And Then There Were Two (Maybe) Applesauce: Mets/Marlins To Duke It Out Over Reyes, Capuano Goes To Hollywood, Minaya Hired By Padres

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Jose Reyes Watch: There were lots of confusing updates on the Jose front on Friday. Former GM and current ESPN talking head Jim Bowden said that the Marlins are going to ramp up the negotiations with Reyes, with intentions of hopefully having him signed before the Winter Meetings begin on Monday. Meanwhile, fellow ESPN columnist Jayson Stark mentioned that the Marlins may soon move onto Aramis Ramirez since they've made so little progress with Reyes. Then, Star Ledger beat writer Andy McCullough reported that there seems to be no resolution in sight and that the Marlins are content to negotiate into next week. Further, he said that the Mets have yet to ask Reyes for a right of last refusal, though they think Reyes will come back to them. Joel Sherman says that nothing is imminent but that the Mets were in contact with Jose's agent on Friday. The bottom line in all of this? It sounds like this saga is not going to end in the very near future. Unfortunately, it looks like the Mets would only end up with the Marlins' third round pick should he sign in Miami (along with a sandwich round pick after the first round), due to the Heath Bell signing. D'oh!

In the non-Jose Reyes division, lefty Chris Capuano has defected from Flushing, as the Dodgers signed him to a two year deal worth $10 million. The contract also has a mutual option for 2014. Good luck in LA, Chris. I'm sure Keith Hernandez will be sad.

Former Mets GM Omar Minaya is also headed out west, as he accepted a job with the Padres. His title will be Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations and he'll be one of Josh Byrnes' top men. Mets COO Jeff Wilpon issued a statement regarding Omar's hiring, in case you care.

Over at Mack's Mets, Stephen Guilbert presents five counter arguments to Jenrry Mejia moving to the bullpen when he returns from Tommy John surgery. Hey--they all work for me.

Howard Megdal wrote an excellent article about the victimization of Sandy Alderson. Kind of depressing to think that Sandy's reign as GM could be wasted, though.

Bobby Valentine appeared on the Red Sox hot stove show and in some interesting news, he admitted that his commitment was lacking by the end of his tenure with the Mets.

Over at Fangraphs, they take a look at the benefits of letting the closer market settle. Alternatively, you can call this article "Reasons why you shouldn't throw tons of money at Jonathan Papelbon in the first week of the offseason."

Magic Johnson has thrown his hat into the ring to buy the Dodgers from Frank McCourt. Johnson has teamed with former Braves and Nationals President Stan Kasten and businessman Mark Walter.

Mariano Rivera had polyps removed from his vocal cords. It sounds like he should be fine for the season.

Finally, I am not a fan of Nickelback at all but this is just a brilliant bit of trash talk served to Braves' reliever Peter Moylan via Nickelback's Twitter account. Excellent.