ATLANTA — The Mets consider their players’ psyches so fragile that they no longer provide copies of The Post or the other New York tabloid in their Citi Field clubhouse.
The newspapers were a staple of the Mets’ clubhouse for decades at Shea Stadium, but a source said team management didn’t want the players exposed to the “bad vibes” from the tabloids after back-to-back September collapses.
The only newspaper now provided in the clubhouse is USA Today, whose coverage of the Mets is very limited.
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz confirmed the removal of the tabloids, but claimed it was because the club “didn’t want to play favorites among the New York newspapers.”
Horwitz also said the Mets chose to provide USA Today because “it is the official paper of Major League Baseball,” even though USA Today is published by Gannett.
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Carlos Delgado returned to the Mets’ lineup last night after missing a week due to chronic pain in his right hip, but manager Jerry Manuel said the first baseman’s playing time will be closely monitored from now on.
“I will go to him on a daily basis and say, ‘Hey, how you feel today?’ ” Manuel said yesterday. “He felt it can’t get any worse, and it will be a thing of tolerance. It will be up to him. Now, if I see some things that I think he’s subconsciously not doing, then I have to make a decision to rest him.”
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GM Omar Minaya said catcher Brian Schneider is at least another 10 days away from coming off the DL. Schneider is battling both a strained calf and muscle strain in his back and still isn’t able to catch even in workouts.
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Manuel said righty Tim Redding needs more rehab time in the minor leagues before becoming a possibility to join the bullpen in long relief or fill Oliver Perez’s rotation spot.
Redding, out since early in spring training with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff, is scheduled to make his first rehab assignment tonight for Triple-A Buffalo.
