Hooray, bullet lists!
- The Mets are reportedly back in the Johan Santana sweepstakes. The failure of the Twins to reach an agreement with either the Red Sox or the Yankees has left a window opening that is almost imperceptibly small. They remain adamant about not trading Jose Reyes (as they should), but Oliver Perez's name has been floating around the internets. I don't know how much sense Ollie makes for the Twins, as he is has just one year of arbitration left before free agency and he is represented by Scott Boras, two details that don't really jibe with Minnesota's small market sensibilities. [SI]
- The Mets had the second most efficient defense in baseball last year, according to John Dewan's plus/minus system. The Mets were an aggregate +73 as a team, meaning they made 73 more plays than an average defensive team might be expected to make. [Stat of the Week]
- Beginning in 2013, the BBWAA will no longer consider players with MVP, Cy Young or Rookie of the Year contract bonus clauses for those particular awards. [LoHud]
- Barry Bonds intends to play in 2008, assuming some team is actually willing to pay him cash money to do so. Considering that the Nationals just traded for ne'erdowell Elijah Dukes and "bad seed" Lastings Milledge, I'm sure they could find a spot for Mr. Bonds. [MLB.com]
- The Marlins and Tigers officially wrapped up the blockbuster deal that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit and top prospects Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller, among others, to Florida. [AP]
- Ben Shpigel has a nice look at Jose Reyes in Thursday's New York Times, profiling the speedster in and around his home in Dominican Republic. Reyes has received assurances from Omar Minaya that he will not be traded, and for his part Reyes seems to be doing his best to put 2007 behind him. [NY Times]
- Another reliever is off the market as David Riske signed a three-year, $13 million deal with the Brewers. Milwaukee had already lost Francisco Cordero and Scott Linebrink to free agency, but have made up some ground with the Riske signing and their earlier acquisition of Guillermo Mota *snickers*. [Brew Crew Ball]