After agreeing last Thursday to a one-year contract with Ryan Church worth $2 million, the Mets shored up a weakness they didn't really have by inking Tony Armas to a minor league deal and inviting the former Expo to spring training.

Armas is still only 29 (ed. note: is that even possible?), but he has posted the following ugly inning/ERA+ combinations over the past four seasons.

His three most comparable players are Scott Kamieniecki, Rich Gale and Pete Smith. That's a veritable "Who's Who" of nobody cares. I guess it could be worse, and there's nothing wrong with carrying a bit of rotation depth at the cost of nothing, especially if it means we never have to see Chan Ho Park or Brian Lawrence again. Still, I have to think that Mike Pelfrey and Jorge Sosa are both superior options to fill in should any of the rotation principals become unavailable for any period of time.

Mets salmagundi, umm, bullet list.

• John Beamer steps into his time machine and takes a look at the future of the Mets. He's gone all the way to the year 2009 to see what shape the roster and payroll will be in. This is over at The Hardball Times. His conclusion is that the Mets will be fine, despite committing an awful lot of money to Johan Santana and having to fill holes in left, at first, plus potentially three starting rotation spots.
• ESPN's Sunday Conversation was with Johan Santana. The whole thing is maybe ninety seconds long, so there isn't really much to sink your teeth into there. The interviewer asked some question about how Santana will feel about pitching with Pedro Martinez, and it still isn't clear to me what she was getting at with that one.
• Pitchers and catchers report in two days, so here's a little five questions by Mark Hale of the Post. Nothing crazy, but it'll kill a few minutes.
• Hide your women and children, Keith Hernandez will be back in the booth for the Mets in 2008. Terms of his deal were not announced, but it is said to be for multiple years.