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 ESPN, David Wright told reporters at the charity event earlier today that he’d support strict penalties against those caught using illegal PEDs, even if that list includes Paul Lo Duca. According to Wright:

“He’s a guy I’d go to battle for any day. But when you’re talking about steroids, you’re talking about something that’s illegal. No matter how close a friend, I can’t condone steroids.”

The article states that Wright has talked to Lo Duca in the offseason, but not about the Mitchell Report.

I still don’t fully believe much of anything will result in the Mitchell list. Probably a few older vets near retirement that don’t have HOF numbers will end up thrown under the bus as the token sacrifices to cleaning up baseball. Though if this is the case, it should be noted that Paulie easily could end up in this category. Either way, I wouldn’t look too much into Wrights quote, since its the respectable right thing to say, which is what he normally does to the press.

In an entertaining article for Yahoo!,  Jeff Passan writes some New Year’s resolutions for people in the baseball world.

Some of the more entertaining and notable ones are:

• Hank Steinbrenner: I resolve to rehire George Costanza. He would get the Santana trade done.
• Paul Lo Duca: I resolve to use personal stationery for all future steroid purchases
• Willie Randolph: I resolve to win the National League East.
• Jimmy Rollins: I resolve to make Willie Randolph look like a fool again.

Very amusing, definitely the whole thing is a must read considering that the news is very slow, and this is pretty witty.  Check it out.

Deadspin pokes fun at Paul Lo Duca’s interview on WFAN, where he nearly got into in accident coincidentally as he was being asked about the Mitchell Report.

As always on Deadspin and all the Gawker media outlets, the comments section is the best part.

Paul Lo Duca could face disciplinary action by Major League Baseball because the documentation in the Mitchell Report included checks written just three years ago, writes Adam Rubin in the New York Daily News.

Among the evidence of steroid use by the former Mets catcher were internal notes of an October 2003 discussion among Dodgers officials that pointed to him getting off steroids leading to a drop off in his production. Lo Duca went from 25 homers in 2001 to seven in 2003. The internal memo read “Got off steroids. … Took away a lot of hard line drives. … If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year.”

Lo Duca was traded to the Marlins on July 30, 2004. One of the checks to Radomski is dated seven days later.

There are numerous personal notes between Randomski and Lo Duca, one of them is even written on Dodgers stationary and reads

“Kirk, Sorry! But for some reason they sent the check back to me. I haven’t been able to call you back because my phone is TOAST! I have a new # it is (redacted). Please leave your # again because I lost all of my phonebook with the other phone. Thanks. Paul.”

Here is the except from the report that references Paul Lo Duca.

Paul LoDuca joined Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts today to discuss his feelings on the events of the last few weeks. When asked why he though he wasn’t asked back to the Mets, Lo Duca said he felt like he “was never their #1″ and that he just fell into their lap. He also notes that he does think he may have been too outspoken in the clubhouse.

Evan inquired as to how much communication the Mets and Lo Duca had during the off season, he expressed that he was upset at the lack of communication between the Mets and himself. He also noted that the rumors of him wanted 3-4 years is obviously false since he just signed a 1 year contract with the Washington Nationals.

Lo Duca described his visit to Washington yesterday, telling Joe and Evan how welcome he felt by everyone in the Nats front office.

The link to the full interview will be posted when it is made available by WFAN.

The interview was very interesting and informative. I really commend Paulie for how he handled the situation. I must say, when he discussed his trip to Washington, you could head his mood instantly brighten. As much as I am going to miss him, I am glad he is optimistic about his new spot. Good luck, Paulie.

Former Mets and current Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca will join Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on WFAN at 12:00p.m. ET.

Click on the WFAN button on the sidebar on the left side of this site to listen!

Paul Lo Duca and the Nats have finalized a deal, for $5 mill over one season. He’ll rejoin former Met coach Manny Acta and Lastings Milledge, on a rebuilt Nats team that includes young sluggers Elijah Dukes and Dmitri Young. From Lo Duca, via Howard Fendrich of the AP:

“I’m excited to be part of a team that’s young and has a chance to win this division. The NL East is wide open.”

With all these new pieces, the Nats will be quite the team. Manny Acta will have a decent group of players and Paulie has a chance to be a veteran presence on this team. Hopefully they’ll do well, as long as they don’t do too well. Sorry Paulie, you’re the enemy now. Though you can beat up on the Phils all you want.

Paul Lo Duca appears headed to the Washington Nationals according to a report in the Washington Post, via Mets Blog.

I had heard he was going to the Blue Jays, but I guess the Nationals made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

I’d much rather Paul be off somewhere else far away so I didn’t have to root against him. I know there are folks who have strong opinions for and against Paulie, I happen to be on of the people who really liked him.

Like Vito Corleone tells Sollozo in the Godfather, good luck to you, as best as your interests don’t conflict with my interests.

At CNNSI, they have a list ranking the 10 biggest trades of the last decades. While none of the trades directly involve the Mets, some of them certainly hold some significance:

10 ) Kansas City Royals send Carlos Beltran to the Astros.

Boy, in that post season where he hit 8 HRs in 12 games he certainly earned himself millions of extra dollars in free agency, where Omar Minaya gobbled him up.

9 ) Dodgers deal Paul Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota and Juan Encarnacion to the Marlins for Brad Penny and Hee Seop Choi.

Well, that year the Lo Duca trade sparked the Dodgers to the playoffs and the Marlins barely missed out. I guess I can only hope getting rid of Lo Duca and Mota sparks us to the playoffs next year, among other things.

8 ) As GM of the Expos, Omar Minaya trades Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore in exchange for Bartolo Colon who immediately got hurt.

Wow, you think you’re trading just a few prospects thinking only one might pan out, but then you look at this trade and you see Lee who’s a decent starter, Phillips who is 26 years old and hit 30 HRs last year as a 2B and Grady Sizemore, who is just truly stunning.

I hope Omar knows what he’s doing if he gives away our prospects.

Other of note to the Mets include the Braves trading for Tim Hudson, the Marlins’ deals of Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis as well as the Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell for Hanley Ramirez trade.

Oh, and naturally the Yankees needed to be #1 on the list, with Alex Rodriguez for Alfonso Soriano topping the list.

According to Robert Macleod, the Blue Jays are on the verge of signing Paul Lo Duca to a $3-$4 million deal.

Well, good luck Paulie.  I never thought you were that good, but I respect a player with character. 

Just check to see if the money is in American dollars, not thats neccisarily a good thing lately…

According to Jerry Crasnick at ESPN, the Nationals are looking at ex Met catcher Paul Lo Duca.

As it stands now, the Nats will go into the season with ex Met and former Rule 5 draft pick Jesus Flores at catcher, but they’re looking for some insurance in the event he can’t handle the job full-time.

Lo Duca still wants to play regularly, so Washington is probably a long shot for him unless all his other options fall through.

Although it doesn’t seem likely, if the Nats are able to sign Pauly then they are going to be loaded with ex Met fan favorites. Not only that, Milledge and Pauly didnt exactly leave on the best of terms so you can be sure they would have a little extra in them for the 19 times the two teams play next season…something i’m really not interested in seeing.