Hot Stove? More Like NOT Stove Applesauce: Minor Leaguers Protected, Endy Still Awesome

Meet the Mets

Leading off, the Mets announced that they have protected seven Rule 5 Draft eligible minor leaguers in advance of Friday evening's deadline by adding them to the 40-man roster. These players are SP Jeurys Familia, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF Juan Lagares, 2B Reese Havens, LHP Robert Carson, INF Wilmer Flores and OF Cesar Puello. With the exception of Carson, the other six make up the majority of the club's top 10 prospect lists. This leaves the team's 40-man roster at 38, potentially allowing them to make a pick in the draft at December's winter meetings (provided they don't add two more players in the interim).

One player who could be a free agent fit for the Mets is folk hero/OF Endy Chavez. Really, it seems like it'd be the perfect pickup, in that he plays excellent defense at all three positions, he could spot Angel Pagan should he get hurt or struggle and to top it all off, he shouldn't cost all that much to sign. Plus, let's not forget past history here. Endy Chavez is awesome.  End of story. By signing with the Mets, Chavez would also be able to join the list of players who have had more than one stint in Flushing. Let's do it. What do you say, Sandy? HELLO HELLO MR ALDERSON!

Toby Hyde took a peak at the Mets' third base prospects in A-ball and while there's some offensive potential there, 40-man snub Jefry Marte and slugging 20 year old Aderlin Rodriguez seem like they may eventually have to move off of third. Either way, both seem to be relatively far away from being big league contributors at this point.

Over at Rising Apple, Ben Berkon continues with his "Bad Contract of the Day to Swap Jason Bay With" series (or "BCOTDTSJBW", as I like to call it (okay, maybe not)) and this time, he takes a look at swapping Bay for the Cubs' Alfonso Soriano. You can probably guess the outcome of the exercise.

Around the Majors

The hot stove has mostly seen smoke with little fire, but the Twins made another move, signing catcher Ryan Doumit to a one year deal worth $3 million. Meanwhile, Patrick Flood compared the overabundance of hot stove coverage to having bacon covered in bacon bits. I didn't think there was such a thing as having too much bacon but...umm...err...well, I've lost my train of thought. Now I just want some bacon.

The Blue Jays showed off their new logo and uniforms, becoming the latest team to join the trend of turning the clocks back in time. The Jays have gone back to an updated version of their old school Blue Jay logo and I have to admit that those uniforms are pretty slick.

The Cubs introduced Dale Sveum as their new manager on Friday, stealing him from the Red Sox, who were also in the process of courting him. Score one for Theo Epstein over his former club. With Sveum out of the picture, it appears that the Sox have turned their attention towards former Amazins' manager Bobby Valentine. Ever since Terry Francona was fired, I've had the gut feeling that Bobby V would be the man for the job and I'm sticking with that.

Was Clayton Kershaw the right choice for the NL Cy Young over Roy Halladay? When my hatred for the Phillies takes over, my mind says yes, mainly because that team from Philly is basically spawned from the devil.

Finally, Yankees GM Brian Cashman slept in Times Square on Thursday night, in under 40 degree weather, to raise awareness for the charity Covenant House. Sounds gritty.