Mets Non-tender Ronny Paulino and Mike Baxter

As expected, the Mets have non-tendered Ronny Paulino. Brought in last winter to platoon with Josh Thole behind the plate, Paulino was disappointing, even with relatively moderate expectations coming into the season.

The good thing about Paulino was that he historically produced against left-handed pitching, and he was decent at that in 2011. Unfortunately, he got more plate appearances against right-handed pitching, and his overall production suffered. His .663 OPS wasn't very good, even for a catcher, and the Mets seemingly figured they could get comparable production from someone like Mike Nickeas for less money. For what it's worth, MLB Trade Rumors estimated that Paulino would have fetched $1.6 million in arbitration had the Mets gone that route.

The Mets also non-tendered Mike Baxter, who's originally from Queens and got some playing time down the stretch this season, as a housekeeping move for their 40-man roster.

While neither move should have all that much of an impact on the season, it makes it clear that the Mets do have a few bench spots to fill. It's safe to assume that contracts were tendered to Mike Pelfrey, Andres Torres, Ramon Ramirez, and Manny Acosta.