According to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff via Twitter, the Mets signed pitcher Boof Bonser to a minor league contract. The 29-year-old right-hander pitched  25 innings between the A’s and Red Sox last season and posted a 6.12 ERA. The A’s outrighted Bonser who refused the assignment, and elected to become a free agent Bonser missed the entire 2009 season rehabbing from shoulder surgery after doctors discovered partial tears in the labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder. Over 4 seasons, he has [...]

There are a myriad of issues surrounding Carlos Beltran that make him logically impossible to deal, but there reports out of Boston the Mets and Red Sox are talking. Undoubtedly, it is Boston’s cobra-mongoose struggle with the Yankees that has the Red Sox thinking about adding Beltran. The Red Sox have a hole in the outfield and the designated hitter to slot in on an occasional basis (don’t forget David Ortiz will get most of [...]

  The Mets have agreed to sign Ronny Paulino to a one-year deal worth $1.3MM plus incentives, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com. The deal is pending a physical which should take place in New York either today or Thursday. Mark Simon of ESPN, did some number crunching this morning and has some glowing remarks for the Mets new backup catcher. The right-handed Paulino hits left-handed pitching like few others in the big leagues. His .338 [...]

I’ve read a few takes on the Mets decision not to spend more than a few bucks to fill in some gaps on the Mets roster this offseason. It seems that half the fans are okay with the whole $5-$6 million dollar offseason spending budget, while the other half are wondering how is that going to improve last year’s version of the team. Count me in that latter group. What was supposed to be a pursuit of [...]

Scott Boras, who represents Carlos Beltran, splashed some water onto the whole Beltran to the Red Sox murmurings. “I have not had any conversation with the Mets about anything relative to Carlos, other than the fact they were going to meet with him,” Boras said. “I think Carlos’ plan and our plan is that he’ll be a part of the Mets next year and moving forward.” As for willingness to waive a no-trade clause, Boras added: [...]

Mark Simon of ESPN New York just put some scary thoughts into my head this morning. While he has some good things to say about the Mets acquisition of D.J. Carrasco, there’s one thing about him that looms ominously over his career. But there is a kryptonite that has plagued Carrasco throughout his major league career, and it’s one that reminds us of one of the Mets most significant statistical issues from last season. It’s [...]

Done Deals The Diamondbacks signed J.J. Putz to a two-year, $10MM deal with an option for 2013. The former Met passed his physical and will earn $4MM in 2011, $4.5MM in 2012 and either $6.5MM or a $1.5MM buyout in 2013. Last season, Putz posted a 2.83 ERA in 54 innings. The Chicago Cubs have officially agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Carlos Pena. It is believed to be worth $10MM, half of [...]

Part three of our foray into sabermetrics is pitching. What pitching metrics exist? And how could they better define performance than the statistics we use now? Individual pitching performance is somewhat difficult to ascertain because the traditional stats we’ve been using still remain very defense and bullpen dependant. Win-loss record isn’t very telling. We don’t have to go much further than the ace of the New York Mets to realize that. This year’s American League Cy [...]

The trustee seeking assets for victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s huge fraud on Tuesday sued the Wilpon family, the owners of the New York Mets, which had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the global Ponzi scheme. Sterling Equities, the Wilpon-controlled company that owns the Mets, was named as a defendant in the case along with its partners, their family members and certain related trusts and entities. Mr. Wilpon and his family own Sterling [...]