Mets- Winter Meeting Rumors

[Lil Bit Special]

Red Sox-Mets Talking Deal For Schneider

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/baseball-insider/2008/12/red_sox-mets_talking_deal_for.html

Two industry sources here at the Bellagio have confirmed the Boston Red Sox are in discussions with the New York Mets about catcher Brian Schneider, a further indication the Red Sox are preparing for the departure of captain Jason Varitek.

It was unclear what players the Red Sox would send to Queens in a deal for Schneider, but the Mets are known to need starting pitching, and the Red Sox could have a surplus, even if they fail to sign a top target such as Derek Lowe.

Schneider, 32, was a popular member of the Washington Nationals before going to the Mets a year ago in the trade that brought Lastings Milledge to D.C. He has one more year, at $4.9 million, remaining on the four-year $16 million contract he signed while a member of the Nationals in 2006.

Varitek declined the Red Sox's offer of arbitration last night, preferring to hit the free agent market in hopes of securing a multi-year deal.

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Supposedly the Mets initial offer to KRod was 2 years, $24 million with an option for a 3rd year.

Wow.

They are also talking to the Blue Jay about B.J. Ryan and Minaya is meeting with Fuentes and Hoffman.

KRod is going to get shafted in a deal, year wise obviously not $$$ wise, because there are no other big market teams in need for a closer. Boy I bet he wishes it was 2010 or 2011 and Mariano was retiring.

[Lil Bit Special]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/12/09/mets.krod/

Mets close to 3-year deal for K-Rod

LAS VEGAS -- The Mets appear on the verge of simultaneously interrupting a sluggish baseball market and solving their biggest winter issue. They are closing in on a deal to sign star free-agent closer Francisco Rodriguez.

The deal, which is expected to be consummated very soon, is said to be for about $37 million over three years.

"It's going to get done,'' said a person familiar with the talks.

It almost had to. The Mets badly needed a big-time closer to replace injured star Billy Wagner and anchor what was one of the worst bullpens ever attached to a contender. To accomplish their goal, they focused on K-Rod as their closer of choice over the past couple weeks.

The Mets showed they meant business on Monday, the first official day of the Winter Meetings here, when they agreed to guarantee a third year after opening bidding Sunday night with a two-year deal for about $12 million a year, plus a vesting option for a third year. Not long after, they made it a three-year contract. And the very next day, they were on the verge of a deal. An optimistic picture for a deal was first painted in a story on the New York Post Web site early Tuesday morning.

The contract is a very reasonable one for the Mets in that Rodriguez will make only about $3 million more than he was offered by the Angels in spring training, before he set the single-season record for saves in a season with 62. It is also $6 million less over its term than the Mets paid to Wagner three winters ago.

K-Rod brings to New York a flair and a game that should fit in the big city. The pairing made sense from the start of the offseason, when it became clear that the Mets were the only major market team in search of a closer. The other teams looking for a closer -- the Indians, Rangers and Cardinals -- weren't going to be able to compete for such an expensive closer with a big-market team like the Mets.

The Mets used their advantage effectively, locking up the closer they badly wanted. Now they can look to further upgrade their bullpen by finding a set-up man to front Rodriguez, who was 2-3 with a 2.24 ERA to go along with his 62 saves. Still only 26, he has an unheard-of 206 career saves after breaking on the scene with a bang, as a World Series hero in 2002 for the Angels.

The deal makes sense for K-Rod, too, since he knew he couldn't top that type of deal in those smaller markets. he is also thought to want to be in a big market, anyway. His first choice appeared to be to go back to the Angels, but they have suitable replacement in Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields and put him way on the back burner while pursing top target, free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.

The contract reflected a diving closers market, as good options flooded free agency. the Mets met with Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman here Monday afternoon but never made either an offer a sthey continued their pursuit of K-Rod instead.

[Lil Bit Special]

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/mets/archives/2008/12/brian_schneider.html#more

LAS VEGAS -- The Mets New York Mets talked several weeks ago to the Red Sox about dealing catcher Brian Schneider Brian Schneider . But the Met plan then was to trade Schneider and hopefully sign free agent Jason Varitek because the Mets thought better game-calling was needed.

But once the Red Sox agreed to offer arbitration to Varitek, the Mets turned away from that scenario because they didn't want to give up both the money necessary to sign Varitek and the first-round draft pick they would have to surrender in compensation.