[Updated @ 11:18am: Astros, Reds, Phillies]: News of arbitration [non-]offers are trickling in, so whenever I hear something new I'll add it here. If you discover any on your own don't hesitate to include them in the comments, but be sure to provide a source. I'll update this list accordingly. I am only going to include Type A and Type B free agents, since the arbitration status of unranked players is inconsequential.

Players who were offered arbitration are listed in bold green (Type A) or green (Type B).
Players not offered arbitration are listed in bold red (Type A) or red (Type B).

Angels

Garret Anderson (MLB.com)
Jon Garland (MLB.com)
Darren Oliver (MLB.com)
Francisco Rodriguez (MLB.com)
Mark Teixeira (MLB.com)

Athletics

Alan Embree (MLB.com)
Frank Thomas (MLB.com)

Astros

Doug Brocail (MLB.com)
Mark Loretta (MLB.com)
Randy Wolf (MLB.com)

Blue Jays

A.J. Burnett (MLB.com)
Gregg Zaun (MLB.com)

Braves

John Smoltz (MLB.com)

Brewers

Eric Gagne (MLB.com)
C.C. Sabathia (MLB.com)
Ben Sheets (MLB.com)
Brian Shouse (MLB.com)

Cardinals

Jason Isringhausen (MLB.com)
Braden Looper (MLB.com)
Russ Springer (MLB.com)

Cubs

Bobby Howry (MLB.com)
Kerry Wood (MLB.com)

Diamondbacks

Juan Cruz (MLB.com)
Adam Dunn (MLB.com)
Orlando Hudson (MLB.com)
Randy Johnson (MLB.com)
Brandon Lyon (MLB.com)

Dodgers

Joe Beimel (MLB.com)
Casey Blake (MLB.com)
Jeff Kent (MLB.com)
Derek Lowe (MLB.com)
Greg Maddux (MLB.com)
Brad Penny (MLB.com)
Manny Ramirez (MLB.com)

Mariners

Raul Ibanez (MLB.com)

Marlins

Luis Gonzalez (MLB.com)
Paul Lo Duca (MLB.com)
Arthur Rhodes (MLB.com)

Mets

Moises Alou (MLB.com)
Luis Ayala (MLB.com)
Oliver Perez (MLB.com)

Padres

Trevor Hoffman (MLB.com)

Phillies

Pat Burrell (MLB.com)
Jamie Moyer (MLB.com)
Rudy Seanez (MLB.com)

Rangers

Milton Bradley (MLB.com)

Reds

David Weathers (MLB.com)

Red Sox

Paul Byrd (MLB.com)
Jason Varitek (MLB.com)

Rockies

Brian Fuentes (MLB.com)

Royals

Mark Grudzielanek (MLB.com)

Tigers

Edgar Renteria (MLB.com)

Twins

Dennys Reyes (MLB.com)

White Sox

Orlando Cabrera

Yankees

Bobby Abreu (MLB.com)
Mike Mussina (MLB.com)
Andy Pettitte (MLB.com)
Ivan Rodriguez (MLB.com)

Arizona Fall League

Peoria Saguaros 9, Surprise Rafters 1

• Daniel Murphy went 2-for-6 with a double and two RBI in what is said to be his last game at second base. The AFL all star game is today, so we'll find out this weekend if that's really the case.
• Josh Thole went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Jason Vargas started the game and pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just a single while striking out one.

Dominican Winter League

Aguilas Cibaenas 14, Tigres de Licey 7

• Salvador Paniagua (C-Licey) went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Luis Terrero (CF-Aguilas) went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

Mexican Pacific League

Algodoneros de Guasave 6, Aguilas de Mexicali 4

• Tim Lavigne (P-Gusave) picked up the save, allowing a hit in a scoreless ninth.

Tomateros de Culiacan 12, Caneros de los Mochis 6

• Matias Carrillo (P-Culiacan) allowed an unearned run on two hits in an inning of work.

Venezuelan Winter League

Caribes de Anzoategui 6, Navegantes del Magallanes 2

• Gustavo Molina (C-Magallanes) went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Joel Sherman believes the Mets will pursue Derek Lowe and Brian Fuentes. I like Lowe a lot, though he's getting up in years. I've also thrown my hat in the Fuentes ring here before.

At RaysGeek, Mike Newman looks at the last ten years of Rays draft classes to see where some lessons can be learned.

Whoops! Someone let Eddie Kunz near a computer again.

Ken Davidoff says that the Mets "have convinced themselves" that Francisco Rodriguez is too expensive and not worth pursuing.

Fire Joe Morgan hates Jayson Stark and Jim Caple.

Replacement Level Yankee Weblog breaks down the case for Mark Teixeira using fancy numbers and tables and whatnot. The conclusion: "If you can’t get Pujols, might as well go for the second best first baseman in baseball, right?"

Speaking of Teixeira, Beyond the Boxscore ranks last year's first basemen (second basement and center fielders have already been covered). Teix is number two; Carlos Delgado is a surprising #9, right between Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Morneau and ahead of Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Derrek Lee, and a bunch of others.

The Braves don't seem inclined to part with their young talent in exchange for Jake Peavy. For what it's worth, Keith Law thinks the rumors floating around about how much the Braves might have to give up are bonkers (subscription required for LawBlog).

At FanGraphs, Dave Cameron looks at some free agent landmines, including Manny Ramirez, about whom he concludes:

He carried Los Angeles to the playoffs, and showed that his bat is still alive and kicking, that Manny Being Manny can still be quite valuable. That doesn’t change the facts, however, that Manny turns 37 next summer and he’s already such a terrible defender that he deserves to be a full time DH. 2008 was also his best season since 2002, so if you’re re-signing him expecting to get that kind of performance again, you’re going to be disappointed.

Speaking of FanGraphs, they've souped up their team pages, which are now basically the awesomest thing ever. We're talking sortable team stats on everything FanGraphs tracks, including breakdowns by month as well as batter/pitcher/reliever/starter (explanatory post here).

With Brad Lidge finishing 2008 as one of the best closers in baseball and continuting that run of brilliance into the playoffs and now the World Series, Astros fans are asking if they got enough in return. Michael Bourn's 57 OPS+ not doing it for ya?

Will Carroll takes a look at nibblers, to see which pitchers are the best (and the worst) at putting hitters away after getting up 0-2 in the count.

In football news, the Giants play the Steelers this week, and SB Nation Giants blog Big Blue View compares Eli and Ben, making the case for Eli (it was actually a response to this post at Behind the Steel Curtain which makes the case for Big Ben)

The last three days we looked at The Bill James Handbook projections for Mets hitters and pitchers as well as other pitchers who might be available via trade or free agency. There's nothing new going on until after the World Series anyway, so let's go back to the projection well for another dip.

The Mets don't have nearly as many holes in their lineup as they do in their pitching staff, so there's a much smaller pool, positionally, from which to draw potential acquisitions from. Most of these guys may not even be on the Mets' radar, though most of them have been mentioned at one point or another.

Hitter	Age	G	AB	HR	RC	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS
Bobby Abreu	35	159	604	19	107	0.286	0.389	0.455	0.844
Rocco Baldelli	27	103	312	12	47	0.279	0.330	0.465	0.795
Milton Bradley	31	123	442	20	83	0.287	0.391	0.489	0.879
Pat Burrell	32	157	537	32	98	0.253	0.377	0.490	0.867
Adam Dunn	29	159	562	42	112	0.246	0.386	0.527	0.913
Rafael Furcal	31	119	486	9	71	0.286	0.354	0.409	0.763
Brian Giles	38	149	579	16	96	0.280	0.387	0.435	0.822
Jose Guillen	33	145	557	21	76	0.271	0.322	0.445	0.767
Orlando Hudson	31	140	533	11	78	0.283	0.353	0.420	0.773
Raul Ibanez	37	159	623	22	95	0.278	0.343	0.448	0.791
Manny Ramirez	37	150	552	34	121	0.301	0.404	0.551	0.955
Juan Rivera	30	99	317	13	48	0.281	0.327	0.467	0.794
Brian Roberts	31	156	623	10	96	0.283	0.364	0.414	0.778
Mark Teixeira	29	154	589	36	129	0.299	0.397	0.559	0.956

• Bobby Abreu is still a nice hitter. He gets on base, isn't completely useless in the power department. His glove is meh, but his bat would probably be a solid upgrade over Ryan Church (his glove, on the other hand, would be a huge downgrade).
• Rocco Baldelli never really did anything for me. He's got some pop, but his lack of plate discipline drags down his overall value.
• Milton Bradley has a history of personal baggage, but he put things together in 2008 and had himself a brilliant season. His projection is very strong, though a dropoff from this past season's performance. He'll probably look for big money, and the Mets are notoriously averse to public relations question marks, but he'd add another powerful switch-hitting bat to the Mets' lineup.
• Pat Burrell has evolved quite a bit as a hitter over the past few years. His plate discipline has improved substantially and is now one of the better offensive left-fielders in the game. Mets fans might cringe at bringing in an ex-Phillie, but if the Mets want a big right-handed bat, there's always Pat.
• Adam Dunn is a polarizing figure among baseball fans. Flat-earth baseball purists turn away in horror at his low batting averages and high strikeout totals. Baseball neo-analysts point to his prodigious power and impressive walk totals. I count myself among the latter group.
• Rafael Furcal is only really an option as a second-baseman, and I think we went down this road the last time he was a free agent four years ago. The projections aren't terribly optimistic about Furcal's offense, and all indications are that he wants to play shortstop somewhere. Wherever that is, it won't be at Citi Government-Backed Financial Institution Field.
• I don't even know why I put Brian Giles on here. I guess because I've been a huge fan of the guy forever. He vetoed a trade to the Red Sox at the end of last season, and will only really be a free agent if the Padres decline his option.
• Jose Guillen's name was pulled from the thin air of writer's block at The Post last week, and while his projection isn't exactly awe-inspiring, it could be decent as a fourth outfielder. Not likely to happen.
• Why does everyone love Orlando Hudson? He'll probably be looking for 5/$55 million or so, which is way too much everything for someone who OPS-ed .718 outside of Arizona last season.
• Raul Ibanez. Bad glove, projected bad bat. Do not want.
• Manny Ramirez is a hitting machine. At 6/$120 million he can go scratch, but three years at similar money will get me to the table.
• How is Juan Rivera only 30? Wasn't he a highly-touted Yankee prospect like 15 years ago? Another decent bench option here, nothing more, nothing less.
• BJH doesn't think much of Brian Roberts. I do, but not at whatever exorbitant price tag the Orioles will slap on him this winter.
• Mark Teixeira is the biggest name on the free agent market this year. For good reason: The guy is a terrific hitter and an exemplary fielder at first. The Mets are going to pick up Carlos Delgado's option so Teix doesn't really fit into the plans.

That's it. I think I've milked these projections dry. I promise something new and exciting tomorrow.

Bob Klapisch writes that the Mets and Yankees could wind up in a bidding war with each other over the services of C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees have more money to spend, but the Mets can offer Sabathia the opportunity to step into the batter's box every fifth day. Sabathia is from California and many believe he is pining for a west coast return. He'll likely command a contract in the neighborhood of Johan Santana's (think six or seven years, $20-$25 million a year), but the thought of Santana and Sabathia starting 70 games next year is drool-worthy.

The Mets are negotiating with Jerry Manuel to bring him back as manager. Jerry is playing hard-to-get, though the Mets are apparently unlikely to go beyond two years, $1.5 million or so. In the same article, David Lennon speculates that, should things fall apart with Manuel, the Mets might make a push to bring Bobby Valentine back to the states. While I have my doubts that Valentine is even interested in leaving Japan, if I thought he might consider it I would toss Manuel into the nearest dumpster and make my way to the Pacific Rim asap.

Kevin Kernan jumps on the Francisco Rodriguez bandwagon. I think the money is better spent elsewhere, and would sooner hand out less money over less years to Kerry Wood (despite last night's flimsy effort) or Brian Fuentes. Despite his gaudy save totals, I find Rodriguez less appealing now than Billy Wagner was before the Mets signed him three years ago. The age difference is considerable, obviously, but Wagner had much better control than Rodriguez with similar strikeout rates.

The Mets are probably going to pick up Carlos Delgado's option at $12 million, which only costs the Mets $8 million relative to the $4 million buyout he would be owed if the Mets declined the option. If Delgado returns, even for one season, that likely means Mark Teixeira and Adam Dunn are off the table, though Dunn could conceivably "play" a corner outfield spot.

Following in lock-step with the Mets' once-promising season, Shea Stadium is now being dismantled. Follow the link for a video of some of the demo work being done.

Our internet was out at work for a while this morning and I've got tons to do here, but here's a quick hits version of applesauce for today:

John Maine is hurt.

Oliver Perez is suddenly dependable.

Ryan Church is getting close.

Pedro Martinez wants Manny Ramirez (high road, people).

Mike Pelfrey keeps on rollin'.

SB Nation reacts to the Mark Teixeira trade: Beyond the Boxscore thinks it was a bad move for the Angels. Halos Heaven is on the fence. Talking Chop wanted more, but likes Casey Kotchman's upside.

Oh, and Mike Silva at Dugout Central thinks the Mets should sign Carl Everett from the Long Island Ducks, even though Everett doesn't believe that dinosaurs ever existed because they weren't in the Bible.

Jerry Manual throws his support behind Fernando Tatis, and for good reason. The Mets don't have any better options right now, and Tatis continues to defy all logic by hitting incredibly well. Ryan church *may* be back soon, and the Mets *may* trade for Raul Ibanez, but right now Tatis is the best corner outfielder they've got.

JC Bradbury takes Buzz Bissinger to task for writing a lazy article in the New York Times about how baseball players are rich and lots of folks are poor and unhealthy.

Philly.com's Paul Hagen interviews Phillies GM Pat Gillick about the forthcoming non-waiver trade deadline, though half of it is just about Jimmy Rollins' benching last week at Shea.

Over at MetsGeek, Chris McCown dissects a possible trade for Raul Ibanez.

Jorge Posada will have shoulder surgery and is done for the year

Xavier Nady is happy to be back in New York.

Mark Teixeira is officially on the block.

The Indians are in full-on sell-mode, and Beyond The Boxscore breaks down GM Mark Shapiro's recent deals.

The trade deadline is fast approaching and the list of available players is growing shorter. At the same time, the Mets continue to pitch and hit effectively and areas of greatest need are not as considerable as they were as little as a month ago. Then again, winning cures all ills and great play can often mask shortcomings.

Area of need: corner outfield

For instance, Fernando Tatis is hitting .318/.370/.520. Fernando. Tatis. Career .263/.345/.443 hitter. Much worse than that since 2000. He's hitting lefties and righties equally well, and he hasn't completely embarrassed himself in the field. We're only talking 160-some-odd plate appearances, though, and small sample size red flags abound. He's been a great story and a huge lift for the Mets with Moises Alou out for the season and Ryan Church still out as he recovers from the effects of his second concussion this season. Church may be back soon, but neither that nor his long-term status are guaranteed.

Even if Tatis were somehow able to sustain anything resembling his current level of production, Endy Chavez continues to be an offensive sinkhole in right field. Sure, the defense is great and the .272 batting average is decent, but the .316 on-base percentage is 13th among 17 National League right-fielders with at least 250 plate appearances. His .329 slugging percentage is 16th of 17, besting only Washington's Austin Kearns. Endy's .644 OPS is likewise 16th of 17. I don't know which is more astonishing: that Endy is so bad at hitting or that he's managed to accrue 250 plate appearances while being so bad at hitting. That's a poll for another day, I guess. Regardless, Endy's defense is probably good enough to justify carrying his anemic bat as a fourth or fifth outfielder, but as a starting corner outfielder he is pitifully feckless.

Area of need: relief pitching

Billy Wagner's propensity for eating it hard in big games notwithstanding, he's the Mets' best relief pitcher and still one of the best closers in the National League. Aaron Heilman has been a lot better of late and is probably the Mets' number two, which is far preferable to just plain number two, which was Heilman's nom de fan for the first two months of the season.

Duaner Sanchez is a mystery right now. He was effective if unspectacular for the season's first three months, but has been mostly horrible for a couple of weeks now and is suffering a loss in velocity and deterioration of confidence. After missing a year and a half there's no telling what shape his shoulder is in or whether his arm can hold up for an entire season. Maybe it's just a matter of fatigue and he needs a little time off. At all events, he's a definite question mark moving forward.

Pedro Feliciano is still murder on lefties, but unlike the past two seasons, this year he has been downright awful against righties, who have rocked him to the tune of .342/.419/.553. There's nothing wrong with having a lefty specialist in the bullpen, but the Mets already have one guy -- Scott Schoeneweis -- who can't get righties out, and despite his dramatic platoon splits this season I'm pretty sure Jerry Manuel still thinks that Feliciano is a quality guy to throw out there against all comers. Then again, two full years of competence is more meaningful than one half-year of ineptitude, but you still have to assign greater weight to the recent performance, and that's not good news for Feliciano or the Mets.

Joe Smith is the opposite of Feliciano: he dominates righties and has a tough time with the southpaws. Righties have hit just .190/.271/.302 while lefties have gone .293/.408/.415. If only he and Feliciano could play the field I might be inclined to pull Tatis in the late innings and alternate lefty-righty with Smith and Feliciano for an inning or two. It all comes down to how Manuel decides to use them, so let's hope that his inquisitive mind and nerd glasses mean he knows a thing or two about platoon splits.

Area of need: first base?

A month ago this would have been an obvious need, but with Carlos Delgado swinging a mighty big stick I'm not so sure any more. Given how precipitously he declined last year and how quickly he has resurged, you really have to wonder if those nagging injuries were bothering him more than he let on. The elbow in particular caused him a lot of trouble the last year and a half, and if he is finally out from under those problems then maybe it shouldn't be so surprising that he's back to mashing the ball. He's not going to OPS 1.200 the rest of the way as he has during July, but he has finally pushed his OPS over the league average for a first baseman and there's reason for optimism that he might keep it there.

Mark Teixeira and Adam Dunn will cost an arm and a leg to acquire for the remainder of this season and both will be free agents at season's end. They'll both be on the Mets's radar come November, but I think they'll stand pat this summer and hope that Delgado's resurrection is for real.

Area of need: bench

Marlon Anderson is terrible, and needs to be jettisoned as quickly as possible. I like to think that if the Mets could find anyone else worth plugging into that prestigious 25th spot on the roster that they would have already done so, but right now the dried up husks of Lenny Harris and Matt Franco both look like better options. The rest of the bench is serviceable, with Damion Easley and Argenis Reyes both providing decent production. Nick Evans and Robinson Cancel are nothing special, but the Mets seem inclined to give Evans a few looks at the big league level, and as far as Cancel is concerned, well, they would otherwise just be throwing away the rest of the post-game buffet.

Area of need: catcher?

This one's a trick, because the Mets don't actually need to acquire a new catcher; they just need to play their best catcher more often. That means more time on the pine for Brian Schneider and more cracks at the starting lineup for Ramon Castro. Here is my entire argument:

Ramon Castro: .290/.365/.538
Brian Schneider: .247/.337/.300

So, as long as Jerry Manuel continues to read this blog I think the Mets will be fine at catcher. Or, at least, have the RSS feed in his Google Reader. Either or.

In summation and in conclusion: improve the corner outfield and bench if doing so would come at minimal cost to the farm system. A solid reliever would be nice, but given the going rate of solid relievers I would be more inclined to go with what we've got or, possibly, promote from within. Perhaps Eddie Camacho, Eude Brito or Eddie Kunz -- all currently with Binghamton -- could be given a shot. They can't be much worse than Carlos Muniz has been. Stay the course at first base and catcher, giving more playing time to Castro at the latter.

Beating the Phillies is certainly fun, even when it takes seven pitchers to do so.

The arms

Oliver Perez threw 5.2 scoreless innings and struck out seven: Good. He also walked five, including Pedro Feliz on four pitches: Bad. I'm not going to harp on it just yet because the results have been good, but Ollie has walked 12 batters in 21.2 innings this season and sports a gaudy 1.48 WHIP. I'm no baseball expert, but allowing a a baserunner-and-a-half every inning isn't a great recipe for success.

Pedro Feliciano was bad, allowing a single to Greg Dobbs and a walk to Eric Bruntlett (!) to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Feliciano left without having retired a batter, and was relieved by Aaron Heilman. Heilman induced a flyball out to left that Angel Pagan bungled into an RBI single. The Bulldog shook off the lousy defense behind him and came back to strike out Geoff Jenkins and Jayson Werth, co-authors of the forthcoming book, How Not to Get the Run in from Third: Ridiculous Spellings of Common First Names and Other Astute Observations.

The sticks

The Mets' 4-5-6 hitters went 0-for-12 with no runs batted in, but their 1-2-3 hitters went 6-for-12 with all four runs batted in. Despite apparently rediscovering his allergy to walks, Jose Reyes continues to swing the bat well since his talk with Carlos Beltran a few days ago. Interestingly, Beltran has been in a funk ever since, so maybe Reyes needs to impart some of his own advice. On the field, Reyes picked up a double and a two-run homer in four trips to the plate, scoring two runs and igniting the offense as only he can.

Luis Castillo reached base twice in four plate-apps. Oliver Perez reached base twice in two plate-apps. Just some food for thought. Meanwhile, Brian Schneider continues to reach base at a solid rate, despite each of his 16 hits this season going for singles and nothing more. A .383 OBP from your catcher is a nice luxury, but the zero extra-base hits still leave his OPS below the .700 mark. Even Paul Lo Duca hit the occasional two-bagger.

Anything else?

Anyone suggesting that Pat Burrell be the answer at first next year should Mark Teixeira sign elsewhere should consider this: He hit .220/.370/.424 away from CBP last season and .295/.430/586 within the friendly confines. He *did* hit very nice .254/.383/.517 on the road in 2006, so maybe last year was an aberration. Burrell has patience and power, and a lead glove to boot. The Phillies have no choice but to play him in left, but the Mets are likely to have a vacancy next year at first. Delgado almost certainly won't be back, and the Mets may balk at a $20+ million price tag for Teixeira. A shorter, cheaper deal to someone like Burrell could make a lot of sense for the Mets, especially with Teix going for 7/$150 or more.