Meet the Mets
The Mets added some depth to their roster yesterday, coming to terms with former Rays catcher Shawn Riggans and Japanese pitcher Hisanori Takahashi. I agree with Patrick Flood's take on all this: more options is better, but we have to be wary of who is making the final choice. On the other side, Joe Janish isn't inspired by these moves. FYI, NPBtracker.com has a pretty cool set of data for Takahashi. I wouldn't exactly call him a soft-tossing lefty.
This may be the best thing that John Harper has ever written.
Also from the tabloids, Francisco Rodriguez played slow pitch softball for Hugo Chavez's Venezuelan squad.
And, I'll end the Mets news with the story of Sharon Chapman, who is running the New York City Marathon to raise money for the Tug McGraw Foundation.
Around the NL East
More interesting stuff on what happened to Cole Hamels' 2009.
Raul Ibanez has a pretty well informed take on UZR. He is not convinced that he is suddenly a good left fielder.
Around MLB
Johnny Damon may be getting that two year deal that he desperately wanted. Genius Detroit.
Also, tangentially related to Detroit, why is that people are worried that King Felix will become lazy and complacent after signing a mega deal, but not Justin Verlander? The answer is clearly that white players' grission prevents them from letting down the fans.
This Tim Lincecum arbitration situation is taking on epic proportions.
SABR is allowing free downloads of their massive 2010 Emerald Guide to Baseball. I strongly suggest printing this out at work.
The Royals are going to try Kyle Farnsworth in the starting rotation.
Seattle Mariner assistant Tony Blengino makes me jealous of Mariner fans.
And, finally, Frank Thomas is calling it a career.