NEW YORK — As Sandy Alderson and Jeff Wilpon huddled in the busy passageway of Citi Field, tumult churned around them. If this conversation had taken place, perhaps, even an hour earlier, it would have been a rosy one. The Mets general manager and its chief operating officer could gloat of a 10-3 record, of an eight-game winning streak and a view from atop the National League standings — from which they could see the rival Nationals four rungs below.
But this seemed too simple. Instead, the right hand of Travis d'Arnaud, their burgeoning young catcher, was fractured.