Lucas Duda continues to impress just about everyone at Mets camp.

Duda is sometimes compared to a young Jason Giambi. The similarities are obvious to Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, who drafted Giambi in Oakland.

“I think they will end up having a similar profile: Power guys with an excellent eye at the plate,” Alderson said. “If you have that combination, you can be a superstar.

“Especially for a left-handed hitter, if you’ve got power, the high on-base percentage, the approach and you can hit left-handed pitching, that’s [Reds first baseman] Joey Votto. It’s a handful of guys, and [Duda] has already demonstrated that he has that potential.”

According to Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger, Dan Warthen has been working with Jon Niese on maintaining his focus on the mound.

A rudimentary scan of his disastrous appearances in 2011 provides some insight. Niese allowed at least five runs in nine starts last season. In each of those games, Niese allowed at least three runs or more in one inning. He exhibited a tendency to implode quickly, rather than melt down over time.

To curb that, Warthen has spent the early part of camp counseling Niese not to let his mind drift. Catcher Josh Thole, a year older, now has more freedom to control Niese if he notices a series of sloppy deliveries. And Niese will be on the lookout, striving for day-to-day vigilance.

Finally, for a little light-hearted entertainment, here’s video from Metsblog of Tim Byrdak dressed as Hulk Hogan.

Fred Wilpon spoke with reporters Monday afternoon and essentially said the teams’ owners are not going anywhere.

“[Fans] shouldn’t be concerned about us owning the franchise, because we intend to own the franchise for a very long time,” he said. “Whether they’re happy about that right now, or not, I don’t know.”

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York writes of how Lucas Duda has impressed just about everyone in the Mets clubhouse.

“He’s putting the rest of us to shame,” [Jason] Bay said. “He was bench-pressing the other day. I couldn’t really tell, but I’m pretty sure they were the 120-pound dumbbells he was doing with one arm. You don’t see that very often. I would say 80, you’re doing pretty good on those.

“And not too many guys turned around a [Braves closer Craig] Kimbrel fastball last year. If I recall, he turned about a neck-high one around to dead-center field. He’s just one of those guys that probably doesn’t get enough notice — a lot probably because of the personality that he has. He doesn’t say much. But he’s a big, strong guy and he can hit.”

Terry Collins gave his opening speech yesterday, telling players that their job is to prove everyone wrong.

“I spoke from the heart, I always do,” Collins said. “I told them, ‘There are 29 teams that think they are better than you are. How does it make you feel, and what are you going to do about it? You can talk about it or you can do something about it.’ And that’s pretty much the gist of the whole conversation.”

Photo: @Mets

Jeff Wilpon bought the entire team t-shirts with the Underdog logo on the front.

Of course, this sent fans into a tizzy. Fans are upset that the Mets owners are calling their own team “underdogs.”

This is funny considering many of these same fans have declared that the Mets will finish in last place in the National League East, and possibly be the worst team in all of Major League Baseball. It’s okay to make those claims, but it’s not okay to consider them underdogs? Makes sense.

For those unaware, an underdog is defined as, “A person who is expected to lose in a contest or conflict.”

To me, this was an attempt by Wilpon to create something that this team can rally behind. Would you have preferred if the Wilpons sugar-coated everything, and told the players that they were all winners and that 2012 was their year? Then they would be bashed for being delusional.

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York tweeted the following from Terry Collins:

At the end of the day, it’s a t-shirt. Relax.

Photo by: MattBritt00 (Flickr.com)

Ryan Zimmerman signed a six year extension with the Nationals this weekend, so of course the next logical thing to do was to ask David Wright about it.

“I think Ryan did it the right way. They did it before spring training, per se. Now it’s kind of out of the way. My first extension we signed about halfway through the 2006 season. It’s probably better to not even do it during the season or during spring training. Like Zim and those guys have said, it creates kind of a distraction.”

Is Wright thinking about his own contract extension?

“I haven’t even discussed that with my agents, and obviously the team hasn’t discussed it with my agents or me,” Wright said. “I think that it might occur in the future. It might not. I don’t know. I’m not really sure the protocol, but I would assume the team pretty much approaches the player. I don’t think the front office wants 25 different phone calls from 25 different agents about extensions. We’ll wait and see. I’m very happy with my situation. I’ll go out and just try to play and not worry about that. The last thing on my mind is next year or the year after that.”

According to the Daily News, for the Mets to even consider trading Wright, the deal would need to include “Four Zack Wheelers.”

Johan Santana threw two simulated innings Sunday afternoon.

“Today was a good day. I’m not trying to back off from anything,” Santana said. “I’m doing everything just the same way I would do it if I didn’t have surgery on my arm.

“I missed a few [pitches], but I’ve got to make adjustments and I’m pretty sure my next time will be better.”

The Mets released this image of the patch yesterday.

The Mets announced Saturday that the team will wear a patch on their uniforms to honor the late Gary Carter. The patch features a home plate with “The Kid” and the No. 8 in the middle.

Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger did a Q & A with Jason Bay to find out more about his friendship with Eddie Vedder.

“I was a huge Pearl Jam fan … Eddie’s a huge baseball fan. Huge Cubs fan. There’s a lot of guys who have met him. Sean Casey, who’s a diehard Pearl Jam fan, he’s hung out with Eddie numerous times. When I got traded to Boston, we played a game and that night Eddie was playing somewhere in Boston on his solo tour. And he signed this poster, ‘Hey, Jason, welcome to the Red Sox.’ And then Casey gave me his number. So we text back and forth.”

“I’ve never met him. I’ve never actually technically met him. And that’s the funny part. Casey was like, ‘Hey, here’s his number, he said text him.’ So he was like ‘Hey, sounds good, man. If I’m ever up in Seattle recording …’ He’s never up there. He’s got a lot going on. I’m probably the last person (on his mind). ‘Oh, I’ve got to call Jason Bay!’”

Pitching prospect Matt Harvey threw his first live batting practice Saturday. According to David Lennon, Harvey is expected to begin the season with Double-A Binghamton, but he writes, “plans are subject to change.”

“Obviously, that’s a pretty impressive-looking pitcher,” manager Terry Collins said. “When you stand behind there, he’s got a feel for it all. He’s got tremendous rotation on his breaking ball, got a good slider, knows how to sink it. We all know he can throw hard. Now it’s a matter of dealing with the process, and that’s getting better command and more consistency. I truly believe in the process.”

Andrew Keh of the New York Times profiles prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis who discussed past injuries and his future.

“There’s no doubt this is an important spring for him because of the situation we’re looking at, with us in desperate need of guys who can play outfield,” ManagerTerry Collins said of Nieuwenhuis. “We’re going to give him a lot of playing time. He’s going to get plenty of chances to prove himself.”

Mike Pelfrey did not do well last season. We know it, and he knows it. David Wright is standing up for Pelfrey though, telling Mike Kerwick of The Record:

“He was coming off a good year,” Wright said, “and then all of a sudden just because he’s named the opening day starter … a lot of times he got matched up with [Roy] Halladay and Josh Johnson.”

He deserved better, Wright said.

“There was numerous times where he pitched well and should have gotten a win,” Wright said. “There were a couple times where we blew leads for him late. There were a couple times where he just had some bad luck because he’s going up against other team’s No. 1.”

Just my way of honoring Carter.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, following the memorial services Friday night, Fred Wilpon presented Gary Carter’s wife, Sandy, with a No. 8 patch.

The patch will be worn by all Mets players this season, as well as during Spring Training.

David Lennon of Newsday said the patch will be a “No. 8 patch over a home-plate cutout.”

As soon as an image is available, I’ll be sure to post it.

Hundreds of friends, family, and former teammates gathered at Chris Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl. Friday night to remember Gary Carter. Read more about the service in The Times.

Mike Puma of the New York Post sat down with new Mats closer Frank Francisco. Francisco said he is up for a challenge.

“I got excited, because it’s a young team with a lot of potential,” Francisco said yesterday. “Everybody has their eyes on the Mets to see what’s going to happen, and I like that. I like challenges — that’s me. I like people watching me.”

According to Andy Martino of the Daily News, there was plenty of skepticism in the Mets clubhouse after Ryan Braun won his appeal.

“Ryan Braun is out there saying this shows he is innocent,” one Met said. “Does that mean O.J. Simpson is innocent, too?”

“Oh, wow,” a Mets player said on Friday, after hearing of Braun’s chain-of-custody explanation. “That was his defense? Now every positive test is going to be challenged. That could be a mess.”

Added a third player: “What a joke.”

Another Met said: “Seems like he’s guilty.”

A few Mets did go on the record about the case. David Wright, R.A. Dickey, and Jason Bay all spoke with Newsday about Braun’s victory.

 ”I wasn’t rooting one way or the other,” Wright said. “I’ve gotten a chance to be around Ryan a little bit — whether it was the World Baseball Classic or the All-Star Game — and I think he’s a great guy. I’ve had a blast playing with him and against him. Whether you agree or disagree with the decision, I guess the process worked.”

“If you’re guilty, I’m hoping that you’re found guilty,” Wright said. “If someone knowingly tries to cheat the system or cheat the game, I hope that they’re caught and I hope that they’re punished. In this case, I see what everybody else sees, but that’s why you have the appeals process.”

“I was surprised because it set a precedent,” Dickey said. “I totally expected for them to find that it was legitimate. The fact that, through a technicality, they found that it wasn’t, that is a surprise.

“I think that people still have doubt, like, ‘Oh, here’s another way to get away with it,’ that type of mentality. But we’ve also seen a high number of people caught by it. The fact that Ryan Braun, the NL MVP, is not beyond the arm of what’s going on, that’s encouraging, too.”

According to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who is presiding over the $386 million clawback lawsuit against Mets, will decide whether or not to toss the case on March 5.

Jed S. Rakoff, a United State District Court judge, heard more than two hours of oral arguments by both sides before deferring his decision. His only ruling was to toss out the trustee’s two expert witnesses and the one offered by the Mets’ owners, John Maine, who has the same name as a former pitcher for the team.

A jury trial is scheduled to begin on March 19.

The Mets now have a commitment from seven investors to become limited partners in the team.  Among the seven is Steve Cohen, who is also trying to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers.

New York owes $25 million to Major League Baseball, a loan whose repayment was extended from November until March, and $40 million to Bank of America. The team chose to sell limited partnerships following the collapse of a deal last summer with hedge fund manager David Einhorn.

Andrew Keh of the New York Times sat down with Mike Nickeas. Nickeas understands that if he wants to back up Josh Thole behind the plate, he’s going to need to hit.

“My offense is something I worked tremendously hard on in the off-season,” he [Nickeas]said. “We’re going after it. I’m all in. I know I need to get it done now.”

“I’m removing all the inefficiencies from my swing, so I have more time to recognize pitches and see the ball,” Nickeas said. “My goal is to be an extremely tough out. I don’t want to be the guy they get to, put a couple of pitches in, and be done.”

I’m not a pro when it comes to public relations. Never have been, and probably never will be. But even I could tell you that if you’re strapped for cash and on the verge of losing an organization you have run for the past few decades, you probably shouldn’t fly to an NBA game in a helicopter.

But, again, what do I know? I’m not the Wilpons.

Yes, the Mets front office went to Miami in style this afternoon to check out the Knicks and Linsanity first hand.

Photo from @AnthonyDiComo

And they're off... (Photo from @DPLennon)

So not only did they supposedly spend the money on a helicopter, but knowing the Mets’ luck, they will probably also have to shell out some dough to make repairs to the field.

Even if for some odd reason this joy ride was paid for by another party, it still doesn’t look good.

I don’t even know what to say anymore.

After flying back to New York to see team doctors for an ailment that was not related to his ankle, Ike Davis returned to Florida to begin Spring Training. Of course, the fact that the team was vague as to why he had flown back to New York, allowed for speculation to run wild.

Well there’s one mystery solved. Now on to the second. Are there no doctors in Florida that could have handled this?