Three Pitchers, Outfielder Sign Minor League Contracts with Mets

The Mets signed pitchers Tony Armas Jr., Valerio de los Santos, and Matt DeSalvo to minor league contracts along with outfielder Bobby Kielty.

Armas was with the Mets last season. He made only three appearances in the majors and spent most of his time in Triple-A. He had an excellent season with New Orleans, posting a 2.54 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. However, he had an ugly 7.56 ERA in 8 1/3 innings with the big league club. He will likely spend 2009 in Triple-A and serve as insurance in case of injuries to the Mets starting rotation.

Kielty struggled in the minors last year. He will compete for a job in spring training, but his numbers are dismal and with the abundance of outfielders in the organization I don't even see him getting a spot on the Triple-A Buffalo roster. He is a right-handed bat in contrast to the three left-handed hitting outfielders the Mets have acquired this offseason (Reed, Sullivan, Mackowiak).

DeSalvo has the biggest upside of the four signees. The 28-year-old right hander with a September 11th birthday has thrown just 29 2/3 major league innings. He has a horrid 7.89 ERA in that small sample but has put up decent minor league numbers. He posted a 2.70 ERA in 20 starts with Triple-A Scranton in 2007.

De los Santos is that left-handed reliever some fans have been hoping for. It seems that Omar has scooped him up off the scrap heap and will give him a chance in Spring Training and see if he can make the ball club. He has a career 4.57 ERA.

Garland Signs With Arizona

According to the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Diamondbacks have signed free agent pitcher Jon Garland to a one-year deal with an option for 2010.

The deal is worth somewhere in the range of $6-8 million dollars. Quite a bargain considering Garland made $12 million last season.

Garland was 14-8 with a 4.90 ERA for the Angels last season. He is not a high-profile pitcher (4.47 career ERA), but is very reliable considering he has made at least 32 starts while throwing at least 190 innings every year since 2002.

You can cross Garland off the Mets list of possibly starting pitchers. Oliver Perez is still the top target, though the Mets have been having talks with Ben Sheets.

Perez doesn't really seem to have any other suitors besides the Mets and maybe the Cardinals. The Yankees are probably (though you never know with them and Boras) out of the running since they re-signed Andy Pettitte, and Brewers GM Doug Melvin has said is not interested in Perez.

Sheets has been talking with the Texas Rangers as well, and they are reportedly going over his medical records once again.

Behind Sheets and Perez is lefty Randy Wolf. If things go right he will not be a Met in 2009.

Heilman Traded to Cubs

The Seattle Mariners have traded former Mets pitcher Aaron Heilman to the Cubs in exchange for pitching prospect Garret Olson and shortstop Ronny Cedeno.

Heilman was traded from the Mets to Seattle earlier this offseason in the trade that brought J.J. Putz to New York. Heilman owns a home in a Chicago suburb and will likely compete with Sean Marshall for the fifth spot in the Cubs rotation.

Mets Sign Freddy Garcia

Adam Rubin from the New York Daily News is reporting that free agent pitcher Freddy Garcia has signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.

Garcia has been plagued by injuries. He pitched in just 11 games for the Phillies in 2007. After having surgery on his right shoulder he pitched in three games in September of 2008 with the Tigers.

Garcia was an integral part of the 2005 World Champion White Sox. He had a 3.87 ERA and pitched 228 innings. In the postseason that year he won three games with a 2.14 ERA.

In contrast to his recent injury-plagued seasons, Garcia was once very reliable. He pitched at least 200 innings for six straight seasons from 2001-2006.

If Garcia makes the big league club and meets all incentives, he could earn $9 million dollars in 2009. He will likely compete with Tim Redding and Jon Niese for the fifth spot in the Mets rotation.

The Mets are still pursuing Oliver Perez and Ben Sheets to fill another hole in the rotation.

Mets Avoid Arbitration with Church, Pagan

Outfielders Ryan Church and Angel Pagan, both in their first year of arbitration eligibility, agreed to contracts on Tuesday according to Marty Noble at MLB.com.

Church will be paid $2.8 million in 2009 and Pagan will make $575,000.

Church had an excellent start to the 2008 season, hitting .311 with nine homers, and 31 RBI in April and May. Church suffered a concussion in late May when he collided with Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar. Symptoms from the concussion lingered throughout the season limiting Church's playing time.

Pagan played well in April hitting .276 with a .352 on-base percentage while filling in for the injured Moises Alou. However, Pagan injured himself while making a catch against the wall in Dodger Stadium and needed surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder.

John Maine and Pedro Feliciano remain the lone Mets without a contract. Both players and the Mets submitted their salary numbers on Tuesday.

Maine is asking for $3 million while the Mets have offered $2.2 million.

Feliciano is asking for $1.95 million and the Mets have offered $1.35 million.

Arbitration hearings will take place in February, so there is still plenty of time for Maine and Feliciano to settle with the Mets and sign contracts.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Mets have gone to an arbitration hearing just one time since 1992. It was last year with Oliver Perez and he won.

Outfield Depth Increases with Signing of Sullivan

The Denver Post is reporting that the Mets have signed outfielder Cory Sullivan to a one-year, $600,000 contract. The deal also includes $300,000 worth of incentives.

Sullivan played all three outfield positions for the Rockies the last four seasons. He was a bench player for the last two seasons and appeared in just 18 games in 2008.

Sullivan is excellent defensively and sports a career .279 batting average.

This gives the Mets a ridiculous amount of depth in the outfield. You have the starters Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church, and the assumed left field platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis. Also under major league contracts are Angel Pagan (awaiting arbitration or settlement), Jeremy Reed, Marlon Anderson, and now Sullivan.

Nine outfielders (including Nick Evans), better safe than sorry I guess (that and the AAA outfield will be pretty good). One of these guys could step up and contribute.

Mets Avoid Arbitration with Sanchez, Reed

According to the Associated Press, Reliever Duaner Sanchez and the New York Mets agreed to a one-year deal worth about $1.7 million.

Outfielder Jeremy Reed, acquired from the Mariners alongside J.J. Putz, also avoided salary arbitration by signing a one-year, $950,000 contract.

The Mets have only gone to an arbitration hearing one time since 1992. That was last off-season with Oliver Perez (thanks Scott Boras).

John Maine, Ryan Church, Pedro Feliciano, and Angel Pagan have also filed for arbitration, but are expected to settle on a contract.

Mets Sign Fossum, Cooper to Minor League Deals

Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog is relaying the news that Mets have picked up LHP Casey Fossum and minor league outfielder Justin Cooper.

These two agreed to minor league deals on Sunday.

Fossum has a career 5.47 ERA, but it couldn't hurt to have another arm (especially a left-handed one) at AAA in case of emergency. Lefties hit .243 against him last season. If the need arises he could be used as a long reliever.

Jason Cooper is a career minor leaguer, but he brings some good karma to the Mets organization as he has won three straight Community Service Awards from the Buffalo Bisons.

Mets Sign Cora

The Mets have signed free agent infielder Alex Cora. Boston's WEEI was the first to report the one year, $2 million deal.

Cora will be the Mets backup infielder and could end up being a very important signing because of Luis Castillo's health concerns.

Cora hit .270 with a .371 on-base percentage in 152 at bats with the Red Sox last season. Cora has not had a significant starting role since he played second base for the L.A. Dodgers in 2004. He has played shortstop, second, and third base in his 11-year career.

Omar Minaya seems to have a knack for acquiring "has-been" infielders.

Jose Valentin, who was picked up off the scrap heap in 2006, stepped in and contributed nicely (.271, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 324 ABs) for the NL East Champion Mets.

Last season's backup infielder, Damion Easley, stepped up and hit .298 in June, July, and August while filling in for the injured Castillo.

Lowe Signs With Atlanta; What's Next For Mets?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that the Braves have reached an agreement with Derek Lowe on a four-year $60 million contract.

The Braves have finally made a signing after missing out on several targets this offseason, including Jake Peavy, Rafael Furcal, and John Smoltz.

For the first time this offseason, the New York Mets have missed out on one of their top targets. The Mets had Lowe at the top of their wish list of starting pitchers and appeared to be in good position to sign the Scott Boras client.

General Manager Omar Minaya had a three-year $36 million offer on the table and appeared willing to give more money. It seems the deal breaker for the Mets (and what sealed the deal for Lowe and Atlanta) was guaranteeing a fourth year.

The Mets have signed starting pitcher Tim Redding, but still have a gaping hole in their rotation that needs to be filled.

Next on their list is Oliver Perez.

The Mets reportedly offered Perez a three-year deal worth about $10 million per season on Monday. The Mets will likely need to up their offer for Perez, also a Boras client, to bring him back to New York.

Perez has shown promise in his two and half years with the Mets, posting a 3.56 ERA in 2007, but struggles with control issues. He led the majors with 105 walks in 2008.

The market for Perez is unclear, as no other teams have shown much interest thus far.

Randy Wolf is the other likely option for the Mets.

With Lowe gone, maybe Minaya will look into ex-Brewer Ben Sheets, who had an excellent 3.09 ERA last season. Sheets usually strikes out many batters and walks very few (career 3.85 K/BB), but is very injury prone, and the Mets have yet to show interest in him.

Pedro Martinez also remains an option to compete for a spot in the rotation, though it is unlikely the Mets will bring him back.

Having a strong rotation is just as important as solidifying the bullpen. We'll see what Minaya does next.

Mets Make Offer to Perez

Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog is reporting that the Mets have made a contract offer to left handed pitcher Oliver Perez, citing SI.com's Jon Heyman as a source.

The offer is reportedly for three years and somewhere around $30 million. I would certainly take Perez at that price, but with Scott Boras as his agent, negotiations will continue. Perez made $6.5 million last season when he went 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA for the Mets.

Perez (read Boras) was seeking a five-year $80 million deal at the beginning of the offseason.

This is a great move by Omar Minaya to jump into the Perez talks early. The Mets are still talking with Boras about Derek Lowe, but with the Braves apparently offer three years at $40-42 million with a possible fourth year option things are looking grim on that front.

If Minaya had waited to get serious about Perez, he would have found himself in trouble if Lowe signed with the Braves, as the Boras would have all the leverage knowing that the Mets would be desperate for Perez.

It's looking like the Mets will end up with one of the two pitchers at the top of their list (Lowe, Perez).

Former Met Rickey Henderson Elected to Hall of Fame

It was announced on Monday that base stealing champion Rickey Henderson and Red Sox slugger Jim Rice will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writer's Association of America voted in Henderson and Rice, who will join Joe Gordon (elected by Veterans Committee) in the class of 2009.

Henderson was in his first year of eligibility and was on 94.8% of ballots. This ranks him 13th all time in terms of highest percentage of ballots. Jim Rice was voted into the Hall on his 15th and final ballot, with 76.4 of the votes, just seven votes above the minimum.
Henderson was a member of the 1999 Wild Card Mets, and served as the teams hitting/first base coach for part of the 2007 season.

The flashy Henderson was a lock to get in the Hall on his first ballot. Some expected him to pass Tom Seaver's record of 98.84% of votes, and a few even thought he would be on all 536 ballots.

Henderson is the career leader for stolen bases, a record that will likely never be broken. He stole 1406 bases in his 25-year career. That number is 468 more that the second place man, Lou Brock (938).

Some Mets fans might be thinking, well maybe Jose Reyes can break the record. Think again. Reyes, age 25, currently has 290 steals. If he played until age 40 (15 more seasons), Reyes would need to average 75 steals per season to break the record.

Henderson also holds the single-season steals record with 130, and reached 100 steals in a season three times in his career.

Adding to Henderson's gaudy stats are his record 2295 runs, 10 all-star appearances, an AL MVP award, a Gold Glove, and two World Series rings. Not to mention he is a member of the 3,000 hit club.

For some interesting anecdotes about Henderson, who always referred to himself in the third person, click here.

Boston great Jim Rice put up some impressive numbers as well in his 16-year career. Rice amassed 382 home runs, 1,451 RBI, and a .298 batting average. He also was selected to eight all-star teams, won the 1987 AL MVP, and led the AL in homers three times.

Gordon, Rice, and Henderson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on July 26, 2009.

Mets Sign Pitcher Tim Redding

The Mets have signed free agent starting pitcher Tim Redding to a one year deal worth $2.25 million.

The former Nationals pitcher will compete with Jon Niese for the fifth spot in the Mets starting rotation. Last season, the Rochester, NY native had a 10-11 record and a 4.95 ERA.

Redding's best season came in 2003 with Houston when he posted a 3.68 ERA. He will not be a lights out go-to pitcher, but Redding could provide some stability for the Mets as a reliable fifth starter, something they have lacked in the past few seasons.

Mets fans will be happy to know that Redding was 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA against the Phillies last season.

This signing does not mean the Mets are done pursuing starting pitchers. GM Omar Minaya continues to have discussions with agent Scott Boras about Derek Lowe.

The Mets biggest competition for Lowe's services appear to be the Braves. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Lowe had a visit with the Braves on Friday which included a video message from country music star Alan Jackson.

I'm a fan of Jackson's music, but let's hope Lowe isn't. To see a video of Jackson performing his 9-11 tribute song, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" click here.

Lowe Declines Mets Offer

According to the Boston Globe, Derek Lowe has rejected the Mets' three-year $36 million offer. Lowe, with superagent Scott Boras apparently want to explore the market for a better deal.

The Mets won't quite here however. At the beginning of the offseason Lowe was seeking a five-year $90 million dollar deal. As far as I can tell he won't get that kind of a deal. The Mets have a good chance of signing him for a deal somewhere in the range of 3-4 years and 13-16 million dollars per season.