Here is some quick Mets news from this morning:

• Returning from a strained oblique muscle, Ronny Paulino went 1-4 for Triple-A Buffalo, catching the whole game. He also threw out a runner attempting to steal a base. He is set to play in tonight's game as well.
• Angel Pagan and Bobby Parnell will start their rehab assignments today in Port St. Lucie.
• Fernando Martinez has had nine at-bats since returns from his latest stint on the DL. He has collected three hits, one of them being a pinch-hit solo home run.
• The Mets sent down D.J. Carrasco in order to make room for Chris Young, who is coming off the DL and starting in tonight's game. Dillon Gee looks like he will be the odd man out, and will be moved to the bullpen.

Happy 27th birthday to Mike Pelfrey! Hope you have a good one today big guy. This date in Mets history: on January 14th, 2010 the Mets traded Masato Yoshii to the Colorado Rockies for Bobby Jones and Lariel Gonzalez. And now, on with the quick hits:

• Jon Morosi reports that the Baltimore Orioles have signed free-agent relief pitcher Kevin Gregg to a two year, $10M deal. Jon Heyman reports the deal includes a vesting option for a third year that could bring up the total value of the contract to in between $16-20M.
• Jeff Francis and the Kansas City Royals have agreed to a one-year deal according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. He then tweeted that the deal is worth $2M with another $2M with incentives.
• Bill Maddan reports that Joe Torre is expect to talk to Bud Selig about possibly becoming MLB executive vice president of operations.
• The Braves have claimed Anthony Varvaro off of waivers for the Seattle Mariners according to Mark Bowman.
• According to Bill Center, the San Diego Padres and free-agent catcher Greg Zaun are close to a deal. Morosi reports that the Padres are also close to a deal with free-agent relief pitcher Chad Qualls.
• Mike Axisa of MLB Trade Rumors lists the Mets as one of eight teams that will be interest in Prince Fielder when he becomes a free-agent next offseason. He says, "Sandy Alderson has limited his free agent spending this winter, but he'll have Carlos Beltran ($20.07MM), Oliver Perez ($12MM), and Luis Castillo ($6.25MM) coming off the payroll after next season. Some of that money might go to an extension for Jose Reyes, but signing Fielder could free them up to trade Ike Davis for help elsewhere." The Mets will certainly have a lot of money coming off the books in 2011 but that doesn't mean they have to spend it. If they could trade Davis for an ace and then sign Fielder I wouldn't be against it. However, I'm not a huge fan of Fielder and I think that big swing of his is going to lead to a lot of health issues in the future.
• Morosi reports that the Oakland A's and Grant Balfour are close to agreeing to a multiple year deal.

So apparently, MLB Trade Rumors is changing the name of their long running "Odds & Ends" posts to the title of "Quick Hits." Does the name sound familiar to you? Well it should! MLBTR stole Mets Paraidse Quick Hits segment!

As long as I continue to live, I will not rest, I will not sleep, until justice is served. Look out Mr. Tim Dierkes… if that is your real name…

But seriously, I still love MLBTR. The people over there do an amazing job. I'm sure other baseball websites has used the title "Quick Hits" long before us… maybe we can all band together and try to take MLBTR down… hmmm…

O.K. the Phillies are the best team ever, we get. Here is some other some other news from around the league to forget about the F… I mean Fightin Phills for a second:

• Alden Gonzalez reports that the New York Yankees have signed catcher Russell Martin.
• The St. Louis Cardinals have sign Gerald Laird to be the team's back-up catcher, according to Joe Strauss.
• According to their team's Twitter account, the Washington Nationals have signed Matt Stairs to a minor league contract.
• Jerry Crasnick reports that the Texas Rangers are interested in free-agent pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. Don't be surprised if the Mets make an offer for Wang. He's a low-risk, high-reward type of player Sandy Alderson could be interested in.
• Rob Bradford reports that there is no deal as of now between the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies for starting pitcher Joe Blanton. He is due to make $8.5M a year for the next two season serving as the team's number five starter. Phillies are looking to cut some salary after signing Cliff Lee to a massive contract.
• Tim Dierkes lists the things we've learned after the Cliff Lee signing… alright that's the last mention of Lee's name for now.
• The Yankees are "very reluctant" to try to trade for Kansas City Royals' ace Zack Greinke after missing out on you-know-who, according to Jon Heyman. 
• Susan Slusser reports that the Oakland A's have signed Brandon McCarthy to a one-year deal.
• Ted Berg talks about how the Phillies will deal with their immense payroll and their aging roster.
• The Washington Nationals are reportably very interested in Matt Garza, according to Adam Kilgore. It's been reported the Nationals would have to give up Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmerman, which they don't want to do.
• Alex Apple from the popular Cincinnati Reds blog, Blog Red Machine, writes that the Red and Mets have been talking about a trade involving Jose Reyes. However, Alderson has told Reyes that he will be on the Mets at the start of the 2011 season.
• Jose Canseco pleads to Alderson to give him a shot at playing first base for the Mets on his Twitter account. He played for Alderson during his time with the Oakland Athletics. Hey, if you can hit and field better than Ike Davis, the job is yours.
• Bobby Kielty had this to say about the Mets new hitting coach Dave Hudges, "He was a real easy to get along with. He knows the game really well. I had a really good experience with Hudge. He was an awesome guy — overall just a really quality individual. He was very available to work with. All the hitters really respected him and liked him."

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Here is some quick news from around the league:

• Jon Heyman reports that the Chicago Cubs have signed first baseman Carlos Pena to a one-years $10M deal.
• Ken Rosenthal reports that the Kansas City Royal are close to sign ex-Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur to a one-year deal with an option for a second.
• The New York Yankees are going to make a strong offer to Cliff Lee today. Heyman reports that it could be a six-year $138M deal.
• The Chicago White Sox signed a first baseman of their own, re-signing Paul Konerko to a three-year deal according to Bob Nightengale.
• Nick Cafardo reports that multiple teams have come to the Boston Red Sox and asked about Daisuke Matsuzaka. Alex Speier reports that the Red Sox are not actively pursuing a trade of Matsuzaka.