CORRECTION: Mets busy with team meeting as Yanks game rained out

(Corrects team name in sixth paragraph)

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Mets had the night off on Friday when their game against the New York Yankees was postponed because of rain, yet the National League team put in time to clear the air with a team meeting.

A mediocre start by the Mets, considered pennant favorites after signing left hander Johan Santana to a six-year, $137.5 million contract, and some locker room finger pointing had created a swirl of doubt around the club.

"We had a players' meeting," Mets manager Willie Randolph explained to reporters after arriving late for a news conference at Yankee Stadium. "We just wanted to tighten it up a little bit, chit-chat a little bit and we did that. Everyone is straight.

"We talked about playing better baseball, playing up to our capabilities. And how some things should stay in-house."

The Mets are third in the National League East with a 20-19 record, 2.5 games behind the Florida Marlins, with injuries and shoddy play having contributed to some disappointing defeats.

Closer Billy Wagner erupted after a 1-0 loss to the Washington Nationals on Thursday, asking why key characters in the game were not around to answer reporters' questions afterwards.

Wagner and slugger Carlos Delgado, believed by many to be the target of the reliever's outburst, said everything was okay.

"Whoever wrote that I pointed at Delgado and was calling guys out was wrong," Wagner said. "I didn't call anybody out. We get along around here."

Delgado also pushed the company line.

"It went great. We talked," he said about the closed-door session. "We've got a great team, a great group of guys.

The locker-room sniping raised tabloid and talk radio chatter about Randolph's leadership, and brought some calls for his removal after a playoff failure in 2006 and a late season collapse last year that eliminated them from the postseason.

General manager Omar Minaya said he did not blame Randolph for the team's disappointing record and that the manager's job was not in danger.

"Everybody is working hard. I believe the effort is being made," he said. "Our goal is to go out there to win the championship. I think everybody feels we can play better and I think we will."

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)