Rob Johnson, who appeared in 17 games for the Mets last season, has signed a minor league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Johnson also received an invite to major league camp. Johnson, 29, finished the season on the DL with a torn ligament in his left thumb, which did not require surgery. He batted .250 in 17 games with the Mets after batting .207 with a .588 OPS for Triple-A Buffalo in 45 games.

  Today in Coney Island, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and pitcher Johan Santana, distributed boxed lunches to residents in Brooklyn that were impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Afterward, Jeff Wilpon spoke with reporters and said that the team’s top priority remains retaining both David Wright and R.A. Dickey. Wilpon says negotiations are “on-going” with both players. He also added that the team is exploring other options for Dickey, that trading him is only a backup plan and not [...]

Check out this video of a futuristic Tom Seaver unleashing an explosive fastball to home plate at Citi Field. The designer writes: It’s pitcher versus batter as a high powered windup unleashes a sci-fi fastball in this thrilling one minute all CG short created exclusively for The New York Mets. Way to pick up the Big K, No. 41…

Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog says he’s heard that Sandy Alderson and David Wright are just $20 million dollars apart on a new contract extension. However, based on what I’m hearing, Wright’s camp is thinking seven years and at least $130 million guaranteed, while the Mets are thinking more like six years and around $110 million. Frankly, that’s close enough to make me confident they’ll eventually find a compromise. Sounds like Wright and the Mets are getting ready to tie [...]

The Mets announced they have named Jim Malone Strength and Conditioning Coordinator. Malone, 45, was the Mets’ Strength and Conditioning Coach in 2002. He was the minor league Strength and Conditioning coordinator for the Kansas City Royals from 2000-2001 and the Cleveland Indians minor league Strength and Conditioning Coordinator from 2004-2005. Malone spent the previous seven seasons as the head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Diego Padres. Malone succeeds Brad Andress, who was not retained.

Thoughts from Joe D. Well isn’t this an interesting way to interrupt my Sunday AMC “Gory Matters Here” marathon? I’m not seeing or buying what is being reported. I hate having to rehash all this stuff again, but the Mets are getting fiscally better everyday. I already told you last month, about the new National MLB Broadcast deal that’s infuses another $40-50 million a year into the team. The host city for the All Star [...]

Joel Sherman of the New York Post says that while the Mets and Red Sox had not engaged in discussions about catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, he ponders whether the two would match up for a deal now that they have signed free agent catcher David Ross. It’s not a bad idea, but Ken Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox do not view Ross as an everyday catcher and would most likely serve as Saltalamacchia’s backup. In 121 [...]

Yesterday at the GM Meetings, Sandy Alderson spoke with reporters and emphasized that while he gets perhaps a little more payroll flexibility than he originally anticipated, that it still doesn’t change much about the kinds of players they can acquire this winter, and that they still will be looking at the bottom of the free agent market pool. Mike Puma of the New York Post added that with regard to catcher, Alderson also said they will likely be keeping [...]

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Mets have very little interest in signing R.A. Dickey to a contract extension and instead confirms what Joel Sherman had reported earlier which is that the Mets are actively discussing trading him with several other teams at the GM Meetings. Also, Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog is reporting that his insiders at the GM Meetings tell him “Dickey will want four years, and probably $60 million after 2013, but the [...]