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...

Draft 2012: - Carlos Correa, Victor Roache, Ryan Perez, Damien Magnifico, Nick Williams

10-28-11: - http://orioles-nation.com/2011/10/26/wwba-2012-highlights - Carlos Correa (Santa Isabel PR) – From a tools standpoint, he is a top ten talent.  He still continues to have the heavy pull load and ends in a position rather elongated through the zone.  He displays the bat speed to allow for these late action approaches, but will have to compact to stay effective.  He is sound defensively and will make all the plays, but he looks bottom heavy in the future and might have to move to third base.  He shows the traits for an impressive stick and professional instruction could make for a kid with dual type threat bat.  He made himself a jumper on my big board with his clutch hitting display this weekend.

11-2-11: - http://www.collegesummerbaseball.net/2011/11/top-35-position-players-in-cape-cod.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter   - Top 35 Position Players in the Cape Cod League 3.   Victor Roache  OF   Cotuit Kettleers--Georgia Southern   Victor was an offensive star for Cotuit this summer. He hit .316 with 6 home runs and 28 runs batted in. He was tied for 3rd in the league with 29 runs, 2nd in the league in home runs and 2nd in the league in runs batted in. He was named the Top Pro Prospect by the league. Both PG and BA ranked him as the 6th best prospect in the league.

11-5-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6364  - On his Perfect Game player profile, RHP Ryan Perez’s primary position is listed as “BHP.” That’s BHP as in “both-handed pitcher.” It’s a position also sometimes referred to as “switch-pitcher.” Regardless of which handle is attached to Perez, there is no question he’s a bit of an anomaly. But he’s also a nationally recognized top-275 prospect (class of 2012) who hopes to one day to go places no other ambidextrous pitcher has gone before. “I’ll try to go as far with this as I can,” Perez said Oct. 21 while in attendance at the PG WWBA World Championship as a member of Coach John Sarna’s Chicago Scouts Association squad. Perez is a 6-foot, 185-pound senior at Westminster Christian High School in Hampshire, Ill., whose father, Juan Perez, made the decision to develop his son into an ambidextrous thrower as soon as the youngster was old enough to pick up a ball.

11-5-11: - http://mlbdraftguide.com/1  - •From a Kendall Rogers tweet,  Oklahoma coach Sunny Galloway stated that righthander Damien Magnifico has solid command and 3 quality pitches, but will be using mostly the fastball out of the pen.

11-4-11: - http://www.throughthefencebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-2012-free-agent-and-draft-pick-possibilities/13157/#  -  OF Nick Williams, 6’-3″, Ball HS (TX) – If this kid falls into their lap, they better not hesitate. As you can see from this video, the ability is off the charts with this one. Ridiculous power, speed, canon arm and an extremely coachable kid who excels both on and off the field. The Ken Griffey Jr. comparisons are there for all the right reasons. He is the type of player who could be the face of a franchise for a long time.

Cutnpaste: - R.A. Dickey, Damien Magnifico, Lucas Duda, Dae-Sung Koo, David’s Pad

R.A. Dickey: Teams don’t trade for journeyman knuckleball pitchers in the off-season. They wait for the trade deadline. He’s been arguably the Mets most consistent starter, but he’s a No. 4 according to most scouts, maybe a No. 5. He’s somebody a contender might covet in July, but he’s not going to bring back a lot of talent.  http://www.newyorkmetsreport.com/2011/10/25/mets-have-precious-few-pieces-to-trade

10-28-11: - http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/102611aaa.html  - Damien Magnifico, a 2009 fifth rounder of the New York Mets, and Gray, a 2011 10th rounder by the New York Yankees, were both clocked in the mid-to-high 90s in the intrasquad. Magnifico tripped triple digits on the MPH display on the scoreboard, topping out at 102.  "It's pretty amazing," added Golloway on the two pitchers' performance. "We've had that display for a number of years and I have never seen it hit 100. And you have Magnifico hitting 100, 101, 102 today, then you have someone like Jon Gray pitching against him, and he's sitting there rocking the gun at 97-98. It's pretty amazing but those guys also understand its about throwing strikes."

Purely as a hitter, Duda put up numbers over 324 plate appearances last year that stack up on a percentage basis with what Mike Stanton did in 2011 and what Ryan Howard did in 2005. And that’s why I think Duda is a star with the bat in his hands. There are certainly reasons to be skeptical. Duda has neither the pedigree nor track record that Stanton and Howard possess. He’s not come close to matching the over the fence power of either of those two players. And his outfield defense is atrocious. But when he steps into the batter’s box, Duda has put up some eye-opening numbers. Now we have to see if Duda can overcome the adjustments that pitchers make against him this year. We have to see if he can produce over a full season. And we have to see if he can cut it in the outfield. But there are definitely reasons to be excited, too. And the proposed new outfield dimensions at Citi Field could help improve his power numbers. Duda could be the best hitter on the 2012 Mets. That is if they don’t trade him for help in other areas.  http://mets360.com/?p=8305

TO THE untrained eye, Dae-Sung Koo looks like any other weekend warrior at Petersham Oval. But this 42-year-old baseballer is not your garden variety pitcher. After all, we're pretty sure most of his teammates haven't won an Olympic medal, starred for the New York Mets, don't possess a 150km/h fast ball or have an estimated $50 million in career earnings.  But while he can't walk down the streets of his homeland, South Korea, without getting mobbed, Koo has been preparing for the Australian Baseball League in the relative anonymity of a Sydney winter league. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/korea-opportunities--mets-unlikely-hero-finds-a-home-in-harbour-city-20111029-1mpek.html#ixzz1cBfUbUGf

New York Mets star David Wright has been trying to sell his swank penthouse in NYC’s Flatiron District for quite some time… He paid $6.1M for it back in 2006, tried originally selling it for $7,850,000, and has continued to lower the price to unload…Here’s what my real estate expert says about the property, ” I hear rumblings that it’s gonna come down another $200k to $6,750,000. No buyers are stepping up to the plate…In the meantime, Wright is living in a $12,000 pad on the Upper East Side.” http://www.terezowens.com/david-wright-trying-to-sell-swank-penthouse-in-nycs-flatiron-district