Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com is reporting that Kelvin Escobar may not be ready to pitch by Opening Day.  Mets manager Jerry Manuel has opted to take a conservative approach with the throwing program Escobar is on.  Escobar, who has been limited to just one Major League appearance in the past two years because of right shoulder woes, said he’s been playing catch every other day, but he added that there’s still no timetable for when he’ll return to the mound.  With Escobar possibly out of the picture for the beginning of the season, the Mets will audition Bobby Parnell, Sean Green, Fernando Nieve and Ryota Igarashi for the role of setup man to Francisco Rodriguez.

Perhaps the Mets will look to the free-agent market for help.  Veteran lefty Joe Beimel told The Denver Post on Friday that he’s weighing an offer from the Mets with the Mets believed to have offered a contract of about $1 million.  Beimel is holding his breath as he is aiming for a 1 year $2 million offer.  Beimel waited last year til March 18th to sign a contract.

Beimel is a proven reliable arm but one has to remember his infamous trip to New York with the Dodgers during the playoffs in 2006 when he cut his hand at a bar thus costing the Dodgers one of their proven arms.