Winter Schedule

[Frayed Knot]

5 days after end of World Series � Deadline for teams to make qualifying offer to eligible FAs

12 days after end of World Series � Deadline for FAs to accept or reject qualifying offers.

Nov 10-12 � General managers� meetings, Phoenix

Nov 10 � Rookies of the Year awarded

Nov 11 - Managers of the Year

Nov 12 - Cy Young Awards

Nov 13 - Most Valuable Players

Dec 2 � Final day for teams to offer 2015 contracts to unsigned players

Dec 8-11 � Winter meetings, San Diego

Jan 13 � Salary Arbitration filing

Jan 16 � Salary arbitration figures exchanged

Feb 1-21 � Salary arbitration hearings

[Edgy MD]

The Star Ledger offered to boilerplatiest of boilerplate articles: "MLB hot stove: 9 Mets key offseason dates for 2014 & 2015." They strangely underscored a lot of non-key dates, as if re-signing their free-agents is what the Mets offseason hinges on.

Nov. TBD: The fifth day after the end of the World Series is the last one to make qualifying offers to eligible free agents. The latest the World Series can end is Oct. 29.

Is there really that much drama around whether they're going to resign Quintanilla?

Nov. TBD: Deadline to accept qualifying offers is the 12th day after the World Series.

Quintanilla fans will be up all night.

Nov. TBD: The Mets will name a hitting coach at some point.

This may linger until December, tormenting batting coach fans.

True for the Mets. True for the Rangers and Cubs and Marlins too.

Dec. 2: The deadline for teams to offer deals to unsigned players.

Don't let Matsuzaka slip away!!

[Frayed Knot]

Midnight tonight is the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from being drafted in the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 11.
Players 18 or younger when they signed their first pro contracts in 2010, or 19 or older when they signed their pro contracts in 2011 are eligible for this year�s Rule 5 Draft.

We're currently sitting at 35 acc to BB-Ref. Basically it's anyone who played on the team last season (including such short-term guys as Dario Alvarez, Wilfredo Tovar, & Eric Goeddel) plus Cesar Puello & Stephen Matz
I could probably figure out, given the above conditions, who's in need of being added ... but that sounds like too much work and thinking so I think I'll just watch the day's transactions.
Baseball America is following the day's updates

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

We've selected the contracts of RHPs Noah Syndergaard, Cory Mazzoni, Hansel Robles, Gabriel Ynoa and Akeel Morris and LHP Jack Leathersich.

[Frayed Knot]

That's six new names. Assuming the BB-Ref list is correct it means that someone has to get dropped.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Word is Jeff Walters has been dropped.

[Frayed Knot]

BA's take on the new six.

Noah Syndergaard, RHP: A big, physical righty, Syndergaard easily spins mid-90s heat and controls it as well. He also offers a big curveball that can vary in its shape and size, from a mid-70s slurve to a power offering in the low-80s. He threw his mid-80s change more often this year, and scouts project it to be average in the future. He lacks deception, but has all the makings of a monster.

Cory Mazzoni, RHP: With knee and lat injuries in the past, the Mets this year saw what they saw in 2011 when they made him a second-round pick. His fastball, which he can locate to both sides, sits between 92-95 mph and is complemented by a solid mid-80s slider and an average splitter. If he can repeat, he�ll fulfill his potential as a backend starter.

Gabriel Ynoa, RHP: Binghamton�s Opening Day starter offers impeccable control first and foremost. He uses that to corral an arsenal that includes a 92-94 mph that can touch 96 and features riding life. He maintains his arm speed on a plus changeup and backs it up with a fringy slider.

Akeel Morris, RHP: Morris annihilated the competition in the South Atlantic League this year, holding the opposition to a .103 average and fanning more than 14 hitters per nine innings. So, how�d he do it? A deceptive delivery and a lively 92-94 mph fastball are a good start, but the true weapon in is the low-80s changeup that he uses to get his Ks.

Hansel Robles, RHP: A second-time addition to the 40-man roster, Robles is a reliever now, which allows his sinking fastball to bump to the mid-90s. He backs the pitch with a slider and changeup, both in the mid-80s and both average offerings at best.

Jack Leathersich, LHP: A stocky lefthander, Leathersich brings a max-effort delivery which includes a vault over a stiff front leg and uses it to fire a fastball that sits low-90s and touches the mid-range. He uses a high-70s slider to get his punchouts.

[MFS62]

I think the toughest decision was to add the reliever (Robles) over the starter (Logan Verrett). IMO the tie breaker/ deciding point was every team's search for home grown, young, relief talent.
Time will tell.
But I have no major heartburn over the guys they added.

Later