According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, the Mets have signed catcher Ronny Paulino to a one-year $1.3M deal. Paulino will most likely serve as the back-up catcher to Josh Thole, and start in games when left-handers are starting.
Paulino hit .259 with a .311 OBP, four home runs and 37 RBI in 91 games last season for the Florida Marlins. The two time All-Star handles left-handers extremely well, hitting .358 with a .380 OBP last season against them.
Paulino's defense isn't as good as Henry Blanco's, but it looks like the Mets will get more offensive production out of Paulino than they did Blanco.
Paulino was suspended 50 games last season for using performance-enhancing drugs, and will miss nine games at the start of the 2011 season because of this.
I like Paulino as a back-up and he'll do a good job against the lefties. I think the Mets might have overpaid a little for him though. $1.3M for a back-up catcher who is currently serving a suspension due to performance-enhancing drug usage, seems a bit high. I'm not saying they went Jayson Werth for him, but they probably could have shaved a few hundred thousand off this deal.
Paulino said he took the drugs for weight management and didn't know they were illegal.