Mets Notes: Buck, Maine, Tanous

As MLB.com's Anthony DiComo mentions, catcher John Buck was attached to a pair of major trades during the offseason, both times with a team just trying to dump his $6MM salary.  Buck has been more than an afterthought in the early going, however – after adding four RBIs in today's defeat of the Marlins, the backstop now leads the National League with nine runs knocked in.  More on the Mets:

• Continued success by Buck would allow more time for Mets catching prospect Travis D'Arnaud to marinate in the minors, wrote Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal last night.  From a business standpoint, it makes sense for the Mets to wait until at least mid-June to recall D'Arnaud, so that he will not be arbitration eligible as a Super Two player after the 2015 season.  Same goes for pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, who is "not far away" according to Las Vegas 51s manager Wally Backman (Mark Hale of the New York Post reporting).  With a walk rate of 4.7 per nine innings in his young Triple-A career, Wheeler legitimately needs the development time.
• To make room on the 40-man roster for Sunday starter Aaron Laffey, the Mets moved Johan Santana to the 60-day DL, notes DiComo.  Santana's Mets career is already over, as he underwent season-ending shoulder capsule surgery this week.  Check out this ESPN report from earlier this week for more on the procedure.  Between his $25.5MM salary and the $5.5MM buyout he'll receive after the season, the Mets are paying Santana $31MM in 2013.
• "My shoulder was being held together with duct tape at the time. They knew everything that was going on. They all knew. It was obvious. You don’t go from throwing 94 to 84 miles per hour. They knew my condition. I was 100 percent upfront about it; I didn’t lie about it. At the time it wasn’t so much pain, I just didn’t have anything," Marlins reliever John Maine told Jorge Arangure Jr. of the New York Times Friday, regarding the end of his time with the Mets in 2010.  Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen had called Maine a "habitual liar" regarding his health, after that game.  Maine, 31, has clawed his way back to the bigs as part of Miami's pen. 
• Worth a read: Conor Glassey of Baseball America published an interview with Mets scouting director Tommy Tanous yesterday.
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