Press Release: Mets Officially Announce Ronnie Paulino and D.J. Carrasco Deals

The New York Mets today announced that they have signed free agent catcher Ronny Paulino to a one-year contract and free agent righthanded pitcher D.J. Carrasco to a two-year contract.

Ronny Paulino

Paulino, 29, has a .273 (431-1576) batting average over his six-year major league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Florida Marlins. He hit .259 (82-361) with 18 doubles, four home runs and 37 RBI in 91 games for the Marlins last season.

The 6-3, 250-pounder has a .338 (164-485) career batting average against lefthanded pitchers, the sixth-highest average among active major leaguers with at least 300 career plate appearances. He hit .358 (34-95) vs. lefties in 2010.

Last season, Paulino threw out 42 % (24-57) of base runners attempting to steal. For his career, he has thrown out 44 % (119-268) of would-be base stealers.

Paulino has a career .287 (120-418) batting average with runners in scoring position. The Santo Domingo, DR native’s best season came in 2006, when he batted .310 (137-442) with 19 doubles, six home runs and 55 RBI in 129 games for the Pirates.

Paulino will miss the first eight games of the 2011 season while completing his 50-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

D. J. Carrasco

Carrasco, 33, split the 2010 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks, making a combined 63 appearances. He went 3-2 with a 3.68 ERA (32 earned runs/78.1 innings) and allowed 68 hits and 34 walks while striking out 65. The reliever established career bests in appearances, ERA and strikeouts last season while limiting righthanded batters to a .227 (41-181) batting average.

In six big league seasons with the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Arizona and Pittsburgh, the 6-3, 220-pound hurler has compiled a 23-18 record and a 4.31 ERA (211 earned runs / 440.2 innings).

Since 2008, Carrasco has gone 9-3 with a 3.77 ERA (88 earned runs/210.1 innings). For his career, he is 18-10 with a 4.03 ERA (141 earned runs/315.0 innings) as a reliever while going 5-8 with a 5.01 ERA (70 earned runs/125.2 innings) as a starter.

The Safford, Arizona native was originally selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 26th round of the 1997 First-Year Player Draft out of Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona.