Update 9:30 am According to Jon Heyman of SI.com via Twitter, the Mets have offered Barajas a minor league contract. Huh? This makes no sense… Why would Barajas accept a minor league deal? Heyman says he gets low dollars if he makes the team… Not sure what that means exactly, other than the Mets have low-balled him. Do the Mets have any intentions of discontinuing all the embarrassments any time soon? When is enough, enough? [...]

Great job by WFAN’s Boomer Esiason who called out Ken Rosenthal on his morning show today for Rosenthal’s latest column in which he continues to perpetuate the allegation that the Mets are broke. Boomer asks Rosenthal about his claim that “people in the industry” confirmed that the Mets are short on cash pointing to the team’s desire to hold down payroll for the 2010 season. “The Yankees are doing the same thing, does this mean they [...]

Update 2:05 PM: Kevin Burkhardt says from what he’s been told Takahashi is NOT a bullpen option because he’s not a power arm plus he struggles against lefties. He’s a Tom Glavine type that either makes the Met SP rotation or is gonna be sent to Buffalo as SP insurance. (hat tip to Sach) Original Post 1:52 PM According to David Waldstein of the NY Times , the Mets appear ready to sign left-hander Hisanori Takahashi [...]

In a post to his blog on the NY Post, Joel Sherman says that Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran is furious with the Mets and that he may be looking out for “number one” in 2010 as far as his return from injury. Sherman writes, When might Carlos Beltran get on a major league field? Beltran is furious with the Mets and how they have publicly handled his surgery. He wonders if he should have been [...]

ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reported via Twitter that Mets prospect Fernando Martinez was named the MVP of the Caribbean Series last night. Martinez went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI to lead the Dominican Republic to a 7-4 victory over Venezuela. Overall, Martinez had a great series, batting .348 (8-for-23) with a double and two home runs. It looks like F-Mart is in prime mid-season form, and it would be great to see him carry this over and have a [...]

The New York Mets currently have four catchers on their 40-man roster with Chris Coste, Omir Santos, Henry Blanco, and Josh Thole, but apparently the Mets are still interested in yet another catcher. According to MetsBlog the Mets appear to be interested in former Toronto Blue Jays backstop Rod Barajas, who hit 19 home runs and had 71 RBIs last year. Barajas is, of course, the backup plan to Yorvit Torrealba, who ended up signing with the [...]

Adam Rubin of the Daily News shares the list of Mets non-roster players invited to spring training. Jolbert Cabrera, 37, spent last season in Baltimore’s system, appearing in 78 games for Norfolk (AAA) of the International League. A .257 career hitter, Cabrera spent time with Cleveland, Los Angeles (NL), Seattle and Cincinnati over parts of eight major league seasons. He played with Fukuoka of the Japanese League for two seasons (2005, 2006). Luis Hernandez, 25, split [...]

The Mets have re-signed free-agent Val Pascucci to a minor-league contract, according to Baseball America. The 31–year-old Pascucci, hit .248 with a .348 OBP, 19 HR, 25 doubles and 77 RBI in 126 games for Triple-A Portland and Albuquerque. In 2008, “Scooch” played for the Mets ‘Triple-A club and hit .290 with 27 HRs, 81 RBIs while in New Orleans. He can play both first base and in the outfield, but does neither particularly well. He is just seven home [...]

In a new column by Buster Olney of ESPN, Oliver Perez tops his list of key number two starters for 2010. he explains why, but not before taking a shot at the Mets spendthrift ways. The expectation within the Mets’ organization is that the team has finished its winter spending, and this would seem to be confirmed by their reluctance to entertain an offer from catcher Yorvit Torrealba to play for the Mets on a [...]