Ken Davidoff of Newsday paints the picture perfectly this morning. The free-agent market on closers has diminished to where the Mets, the only big-market team looking for an elite reliever, should have their pick of either K-Rod or Fuentes, the top two available options. Though clubs such as Milwaukee and Texas will be shopping for a closer, as well, the struggling economy has limited many clubs’ budgets. Mets officials carry concerns about both of their [...]

Marty Noble got a great question in his mailbag regarding Dan Murphy’s rookie status for the 2009 season. Once a player exceeds 50 innings pitched or 130 at-bats in the Major Leagues he loses his rookie status. Further more, if a player has more than 45 days on a Major League roster before September 1st, he also loses his rookie status. Here was Noble’s reply: Murphy retained rookie status in terms of days on the roster. [...]

Albert Pujols has won the 2008 National League MVP Award. Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow. He was rewarded despite the Cardinals’ fourth-place finish in the NL Central. Pujols won by a comfortable margin over Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard. Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun was third and Los Angeles outfielder Manny Ramirez came in fourth place despit playing only two months with the Dodgers. David Wright finished seventh [...]

A couple of interesting stories today, one from Bister Olney of ESPN.com, and the other by Dan Graziano at the Star-Ledger. Both articles seem to agree that the Mets are not just looking for just any ordinary arms for the bullpen, they are looking for some Major League heat. Graziano spoke to someone familiar with the Mets plans and asked him what the teams major goal was for the bullpen. The response: “Strikeouts.” The Mets’ [...]

Joel Sherman had an interesting article in the NY Post that shed some light on the Bobby Jenks rumors that were floating around Flushing last week. Sherman quotes one Mets official as saying, “Unless something changes, I would say the chances of us getting Jenks are close to zero. The price is too high and he isn’t close to the top of our list.” He goes on to cite two main reasons for why the [...]

ESPN is reporting that both of the agents for K-Rod and Brian Fuentes have agreed to give the Mets a last chance to beat any offers. Certainly this is a sign that the Mets are getting ready to dance. The ESPN reports also feels strongly that because of the expanded availability of closer, it moves the Mets and K-Rod closer together and that is why he is coming to NY for a medical exam. I [...]

According to David Lennon of Newsday, the Mets are expected to officially send out offers to several free agents that they have targeted. Chief among those free agents are closers Brian Fuentes and Frankie Rodriguez, and starting pitcher Derek Lowe. Although, Lennon doesn’t mention Sabathia, I have to believe that the Mets will at least send a take it or leave it type offer to the top starting pitcher in the draft too. I know [...]

Last season the Detroit Tigers made some huge headlines in the off season, and the biggest one of all was when they acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins. The Mets tried like hell to get Dontrelle Willis at the time, but the marlins were not willing to trade him within the division. A lot has changed since then, especially with the steep decline in Dontrelle’s performance. But, maybe a change of scenery [...]

With the Yankees once again setting the bar for the free agency period by making a ridiculous offer to CC Sabathia, I find myself asking: “Is really worth 6+ years/$150+ million?” I don’t think he’s worth it. Sorry. While the Santana-Sabathia 1-2 punch would easily be the sickest in all of baseball, while we would not one, but TWO Cy Young candidates in our rotation, and while we would only have to find a couple [...]

Over the last week, there are four pitchers that have been attached to becoming New York Mets in the pen, Fuentes, Cordero, Cruz, and Beimel. At the same time, there are three Mets who are being shopped around; Heilman, Feliciano, and Schoenweis. The three that are being shopped are slightly older than the average player that could be possibly brought in (when you see the numbers, Schoenweis raises the aveage for the Mets trade pieces, [...]