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Long Island's own has been invited to Marlins camp.

Rey O at his defensive best was the diametric opposite of Fran at his anything.

Wilmer, however, appears headed for the arbitration table, multiple sources report.

Harvey in: $5.125 million plus $100K in "performance bonuses," per Wagner of NYT.

DeGrom and Mets settle at $4.05 million plus performance bonuses, per Rubin.

MFS62 wrote: Watching a rerun of a 1994 episode of Law and Order titled "Wager." There have been a lot of Mets references (including Doc Gooden and Sid Fernandez) in banter about how well one of the policemen would hit against major league pitching. With guest star Keith Hernandez as Drew Harding.

Keith Hernandez, awash in World Series champs mania is a guest on The Dick Cavett Show, along with Mike Tyson and Susan Lucci -- original air date - November 26, 1986. http://dickcavettshow.com/index.php/component/zoo/item/11-26 Keith reveals that he's a big fan of Psycho Cybernetics and the power of positive thinking (Keith shoulda played for Wes Westrum -- the '66 Mets sure coulda used a Keith Hernandez-like player) and also notes that any baseball player who gets caught with his mistress/groupie by his road trip tagging along wife is stupid. Caught this on the Decades channel. Didn't see it in 1986, but it brought back the several-month high that existed when the Mets were the World Champion Mets and there was nothing yet to defend or even train for defending. Keith, teased by Dick, recalled walking out of the shower room on his hands in his "birthday suit" as his response to the admission of lady reporters to the clubhouse. But now, in 1986, there is "no sex," everybody's who's there is there to do a job. Such enlightenment.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Mets sweep a double header in Washington on the day Trump is impeached. This implies a rainout, which would bum me out, though it would allow more time to watch decisive impeachment hearings.

Tom Seaver 50th Anniversary Weekend, celebrating the debut of the greatest player in franchise history.

From New Year's weekend viewing, as 2016 was becoming 2017. On MTV Classic (formerly VH-1 Classic), hip-hop videos from the early ’90s with Met apparel sightings (all from crowd shots in the background of the main artist) include: • “Summertime” by D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (1991), somebody wearing a white cap, blue bill and Mets in script. • “U.N.I.T.Y” by Queen Latifah (1993), a person wearing a traditional Mets cap in the crowd. • “Iesha” by Another Bad Creation (1991), a script Mets logo that looks almost spray-painted on appears on a t-shirt. • "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men (1991), a couple of folks mill in the background in Mets gear. On the annual WLNY (Channel 10/55 in the NY area) Odd Couple marathon: To start the “Hospital Mates” episode (Season 2, Episode 3, October 1, 1971), Oscar comes home all happy from softball and wonders aloud, “I wonder if I’m too old to be discovered by the Mets.” The marathon provided a strong reminder of how often not only Oscar, but Dr. Nancy Cunningham donned the blue and orange. Even Felix put it on (albeit backwards) for the role-reversal episode.

A late 2016 entrant: From the eighth episode of the first season of the online series Horace and Pete (courtesy of bmfc1). Horace (Steve Buscemi) has just been told that he can no longer be prescribed the drug that keeps him sane (because of the side effects) and that he will have to return to the mental hospital. He tells his cousin, Pete, why he wants to stay in the world, as it is for him with the drug: “It's not a joyful life, you know? I mean, but you do it because you know, there's always, you know, some potential. I mean, some days are okay, and even if they're not, then, you know, you know you can have an okay one. Or maybe even a great day. So you're sort of, you know, just biding your time to see what happens next. See what life offers. Maybe hit the lottery. Meet someone special. Maybe the Mets will win the playoffs, or if they make it into the playoffs. You know, or, like, looking forward to Easter this year. I — I like talking to you. I like TV. But you gotta understand, Horace. My life is about to be a nightmare. My mind is gonna drift into madness. I mean, you have no idea what it's like.”

From Dan Epstein: The nights the Stones (no, not George and Steve) came to Shea, featuring Mick Jagger's postseason wrapup. Ever mindful of his audience and surroundings, Jagger made sure to acknowledge the Mets during the first night of the Stones’ six-show stand. “We’re sorry the Mets didn’t make it to the World Series,” he told the audience from the stage, which had been built across the far reaches of the Shea outfield. “Too bad—but we’re going to have the World Series of Love!”

An Original Met. An Original Padre. Two of a kind, it might be said. RIP.

Your as comprehensive as can be 2016 Mets in the Popular Culture roundup, here.

With two homers on the road trip that turned the season around, Justin did just enough to be missed, which was surprising, given that his presence came from out of the blue, if not orange. Replaced Jose Reyes on the roster on Mike Piazza Night, which put him in the company of Met greats before he did a damn thing.

Here in December, just the fact the Mets announced the shift of start times, however undesirable or inconvenient they will prove themselves in practicality, was such a boost to morale. Major League Baseball games...Mets games will someday be played again. Hallebleepinglujah.

RIP, the old Cardinal Phil Gagliano, just shy of 75. Gagliano played in 1967 World Series against Boston and the 1968 World Series against the Detroit Tigers. During his 12-year career, he also played for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and for a Cincinnati Reds’ team that included Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Pete Rose. Gagliano hit .324, mostly as a pinch-hitter, in 1971 with the Red Sox and .290 with the Reds, in the same capacity, in 1973. His last season was with the Reds in 1974. His career and that of high school teammate and former major league all-star catcher Tim McCarver mirrored one another. McCarver, like Gagliano, attended Christian Brothers and signed with the Cardinals in 1959 and played for the Cardinals in the 1960s. “He and I were, at one time, tethered at the hip,” McCarver said. “We went to Christian Brothers together, we played on the same (American) Legion team under Phil’s uncle, Tony (Gagliano). “He and his wife were close enough to my family that they were the godfather and godmother of my youngest daughter. To say I thought highly of Phil is understated. He was just a wonderful man, in every way.”

The Postseason logo in the Familia entry is a nice reminder of how far the Mets got, at least. The Daily News shoving its N.Y.'s #1 claim in the midst of all that is busy/bizarre. Didn't actually need either of them. A shame those seats behind Asdrubal are mostly empty.

I was born 2 days before David Cone. Our right arms were separated at birth.

Unless Mets grab Juan Uribe again, Bartolo looms as the last of the 1970s-born Mets.

WtF is Don Florence? Sometimes I think I imagined him, as nobody else seems to remember he was a pretty tidy bullpen lefty during the mini-revival of late '95. Never understood why he was let go and didn't resurface.

Howard mostly covers soccer and basketball, pro and college, much of it on the distaff side. Still some baseball for various outlets. Seawolf, you might be thinking of Michael Baron, formerly of Metsblog, later with MLB Advanced Media.

The quintessential Newsday back page headline, from December 1991: "Sabes a Met" Not "Bret a Met" or "Bret's a Met". Perhaps it was character count, but how do you pass up a perfect rhyme and go with something so dull by comparison? That's always been Newsday to me, never quite striking the tabloid chord, rarely threading the needle of tasteful cleverness (you can do a whiz-bang back page without a urinal). "In Complete Control" was fine, safe, unmemorable -- unlike the game it described. As much as I liked deGrom's one-hitter, I went with the News here as a protest vote of sorts. It wasn't spectacular, but it told me the story in a nutshell.

President-elect went on record in 2004 against a certain type of Japanese import. When Donald Trump appeared on a sponsored segment of ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' on June 30, Matsui was hitting .254, appearing anemic at the plate, committing errors at a rapid rate. He was the easiest target imaginable. The host, Dan Patrick, asked Trump to name the athlete or manager he would most like to fire. Trump stalled for a moment, tried to give a diplomatic answer, then could not help but fire away. ''I would certainly say Kaz Matsui of the Mets has been a bust,'' he said. ''There's no doubt about that.'' Meanwhile, of the many qualities I'd attribute to the prospective ambassador, diplomacy wouldn't be the first to leap to mind. "You're not dealing with real professionals in the clubhouse," Valentine says. "You're not dealing with real intelligent guys for the most part. A lot can swim, but most of them just float along, looking for something to hold on to. That's why, I'm sure, they're having a players-only meeting. Because there's about five guys in there right now who basically are losers, who are seeing if they can recruit. They actually think there's some accomplishment and some reward in being the BMOC. They don't know that, looking back at it five years from now, that will mean nothing."

New Piazza book out soon, available for preorder now. Author's most recent work was a succinct memory of one of Mike's successors as Mets catcher in the Johnny Monell thread.