New Bodies

[Edgy MD]

The Mets have apparently claimed righty starter Jeremy Hefner from the Pirates less than a month after the Bucs claimed him from the Padres.



Report has them signing two minor league deals too, but I have ESPN blocked at work (good move, new employer!), so go see for yourselves and let us know.

[seawolf17]

Catcher Lucas May and lefty Garrett Olson are the two minor league FAs.

[Edgy MD]

Indeed.

• Catcher Lucas May (Kansas City)
  Good powa!
  
  Questionable defense!
  
  
• Lefty Garrett Olson (Pittsburgh)

[Benjamin Grimm]

Hmmm... Lucas May, 27, has been catching in AAA for the last two years.

Given the Mets' lack of depth at the position, it looks like he's worth having around, just in case.

[Edgy MD]

Garrett Olson: has put up some hefty ERAs for Baltimore.

And did a strange photo spread with Felix Hernandez.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Olson has put up a 4.4 BB/9, career-wise. Yipe.

[TransMonk]

Funny pics.

Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Toronto?

[Fman99]

I'm all in on Mrs. Hefner. She done got some feeders on her.

[Ceetar]

Chuck James

[Ceetar]

Omar Quintanilla

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

AAA shortstop and Tejada insurance I'm sure.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mets have never had a player whose last name started with a Q.

[Edgy MD]

The Mets complete the task of improving on 2011's .141-OPS-ing Chin-Lung Hu with the 2011 .182-OPS-ing Omar Quintanilla.

And all these haters are decrying the do-nothing Mets.

[Edgy MD]

Sadly, David Wright will deny him the number 5 that he was born to wear.

Here's something you don't see in every Wikipedia profile.

If you play MLB 2K8 for some reason he is listed as a lefty. This is an extreme inconvenience as he plays second base, and many runners end up safe because he cannot position himself correctly.

As with Ronny Paulino, Alderson shows he's not shy about trolling the free agent rolls for guys with PED suspensions in their recent past.

[Ceetar]

speaking of backup MIs the Mets may be interested in, Deadspin via Tedquarters gives us Jack Wilson kicking a football into a moving Jet Ski.

http://deadspin.com/5872691/

[ashie62]

These pickups should shift the balance of power in the NL East.

[seawolf17]

Edgy DC wrote: Here's something you don't see in every Wikipedia profile. If you play MLB 2K8 for some reason he is listed as a lefty. This is an extreme inconvenience as he plays second base, and many runners end up safe because he cannot position himself correctly.

Every once in a while, you catch one of those unpoliced entries. Funny.

[seawolf17]

Not THE Jeff Stevens and Corey Wimberly?!?!

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/37379/mets-sign-pair-to-minor-deals

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yes them.

Corey Wimberley. Squatty speedster who's played mostly 2B, and 3B but also SS, LF, CF over 7 minor league seasons. Stole 59 bases for Tulsa in 2008!
Batted a stinky-ass 238/288/302 last year for Indianapolis but a career 367 OBPer.

Jeff Stevens 27-year-old RHRP with three cuppas for the Cubs.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Gotta love that swing! Not to mention the socks...

Edited January 4, 2012 by Guest

[metirish]

seawolf17 wrote: Not THE Jeff Stevens and Corey Wimberly?!?! http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/37379/mets-sign-pair-to-minor-deals

not to sound all snotty here as teams sign guys like this all the time but.........is there not minor league players in the system just as bad as these two? Who will they be taking spots from?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Re: Corey Wimberley

The Mets have had five players whose first name and last name both ended with the letter Y.

Three of them played for the Mets in the 1960's. Two of them played in the 1970's. And one played for them in the 1990's. (I know that adds up to six; one of the 60's players stuck around into the 70's.)

How many can you come up with?

[Benjamin Grimm]

metirish wrote: not to sound all snotty here as teams sign guys like this all the time but.........is there not minor league players in the system just as bad as these two? Who will they be taking spots from?

They're probably just for Buffalo/Binghamton depth. Wemberly may compete with that other guy they signed the other day for the backup shortstop spot in Flushing. The more guys you have to compete for a position the more likely you'll find someone who can do the job.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I have some nice K/9 figures in the minors.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Re: Corey Wimberley The Mets have had five players whose first name and last name both ended with the letter Y. Three of them played for the Mets in the 1960's. Two of them played in the 1970's. And one played for them in the 1990's. (I know that adds up to six; one of the 60's players stuck around into the 70's.) How many can you come up with?

Jerry Hinsley


uh...
Bobby Keilty

Duffy Dyery

[Chad ochoseis]

Gary Gentry

[Benjamin Grimm]

Billy Murphy (1966)
Gary Gentry (1969 - 1972)
Jerry Hinsley (1964, 1967)
Jerry May (1973)
Rodney McCray (1992)

[Edgy MD]

Not THE Jeff Stevens and Corey Wimberly?!?! http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/37379/mets-sign-pair-to-minor-deals not to sound all snotty here as teams sign guys like this all the time but.........is there not minor league players in the system just as bad as these two? Who will they be taking spots from?

No, not really. The AAA roster is more or less 70% vacated at the end of the season. Between that and guys who hit minor league free agency in A or AA or are trying to get out of indy ball, 500 or so guys are out hunting for these spring training invites. Maybe 300 get minor league deals and 200 go home disappointed and think about that job at the plant that dad was talking about.

Of the 300 invited to camp, maybe 50 make the MLB roster, another 150 get a spot on the AAA squad with the holdovers and the guys promoted from AA, and 100 more get turned loose, getting in line a little late for that job at the plant. Some retire --- in tears if their name rhymes with Rhett Roone --- while others talk it over with their agents and accept an offer in Indy ball.

Just so you know, I totally made those numbers up. The key takeaway is that 10 of these guys (the current number of NRIs) is hardly unusual in the best of circumstances and certainly to be expected, and I wouldn't be surprised if five more are signed up by the time P's & C's report.

Full disclosure: I love these guys.

[seawolf17]

Full disclosure: I love these guys.

You know? I love these guys too. I like how they have different hats in the roster thread.

I like picking up cheapo autographed cards in the offseason of them (just picked up Ramon Ramirez and Quintanilla) in the hopes that they'll someday make The Binder.

[Edgy MD]

Nu body Fernando Cabrera signed. Old body Miguel Batista re-signed.