Mourning the GCL Mets Applesauce: Mets Drop Gulf Coast Rookie League Team, Have Interest In Eric Young Jr for Bench, Are Offering Excellent Perks to Prospective Minority Owners

Meet the Mets

Okay, so just to clarify, we won't actually be mourning the loss of the GCL Mets team here. The Mets cut the club due to cost concerns and considering most teams don't have two Rookie level short season clubs, it shouldn't be a huge deal. It'll probably just mean that players will start at Kingsport, be pushed to Brooklyn and even Savannah quicker and the foreign players in the Mets Dominican complex will likely be kept there longer, as they'll still have two teams in the DSL.

Rumor has it that the Mets have some interest in Eric Young Jr. of the Rockies. Young, who's now 26, is a speedy and versatile player who has played 2B as well as all three outfield positions. There was talk of a Justin Turner for Young trade early on Tuesday, which was quickly denied, but all in all, it probably wouldn't be a bad deal. Young is a .297/.388/.423 career minor league hitter, so there may be some upside there as he's a guy who doesn't have a whole lot of big league experience. At worst, he'd be a cheap bench option who can act as a 5th OFer, 2nd baseman and pinch runner.

Say, do you have an extra $20 million lying around your house? If you do, first of all, can I please have some? If not, I have a wonderful bridge that I can sell you. Interested? No? Well then, how about a miniscule, non-controlling stake in the failing New York Mets, in which you'll have no say over what the team does with your money? Doesn't sound that great? Well, now let me show you some of the "awesome" perks that you'll get for investing in the Mets. Believe me, these perks are way better than what they were previously offering: a t-shirt that said "I invested $20 million in the Mets and all I got was this lousy t-shirt".

Finally, the Mets appear to be shopping former top prospect/current senior citizen Fernando Martinez. I'm not surprised that they are. They're literally out of room on the 40-man roster now and they still need to build an entire big league bench for 2012.

Around the Majors

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says that rumors of an offer to Prince Fielder are "baseless", despite what Jon Heyman of Scott Boras Corp CBS Sports reported on Tuesday. The Mariners do seem to be a perfect fit for Fielder, so I wouldn't be shocked if this is just posturing on the part of Trader Jack.

The Rockies and 3B Casey Blake have agreed to a non-guaranteed one year contract, worth $2 million. Blake missed most of 2011 with injuries but he's a decent gamble at third for Colorado, a team in dire need of a 3rd baseman.

In hilarious news, the Royals have inexplicably re-signed perpetually awful shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to a one year deal. Apparently, Betancourt was brought on to be a utility infielder, despite spending all but 12 games of his US professional at shortstop. Looks like Dayton Moore is going all in on "The Contest", despite Omar Minaya having been fired over a year ago. By the way, I suggest you read the comments in the Royals Review link. Really funny stuff.

Over Fangraphs, Jack Moore asks if WPA can explain how teams buy relievers.

Apparently, the Atlanta Braves have a problem with a Pixar film that is similarly named to the ballclub.

Finally, Wendy Thurm tries to make sense of the Giants' offseason moves because, well, I don't think anybody else can do it. Brian Sabean obviously has to know what he's doing, right? Right?