The biggest news of the day today is definitely some rumblings about the expansion of the playoffs. Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that the wild card expansion we've been hearing about all offseason will be going into effect this fall. While MLB hasn't officially confirmed that we'll be seeing the one game wild card playoff, they did acknowledge that talks are ongoing. While the odds remain fairly low that the Mets will be participating this postseason, the addition of a 2nd wild card slot does increase the minimal odds a little.
Reese Havens has been shut down until the weekend with back problems. I doubt this catches many of us by surprise, but it is certainly a disappointing development. Hopefully this is nothing more than early season soreness, but I really have my doubts that this season will be any different than years past.
Terry Collins will probably be asked about the revamped bullpen quite a bit this spring. Yesterday he acknowledged that DJ Carrasco's contract will indeed give him an edge on a bullpen slot, but that the reliever will still have to earn his spot in spring training. Also in that piece, Dickey's knuckleball is ITBSOHL.
Bobby Parnell is a little less certain of his role in the revamped bullpen. It looks like he'll certainly have to earn himself a spot with his pitching in spring training if he doesn't want to begin the year in Buffalo. I doubt there are too many of us here that would be pleased if Carrasco makes the club over Parnell.
Brandon Nimmo arrived in Mets camp yesterday. There's about a 0% chance he makes the roster out of spring training, but he'll certainly be getting followed closely in our minor league recaps this season.
Former Met Lenny Dykstra is attempting to withdraw his no contest plea to charges related to auto theft in California. He's due in for sentencing shortly if the plea is not withdrawn and expected to receive several years in prison. A lesson for all you kids out there: don't go to Philly or this could happen to you as well.
Howard Megdal may not have successfully lobby for the Mets GM position, but he's making a lot of sense as he lobby for the hippo. While I'm sure Mike Nickeas is a great guy, I'd much rather see Ramon Castro trotting out there with Josh Thole than Nickeas.
Andy McCullough had an interesting piece up on Jon Niese yesterday. This led to some interesting reactions including someone doing the unthinkable and criticizing RA Dickey. Winz...
Rising Apple is taking the glass half full approach today. They looked at a big thing we can all look forward too this season: Johan Santana.
Needing a few play on word pieces for today, the Post took a look at whether or not Jon Rauch will help the Mets "shortcomings". See what they did there? Clever. In other tall pitcher news, the Mets are keeping tabs on Chris Young who seems to be progressing nicely.
Dillon Gee is working on being ITBSOHL. He's reportedly embraced pilates as he attempts to improve his conditioning. Finally on the Mets front, Ted Berg had some half formed thoughts on spring training.
The last link for the day will involve the upcoming draft in which the Mets will have a pair of extra early(ish) picks. FanGraphs took a little look at a few of the interesting high school arms, June is coming fast so it's probably not too early to start looking at what we'll have to choose from.