Cutnpaste: - Mets Elliminated, Johan’s $$$, Dan Gorski, Carlos Beltran, 2012

The New York Mets,  however, were mathematically eliminated  last Tuesday  from the 2012 season,  as reported in  Baseball Today Magazine.  “We are very disappointed, but there’s always 2013,”  offered New York Mets manager, Terry Collins, a former minor league  shortstop. “This will give us a good time to retool,  and trade away our best players  for  Single A minor-league nobodies and  injured aging has-beens.” http://www.politickernj.com/joey-novick/52696/november-22-2011-catchers-and-pitchers-report-less-100-days-mets-mathematically-el

A large percentage of the Mets' payroll will be concentrated in Johan Santana and Jason Bay through 2013, but those obligations could extend to the following season as well. Santana will make $25.5 million in 2013 (with a portion of the money deferred), but his earnings that season actually should increase to $31 million because the Mets also would owe him a $5.5 million buyout of 2014. However, the team option instead becomes a player option for 2014 at $25 million if Santana logs 215 innings in 2013 or 420 innings between 2012 and 2013. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/36695/mets-uncommitted-after-2013-not-so-fast?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

11-22-11: - http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111122&content_id=26030048&vkey=pr_t543&fext=.jsp&sid=t543&tcid=fb_share  - Former Savannah Sand Gnat, Darin Gorski, was one of 10 players chosen today for the Topps Class-A All-Star Team. The best performances in all of Minor League Baseball classifications are being honored by the Topps Company of New York, N.Y., in conjunction with Minor League Baseball. Gorski, who made 18 starts and seven relief appearances for the Gnats in 2010, spent all of the 2011 season with the advanced-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League. The 24-year old Gorski, of Mount Joy, Pa., claimed Florida State League Pitcher of the Year honors for going 11-3 with a circuit-best 2.08 ERA for the St. Lucie Mets. The left-hander's ERA was second best in the classification and his WHIP of 1.00 ranked third in Class A. In 138.2 innings Gorski struck out 140 and walked only 29. The New York Mets drafted him in the seventh round in 2009 out of Kutztown (PA) University.

Carlos Beltran: 34 years old; 2011: .300/.385/.525 22 HR 84 RBI 4 SB 4.7 WAR - Beltran once again enters the free agent market as the top outfielder available. After a great bounce-back year from knee injuries and a successful position change to right field, he returned to his All-Star form and had a resurgence in his power and run production. He is clearly the top overall outfielder in a market lacking star power at his position and will receive a great deal of attention from teams that are able absorb his contract easily and are contending for a championship. To sweeten the deal, even though Beltran is technically a Type A free agent, the team that signs him will not have to surrender draft pick in next year’s amateur draft because he cannot be offered arbitration. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/dissecting-the-outfield-free-agent-market

Remember, the difference between the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets was 13 wins. You laugh? Remember the regular season is 162 games. The Cardinals were 18-8 in September and squeezed into the post-season on the final Sunday of the regular season. The Mets won 21 of 49 one-run games; the Cardinals 26-23 in the same category. It took all 162 games (and a few lucky breaks) for St. Louis to advance and the result … you know the rest of the magnificant story. http://blog.johnstrubel.com/2011/11/21/mets-post-season-chances-quietly-improve