"It was with little surprise that Mets manager Terry Collins announced Wednesday that he was handing the ball to Mike Pelfrey as his opening day starter. And a day later the Mets officially secured the final piece of their rotation when Chris Young passed his physical and finalized a one-year contract.

The 6-foot-10 Young, who was an All-Star for the Padres during the tenure of current Mets general manager Sandy Alderson in San Diego, ended a long courtship with the Mets, although one baseball official said that the physical was far from a formality. The Mets wanted to be as sure as they could that Young was ready to perform again after missing most of the last two seasons with arm troubles.

Young returned from a labrum cleanup to make his first start last season for the Padres, but then shut down until three September starts. He believes the problems are behind him.

"It was kind of a cleanup," Young said of the surgery. "And I think I rushed it a little too fast out of spring training last year. Hindsight is 20/20. I wanted to get on the field as quickly as possible. I wanted to get out there. And I think that I pushed it a little bit too fast and didn't give it the time it needed to fully strengthen."