More Stuff

Orlando Hudson:

Trying to rid themselves of an ill-advised contract, the Mets shopped Luis Castillo during the GM Meetings that concluded Wednesday. Still, despite the veteran second baseman hitting .302 this season and staying healthy, GM Omar Minaya may have a difficult time moving Castillo. Castillo is midway through a four-year, $25 million deal that blocked the Mets from signing free agent Orlando Hudson last winter. Castillo had met with team officials at the end of the 2008 season to apologize for his performance and request to remain with the team. The Mets also have expressed interest in Chone Figgins, who is represented by the same agents as Castillo and David Wright. Figgins would provide solid defense in left field, although he wouldn't address the team's power deficiency. The Mets reportedly may be interested in using Figgins at second base. -- NY Daily News
http://msn.foxsports.com/rumors

Vance Wilson:

MLB.com's Dick Kaegel mentions that the Royals have re-signed catcher Vance Wilson to a minor league contract. The 33-year-old Wilson hit .270/.342/.461 in 229 plate appearances with Kansas City's Double-A affiliate in 2009 after not playing at all in 2008 due to injury. He last played in the big leagues back in 2006.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com

Luis Allen:

Lara 6, Caribes 4
Indians infielder Luis Valbuena hit a walk-off three-run homer as the Cardenals stunned the Caribes for their third straight win. Mariners farmhand Oswaldo Navarro contributed two hits and three RBIs for Lara, while Luis Alen (Mets) doubled twice and drove in two runs for Anzoategui.
http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091120&content_id=7697236&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

John Lackey:

Four pitchers through age 30, one of whom is John Lackey:
Pitcher A: 108-88, 1732 IP, 114 ERA+, 2.36 K/BB
Pitcher B: 101-62, 1377.1 IP, 117 ERA+, 2.61 K/BB
Pitcher C: 102-71, 1501 IP, 117 ERA+, 2.72 K/BB
Pitcher D: 107-87, 1760.1 IP, 115 ERA+, 2.27 K/BB
Pitcher E: 119-77, 1753.1 IP, 114 ERA+, 2.16 K/BB
I'm cherry picking a very little bit here—if I worked for Lackey I'd point out that Curt Schilling and John Smoltz could be fit into this group—but these are pretty tight comparables. A is Doug Drabek, B is Matt Morris, C is Lackey, D is Alex Fernandez and E is Jack McDowell. Feel free to go look up how those guys did in their 30s, ponder that Lackey has pitched an average of 170 innings over the last two years due to elbow and triceps problems, and then convince me that he isn't the perfect Mets signing.
http://www.tmarchman.com/home/2009/11/20/why-the-mets-are-going-to-sign-john-lackey.html

Matt Holliday:

Matt Holliday. He absorbed two blows when management people with the Angels and Giants said they wouldn't be pursuing him within the last day. But that still leaves the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Mariners, Cubs and Yankees as possible suitors. The Yankees are believed to be his first choice, but for now, they seem more intent on improving their starting pitching situation. The target price seems to be Mark Teixeira's $180 million deal, but some baseball execs seem to think he won't receive much more than half that despite Alfonso Soriano's $136 million deal only two years ago.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_heyman/11/20/free.agency/#ixzz0XVuWggSG


Keith Hernandez:

Keith Hernandez will return to the SNY booth next season. According to sources, Hernandez and SNY agreed on a new three-year contract very recently and it should be announced in the coming weeks. Hernandez’s previous deal ended at the end of the 2009 season, and even had him on air saying, “I've enjoyed the four years and, hopefully, I'm in the middle of negotiating my new contract, hopefully, I'll be back (next season).” Hernandez will reunite with play-by-play man Gary Cohen and his fellow analyst Ron Darling in calling games for SNY.
Read more: http://theropolitans.com/2009/11/sources-keith-hernandez-returning-to.html#ixzz0XVrudJPp