Mets Morning News: LeBatard gets over the BBWAA, Mets fans not over Glavine

Meet the Mets

Bobby Parnell has been cleared for baseball activities after having surgery on a herniated disc in his neck last September. That's a good sign that the Mets closer will be ready for the start of the 2014 season.

Tom Glavine says he had fun during his tenure with the Mets but he wishes the team's fans would get over the fact that he didn't play so well in his most important game with the team. Hopefully Carlos Beltran will offer similar sentiments when he is elected to the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Sandy Alderson is confident that spring training will not be awkward with both Lucas Duda and Ike Davis competing for the first base job. It's now considered more likely than not that the Mets will enter February with both lefties on the roster.

Other players who hopefully will not contribute to awkwardness are Jack Leathersich, Dustin Lawley, Danny Muno, Logan Verrett, and Cory Vaugh. All fives guys were announced as non-roster invitees to spring training yesterday.

Around MLB

Dan LeBatard is immediately feeling the repercussions of handing his vote over to the people. the BBWAA has suspended him for a year while permanently revoking his Hall of Fame voting rights. He's also being lambasted by various media members. "I knew this would be the consequence," said LeBatard, "Hopefully, change is a consequence, too."

Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage told a Pittsburgh radio station that he is expecting former Mets farmhand A.J. Burnett to retire before the 2014 season. That's surprising considering how effective Burnett was for the Bucs in 2014.

Tigers ace Justin Verlander has injured himself during offseason workouts and will need six weeks to recover from surgery on a core muscle.

Embattled Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez would reportedly consider serving a suspension of less than 100 games if that's what is handed down by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz. A decision on Rodriguez's appeal of his MLB-mandated 211-game suspension could come as soon as today.

A Greg Maddux story recently told by Mark Grace could be one of the funniest tales ever told of any Hall of Famer.

Yesterday at AA

My favorite newsletter author Dan Lewis wrote an excellent piece about Mike Piazza and the myth that he was a steroid abuser. It's a must-read for fans of the legendary backstop.

On this date in 2006, Mike Pelfrey signed his first contract with the Mets. It paid the first round pick $5.25 million over four years.