Mets Morning News: The Mets Will Not Go Undefeated In 2013

Meet the Mets

R.I.P. 2013 Mets, you guys. The Mets lost to the Nationals 6-4 in a sloppy evening affair in Port St. Lucie. They trailed most of the game, as starter Collin McHugh struggled with his command early, and a furious rally by keyed by a gaggle of 2012 B-Mets fell short. Oh yeah, and Matt den Dekker did this.

Ruben Tejada was a late scratch last night with a cramp (or a strain, maybe) in his quad. Brandon Hicks got the start at shortstop in his place. Across the keystone from Hicks was Wilmer Flores, who looked downright competent at second base. I'm still with Toby Hyde on this issue though.

Not in the Mets' line-up last night was Lucas Duda, who will be getting a few days off to work on his swing. That sounds...ominous. It's not all bad news for potential Mets outfielders, as it seems like no one can get quite enough Cowgill.

Howard Megdal points out that the optics on the Mets latest marketing tie-in might be a bit problematic.

And Faith and Fear does a tribute to all the Mets who left us in the past year.

Yesterday at AA

Steve Sypa wondered if a great season from Johan Santana might spell trouble for the Mets.

Sam Page did his best to make sure you never make a "More Cowgill" joke again. Somehow I doubt the 2013 Mets gamethreads will be particularly obliging here.

Nothing much Mets-related happened on February 26th, so Brock Mahan just wished a happy birthday to Ed Lynch.

Chris McShane brought some serious Spring Training coverage to the table. We have video of Domingo Tapia's bullpen session, (VELO!!!!!!!) and Chris also chatted with Paul Depodesta.

And Rob Castellano had some minor league notes for you to peruse.

Around MLB

Miguel Cabrera. That is all. Actually, that's not all. There's more.

A wistful sigh.

BREAKING: Player for team likes team's chances this year.

Jeff Luhnow is trying to reap the benefits of having set tremendously low expectations for the 2013 Astros.

Jason Parks and the prospect team over at Baseball Prospectus dropped their Top 101 prospect list yesterday. In addition to the usual Mets suspects, Michael Fulmer made the list at #98.

And finally, Johnny Damon thinks that the Yankees should definitely sign Johnny Damon.