Minors Stuff

Jason Bay:

Star free agent outfielder Jason Bay has declined Boston's initial contract offer and will head to full free agency, SI.com has learned. — Boston's offer to Bay was believed to be for four years and “close to $60 million,” according to sources.
http://www.ballbug.com/#a091120p1

Josh Thole:

Josh Thole has an impressive 22/8 walk to K ratio and is hitting .407. He had a streak where he walked eight times in five games without a strikeout. This week he was 6 for 17 with five walks and three strikeouts

Orlando Hernandez:

Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez got his first two starts last week with mixed results. His first start he did not allow an earned run in four innings of work, striking out five. His second start he was bombed for five runs in five innings.

Lance Broadway:

Lance Broadway pitched six innings of no hit ball in his last start, walking two and striking out five. He didn’t get the win in the game since the score was tied 0-0 after he left. Broadway now has a 2.87 ERA and the opposition is only hitting him at a .198 clip
http://myworldofbaseball.com/wordpress/?m=200911

Xavier Nady:

According to a NL front office source, the Mets plan on talking with free agent and former Met, Xavier Nady this off season. This does back up WFAN’s Mike Francesa's earlier report, that said the Mets will talk with Nady. Last season, Nady's season was cut short with the Yankees after having Tommy John surgery. Questions still remain whether or not Nady will be 100% ready for opening day
http://networkedblogs.com/p18397657

Benji Molina:

In his three years with the Giants, Molina produced a 90 OPS+ over 1606 plate appearances. Over those same three years, the average National League catcher produced a 91 OPS+. Does that make Molina a productive hitter? No. It makes him an average hitter for a catcher, which is kind of like being an average musician for a member of Nickelback. Molina’s reasonable .742 OPS over that time is mostly fueled by his .440 slugging percentage. On one hand, it’s tempting to say that’s nice for a team that clearly lacked power in 2009. On the other hand, as Sam at Amazin’ Avenue pointed out today, a big part of the reason OPS is not a perfect stat is that it overvalues slugging in regards to on-base percentage. And Molina’s OBP with the Giants was a miserable .302.
http://www.tedquarters.net/2009/11/19/some-things-about-bengie-molina

Omar Minaya:

How much money the Mets intend to lavish on free agents to fill their many needs is unclear. What is clear is that the Mets, during a dreadful season and increased criticism of their minor league system, spent less money on the 2009 draft than any other team in baseball, according to figures compiled by Baseball America. The Mets divvied $3,134,300 among their 35 signed picks, more than 50 percent less than their 2008 outlay, when they had two first-round selections and a first-round supplemental pick. By contrast, the average for all 30 teams was a shade more than $6 million. Without a pick until the second round, No. 72 over all, the Mets’ spending was destined to decrease. But their 2009 strategy resembled that of a small-market club that sometimes bypasses talented players in earlier rounds because it does not want to spend more on them than players available deeper in the draft.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/sports/baseball/20mets.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Paul Lo Duca:

“I’m completely healthy. I feel unbelievable. I’ve been hitting the last four or five days constantly and started my workouts. I feel great. My hand feels 100 percent for the first time in a while. My hamstring and my knee finally healed after the surgery I had there. … I want to come back and play. When I started working with you guys (as a part-time analyst) and started really watching the games it really gave me that edge. My heart’s into it and I want to go back in it full bore and [do] whatever needs to be done. I want to play on a team that wants to win and wants a player that wants to win. I’ll do whatever I need to do. If it’s come off the bench, if it’s spot starts, I’ll do whatever they need me to do.” Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/#ixzz0XOYlg8of

Aaron Heilman:

The other move for the Cubs involved trading away another reliever, Aaron Heilman, to the Diamondbacks for two prospects. Heilman, like Grabow, was merely serviceable out of the Cubs bullpen in 2009, and he remains unspectacular. His 4.37 FIP was slightly above his career average of 4.13. Nothing in his BABIP or batted ball rates would suggest fluke, so it would seem his 2009 season is pretty indicative of what to expect going forward. He made $1.6 million in 2009 and is arbitration eligible for the final time. Given the mediocre season, he should see a marginal pay raise, which led some to believe he would be non-tendered. Although he has starting experience, he hasn't started a major league game since 2005, and reports are that Arizona sees him as a reliever
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/notes/beyond-the-box-score/cubs-trade-aaron-heilman-to-diamondbacks-also-re-sign-john-grabow/197185007532

Ike Davis:

Last night on the MLB Network, Jon Heyman said that the Mets won’t go after Padres’ first baseman Adrian Gonzalez because they have Ike Davis waiting in the wings. Strange, because only a couple of days earlier he tweeted that the Mets would be contacting the Padres about Adrian Gonzalez according to a baseball executive. Does this qualify as a split verdict? Also, I loved his choice of words… “Ike Davis waiting in the wings”. Last off season we had Nick Evans waiting in the wings, and the off season before that we had Mike Carp waiting in the wings. Sounds like the Mets have a flock of seagulls instead of a stash of prospects playing in Binghamton
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2009/11/hernandez-delgado-and-olerud-all-rolled-into-one.html