Assistant GM John Ricco told reporters on Friday the Mets have no intention of shutting down Harvey, who has thrown 166 innings this season, before the end of the season, whether the Mets make the playoffs or not.

Reds OF Jay Bruce is not in Cincinnati's starting lineup Friday (July 31, 3:20 pm).

The Mets believed they were close to a deal for Brewers OF Gerardo Parra?last week before it fell apart,?sources told Newsday reporter Marc Carig (July 25, 2015).?Parra is now close to being traded to the Orioles straight up for reliever Zack Davies, according to FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal (July 31, 7:10 am).

There is a good chance the Padres trade OF Justin Upton, as they're gearing up to trade off a variety of players, team executives are telling ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (July 30, 7:20 pm).

The Mets and Brewers will not be making any trades before Friday's 4 pm non-waiver trade deadline, Brewers GM Doug Melvin told local?MLB.com reporter Andy McAlvy (July 30, 5:11 pm).

Last week, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark said, in order to trade Niese, the Mets told teams they would need to get back a player under contract beyond next season (July 23, 2015), specifically a slugging outfielder (July 23, 2015).?The day before, it was said the?Mets?were?not eager to move Niese, believing they could eventually secure a trade using just minor leaguers (July 21, 2015).

The Mets have had discussions with the Brewers?and want OF Carlos Gomez, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (July 29, 7:29 pm).

"There has been much recent talk between the Mets and Brewers," a source told the NY Post's Mike Puma (July 29, 5:40 pm).

The Mets reached out to the Rockies about acquiring SS Troy Tulowitzki, but left talks thinking Colorado was not serious about trading him, a source told FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal (July 25, 2015).

Rosenberg and Cerrone talk about how Sandy Alderson will handle the?trade deadline, whether Terry Collins is in over his head, what the future holds for David Wright, and whether?Yankees fans are finally as stressed out as?Mets fans...

You could win a 3-night trip for four to experience it all for yourself, including:

The Dodgers have interest in?Niese, according to FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal (June 28, 2015), and the Mets expressed interest in Rollins this past winter when he was still on the Phillies (Dec. 7, 2014).?In fact, Rollins told reporters the?Mets were his No. 2 choice for where to be traded this past winter,?though Phillies and Mets sources told multiple reporters, including me, that Rollins -- who had a no-trade clause -- flat-out rejected the idea of being traded to the Mets.

I'd like to think Niese has more value than an overpaid, out-of-favor, over-the-hill veteran who the Dodgers want to move to make room for an inexpensive, elite, top infield prospect. However,?most teams appear skeptical of Niese's shoulder and they see him as a back-up plan. He's a gamble. The Mets have been trying to trade a starting pitcher since early June, and yet nothing has happened. If they had a strong offer for Niese (or Dillon Gee for that matter) they'd have done it. It's possible Niese's value could increase as we get closer to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but it's also possible more pitchers (and competition in the trade market) could become available as well.

The interview was conducted Thursday, only a few?hours before the team notified Matz of his promotion. He and?Cerrone discuss life in Triple-A, whether his?Tommy John surgery turned out to be a blessing, waiting for the phone to ring from Citi Field, and preparing mentally for?his first big league start...

Gee said he initially felt pain during the?final inning of his last outing, which may have been triggered by having?to run the bases the previous half-inning.

"That last inning I got in the stretch and that's when it really started grabbing me," he explained. "I was pretty sore the next day and it got a lot better. So, I was hopeful, but it's kind of just plateaued. It hasn't really completely gone away."

In talking to people in?the organization, if it's going to happen at all, I'd bet on it being some time around the team's weekend trip to Pittsburgh or at?home the following week against the Phillies.?The way it stands,?Syndergaard and Harvey are on pace to both have starts Sunday, May 23, in Pittsburgh. I don't know if this matters, or if it will hold up, but this strikes me as a good day to get Syndergaard some action on the road, while getting Harvey an extra day of rest.

The point is, it's getting close. It's not a matter of will we see these guys, but when...

In this week's MetsBlog Q&A Cast, presented by Citi, ESPN's Buster Olney talks with MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone about how the MLB views the Mets these days, given the team's hot start.

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/202395723" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

Sandy Alderson is thankful for the depth of his farm system,?especially given recent injuries to David Wright, Zack Wheeler, Travis d'Arnaud, Jerry Blevins, Josh Edgin and Vic Black.

In this week's MetsBlog Q&Acast, presented by Citi, Matthew Cerrone talks with Steve Kettmann about his book on Sandy Alderson, "Baseball Maverick," which details Alderson's rise through MLB, blazing a trail for the modern, analytical GM up to his work with the New York Mets.

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/200207330" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

This spring, the Mets are 18-11 and have outscored opponents 169 to 115, while having a?Grapefruit League-leading .856 OPS as a team.

?There is sort of a group dynamic going on,?? Mets GM Sandy Alderson told NY Post reporter Kevin Kernan (April 1). ?These at-bats are interrelated, because these guys are all talking about what they?re doing, what they are trying to do, so the cumulative effect has really been excellent so far."

The Mets hired new hitting coach Kevin Long in October, 2014, after he had spent the previous eight seasons with the Yankees.

The game will not air on local TV or radio.

Jon Niese gets the start for the Mets, opposed by Gio Gonzalez for?the Nationals.

"We had conversations this winter, and Tulowitzki has an understanding what we're thinking,'' Rockies GM Jeff Bridich told Nightengale.

Tulowitzki told Nightengale that, in a perfect world, he stays in Colorado and wins with the Rockies.

Here are nine things we learned about the Mets listening to the four interviews...

Sandy Alderson indicated Tuesday that Rafael Montero?is now?likely to make the Opening Day bullpen, now that Dillon?Gee is in the rotation.

Here are Mets reliever results after 15 Grapefruit League games this spring....

"I disagree with his lifestyle," Daniel Murphy later told reporter Mike Vorkunov (NJ.com, Mar. 3). "I do disagree with the fact that Billy is a homosexual. That doesn't mean I can't still invest in him and get to know him.?I don't think the fact that someone is a homosexual should completely shut the door on investing in them in a relational aspect."

2) He's working on staying as consistent as possible with his hitting approach this spring.

?We?re watching all the throwing he does right now, watching it intently,? Collins said. ?We?ll monitor it during the season, you know the pregame stuff and the throwing programs. We?re telling him to save those bullets for games."

3) Wilmer Flores will have every opportunity to win the starting job at shortstop, but, Alderson said, "there are a few guys in camp who could challenge him."

Daniel Murphy is driving the ball more, while using his lower body, thanks to Kevin Long >> Read more

Terry Collins said he has no problem with Jays SS?Jose Reyes being critical of Ruben Tejada >> Read more

New Mets hitting coach Kevin Long already has Daniel Murphy using the lower-half of his body and driving the ball more, the All-Star second baseman told SNY's Mets Hot Stove on Saturday night.

"It's been awesome, to tell you the truth," Murphy said about working with Long. "He's got me getting back in to my legs. I have really good hands and eyes, which can sometimes be a detriment with how I attack the ball because I just use my hands and not my lower body.?Now I'm really driving my back leg in to the ground, which has made me a little more efficient and given me more time to see the ball and it's carrying more in batting practice."

Dodgers SS Jimmy Rollins said Saturday that the Mets were his No. 2 choice for where to be traded this winter by the Phillies, according to reporter Jerry Crasnick (ESPN, Mar. 1).

Rollins, who is eligible for free agency next winter, told Crasnick he believes New York's future is 'pretty bright.'

Mets players report to camp Saturday for 7 am's Photo Day, after which they're expected to hold a standard full-day workout, assuming the weather clears up. It was pouring rain earlier the morning, with rain remaining in the forecast throughout the day.

In the event the team does practice, batters will finally be swinging against teammates?throwing BP, as opposed to tracking pitches as they've done the first two days of camp.

Matt Harvey is scheduled to face hitters tracking pitches during batting practice for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery.

In other words, if they do not make the 25-man Opening Day roster, they would need to pass through?waivers before being sent to the minors.

In addition, RH reliever Buddy Carlyle, who was signed to a minor-league deal in January,?has an out clause in his contract that he can exercise by Opening Day (Carig, Feb. 19).

"There was a sharp pain in there," Niese said about his shoulder pain from a?year ago.?"I think I got off the mound way too early, before I got my arm in shape and kind of screwed things up in there."

Niese eventually missed time in 2014?with pain in the?AC joint in his shoulder,?elbow inflammation and sore triceps, all of which is likely connected to the partially torn rotator cuff in his pitching arm. He was also?pulled from a late-season start with?an elevated heart rate for the second time in three years.