Mets Show Off Lineup of Players They Drafted and Developed More and more these days, the Mets are feeling made in New York. Before their game against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, the team made official the contract extension it negotiated earlier in the week with the left-hander Jon Niese, who was the Mets" seventh-round selection in the 2005 draft. The game itself was the major league debut of center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, the Mets" third-round pick in 2008. It reflected a greater trend for the club, as homegrown faces are becoming an increasingly common sight in the clubhouse and on the field. "We have a lot of good young players on this team," General Manager Sandy Alderson said during the news conference to announce the deal with Niese. And what we would hope is that we're able to retain many of them as we go forward and that they will be the core of a very competitive winning team over the next few years. Alderson said the deal with Niese - five years for $25.5 million, with two team option years - was "propitious," given his major league service time. The Mets in effect bought out his years of arbitration eligibility and a couple of years of his free agency. Alderson said it would be speculative to interpret Niese's deal as a sign of the Mets" new positive financial outlook after settling with the trustee representing the victims of Bernard L. Madoff and finishing the sale of minority ownerships shares. But he did acknowledge the timing of the deal was noteworthy. "We may have reached this contract agreement anyway, but it is hard to ignore the fact that those other issues were resolved," Alderson said. Before the game, Manager Terry Collins praised Niese's variety of pitches and his increased effectiveness. Alderson said quality left-handers were a valuable commodity in baseball. Alderson said the Mets" long-term goal was to "develop and retain" the team's young core. But the involvement of Nieuwenhuis, who had his first major league hit, an infield single, in the fourth inning, remains to be determined. Nieuwenhuis said before the game that his first call-up to Citi Field was a blessing. His 2011 season was cut short by a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery, and he missed time during spring training with a muscle strain in his side. "Coming off the shoulder injury, feeling good the first few weeks of camp, then to go down and tweak the oblique, it was tough," Nieuwenhuis said. I try to keep it on an even keel as much as possible, but it's been a little bit of a roller coaster for sure. With Andres Torres hurt - and not likely to be more than a stopgap solution - Nieuwenhuis will have an opportunity to prove his worth. A lineup with Nieuwenhuis as a starter would make for homegrown players in seven of the eight positions. Cynical observers could point to the homegrown feel of the team as a sign that the Mets lack the spending power to sign top players. Homegrown rosters are rare, particularly in big markets. But for one day at least, there were only positive thoughts that. "It's just an honor to play for the Mets organization," Niese said. The fans are excellent. The city of New York is excellent. And I just love our teammates.