Mets Notes: Draft, DePodesta, Wright

Despite all the drama, ownership issues, trade rumors and injuries at Citi Field this year, the Mets have a 28-31 record and sit just five games out of the NL wild card.  Newsday's David Lennon wonders if "can [Sandy] Alderson afford to deal away the likes of [Jose] Reyes and [Carlos] Beltran if the Mets are still showing a pulse, however faint, for a playoff spot?"  In my opinion, the Mets shouldn't fool themselves into thinking they're true contenders.  Putting off a rebuild for a longshot chance at the postseason is the kind of short-term thinking that has put the Mets in this tough situation in the first place.

Some more Amazin' items…

• The Mets have traditionally stuck close to MLB's slotting recommendations, but this year are prepared to pay above slot if necessary, reports Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal.  Costa notes that Alderson was one of the MLB executives involved in creating the original slotting system in 2000.
• As noted in Costa's piece, only the White Sox have spent less on the draft than the Mets have in the last five years.  The Mets spent $3.9MM to sign their picks from the first 10 rounds of the 2010 draft, which was roughly 4% above slot, mostly due to Matt Harvey's $2.5MM bonus.
• Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger profiles Paul DePodesta, the Mets' VP of scouting and player development and the man in charge of running the club's draft operations.
• The Mets "owe it" to David Wright to trade him, writes Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.  Madden compares Wright's situation to that of Hubie Brooks, another popular Mets third baseman who didn't want to leave New York when the team dealt him to Montreal in December 1984.  The Mets received Gary Carter back in that trade, however, "and you have to believe Alderson has been entertaining the same thoughts about a Wright deal being potentially similarly transforming," Madden writes.