Your Thursday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
A day after releasing his ranking of MLB farm systems, Keith Law revealed his Top 100 prospects in baseball. Five Mets cracked the list: Noah Syndergaard (#24), Travis d'Arnaud (#36), Dominic Smith (#37), Rafael Montero (#60), and Brandon Nimmo (#92).
Syndergaard took some time to answer fan questions on the @MLBFutures Twitter account. Among other things, Syndergaard revealed his favorite player is Roy Halladay, he grew up a Texas Rangers fan, he hasn't had a carb in over three years, and he likes twerking.
Around the Majors
Bronson Arroyovented about the relatively small market for his services this offseason, saying he doesn't have any standing offers at the moment.
The Blue Jays are showing interest in multiple free-agent starters, including Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana, A.J. Burnett, and Arroyo. Their attempts to fill their holes at second base and starting pitching failed earlier in the offseason, with deals for both Ian Kinsler and Brett Anderson nixed.
Lance "Big Puma" Berkman announced his retirement. Berkman hit .293/.403/.536 with 366 homers over 15 seasons with the Astros, Yankees, Cardinals, and Rangers.
The Marinerssigned right-hander Scott Baker to a minor-league deal. They also maintain strong interest in Nelson Cruz and Fernando Rodney.
Dave Cameron looked at the rising prices and lengths for free-agent contracts.
Matthew Kory of SportsOnEarth asks: Who is baseball's best defensive player?
Tom Verducci looked at the state of baseball in 2014.
The Athletics are not going to make a run at Stephen Drew.
Former Mets beat writer/current Yankees beat writer Andy McCullough is leaving the Newark Star Ledger to cover the Royals for the Kansas City Star.
If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in.
