According to the Korea Times, the Mets have reportedly signed Chan Ho Park to a one-year, 3 million dollar contract. Park is expected to compete for the fifth starter's job.

Back in December, I actually suggested the Mets sign Park over at MetsGeek. His component ratios were among the best of the remaining pitchers available via free agency (6.32 K/9, 2.90 BB/9). He's no spring chicken at 34 years old, and he's not a durable pitcher, but at that price he is probably worth a look.

UPDATE [2:33pm by Eric Simon]: Per ESPN.com, (and anonymous in the comments here) the deal is only guaranteed for $600,000 with the remainder of the reported $2.4 million attainable via innings pitched thresholds. Not a terrible signing by any means.

Mets pitcher Dave Williams had surgery on a herniated disk in his neck today. There's no word yet as to how much time he'll miss, but it could be fairly significant (Steve's Trachsel's herniated disk sidelined him four months a couple years ago).

Williams's role with the team wasn't very clearly defined. He planned on competing for the fifth starter's job and was a favorite for the long relief post vacated by Darren Oliver. Last year Williams filled in admirably as a spot starter late in the season, going 3-1 with a 5.59 ERA.

It certainly does bring the recent signing of Aaron Sele into a new light. It seems likely the team knew about the injury and searched for a capable replacement. Despite their ages and pitching from different sides of the rubber, they're pretty similar guys: both had K/9's under 5.00 and BB/9's of 2.61 last season.

Also, from that same article, the Mets officially signed Ruben Sierra in a move that surprised no one. I just can't see him making the team when the Mets have too many outfielders as it is and another good clubhouse guy, Julio Franco, also on the roster.

• Manny Acta to replace Frank Robinson as Nationals' manager

  Third base coach Manny Acta, who managed the Dominican Republic in this year's World Baseball Classic, is set to leave the Mets' hot corner to manage the Washington Nationals. An announcement is expected this week. It's not yet clear who will replace Acta at third base, be it first base coach Sandy Alomar, bench coach Jerry Manual, someone else from within the Mets' organization (Ken Oberkfell, Howard Johnson) or someone outside the organization entirely. It's a great opportunity for Acta, who seemed a genuinely nice guy and was well regarded in his time with the Mets.

• New Mets ballpark to be called "CitiField"

  The Mets have announced a 20-year partnership with CitiCorp which will include naming rights for their new ballpark, slated to open in 2009. News of the agreement was first leaked by Anthony De Rosa of Hot Foot Blog, a report that was subsequently mentioned in Newsday and the New York Post. Big win for blogging on that front.

  I give the Mets credit for somehow extracing $20 million big ones per year simply to affix "Citi" to the front of their park. The Phillies only netted $95 million over 25 years to call their home Citizen's Bank park, and that includes advertising; only $2.3 million of that was for the stadium naming rights. That the Mets' didn't have to include "Bank" in the name is a big win for themselves and for the fans, in my estimation at least. It's hard to turn down $20 million a year for anything, and the fact that the ballpark will still be somewhat respectably-monikered is a welcome sight.

• Still nothing concrete on Matsuzaka

  Despite reports that the Red Sox may have bid upwards of $45 million for Daisuke Matsuzaka, or subsequent theories that have him possibly traded to the Mets, there has apparently been no confirmation from Seibu as to whether they have accepted the highest bid, nor has the amount of that bid been confirmed. The deadline for accepting or rejecting that deal is Tuesday, so we'll know for sure the likely fate of Matsuzaka within a few days.

ESPN via the AP reveals that Guillermo Mota has been suspended for 50 games for a violation of the MLB drug policy. One might surmise that he starting doping in between his stints in Cleveland and New York. Mota was a free agent but considering the way he pitched for the Mets last season (minus the one pitch to Scott Spiezio) there was every reason to think that he would be back in orange-and-blue.

I'm still not sure this explains what is going on in the drawing to the left here. The suspension apparently doesn't apply to winter league or spring training games, so Mota will be out of action until the end of May. Depending on your feeling about players who have tested positive for performance enhancers, Mota still might be a reasonably-cheap pickup for four months of the season.

The Mets still have Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez under contract for next season, and will probably look to bring Chad Bradford back as well. I'm not entirely sure what the status of Pedro Feliciano is, but he shouldn't be eligible for free agency for a few years so the Mets can likely keep him if they want to.

UPDATE [11/2 @ 9:35am]: Mota has now apologized (Daily News via Baseball Musings):

"I have no one to blame but myself," Mota said in a statement that did not explain how he ran afoul of baseball's drug rules. "I take full responsibility for my actions and accept MLB's suspension. I used extremely poor judgment and deserve to be held accountable."

"To my teammates and the entire Mets organization, I am sorry. I truly regret what I did and hope that you can forgive me. To baseball fans everywhere, I understand that you are disappointed in me, and I don't blame you. I feel terrible and I promise this is the first and last time that this will happen. I am determined to prove to you that this was one mistake."

The steroid issue is a polarizing one. Mota is a cheater, at least as far as MLB is concerned. As a once-convicted cheater he is suspended for fifty games and is then is allowed to ply his trade some more. Whether that will be with the Mets or another team is yet to be determined. For those of you who take a hard stance against the use of PEDs, is there a point at which you forgive? Is everyone entitled to a reprieve from a single foolish transgression? When Mota completes his suspension, let's assume for a moment that he has taken his last performance enhancing drug. If he admits he has made a mistake (which he has) and he vows that it will not be repeated (that, too), will he forever be adorned with the scarlet "S" in the eyes of the fans? Or, having paid his debt to the society of baseball, is he free to resume life as it existed before? Let's say management forgives him long enough to re-sign him and he continues pitching like a bullpen ace when he returns, will we more easily forget (or forgive) what he did?

According to AP, Pedro Martinez's next start -- scheduled for tomorrow -- has been pushed back because of a sore hip, an injury we have been hearing whispers about for a couple of weeks now.

While he is technically going to miss the start, he may wind up pitching a couple of days later and not an entire turn through the rotation. Pedro was named to the NL All Star team -- along with five of his teammates -- and it's unclear whether he will participate. He was chosen last year as well but sat out.

With Lima Time! DFA'd, it looks like the Mets will look to Cuban import Alay Soler to fill Lima's spot in the rotation. Soler dominated High-A with St. Lucie and has been almost as impressive since his callup to AA Binghamton.

Lg     ERA     IP      H    R       HR    BB    SO
A+    0.64    28.0    12    2     0     8    32
AA    2.75    19.2    16    6     0     3    22

This is a much better idea than bringing up Mike Pelfrey, who similarly dominated High-A but has struggled since being called up to AA. He is going to be a stud in time, but he definitely needs some more time to develop his off-speed pitches. Soler is 26 years old and brings with him his experience from pitching in Cuba.

His peripherals this year in the minors are outstanding: in 47.2 combined innings he has struck out 54 batters while walking just 11 and not allowing a single ball to leave the yard. His hit rate in St. Lucie was absurdly low (just 12 in 28.0 innings), but if he can come anywhere near the 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio he has posted in the minors he should find success in the bigs.

After three starts, all of them losses, and 26 basrunners in 14.1 innings, Lima Time! has been designated for assignment. Omar Minaya has stated that the Mets front office will sit down and consider all possibilities for the back end of the rotation, both foreign and domestic. Lima is gone, and Gonzalez can't be far behind. What's next?