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.

Hat tip to Joe Budd at Amazin’ Avenue for pointing out this Mets’ Top 20 prospects list from poster Chris in Ga at MetsGeek.

It’s clearly a well-researched list and a good read for Mets fans like myself that might not be so familiar with some of the Mets’ younger prospects.

For prospects lists like this one, I’ve learned not to pick nits with specific designations — who’s No.3 and who’s No. 7 — because creating a list like this one requires a ton of educated guesswork and because there are so many factors that can affect a player’s development. Really, I like reading this stuff for the information more than the rankings.

But I do have one quibble with the methodology here, though: He ranks a bunch of pitchers who haven’t shown much in the Minors over Mark Cohoon, a lefty who, at 21, acquitted himself nicely in Double-A after a midseason jump from Savannah.

I recognize that Cohoon’s raw stuff is not as impressive as that of the pitchers who made the list, but since pitching prospects are so fickle, I would generally opt for results and durability at upper Minor League levels over high ceilings and projectability.

Kyle Allen and Eric Goeddel might have more impressive arms, but Cohoon is the one who rocked a 4:1 K:BB ratio while staying healthy enough to throw 161 1/3 innings across two levels in 2010. Maybe he has a lower ceiling, but I’d guess he has a much higher floor.

I’ll add that I’m biased toward Cohoon because I’ve spoken with him a couple of times and he seemed like an extremely bright guy who’s very dedicated to his craft. Granted, perhaps the same is true of all the dudes who made the list. Either way, it strikes me that it’s worth something.

It was difficult to leave today’s Terry Collins press conference not feeling confident about the direction of the Mets. So I didn’t.

These days, with some Mets fans so upset over the past few seasons, whenever you agree with a decision the team makes or something someone from the front office says, someone will pop up and accuse you of “drinking the Kool-Aid.”

But here’s the thing: What if you like the way the Kool-Aid tastes?

Today, Sandy Alderson several times stressed Terry Collins’ experience in player development and familiarity with the young players in the Mets’ system as factors in his hiring. Alderson even used the term “sustainability,” a favorite of term of mine to describe the benefits of building a winner from within.

Collins, for his part, called the Mets’ current crop of young players “the finest group of young men” he has met in baseball. He emphasized that he wants players to continue getting better even at the Major League level and to establish better lines of communication with all 25 players on his roster, the front office and the Minor League managers.

When pressed about the rough end to his tenure in Anaheim, he said, “It was a huge learning experience…. I did a bad job managing the clubhouse. I will guarantee you it will not happen here.”

Collins even mentioned speaking to Carlos Beltran about how badly Beltran wants to win, and said he had no problem with Jose Reyes’ celebrations as long as they didn’t get him drilled.

And look: Words are only words, and Collins spewed a ton of them, so maybe I was just hearing what I wanted to hear. But what I picked up, and kept picking up, were the right words, over and over again. Sure, maybe Collins and Alderson are just saying they want to create a sustainable winner and compete in 2011 and beyond, providing the press good copy to buy them time while they conspire to keep the Mets’ mired in the basement of the National League East.

But I doubt it. It is yet to be determined if they’ll have any success, but it certainly sounds like they have a better idea of what success demands than their predecessors. There was nothing like, “I’m in the starting pitcher market,” or “hey, f@#$ everything, let’s make our best prospect a mop-up guy.”

Maybe I’m being too optimistic. Maybe I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, though whatever this is seems a whole lot more nutritious. It’s like green tea sweetened with just a touch of lemonade, my favorite beverage (order it by name — the Ted Berg) and the same stuff I’ve been enjoying and serving for years now.

And though it’s too soon to really know, it sure seems like the drink is more likely spiked with winning baseball than cyanide.

The rest of the staff remains in flux, although a source said Mookie Wilson might return at first base. Bench coach Dave Jauss might be asked to fill the minor league field coordinator position that Collins vacated, and Ken Oberkfell will either remain as manager of Triple-A Buffalo or become bench coach. Hitting coach Howard Johnson is unlikely to remain in that role, but will be employed by the organization in some capacity.

– Andy Martino, N.Y. Daily News.

Cool. Mookie has been employed by the club in some role or another for years now — team ambassador, organizational baserunning coordinator, Cyclones manager, first-base coach. Obviously I think the Mets should have a first-base coach that they think will do a good job of it, that understands and preaches the organizational first-base coach philosophy and that they’re certain will consistently yell, “Back!” on pickoff moves and remind runners how many outs there are. But if they think Mookie can handle that, then, you know, awesome.

The only reason I mention him here, really, is to brag: One time Mookie Wilson called me. I was working on a freelance piece about the 1988 Mets, so I contacted the team to see if they could put me in touch with some former players. They obliged, and told me Mookie would be calling me soon.

If you’ve heard Mookie Wilson speak, you know he has a pretty distinct voice, so I had no doubt whom I was speaking with when I heard him say, “Hello, is this Ted?”

But even so, I played dumb. “Ahh, yes. Who is this?”

“This is Mookie Wilson.”

It was awesome. I know I’m pathetic.