Jeter wants no part of discussing Wilpon

Derek Jeter wasn't touching the Fred Wilpon story.

"You're asking me about it?" Jeter said before Monday night's game, referring to Wilpon's comments in The New Yorker that criticized some of his high-profile Mets and the team itself. "I've got nothing to do with that."

Jeter certainly knows the feeling of waking up one morning to see incendiary remarks from the owner. Jeter and George Steinbrenner famously ended up doing a Visa commercial as the result of a rant by The Boss that questioned the shortstop's commitment. During spring training this year, Hank Steinbrenner questioned the Yankees' hunger last year, saying some players were more concerned about building "mansions" than winning the World Series. That was an apparent reference to Jeter.

"Don't drag me into this one too," Jeter said with a half-smile. "Everybody got that? I've got nothing to do with that."

Former Met Pedro Feliciano had not heard about the story but, when informed, had a reaction similar to Wright's. "That's surprising to me," Feliciano said. "[Wilpon's] a wonderful man, a very good, good guy. Maybe with all of what they have been through as an organization, it's hard to stay calm and be like that, but I'm very surprised."

Feliciano said if he were involved, it would bother him. "Yeah, I think so, because you're a part of that organization," he said. "For your mental preparation, that's just something you have to work through."

Chavez not running

Eric Chavez (broken left foot), on the DL since May 6, said Friday that he hoped to run sometime this week, but Joe Girardi said he isn’t ready.

"He’s walking without the boot but he’s not able to run yet," Girardi said. "Until he’s really able to do that, there won’t be a lot of baseball activities. I can’t tell you when he’ll be able to run, but he seems to be doing OK. He’s walking fine, but it’s just getting to that next step."

Extra bases

Girardi said Joba Chamberlain wasn’t available to pitch last night, though not because of the eye infection he has been battling. Chamberlain pitched Friday and Saturday and warmed up Sunday . . . Girardi said Rafael Soriano (right elbow inflammation) could throw off a mound "maybe at the end of this homestand." No date has been set for Phil Hughes, who’ll accompany the team on its nine-game trip to the West Coast . . . The Chicago Tribune reported that former Yankees first baseman Bill "Moose" Skowron is battling lung cancer.