STUFF: - Omar Minaya, Chris Capuano, Heath Bell, Jeff Wilpon, Damien Magnifico

1. Former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya has landed a new job with the San Diego Padres organization, two sources told ESPN.com.  The team planned to announce the hiring Friday afternoon, one of the sources said. Minaya, 53, became the first Hispanic general manager in baseball history when the Montreal Expos hired him in 2002. He ran the Mets from 2004 through 2010, when he was fired along with manager Jerry Manuel.  The Padres will give Minaya a position along the lines of vice president of baseball operations, The Associated Press reported, citing a person familiar with the negotiations.  The New York Post reported that Minaya will serve as a sounding board to new Padres GM Josh Byrnes and do scouting work on amateur and professional players. - http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7307007/omar-minaya-join-san-diego-padres-organization

I’m very happy, both for Omar and the San Diego Padres. I have always found Omar to be a gentleman and he always treated me with respect. We had a lot of fun one time bullshitting in the corner of the clubhouse which was preventing all the “real reporters” from hounding him with questions. We actually were talking about the Disco days and we both had a lot of fun extending the non-conversation to the point that most of the writers moved on and Minaya could get back to his office. In case some of don’t realize, he is one of the most talented Latin American scouts in the history of baseball and I am sure he will bring to that team the same quality kids he found playing on the rocky fields for the Mets. Welcome back, amigo.  

2.   Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports that the Dodgers have signed Chris Capuano to a two-year, $10 million contract. The deal was first reported by Jim Bowden of SiriusXM Radio and has now been confirmed by Stark and others. Capuano had a pretty nice year for the Mets in 2011, posting a 4.55 ERA and 1.35 WHIP while striking out 168 over 186 innings. He also managed to make 31 starts after years of elbow issues. It's not a ton of money to commit to a guy that could slot in nicely at the back of the Dodgers rotation, but it's risky given Capuano's injury history and the fact that he had a 5.42 ERA away from pitcher-friendly Citi Field. At least he's going to another cavernous park in Dodger Stadium. Capuano's signing could signal the end of Hiroki Kuroda's tenure in LA. - http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/346053/baseball-headlines?r=1

I hope Mets fans aren’t getting upset about this one. In fact, do you realize how upset Mets fans WOULD be if Sandy Alderson cut a deal here for $10mil over 2-years? I think we are all starting to get an indication of how the money is going to go in this Hot Stove season, and it seems pretty high to me right now. The offering of arbitration to another “5.42 ERA” pitcher (Mike Pelfrey)is looking more sensible every day. 

 All-Star closer Heath Bell has agreed to a $27 million, three-year contract with the Miami Marlins, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.  The person spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. The agreement, which is subject to a physical, is the first free-agent deal for the Marlins since they began courtships last month with several top players. The deal was first reported by ESPN. Bell had more than 40 saves each of the past three seasons for the San Diego Padres. This year he had 43 in 48 chances with a 2.44 ERA. - http://www.caribsso.com/MLB/New-York

This seems to me to be as much as come-on to other free agents as it would be a decent deal for a pitcher that is worth it. Obviously, the cost for a decent closer just went to the ten million per year range, which is far move than the Mets want to give out. My guess is they dish out around $4mil to a Grade B guy and pray for the recovery of Jenrry Mejia. 

Mike J. Silva: - Spoke to a Citi Field worker last weekend and they told me Jeff Wilpon refuses to acknowledge staff and gets angry if u say hello to him… Nick C: - my buddy is in the local 2 and said the same thing about Jeff when CitiField was being built. said he went out of his way to be an ass.

Is this supposed to surprise us? Have you ever met Jeff Wilpon? He is the perfect example of a rich man’s loser son? I will give him this… he is consistent. Tell ya what… why don’t you ask his siblings what they think of him…  err… DOH!

5. Reports out of his school that ex-Met unsigned draft pick, P Damien Magnifico, is "hitting 103.

I'm not even going here...