Your Wednesday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
Exciting piece about David Wright, who has been working hard down in Port St. Lucie to make up for his disappointing 2014. He's not the only Mets player down there either.
A quintet of Mets players filed for arbitration yesterday: Jenrry Mejia, Ruben Tejada, Dillon Gee, Daniel Murphy, and Lucas Duda all will get raises in 2015.
Howard Megdal says that the non-deal for Ian Desmond further demonstrates the cost of the Mets' refusal to spend, while Jonathan Bernhardt argues that Wilmer Flores playing shortstop shows why Mets ownership is an embarrassment.
Despite his advanced age (and weight), Bartolo Colon keeps chugging along.
Around the NL East
The Padres are still interested in Phillies' ace Cole Hamels.
Wandy Rodriguezagreed to a deal with the Braves after failing a physical with the Phillies.
Former Mets farmhand Mike Carpinked a deal with the Nationals.
Nick Massetsigned a minor league deal with the Marlins.
Around the Majors
Ned Yost has signed a contract extension with the Royals after taking them to the World Series.
Johan Santanaintends to pitch in 2015, which is just fantastic. Go Johan! BELIEVE IT!
Cuban righty Yoan Lopez has signed with the Diamondbacks, getting an $8.25 million signing bonus. The Dodgers were apparently in on Lopez but will now shift their focus to the other Cuban prospect named Yoan: Yoan Moncada, the 19-year old Cuban phenom who could get in the range of a $40 million signing bonus.
Trying to stay a step ahead, the Red Sox have created a new behavioral health department. Meanwhile, Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart is proud to say he is the GM of a "true baseball team" because they aren't geared towards using analytics.
Wade Boggs apparently told Charlie Day of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" that he once drank 107 beers in a day.
Lookout Landing is doing a pretty cool "Bad Baseball Card Tournament".
Yesterday At AA
We introduced our #LoveTheMets contest yesterday. Be sure to check it out and join in!
What is Dillon Gee worth on the trade market this winter? We'll find out soon.
Matt Varvaro put together a list of overlooked and underrated center fielders in Mets history.
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.