DENVER — Bud Selig still believes in the Mets.
As part of his farewell tour — he is due to retire in January — the commissioner on Friday was at Coors Field, where a topic of conversation was the Mets’ struggle to put a competitive team on the field in recent years.
Selig has a long friendship with Mets owner Fred Wilpon and used to employ general manager Sandy Alderson in the commissioner’s office.
“I just talked to Sandy Alderson on the field, who I have tremendous respect for,” Selig said before the Mets’ 10-3 loss to the Rockies. “I think the Mets are playing better. I think the Mets feel that they are better. And I have a lot of faith not only in the Wilpons, but in Sandy Alderson. And he tells me the farm system will produce the kind of talent they need to do better.”
Selig continued: “A lot of people make judgments. Rebuilding a club through its farm system is a slow process.”
Selig was asked about the Mets’ capacity to add to a payroll that has dipped under $100 million in recent seasons. The Mets entered this year with an $87 million payroll.
“I am not the least bit concerned about the Mets’ ability to compete at the major-league level,” Selig said. “No doubt about it.”
Juan Lagares went 2-for-5 with a double for his second straight multi-hit game since rejoining the team from the disabled list.
Daniel Murphy was thrown out attempting to steal third base in the first inning, ending his stolen-base streak at 28 dating back to last season.
Manager Terry Collins was asked about the possibility Bartolo Colon, working on six days’ rest, was too strong in his start against the Rockies on Thursday. In that start, Colon allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits over 4 ²/₃ innings.
Because of off days and rainouts, most Mets starting pitchers have added bullpen sessions in recent days.
“In Colon’s case he didn’t get to throw an extra time, but when the rainout came we had the other guys do some throwing so there’s not as much rest going on,” Collins said.
“I’m not really sure what happened [Thursday] night — that’s just a real uncharacteristic outing for [Colon], because he’s usually down in the zone.”
Mookie Wilson will be signing copies of his autobiography, “Mookie: Life, Baseball, and the ’86 Mets” on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Words bookstore in Maplewood, N.J. Wilson will hold another signing on Monday at the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, N.J.