And the 2011 Sterling Award Winner: Mets Organizational Pitcher of the Year, is…. Darin Gorski. And he was the perfect choice because he simply had the best season, start-to-finish, of any pitcher in the Mets system. With a record of: 11-3 and an ERA of 2.08, Gorski finished 1st in the Florida State League in ERA, and WHIP (1.00), and finished 3rd in strikeouts with 140. I caught up to Darin in the days leading up [...]

Mike Puma reports on some progress in the WFAN radio booth… A source from the Wall Street Journal told me that the Mets will give the job as Howie Rose’s co-host to whom ever is willing to work for three hots (at Shake Shack) and a cot at the holding cell at Citi Field which has remained vacant since Francisco Rodriguez moved out. Original Post 12/17 I caught this in the NY Post this morning: [...]

The Texas Rangers have won the posting auction of Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish with a record $51.7M bid, sources tell Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. The Japanese phenom’s agent, Arn Tellem. issued the following statement: “The Rangers are an extraordinary franchise in an exceptional city with equally exceptional fans,” Tellem said. ’”Yu is honored to be prized so highly and recognized as a once-in-a-generation pitcher. We look forward to getting negotiations underway.” The Rangers now have until January [...]

Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal writes today, that while the Mets have operated like a typical big-market team for years, their payroll is shrinking to a degree that is almost unprecedented within the industry, at least in this millennium. General manager Sandy Alderson said recently that he expects the payroll for 2012 to come in at around $100 million and could even be slightly less than that. A $100 million payroll would represent [...]

The Mets signed Jeurys Familia as an IFA in July of 2007, as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. That will go down as a very important signing to the Mets and their fans. Although he is still in need of some consistency regarding his mechanics, and refining his change-up will be crucial for him to remain a starting pitcher, there are very few critics that don’t see him as anything less than a [...]

As we get ready to close out another year and head into 2012, where do you stand as a Mets fan? Are you happy with the direction of the team? Why? How many games do you think the Mets will win in 2012? What about 2013? Who are the core players of the Mets right now? What do you think of this offseason so far? How many starts will Johan Santana make in 2012? Is [...]

I had the pleasure of doing a Q&A with 23-year-old, New York Mets minor league pitcher, RHP Ryan Fraser the other day. In just two years of professional baseball with the Mets, the 6’3″ Fraser has made some very favorable impressions on people who follow the team. He was the Brooklyn Cyclones closer in 2010 registering 12 saves, and he was an anchor in the starting rotation last season at Savannah of the South Atlantic [...]

Former Met Endy Chavez is headed to the Baltimore Orioles according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Chavez will earn $1.5 million in 2012 with the potential to earn another $500,000 in performance bonuses. Chavez, 33, played in 83 games last season with the Texas Ranger, batting .301 with five homers, ten stolen bases and 37 runs scored in 256 at-bats. The Mets were reportedly interested in bringing Chavez back, but Endy may have become too costly for the [...]

I had the chance to meet the authors of a children’s book that takes a different look at the famous poem “Casey at the Bat.” In “The Deal is on Strike Three: The Story Mudville Never Knew,” Long Islanders Peter Fertig and Rudy Saviano explore the story behind Casey and the Mudville nine. Hall of Famer and Mets legend Tom Seaver was so inspired by the book that he voluntarily wrote the foreword. Cal Ripken Jr. [...]

This weekend is just flying by between getting ready for the holidays and this very cool Mets website I’m completely rebuilding for a fellow Mets blogger. But today is Sunday and I’m not leaving this house for nothing – well maybe if there’s an air raid or something like that… In case you missed it, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reported that the Mets would need to be “knocked out” before they consider trading young left-hander [...]

The New York Mets today announced the club has signed free agent right-handed pitcher Frank Francisco to a two-year contract. Francisco, 32, went 1-4 with 17 saves and a 3.55 ERA (20 earned runs/50.2 innings) in 54 games with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011. The 6-2, 250-pounder issued 18 walks and had 53 strikeouts. He converted all seven save opportunities and posted a 1.37 ERA (four earned runs/26.1 innings) after the All-Star break. Francisco [...]