Mets Morning News: Happy Mike Piazza Day!

Meet the Mets

The second to last game of the Mets' 2013 season ended in defeat, a 4-2 loss to the Brewers in extra innings. With the loss, the Mets clinched a protected first round pick in the 2014 amateur draft.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post

The Mets close out their 2013 schedule by sending Jon Niese to the hill against the Brewers this afternoon. They'll face off against Marco Estrada.

Terry Collins will be back with the Mets, as the team is close to announcing a two-year extension with their manager. He certainly has his shortcomings but overall, Collins has done an admirable job in his three years considering the talent he's had to work with. Adam Rubin reports that Collins' entire coaching staff will return as well.

Mike Piazza enters the Mets' Hall of Fame today. The organization's relationship with Piazza seemed chilly earlier this year but things are thawing out. Meanwhile, a September 11th family will never forget what Piazza did for them and they hope to get to talk to him today.

Travis d'Arnaud is not worried about his history of freak injuries. The catcher recently switched to a hockey style mask to protect himself from concussions.

Mets' attendance is down for the 5th straight season, not surprising considering this is also the 5th straight season they've finished below the .500 mark.

Hopefully that streak ends in 2014, as they have plenty of money coming off the books this winter and should be able to use that flexibility to add better players.

Yesterday At AA

Jeffrey Paternostro wrote about pitching prospect Akeel Morris, who he saw pitch in Brooklyn.

Around the NL East

Jonathan Papelbon made it interesting but the Phillies held on to win 5-4 over the Braves. Kyle Kendrick will be tendered a contract this offseason despite an ERA approaching 5.00, says Ruben Amaro. Good, good. Meanwhile, Cliff Lee says he'll retire at the conclusion of his contract with the Phillies.

The Marlins beat the Tigers 2-1 in 10 innings.

Dan Haren shut down the Diamondbacks 2-0 and then said that the Nats would be the team to beat if they made the playoffs. Not buying that Nats are dead?

Around the Majors

The playoff picture in the NL is essentially set right now. The Pirates clinched home field advantage in the Wild Card game with a victory over the Reds. It's Pittsburgh's first playoff game since 1992.

In the American League, however, it's still a mess. An A's loss yesterday did clinch home field advantage for the Red Sox. The Wild Card, however, is going to go down to the last moment, as the Rays lost and the Rangers & Indians both won. Going into the final day, the Indians hold the 1st wild card, while the Rays and Rangers are tied for the second one.

The Giants and Hunter Pence have agreed to a 5-year, $90 million contract extension and now they're in the process of starting talks with Tim Lincecum.

Andy Pettitte's final game was a complete game victory over the Astros.

The Brewers are also bringing back their entire coaching staff after a bad season.

If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in.