According to Mets Blog, the Mets have signed former Expos and Nationals SP Tony Armas Jr. to a minor league deal.

Can’t hurt, we know how things can go wrong. We had Brian Lawrence starting for us down the stretch last year and we all know how that worked out.

Also for the New York Post, Steve Serby does a Q&A with Johan Santana. Interestingly, Serby asks:

Q: Are you a left-handed Pedro Martinez?

A: I got a lot of things from him. I wouldn’t say I’m Pedro Martinez, a left-handed version, I’m Johan Santana. But I have learned a lot from him. The way he approaches the game, the way he handles the game, and the attitude he has.

Real solid interview. In-depth and shows you a bunch about Johan’s character and personality. My favorite is a few times during the interview it has a ‘Q’ when there is actually no question, just Serby commenting on something. You’d think they mightt proooof eDitt tHat.

The always quotable Hall of Fame 2B and manager Rogers Hornsby once said, “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball.  I’ll tell you what I do.  I stare at the window and wait for spring.”

Boy do I know the feeling, as for me it’s snowing outside right now and pretty hard.  I just want some baseball, and I’ve wanted it for some time right now.

SI.com has put out their team by team outlook for the National League.  For each team they list the key acquisitions, key losses and then summary on the teams outlook.

Another informative read, if you’re just getting hungry for baseball news.

Boy, am I gettin’ antsy for some baseball, jeez.  Only a few more days until pitchers and catchers.  Only a few more days until pitchers and catchers.  Only a few more days until pitchers and catchers.  I’m gettin’ restless here.

According to the AP, the cost for the new Yankee Stadium has rose to $1.3 billion, more than the $1 billion originally projected.

Meanwhile, CitiField remains on budget at approximately $800 million. Both stadiums are scheduled to open in 2009.

I’m excited for a new stadium, and even though its acknowledged as if not the worst, one of the worst stadiums in baseball, its our dump and frankly I’m proud of it.

I’m also upset about the fact that its going from about 55,000 seats to around 42,500. Even though financially it might make more sense for them, I think its almost disrespectful to take away that many seats, and make it that much tougher to get a ticket.

On ESPN, AJ Mass breaks down the Mets from a fantasy baseball perspective.

While he breaks down everything thoroughly, notably he writes:

Top Sleeper: With all the star power in the Mets’ lineup, it’s easy to forget about the newly acquired Ryan Church. He hit only 15 home runs last season, but that came along with 43 doubles. While we just noted that Shea Stadium isn’t exactly great for power hitters, it has to be better than playing at RFK Stadium, where Church had been playing his home games. True, he has had some trouble in the past against lefties (.229 in 2007), but we prefer to focus on the career .340 batting average at Shea and think positively.

Must read for a breakdown of the Mets, and also a must read for fantasy baseball junkies like myself.  Hey, in our deep lineup, a guy like Church could really be a nice sleeper.

According to Rotoworld, former Mets SP Victor Zambrano was among a group of many who received spring training invites from the Colorado Rockies.

Mets fans will always hate him, but in all fairness–its not his fault he was traded for what would have been the future of our rotation.

I’ve moved on from the traumas of that deal though, as Mets fans we face new dramas and tragedies annually.

According to Marty Noble at mlb.com, the Mets have avoided arbitration once again and agreed to terms on a contract with Jorge Sosa.  According to Noble, the deal will pay Sosa $2 million, which is $300k more than they had originally offered but $750k less than Sosa had originally sought.

Jeez Omar, about time you finally did something productive.

It’s not like you spent your winter dealing for the best pitcher in baseball and then probably didn’t sleep for 72 hours trying to negotiate a deal with that pitcher.

Here’s same chatter from around the web about the on-going extension talks between the Mets and Johan Santana:

• For his blog at ESPN, Buster Olney writes how Santana and his agent are going force a blank check out of the Mets.
• The AP writes how the Mets have a good relationship with Santana’s agent Peter Greenberg who represents Jose Reyes and Endy Chavez.
• For the New York Post, Mark Hale and Joel Sherman write that you shouldn’t expect the talks to hit a snag.
• In the Daily News, Andy Mccarron quotes Hank Steinbrenner as saying it was a great move for the Mets.

Here are some of your top non-newspaper links of the morning, all regarding the Johan Santana trade:

• At ESPN.com, Tristan Cockroft breaks down the trade from a fantasy perspective.
• At Sportsline.com, Eric Mack gives us a breakdown of the deal and all the players.
• Also at Sportline.com Scott Miller writes how Johan Santana is the cure to The Collapse
• At the Phillies’ blog Beer Leaguer, Weitzel announces the trade, and probably the best part is the reader comments.
• White Sox fans at MVN are thrilled to see Santana leave the American League.

Oh boy….

One of the articles mentioned a collapse? What collapse?

Here are some early looks at the Johan Santana deal:

• In his blog, Keith Law gives a thorough, in-depth analysis of the trade and declares its hard to look at it in a way that the Mets aren’t winners.
• At MLB Rumors, Tim Dierkes breaks down his thoughts on the trade.
• At Fox Sports, Ken Rosenthal discusses how the Twins had to settle for the Mets’ offer.
• In a video for ESPN.com, Peter Gammons breaks down the deal.
• For CNNSI, Jon Heyman writes how the Twins are betting on the Mets’ talent and upside that they offered in the deal.

Oh boy…

For CBSsportsline, fantasy analyst Eric Mack breaks down potential pitchers that will be in their 3rd year in the Majors, which according to him is when pitchers hit their stride.  Number 4 on his list is John Maine.

He concludes his piece on Maine by writing:

The offensively capable Mets should make him a big-time winner, and he should be able to stretch out better through the second half this time around. Last year was really his first full year in the majors after a couple of half seasons before 2007.

He also wrote an article where he discusses that players also hit their stride when they are 27, which Maine will be.

Also of note, he pegs Phillies’ SP Cole Hamels and Marlins’ SP Scott Olsen for breakout years.

Worth reading, especially if you’re into fantasy baseball.  This could really be a great year for Maine, because–to me at least–his issues seem to be mental, like losing focus and control.  Hopefully maturation will change that.

According to Bill Ladson at MLB.com, former Mets catcher and current Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca has hurt his knee in a workout.  The injury was described as a tweak, but he is going in for an MRI.

 Also in the article, Ladson writes that former Mets’ prospect Alex Escobar has signed with the team to a minor-league deal.

According to the AP, the Yankees led the MLB with a whopping $218.3 million payroll last year. The Red Sox checked in second with $155.4 dollars, the Dodgers were third at $125.6 million, while the Mets checked in at fourth, with $120.9 million.

The article also adds:

In addition to the largest payroll, the Yankees have the highest revenue in the majors. New York took in $415 million last year, giving about $100 million of it away in the sport’s revenue-sharing plan.

Both the Yankees and New York Mets will receive revenue boosts in 2009, when they move into new stadiums.

Its not that they spend money, because in all fairness compared to many teams the Mets do too, but its how absurdly much and more than most it is.

According to Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, the Reds have signed free-agent lefty Jeremy Affeldt to a 1 year $3 million deal. 

Wow, what a bargain. Earlier reports had him seeking a 4 year deal, with many multi-year options on the table, but this seems like a great move by the Reds.