Mets Morning News: Scott Atchison Joins The Bullpen Fray, Daniel Murphy Agrees To A Contract, Three Prospects Get Highly Ranked

Meet the Mets

The Mets and righty reliever Scott Atchison agreed to a minor league deal yesterday. Atchison, who'll be 37 by opening day, pitched for the Red Sox the last three seasons and has had a lot of success of late, posting 1.7 rWAR in 50 plus innings during 2012.

Daniel Murphy and the Mets agreed to a contract, becoming the last Mets player to avoid arbitration. Murphy will get $2.925 million for the 2013 season.

A deal may be unlikely between the two sides but Sandy Alderson and assistant GM John Ricco flew out to Houston last week to meet with free agent Michael Bourn. The biggest question here still seems to be whether the Mets' first round pick should be protected.

MLB.com released their top 100 prospects list and the Mets had three players land inside the top 30. C Travis d'Arnaud placed 6th overall, RHP Zack Wheeler placed 8th, and RHP Noah Syndergaard checked in at #29.

It's highly likely that you, like most Mets fans, underrate Lucas Duda. Perhaps there's reason to be a little more optimistic about the Mets' left fielder.

Around the Majors

The big news of the day yesterday was regarding a Miami anti-aging clinic linked to PEDs. Some of the names linked to Biogenesis include Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon, Yasmani Grandal, and Nelson Cruz. Rodriguez and Gonzalez quickly denied the rumors.

You can find the rest of MLB.com's top 100 prospect list here.

Former Mets' catcher Kelly Shoppach has signed on with the Mariners.

Meanwhile, another former Mets' catcher Brian Schneider is hanging up the catching gear for good.

Yesterday At AA

Here's our pieces on Daniel Murphy avoiding arbitration, the Scott Atchison minor league deal, and the MLB.com prospect list.

Matthew Callan recaps This Week In Baseball season one, episode six.

Keith Hernandez is in the record books as the king of the GWRBI!