According to a report, the Cubs are willing to eat $26 million of the remaining $36 million owed left fielder Alfonso Soriano over the next two seasons, the last of the eight-year, $136 million deal he signed before the 2007 season. The contract includes a full no-trade clause, which Soriano invoked last season when he rejected a trade to the San Francisco Giants, using the negative effect the cold weather would have on his knees. [...]

UPDATE 2/20/13 – Still adding to the list. Everyone who signs up can play. Keep the e-mails coming. UPDATE 2/9/13 – Great turnout so far. We’re almost at enough people to warrant three leagues. No one will be turned away this year because we will form as many leagues as is needed determined by how many people sign up. I want to add some more information a conscientious player noticed I hadn’t added below. We will [...]

As Spring Training gets under way, a few staff writers got together and weighed in on various team and individual achievements. Here’s MMO’s official Over/Under for the 2013 Mets season: We’d love to have you give us your own takes so we could have something to compare to. So what do you think? When will we see Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud? How many starters will pitch 200 or more innings this season? Which Mets [...]

I hadn’t given it much thought until it became clear that the interest in free agent center fielder Michael Bourn was more than just passing. I don’t really think that Bourn’s price will drop into a range the Mets are comfortable with, and if it does, that would probably invite more teams to take a shot at him. There’s also the little matter of the draft pick. I’m torn between whether I think the league [...]

While the Mets may in fact be done for the winter, they are still open to the possibility of adding to the major league roster, although on minor league deals. So now that we’ve got that straight… The list of FAs we’ve seen recently has done nothing to excite Mets fans, but someone has just entered the fray that really piques my interest. After a Chris Schwinden-like off season, Russ Canzler has landed with the Yankees, [...]

As 2012 winds down, Scott Rozell asked MMO the following questions: I thought I’d check your thoughts on the Mets signing Jose Valverde. I know his performance has declined, but the reward could be great and he could be had at less cost than the other high profile relievers. Speaking of that category, what are the Mets’ thoughts, or yours, on JP Howell? He’s younger and seems to have the qualities that the Mets should [...]

The Wright Amount When Evan Longoria inked his contract extension last week, many thought that the new money of six years and one hundred million dollars set the market for David Wright’s extension. Longoria’s obviously more talented and younger. So based on that, Wright at most should get the same extension, right? Wrong. Longoria set the market for Wright, but not the way you think it did. Free agent contracts (and also extensions that avoids [...]

Hitman asks: With this hoopla going on right now with David Wright and the contract negotiations (Wright being dissatisfied by the contract offer in length & value), and Giancarlo Stanton being very outspoken against Miami, wouldn’t it be smart to package Wright along with Johan Santana (eat about 60% of his contract), Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia, and Rafael Montero in order to land Giancarlo? Strike while the iron is hot, so to speak? Murph can [...]

Lisa Pernice asks: Now that Toronto got Buck, you think that we should try to get either d’Arnaud or Arencibia? If they didn’t have a logjam before, it looks like they have one now. What would the cost be? Ramon asks: Now that the Blue Jays acquired John Buck from the Marlins, do you think that the Mets have a good shot at attaining J.P. Arencibia? Though Travis d’Arnaud is a better option, it would [...]