Your Friday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
The Mets avoided arbitration by reaching one-year contract agreements with both Ike Davis and Eric Young Jr. Davis will make $3.5 million in 2014, while Young will make $1.85 million.
MetsMinors.net interviewed right-handed pitching prospect Rob Whalen. He was drafted in the 12th round of the 2012 draft and was one of the best pitchers in the Appalachian League last season.
Bobby Parnell hopes to be the Opening Day closer for the Mets in 2014, and it is a good sign that he is already throwing a baseball. Parnell had surgery on a herniated disc in his back last September.
The Mets held a farm system Q&A session on Twitter regarding the club's own prospects. You can read our summary here.
Around MLB
All 30 MLB teams approved an expanded instant replay system, which means that it will be in place for the 2014 season. We don't yet have an official list of which calls are able to be reviewed and which are not, but regardless this is a big step for MLB and will hopefully eliminate a lot of frustration for fans, managers, and umpires.
The Cubs are the latest team to throw their hat in the Masahiro Tanaka ring. A Ken Rosenthal tweet says that Chicago could be a major player in the bidding to sign the Japanese pitcher. If they do, it will hopefully take away from the unnecessary attention that the team's new mascot has recently attracted.
Yankees left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia has just signed a representation deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports. This probably isn't good news for Yankees fans considering that former Bronx Bomber Robinson Cano left the team shortly after signing with Jay-Z. Sabathia's contract with New York expires after the 2016 season.
Cubs stud prospect and 2013 No. 2 overall draft pick Kris Bryant could start the season at Double-A after a sizzling debut in the minors last season. If he continues to hit the ball hard, he could be in the bigs sometime this year. I'm jealous.
Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is reportedly six to eight weeks ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery. Machado had the operation to repair a torn ligament in his left knee in October, but now there is optimism that he could be on the field for Opening Day.
Yesterday at AA
Paul Goebel examined free agent pitcher Tommy Hanson while Chris McShane took a look at the multi-purpose Jeff Baker.
We checked out how Ruben Tejada's actual 2013 performance compared to his community projection.
Episode 49 of Amazin' Avenue Audio is now available on the internet and on your phone.
On this date in 2011, the Mets added Willie Harris to their roster, ensuring that the journeyman outfielder would not make any more ridiculous plays against the team.
