed Hurricane Irene games. Chris Schwinden makes his major league debut in Game 1. Read the Mets-Braves series preview here.

Thursday's news reports:

• Zack Wheeler lasted 3 2/3 innings and allowed four runs as St. Lucie lost Game 2 of its Florida State League semifinal series, while Savannah lost its opener in the South Atlantic League playoffs.

• Read recaps of the Mets' final game at Sun Life Stadium in Newsday, the Times, Post, Record and Star-Ledger.

• Bobby Parnell still will be getting the bulk of the save opportunities over the final three weeks, but Acosta got the assignment Wednesday and Terry Collins said he will spread that workload around somewhat. Read more in the Times, Newsday, Post and Star-Ledger.

• Nick Evans continues to produce while getting a chance to play, writes the Daily News.

BIRTHDAYS: Parnell turns 27.