Cutnpaste: - Ex-Mets Signed, John Franco, Jon Niese, and Pedro Martinez

mrseising

Ex-Mets Signed:

RHP Matt Lindstrom was traded to Colorado… 3B Mike Cervenak was signed by Florida… Kansas City resigned P Gaby Hernandez, Oakland released P Travis Blackley, and the Mets resigned SS Jose Coronado. - baseballamerica.



John Franco:

The left-handed son of a New York City Department of Sanitation worker is forever identified as a Met thanks to the 13 seasons he spent with the Mets (1990-2003, with a year off due to Tommy John surgery), but Franco was actually drafted by the Dodgers in 1981, and spent the first six years of his major league career with the Reds (1984-1989), a period which coincided with Pete Rose's managerial career. He quickly made an impact, leading the NL in WXRL in 1985 while sharing closer duties with righty Ted Power; remember, this was in the time before the one-inning automatons, when managers still let matchups and multiple-inning assignments play a role in their choice of ninth-inning guys. - .baseballprospectus.  



Jon Niese:

Starting pitcher – 190 innings per season and a 4.10 ERA for the next five years is really valuable. Niese won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2013, and young, cheap pitching is baseball’s gold standard. - bleacherreport.  



Pedro Martinez:

Was more valuable off the field than on, but still had one of the best pitching seasons in Mets history in 2005 when he went 15-8, with a 2.52 ERA. His starts were an “event” which can only be said for two others in Mets history, and they are in the Top 10. If not for a porous bullpen, and a manager who failed bullpen management 101, Martinez would have won 20 games, and maybe the Cy Young that year. The shoulder injury made the rest of his Mets career very pedestrian, but without the Pedro signing the Mets probably never get Carlos Beltran, or have their three year run from 2006-2008 where they were NL favorites. - nybaseballdigest