Mets Sign John Mayberry Jr.

The Mets announced today that they signed outfielder John Mayberry Jr. to a one-year deal worth 1.45 million dollars. Last year in a combined season with the Phillies and Blue Jays, Mayberry hit .212 with 7 homers and 23 RBI's. He had an on-base percentage of .310 and a slugging percentage of .425. Against left-handed pitching, Mayberry posted a .913 on-base plus slugging last year and has a lifetime .857 OPS against lefties. I think Mayberry Jr was a good signing for the Mets since they needed to add a right-handed bat off of the bench. He adds some power and is a solid defensive player. He can start against left-handed pitching, which would allow Michael Cuddyer to play 1b. Mayberry Jr is an upgrade over Eric Campbell, who was going to the main right-handed bat off the bench. This was a good pickup by Sandy Alderson and hopefully there will be moves to come.

Morning News: Eric Young Jr, right handed bat, Gooden's comments.

Eric Young Jr. has been non-tendered by the Mets and is now a free agent. The Mets brass agreed to let Eric Young go a few hours before the December 2nd deadline. Eric Young is the only one of the seven arbitration eligible players to be let go, as it is believed Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Jenrry Mejia, Lucas Duda, Bobby Parnell, and Dillon Gee will all get contracts for the 2015 season.

Eric Young finished the 2014 campaign with a .299 average and was projected to earn $2.3 million in arbitration for the upcoming season.

The Mets are actively looking for a right handed bat to come off the bench, according to multiple reports. Names such as Justin Turner and Johnny Gomes have surfaced recently as possible candidates. The Mets would like to add a right handed hitting outfielder specifically for when Michael Cuddyer plays first base against lefties. The Mets bench currently constitutes as follows: Ruben Tejada, Matt Den Decker, Anthony Recker, and Eric Campbell. 

Former Mets rookie of the year and 1986 world series champion Dwight Goode, recently told Yahoo Sports, Dec 2 that he believes the Mets will contend for a world championship in 2016. Gooden also noted he believes the Mets will make great strides in 2015 and "should" be in a playoff position. But, on the 30th anniversary of the 1986 team, Doc believes the Mets will win it all.

For fun: How the Mets off season of 2005 compares to the off season of 2014

I know, there it is, the dreaded face of Omar Minaya, probably answering a question or two on how he could have built a team to collapse on consecutive years with an over $150 million dollar payroll. That's an argument for another day.

This past weekend I decided to go back into the archives, whether it be newspapers, blogs, or baseball magazines, and try to understand the "buzz" surrounding the New York Mets 2005 off season and the there-after optimism entering 2006. I was too young to fully comprehend the baseball world at this time, thinking every Mets season would result in a brand new slate with the same chances of making the playoffs as everyone else. While this is mathematically true, we know that from year-to-year some teams have a better chance than others based on no more than their roster.

The offseason of 2005 was the Mets "go-for-it" year, much like many are proclaiming the offseason of 2014 to be. If you remember, the Mets had just come off a season where they missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, three of which were under.500 campaigns. Today that seems like nothing compared to eight straight years of missing the playoffs, seven of which have resulted in under .500 campaigns, but nevertheless the Mets were, and currently are, in win now mode.

Omar Manaya's philosophy to building up his major league team differs from Sandy Alderson's. Omar's budget flexibility allowed him to secure the best of the best out on the free agent market, such as Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner, and others. Sandy Alderson, while recently signing some key free agents, has taken a "build through the farm system approach," while operating on a more limited budget. No doubt Omar's philosophy will get you to the top quicker, Sandy's is more sustainable.

Heading into spring training in 2006, Mets fans were just hoping for the team to be competitive, watchable, and mired in a late season wild-card race. With the Braves having won fifteen consecutive divison titles, the division was a pipe dream. As it turns out, the Mets not only remained competitive that year, they dominated, wining the Eastern division title by more than 10 games.

This offseason, Mets fans, thanks to the addition of OF Michael Cuddyer and the return of ace Matt Harvey, just want to see the Mets competitive, watchable, and mired in a late season race. Sound fimiliar? This type of of fseason hasn't occurred since 2005/2006...and the Mets dominated that year.

Hot Stove: Nelson Cruz and David Robertson.

It was said recently that Sandy Alderson may be willing to part with his second round draft pick to sign another free agent later this offseason, much like the Orioles and Red Sox did with Stephen Drew and Nelson Cruz last offseason. Of the available free agents in the Mets price range, two are on the verge of signing. In fact, Nelson Cruz has signed a 4 year/$67 million dollar deal with the Orioles,  courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors, and David Robertson is said to be mulling multiple contract offers that would secure him for multiple years, courtesy of John Heyman. The only other available free agent that could fit the Mets budget would be OF Melky Cabrera.