David Robertson

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

1. In todayas Post, I wrote this column about places at which the Yankees and Mets have some interesting interconnection. For example, which veteran lefty who did not pitch in the majors last year, Andy Pettitte or Johan Santana, makes more starts and which third basemen bedeviled by injury and sagging production last season, Alex Rodriguez or David Wright, hits more homers.

I did five of these items. But here is a sixth that will have long-range implications:

Manuel Banuelos/Dellin Betances vs. Matt Harvey/Zack Wheeler (under No. 25 in next yearas Baseball America top-100 prospects) a To begin this season, Banuelos and Betances were ranked 29th and 63rd, respectively; Wheeler was 35th and Harvey 54th. Wheeler will begin at Double-A, the others at Triple-A with all having a chance to be called up at some point.

Both New York teams have worked to assemble high-end young arms. The Mets, for example, think Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia (rehabbing from Tommy John surgery) could push their way to the majors this year and earn significant roles soon.

For the Yankees, Banuelos continues to have a high ceiling, but he must show better command than he did in 2011. As for Betances, there continues to be a large segment of outside executives who believe that he will be a reliever not a starter. Betances is a big kid and will have to demonstrate that he can find a metronome quality and repeat his delivery enough to be successful.

2. One other area that the Mets feel they have prospects coming and could have a strength in the near future is lefty relief.

Josh Edgin, a 30th-round pick in 2010, impressed the Mets brass this spring training. He was sent to Double-A to close and he could be up at some point relatively early this year if he continues to progress.

Jack Leathersich, a fifth-round pick last year, faced 47 batters at Brooklyn and struck out 26. The team thinks he can be on the fast track toward the majors, as well.

3. I have no inside information on this. This is just a gut feeling based on how impressed the Yankees seemed with Justin Maxwell this spring. He is out of options and I do not think the Yankees want to simply expose him to waivers to try to get him to Triple-A. They believe he would be plucked by a team in need of outfield depth. Heck, you can make a case that Maxwellas athleticism and ability to play center should make him attractive to the Mets.

The belief has always been that the Yankees would go with 12 pitchers and 13 position players and, in that scenario, they would be locked in with four reserve players: Francisco Cervelli, Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones and Eduardo Nunez.

But it is possible that early in the season with everyone fresh that the Yankees could go with 11 pitchers. Remember that one of the relievers was going to be the starter that failed to make the rotation, likely Freddy Garcia. However, once Michael Pineda was injured, the Yankees did not have to use a relief spot for that reason.

Therefore, they could go with a six-person bullpen of Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan and then decide upon two others. When spring began, Cory Wade appeared a lock for one of these positions. But he did not pitch well in the spring. So it is possible the Yankees could carry a second lefty, Clay Rapada, and a long-man type such as D.J. Mitchell or David Phelps or Adam Warren.

The Yankees could then let the season dictate when and if they need an extra reliever. For example, if they have no blowouts early and their starters are giving them six or seven innings, then they could simply stick with the six-man pen. Or they could manipulate the roster by, say, sending down Phelps if he is needed in long relief and bringing up Mitchell. They could see if Rapada is worth a pen spot or remove him from the 25-man roster and bring up Wade.

Maybe an outfield injury comes along and the Yankees just keep Maxwell on the roster. But if and when they have to remove Maxwell from the roster to get a seventh reliever on, my hunch is the Yanksee would believe he would have a better chance to pass through waivers once every other team has set its 25- and 40-man rosters, which means after the season begins.

Essentially this would be the Yankees trying to buy time to make a more informed decision about their roster without risking losing Maxwell in the next day or two.

1. In todayas Post I wrote this column about Johan Santanaas upbeat bullpen session.

Obviously there is a long way to go and a positive 20-minute pen in early March tells us nothing even about April. But it is better for Santana and the Mets if he is happy and healthy now as a step toward a potentially better tomorrow.

And, look, if you do what I do, you hope he is healthy, too. The most obvious reason is that you want to see the best players compete. But it goes beyond that, at least for me.

I spend a lot of time at ballparks and the games can begin to meld one into the next. What stops that from happening, to some degree, is watching players whose artistry rises above the norm. For example, with the Yankees, I look forward to watching Mariano Rivera pitch and Robinson Cano hit. They both have a grace and confidence about their work that makes it joyful to watch.

Santana, when right, has a maestro feel on the mound. He has the bearing of a great matador, regal and poised for the assignment. It is fun to watch how he goes about dissecting hitters when he has his tools and his health.

It is possible, maybe even probable, that the Mets will not be very good this year. There will not be a lot of reasons to be enthusiastic to go to Citi Field. But the Mets have a much better chance to surprise and be good if Santana is healthy and makes all of his starts. And, if the Mets are not good, then Santana would at least give a reason every five days to want to watch.

2. The Yankees say that David Robertson fell down a flight of stairs carrying boxes and now they are worried that his right mid-foot sprain is something that could sideline him for a while.

It is yet another reminder to how incredible Mariano Rivera is. It is not just that he has been great. He also has been durable, avoiding both serious on-field injury and the kind of off-field mishap that befell Robertson. At age 41 last year Rivera appeared in 64 games. That marked the 14th time in his career he topped 60.

That is a major league record. Mike Stanton did it 13 times, and Roberto Hernandez, Mike Myers, Lee Smith and Kent Tekulve did in 12 times each.

If Rivera appears in 60 more games this year, he would climb over 1,100 for his career. That would be 1,102 to be exact. At that point, only Jesse Orosco (1,252), Stanton (1,178) and John Franco (1,119) would have more.

3. Mike Pelfrey got knocked around in his spring debut and conceded he was terrible. Terry Collins said the righty could be forgiven considering the time of year and that he was mainly working on establishing just fastball accuracy to both sides of the plate.

But if Pelfreyas poor outing can be dismissed, here is what cannot: His need to be effective in 2012. And not just for the Mets, whose lack of rotation options behind their main five is stark. But for himself. If he is hoping ever to sign a significant long-term deal, he is going to need to show consistency and higher-end ability than he has with the Mets.

At this moment, he has the ignominy of being the only pitcher to have two of the 15 worst ERAs in Metsa history among those who qualified for the ERA title. In fact, he has two of the worst seven.

His 5.03 ERA in 2009 is the second-worst in team history, behind only the 5.55 Pete Smith produced in a 1994 season cut short by labor problems. And the 4.74 effort of last year is the seventh worst. Pelfrey has 146 starts as a Met and no one in team history has that many starts and near as bad a career ERA as his 4.40. Bobby Jones at 4.13 is next.

In five seasons as a Met, Pelfrey has been the model of inconsistency going bad year, good year, bad year, good year, bad year. It means he is due for something good this year. The Mets need it. And so does Pelfrey.

Mark Teixeira missed his second straight game yesterday, and because there still has been no improvement in his severely inflamed bronchial airways, Yankees manager Joe Girardi may keep the first baseman out of the lineup again today.

aI said, aYou know, weave tried to give you a day off when thereas a scheduled day off and you havenat gotten better, so weall give you a day off and may give you [today] to see if we can knock this bronchial problem out,a a Girardi said before yesterdayas 6-5 loss to the Reds at the Stadium. aI said, aWatching what youare going through, I donat think one day is enough.a Because it physically has to wear on him and mentally has to wear on him. Weare just trying something different.a

Teixeira has been bothered by the problem throughout the season, which is why he relented after initially turning down the offer for a day a or more a off.

aWeave tried everything,a Teixeira said. aThatas why rest is the last effort here. Iave taken more medicine than Iad liked to. I think Iam done with that option. Rest is kind of the final option.a

Teixeira still was audibly affected by the breathing issue as he talked yesterday, and the Yankees are unsure how long it will be before Teixeira returns to normal.

aLetas try something else and if we canat get rid of it with two or three days off, then we know rest isnat necessarily going to help it and weall try something else,a Girardi said. aAs soon as he starts activity is when the cough comes out. … I donat think weare going to know until he goes out and runs around. He just needs rest.a

And if that doesnat work?

aThen Iall have to adapt,a said Teixeira, who has been sapped of energy since the condition began and is batting .228 with five home runs. aThatas the issue. Iave been fighting through it for over a month, so Iall be able to do it again.a

But Teixeira said he is not worried about the situation, despite the uncertainty.

aThey think they kind of know what it is, they just donat know exactly how long itas going to take to get out of there and start feeling better,a Teixeira said. aIave seen specialists and it may just be a matter of time. Thereas nothing to be worried about. All the tests are OK.a

* Left fielder Brett Gardner was scheduled to have his right elbow strain evaluated to determine the next step in his rehab from the injury that has sidelined him for a month.

aIt feels close,a Gardner said of picking up a bat. aThereas no way to tell until I swing.a

* Reliever David Robertson continues to wait until he is pain-free before he begins his comeback from the strained left oblique that forced him to the disabled list.

dan.martin@nypost.com

Mark Teixeira missed his second straight game yesterday, and because there still has been no improvement in his severely inflamed bronchial airways, Yankees manager Joe Girardi may keep the first baseman out of the lineup again today.

aI said, aYou know, weave tried to give you a day off when thereas a scheduled day off and you havenat gotten better, so weall give you a day off and may give you [today] to see if we can knock this bronchial problem out,a a Girardi said before yesterdayas 6-5 loss to the Reds at the Stadium. aI said, aWatching what youare going through, I donat think one day is enough.a Because it physically has to wear on him and mentally has to wear on him. Weare just trying something different.a

Teixeira has been bothered by the problem throughout the season, which is why he relented after initially turning down the offer for a day a or more a off.

aWeave tried everything,a Teixeira said. aThatas why rest is the last effort here. Iave taken more medicine than Iad liked to. I think Iam done with that option. Rest is kind of the final option.a

Teixeira still was audibly affected by the breathing issue as he talked yesterday, and the Yankees are unsure how long it will be before Teixeira returns to normal.

aLetas try something else and if we canat get rid of it with two or three days off, then we know rest isnat necessarily going to help it and weall try something else,a Girardi said. aAs soon as he starts activity is when the cough comes out. … I donat think weare going to know until he goes out and runs around. He just needs rest.a

And if that doesnat work?

aThen Iall have to adapt,a said Teixeira, who has been sapped of energy since the condition began and is batting .228 with five home runs. aThatas the issue. Iave been fighting through it for over a month, so Iall be able to do it again.a

But Teixeira said he is not worried about the situation, despite the uncertainty.

aThey think they kind of know what it is, they just donat know exactly how long itas going to take to get out of there and start feeling better,a Teixeira said. aIave seen specialists and it may just be a matter of time. Thereas nothing to be worried about. All the tests are OK.a

* Left fielder Brett Gardner was scheduled to have his right elbow strain evaluated to determine the next step in his rehab from the injury that has sidelined him for a month.

aIt feels close,a Gardner said of picking up a bat. aThereas no way to tell until I swing.a

* Reliever David Robertson continues to wait until he is pain-free before he begins his comeback from the strained left oblique that forced him to the disabled list.

dan.martin@nypost.com

The Yankee bullpen took another hit Tuesday as the Bombers placed David Robertson on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle.

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