Niese deal sign of better times

Niese deal sign of better times

Howard Simmons/New York Daily News

Happy days could be here again for Lucas Duda and the Mets.

An hour before they sent their 37-year-old knuckle ball specialist, R.A. Dickey, out to face the Braves on a bright, but chilly and blustery afternoon at Citi Field, the Mets officially announced that they had signed a five-year extension with Jonathon Niese, their 25-year-old lefty with markedly different stuff.

By giving him a five-year, $ 25.5 million exten sion that will keep him with the team through 2018, the Mets are signaling that they are building for the future.

As symbols for stability of the franchise goes, the signing of Niese to an extension is as good as it gets for the moment. It indicates the Mets, who were quiet in free agency, are open for business. If they're not going to sign free agents, at least theyre committed to some of their own.

You have to have the core players to establish your foundation and you have to have the young players coming through your system to augment the core players in addition to the free agents, said Mets GM Sandy Alderson. For us to simply rely upon free agency in the future is a mistake. If you look at the good teams who are able to sustain success they dont rely upon free agency.

Aldersons longterm plan was on display against the Braves on Saturday afternoon. The Mets used a pair of solo homers by right fielder Lucas Duda, a solo shot by David Wright and an RBI single by Josh Thole to supplement six solid innings from Dickey and scoreless relief from the bullpen to beat Atlanta 4-2.

The Mets are off to a 2-0 start. Sure there are 160 more games to play, but it beats being 0-2. Let the good times roll.

Im hoping we can keep the momentum. Im hoping this can be the norm for us, Dickey said of the way the Mets have played so far this season.

Slowly the psychology of the Mets is changing. The shift from a star driven team began with the decision not to pursue Jose Reyes in free agency. Much of that was due to financial restraints, but a shift in philosophy nonetheless. Then they moved the fences in at Citi Field, giving their power hitters the belief that they had a fighting chance at the plate. That is paying dividends already as was indicated by Dudas two homers and one by David Wright in the first inning. Dudas homer in the fourth inning was over the moved in fences. The other one was a rocket that travele d 400 feet.

The clouds began to part for the Mets when they reached a settlement of the trustees lawsuit. Then they finalized deals for new minority investors and paid off loans to MLB and Bank of America, giving the Mets a better financial outlook.