Depending on what report you read, the Mets are either interested in former Padres pitcher Chris Young or taking him out to a celebratory dinner while the ink dries on his contract, presumably also providing him a jolly ribbing, in the tradition of rival Ivy League alumni.

In terms of height and education, the 6-foot-10 Princeton grad is in the upper echelon of Major League pitchers, and, for that matter, humans.

In terms of likely ability to impact a Major League club in 2011, Young’s stature is not nearly so impressive.

Though Young was a very good pitcher when he was last fully healthy, he has not been fully healthy since 2007. Labrum surgery ended his 2009 campaign in June, and he missed most of the 2010 season with a strain in the same shoulder. He did return in September to pitch well in three short starts, but even then his average fastball velocity hovered somewhere in the R.A. Dickey territory, and he wasn’t throwing knuckleballs.

So there are quite a few red flags for Young.

But all that said, if Young weren’t coming off two straight years with shoulder problems and hadn’t suffered a massive decline in velocity, the Mets probably wouldn’t be pursuing him. Remember that the team is strapped for cash and that Javier Vazquez — himself of the declining velocity, and of the 80 ERA+ in 2010 — just got $7 million from the Marlins.

We don’t know the cost of Young’s contract yet, or if there will even be one, but assuming it is small, his signing is exactly the type the Mets must make this offseason. He represents a very low-risk pickup with a potentially high reward, however unlikely. With a couple more like him and a good deal of luck, perhaps they can cobble together a decent pitching staff on a discount.

And I have to hope that this front office — more than the last one — does its due diligence on players before and after inking them to deals. It may be that the Mets executives or their scouts know something about Young or saw something in his late-season starts that makes his recovery more likely than it seems on paper.