frequent blog updates. Rubin’s is one of the best reporters on the Mets’ beat. Make it a favorite.

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Thank goodness.

I wonder if Adam Rubin was speculating on “Jerry Manual Speak” :

I kind of like the loose cannon style of Manual. But at any rate, it was a good job by Minaya to put speculation about the coaches to rest within the same news cycle.

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Adam Rubin is too responsible of a journalist to speculate aloud that Mets coaches are on the hot seat. It had to come from a non-uniform source. For whatever reason the off-field person tipped Rubin, it demonstrates panic and blame mongering. The season is not even a month old. Firings of coaches during the season by the front office backfire in the long term as they undermine the manager and ruin morale of both players and coaches. Leaking the theat to the media is equally foolish. See the disaster that occured after Minaya fired Rick Down. Its not sign that someone in the front office is making a stealth threat against coaches as is far more worrisome than the current early season struggles.

Rubin will understandably protect his source. If someone spoke out of turn, it will be publically refuted by Omar Minaya or higher – and soon. If not, the Mets hiearchy above Jerry Manuel could be attempting to deflect blame away from for the bad hand that they dealt him in the first place.

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Adam Rubin reports the Mets have cut seven – Ron Villone(released), Rene Rivera, Jose Valentin, Cory Sullivan, Nelson Figueroa, Carlos Muniz and Andy Green.

There’s some hidden good news in that its clear that the Mets will start the season with more depth in AAA than previous years. Its been a problem in previous seasons. Only the surprise emergences of Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans and Brian Stokes last season provided spark. This year’s AAA roster will have players who are major league ready and had good springs.

Manuel still has some tough choices. First in Nick Evans. He’s ceratainly earned a spot. But do they keep him for the number of at bats thats limited by Fernando Tatis? The smart play might be to option Evans and keep Bobby Kielty who’s much better suited for a bench role, and also has had a very good spring. Kielty is a switch hitter to. I predict that Evans will go north – a bit as a reward – until Livan Hernandez is needed to start a game. Unless a middle infielder or catcher is injured, Evans will be the first player recalled.

The Mets will probably have a short leash on both Tatis and Ryan Church. If either gets off to a slow start, they won’t hesitate to go to Kielty and or Evans.

Brian Stokes and Bobby Parnell will likely round out the bullpen and leave just one lefty-Pedro Felicaino. With JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez getting the last two innings, its understandable why the Mets feel they can get by with just one. Parnell did not allow a hit to a left-handed batter this spring. Stokes good finish to 2008 was backed up this spring. He can start or relieve.

Still, with all the talk of additions the Mets did not make, this club goes north with more depth – both of the major league roster and at AAA – than at any time of the Omar Minaya regime.

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Adam Rubin writes effectively this morning about the glaring concerns that exist in the Mets everyday line-up. Says Rubin of the corner outfield positions:

Manny Ramirez hit .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBI in 53 games as a Dodger while lifting L.A. into the postseason in ’08. There’s no way Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis can provide comparable production. Still, with the Mets looking to maintain a $147 million payroll, Citi Field will open with a platoon of Murphy and Tatis in left field and not Ramirez. Murphy, who has remarkable plate discipline for a young player, hit .313 in 131 at-bats, and no longer qualifies as a rookie.

Tatis, the NL Comeback Player of the Year, who didn’t even play baseball in 2004 and ’05, hit .297 with 11 homers and 47 RBI in 273 at-bats. He separated his right shoulder diving for a ball in Washington on Sept. 16 and missed the rest of the season. Tatis opted for rehab rather than surgery and ultimately played in 38 games in the Dominican Winter League.

Right field remains a modest question mark as well. While Ryan Church appears to have post-concussion syndrome behind him, he did hit just .219 over his final 33 games, albeit after returning from a seven-week absence. However, before suffering his second concussion in Atlanta on May 20, Church was arguably the team’s MVP.

The most likely of the three to produce the kind of numbers a team would need in the outfield is the youngest of the three. Daniel Murphy’s gap power and clutch hitting gave the only boost the club received in the second half. The Mets need Murphy to win this job outright at some point in the season and return Tatis to the bench. Tatis was one of baseball’s feel good stories yet its unlikely he can reproduce the same numbers. The Mets will be weak a void of any power. If Tatis is in the line-up, no real threat from the right side will be on the bench if Nick Evans does not make the club. We can only hope that Church post concussion syndrome is behind him, but I have my doubts. A failure of Church to regain his early 2008 form will be detrimental to the Mets season. By all reports Citi Field has a large outfield and none of these three – save perhaps Curch has the kind of range needed.

Rubin then covers the issue of second base:

It’s no secret the Mets would have traded Luis Castillo and signed Orlando Hudson had Castillo not still been owed $18 million over the next three seasons.

So how long will Manuel’s patience with Castillo last if he underperforms? Remember, the manager started journeyman Ramon Martinez over Castillo at the end of the season. Manuel also rode Argenis Reyes through an 0-for-25 skid at one point as well, all to keep Castillo on the bench. The first signal of Castillo’s commitment level will be determined by his shape when he arrives in Port St. Lucie. Randolph was disappointed by Castillo’s weight when he reported last spring, although Castillo was coming off surgeries to clean out both knees.

If Castillo falters, newcomer Alex Cora could chip away at his playing time. This much is certain: Mets officials won’t hesitate to part with Castillo next winter, when the amount he’s owed is down to $12 million. But it appears Castillo has gotten the message as the Mets say he has been working out at the team’s Dominican Republic complex.

Castillo has not played well as a Met and his long-term signing by Minaya is one of a handfull of disasterous contracts he’s given to aging Latin stars. Minaya may be self conscience of this perception and may explain his hesitancy to bring in a Manny Ramirez or Pudge Rodriguez.

At any rate, the Mets need a comeback year from Castillo. And they need him to be able to bat second behind Jose Reyes. If the current personnel reamains the same – and the Mets 2B has to bat 8th instead of the catcher – one third of the line-up are outs. And with a weak bench, this does not bode well at all for a team that expects to compete for a division.

This makes Carlos Delgado a major key to success. Delgado clearly thrived under Jerry Manuel. And as Rubin says, Delgado hit .313 with 24 homeruns and had 70 RBI over his final 300 ABs. If the Mets can get these numbers over a season – and Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran stay healthy and have what can fairly be considered an average career seasons – it might be enough if the starters can get the game to JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez.

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Omar Minaya and the Mets realized that the cost was just too high to bring ML proven talent at the deadline. I believe they were right. And they’ve been signaling that the future they refused to part with will need to be part of the reason they suceed this season. Dan Murphy’s promotion to AAA New Orleans and quick move to New York is further evidence of the path the Mets have chosen.

Adam Rubin points out today that some in the organization feel that it is Murphy and not the still very young Fernandon Martinez who is the top hitting prospect in the organization. When he Mets were prompted to place Marlon Anderson on the DL, the club hastened its plan for Murphy. The left-handed hitting Murphy’s best position seems to be 3rd, but he has played LF, 2B and 1B in his career. More on Murphy from Toby Hyde.

Murphy is a player without a clear position – unless it 3B. He was moved to 2B in AA for some games, but its still too soon to run him out there now. He can hit, and its why he’s here. Roy Oswalt, a righthander, starts tonight. Maybe Jerry Manuel will get him his first ABs tonight and play him in LF. Tough first night though. The club needs more extra base hits from the OF than it’s getting now. Murphy might be able to do this.

So we come to Jon Neise. A date is open August 11 and John Maine will not make his next start. Neise seems certain to get a start at some point. If he does well, it will be more than a few. The Mets need for his audition to go well with the likely departures this off season of Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez.

Eddie Kunz was 42nd player taken last June form Oregon State University. He’s been on a fast track to New York as had Joe Smith. He’s used to a big stage having pitched in the College World Series. The Mets need a fresh arm for the pen and Kuntz will see some time on the ML roster probably before the month is over. It cannot be expected that he can shut down a inning at the big league level just yet.

So there it is. The players they would not deal will be seen this season. If any one of the three can supply the kind of lightening in a bottle the Mets had hoped to get at the deadline, the decision not to deal makes even bigger sense that it does on paper.

* If John Maine said all the soreness is gone in the back of his shoulder that tells me he’ll be ok.

*I wish the Mets would either use Nick Evans more or send him down. Maybe here they can get an OF off the waiver wire.

* If Maine is ok and Neise can cut its when he gets here why not try Pedro in a setup role?

* I’ll say this again. It makes sense to get Jerry Manuel under contract through at least next season.

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