Blog-o-sphere Roundup

Today, I receive an e-mail from my fellow bloggers, Matt Cerrone and Mack Ade, they have showed support and have re-inforced my decision to continue blogging about my passion, The New York Mets. In this post, I will link to other blogs/websites that have posted geuine content about The Mets, heres the latest...

• The Yankees have signed former Met, Pedro Feliciano, to a two-year deal worth $8 million.\
• According to Metsblog.com, expect The Mets to sign a starting pitcher, rather than trade for one.
• Baseball America released his Top 10 Mets Prospects list. Here is Toby Hyde's take on it..
• Macks Mets wonders if The Mets should trade prospects for Zach Greinke.
• Ike Davis is determined to be the best defensive 1B in 2011, as if he wasn't close to achieving it during his rookie year.
• Mike Puma says the Mets are armed for a trade of a starting pitcher, take a look.

I hope you enjoy this list and that it provides you with the most accurate Mets information on the internet.

- Tyler Florence

Phillies snag Cliff Lee: Why I like it.

Cliff Lee is a really good pitcher. There is no doubt about that. But, there are a couple of roadblocks ahead for the Philadelphia Phillies. Just like the Mets of the past couple years, The Phillies are taking a shot for it all by overspending on virtually every old ace they can find. We all know what happens next right? The players get injured and the team underperforms.. I am not saying that will happen in 2011 for the Phillies, I'm just saying that they are setting themselves up to fail if one or two of those aces gets injured. Not to mention the ages, of the "Foursome".. Lets take a look..

(32 yr old) Cliff Lee : 2011 Salary: 24 Million

(33 yr old) Roy Halladay: 2011 Salary: 20 Million

(33 yr old) Roy Oswalt: 2011 Salary: 16 Million

(26 yr old) Cole Hamels: 2011 Salary: 9.5 Million

(30 yr old) Joe Blanton: 2011 Salary: 8.5 Million

Since when can a Philedelphia team afford so much damn good pitching? Well, since they want to pay for older pitchers. Unless Lee, Halladay, and Oswalt age like Roger Clemons and Barry Bonds, These pitchers will be massively overpaid by the end of their respective contracts, with the exception of Cole Hamels. As, a Mets fan looking at this, its sweet to know that there are two silver linings.. by the time Sandy Alderson can transform the roster, The Phillies will be overloaded with payroll and the Mets CRUSH left-handed pitching.. take a look at Mets players last season stats vs. lefties...

David Wright :  .339 AVG .412 OBP .654 SLG

Ike Davis:         .295 AVG .362 OBP .443 SLG

Jose Reyes:      .309 AVG .356 OBP .388 SLG

Carlos Beltran: .292 AVG .364 OBP .646 SLG

Ronny Paulino: .358 AVG .380 OBP .516 SLG

The above players are the ones who need to carry the load for the Mets when they go visit Philadelphia or when the Mets play the Phillies at Citi Field. I have complete confidence that these hitters will come through in the clutch as long as they are guided in the right direction by the brand new coaching staff and management.

Mets sign a pitcher and a catcher

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN, the Mets have signed two free agent players.

The Money Ball Mets got to rolling when J.P. Riccardi made the sales pitch of opportunity to RHRP D.J. Carrasco. "He talked about the opportunity -- it's wide open there, and I'll be pitching a lot for a team that I believe is competitive," Carrasco said by telephone. "All of that together sounded really good to me."

The Deal was for 2 years and 2.5 million dollars and it looks as if Carrasco will be one of those relievers that do good seemingly out of nowhere. He will be playing in a spacious ballpark and he already doesnt give up that many HR's. Look for him to establish himself as a go-to middle reliever for the NYM in 2011. Take a look at his stats from last year...

ERA: 3.68
IP: 78.1
K: 65
BB: 34
WHIP: 1.30
K/9: 7.5
BB/9: 3.9
HR/9: 0.6

I believe that these numbers are sustainable and/or improveable at Citi Field and I look forward to watching him pitch next year.

Also according to ESPN, The Mets have signed Free-Agent Catcher, Ronny Paulino. Formerly employed with the Marlins, Paulino comes to the Mets to fill a much needed backup role to starting catcher - Josh Thole. The deal is for 1 year and 1.3 million dollars. Lets take a look at his stats from 2010...

G: 91
AVG: .259
OBP: .311
SLG: .354
OBPS: .665
HR: 4
RBI: 37
R: 31

Paulino will not throw out too many runners trying to swipe bags, but he can occasionally hit for power and he knows D.J. Carrasco from his minor league days with the Pirates. Sandy Alderson has said that we need to have capable players as backups and this seems like one of those types of moves. Look for Paulino to compete in the spring for the starting job, but ultimately lose out and backup Josh Thole in case of an injury.