After an off day yesterday, the Mets remain five games out in the wild card at 35-37 as Dillon Gee prepares to face the Athletics. The latest rumors around the club:
- Mets COO Jeff Wilpon told Dan Martin of the New York Post that GM Sandy Alderson will "have all the opportunity in the world to bring anybody he wants in." Alderson is restriction-free, but must bring ideas to his bosses on a case-by-case basis. Regarding the Mets' status as buyers or sellers, Alderson remarked, "The next three to four weeks will tell a lot."
- Asked by Martin if he had lost hope on keeping Jose Reyes, Wilpon replied, "Why would we? There's a long time between now and next year [and there are] a lot of things that can happen in a lot of different directions." Though he's been mum on the subject of his next contract publicly, the shortstop talks about the situation privately all the time, one friend told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Said the friend, "If the Mets think they're getting him for, like, $95 million, they're wrong. He's going to get paid. He is clear about that." Martino feels that even if Reyes gives the Mets a discount, he'll still require "well north of $100 million." Alderson said recently that the Mets will reach out to Reyes at some point.
- SI's Tom Verducci thinks the Mets will approach Reyes in July. A team source told him, "I'm sure there will come a point where we sit down and see what Jose wants. But there's nothing that says we won't try to keep the guy." The Mets would need to be overwhelmed with an offer of three top prospects to trade Reyes, in the opinion of Verducci.
- Martin talked to Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran, who said he is not worrying about trade possibilities.
- Mets first-round draft pick Brandon Nimmo "was asking for $2.5 million," tweets Baseball America's Jim Callis. Nimmo, drafted 13th overall, is committed to Arkansas. If Callis' rumor is correct, he's looking for $844K over slot.
- The Mets' front office wanted to annul the 2004 trade that sent Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano on medical grounds, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin. Mets employees believed the Rays did not supply the full trainers' log on Zambrano, who had elbow issues at the time of the deal. However, the Wilpons elected not to try to revise or undo the trade. Still, GM Jim Duquette isn't off the hook, because trading Kazmir for a healthy Zambrano wouldn't have been a good deal either.
