MLB.com is now confirming a story first reported by ESPN, that two Cuban players considered close to being big league ready have defected from Cuba. Reportedly, right-hander Yadel Marti, Cuba’s top pitcher in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and outfielder Yasser Gomez defected for the Dominican Republic. Both players are expected to immediately pursue MLB careers, and each will be highly sought after. The following is a short bio on each player as provided by [...]

As soon as the Dodgers decided to non-tender left handed reliever, Joe Beimel, I remember thinking to myself, this guy will be signed within a week. Wrong again… The 31 year old specialist had a solid season last year after posting a 2.02 ERA in 71 games. During the 2007 season, Beimel set a record for the Dodgers by making 83 appearances, the most by a left-handed pitcher in the Dodgers history. I took a [...]

On Christmas Day, I wrote a blog that talked about the aftermath of the Mark Teixeira signing by the Yankees. I felt that it just might not be such a bad thing for Mets fans. Here is what I wrote in that blog post… I believe that the the Yankees signing of Mark Teixeira may put some added pressure on Omar Minaya to deliver more than he originally intended. It may not be far fetched [...]

  This morning, on his blog at ESPN.com, Buster Olney writes, The Mets also have quietly continued to gauge the market for Luis Castillo, and if they find a taker for at least some of his salary, that would leave them in position to pursue Orlando Hudson, who also is being courted by the Washington Nationals. This is about the fourth or fifth time I’ve read a rumor like this in the past month or so. It [...]

On January 14th, 2008, the Mets family lost right-handed pitcher Don Cardwell. Don was instrumental in helping the Mets win the division in 1969 when the Miracle Mets went on to win the World Series. During that all important stretch run when the Mets were battling the Chicago Cubs for first place, Cardwell stepped up and delivered five straight wins for the Mets and helped the Mets clinch the division. Although, he wasn’t the most [...]

The recent outrageous spending spree by the New York Yankees, has livened up the decades old debate of whether or not there should be a salary cap in baseball. I haven’t really weighed in on the hotly debated subject myself, but now would be as good a time as any. For as long as I can remember, the Yankees have always been hated by millions of baseball fans and even a few dozen rival GM’s as [...]

Adam Rubin of the Daily News has been covering the Mets since 2003. He also writes extensively about the Mets minor league prospects for Baseball America. For the third straight year, he takes some time to answer a few questions for Mets Merized Online. Please check out his blog, Surfing The Mets for the latest Mets news.    1. I really loved your piece on Wilmer Flores the other day. My first question focuses on the [...]

Merry Christmas everyone. I’m away until tomorrow but thought I’d check in on my trusty laptop, which is never too far away. It looks like things progressed somewhat between the Mets and Derek Lowe on Wednesday, but as of this morning still no deal. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes it will happen sometime between now and New Years day. Cafardo from the Boston Globe has some numbers he believes are being exchanged. The deal is believed [...]

It’s going to be a long day on Christmas when I’m sitting around with my family who are all Yankee fans. My one cousin who is a Mets fan, won’t even be with us this year so that means I have to brave the gloating by myself. I know there are a few people who are already waiting for me to say just one wrong word before they pounce on me for insinuating that the Mets are [...]

When the Mets decided to cut ties with Paul Lo Duca last season, and then ship off prized prospect, Lastings Milledge for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church, none of us really knew what to expect. As it turned out, both Milledge and Lo Duca would have made little if any impact on the Mets anyway. But, the whole point of those moves was to finally get a catcher who would do defensively what no Mets [...]