Mack Stuff - Winter League Stats, Cory Vaughn, Non-Tender Mets, B.J. Upton

 P Gonzalez Germen –Toros del Este -  0.0-IP, 1-BB, 8.31

 Armando Rodriguez - Leones del Escogido – 0.0-IP, 1.93

 3B Wilmer Flores - Bravos de Margarita – 0-4, .279

OF Cory Vaughn - Atenienses de Manati – 1-3, 1-RBI, .316

                We have to remember the lack of quality competition at this level, but we still like what we’re seeing from Cory Vaughn. The upside here is he could breeze through Binghamton in 2013 and literally be ready to play in Queens by September. The only people in his way are a bunch of other almost prospects that need to do the same thing.

Per Adam Rubin - Barring a last-minute trade that did not appear likely or other reversal, the Mets plan to non-tender three players by the Friday night deadline -- right-handers Mike Pelfrey and Manny Acosta and center fielder Andres Torres, according to major league sources.

                -no surprises here… I expect Pelfrey will be back in the $1-2mil range, but his agent is Scott Boras, so you know he’s going to want to shop him around for a while. Acosta finished strong last year, but he’s simply being paid too much for what he does. Torres is simply an embarrassment that Sandy Alderson wants to go away. All these moves are being made to free up as much money as they can before the Winter Meetings. They go into them with a $74.175mil 2013 payroll (before ARB raises) of which $18.125mil is Jason Bay. A conservative estimate is $15mil for at least one outfielder and a catcher.

Ed Leyro – “Over the past four seasons, B.J. Upton has a .242 batting average and a .316 on-base percentage (it was .298 in 2012). He has also struck out 646 times over that time period, has never driven in 90 runs and has never scored 90 runs (despite averaging 41 SB per season).”

                The sad part is this is what the market is bringing right now. The best part of his game is his name. I have to do with Alderson here. I’d rather stick with Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda, Mike Baxter, Jordany Valdespin, and somebody else until the 2014 FA rolls around. Focus on the pitching staff and hire as many batting coaches you can find to work with Matt den Dekker, Cory Vaughn, Gilbert Gomez, and Cesar Puello. Find one hidden gem here and 2014 will be the year I’ve been telling you it will be (oh yeah, trade that pitcher I’m not writing about until a deal is done for Wil Meyers).