Xavier Nady, Ronnie Paulino, David Wright, Cam Maron, Gary Carter

Nady on the other hand would be a nice low risk pickup.  If healthy, he could bring the leadership and experience the team needs.  Championship teams need strong extra parts and Xavier Nady would be a strong fit in that regard.  As long as comes cheap and doesn’t expect to start, I would say that is a done deal.  The team may look for one or two more strong bats for its lineups, but that would not stop a potential Nady signing.  http://mlbreports.com/2011/11/27/ask-reports-nov-27

Ronny Paulino is a large, surprisingly athletic man who has been a perpetual enigma — the tools are there for him to be an above-average all-around MLB catcher, but his weight, occasional laziness, and frequent lapses in focus have made him an unreliable entity. In 2011, he managed to control his weight (without the use of illegal diet pills), and though he occasionally displayed laziness and lack of focus, those weaknesses in character didn’t significantly hamper his performance. Paulino only appeared in 78 ballgames, but when he did, he put the bat on the ball — particularly in the first half of the year, when he hit .320 with a .769 OPS. However, his season peaked in June, when he hit .364, and from there it was all downhill. By August, Paulino was a non-entity; he appeared in only 25 games in the last two months of the season. http://www.metstoday.com/7231/11-12-offseason/2011-analysis-ronny-paulino

It's sad to say it, but as of right now, there has never been an everyday player inducted into the Hall of Fame who was developed in the New York Mets' farm system and came into the major leagues as a member of the Mets. David Wright will someday have his plaque displayed in the Mets' Hall of Fame and Museum to recognize him as an all-time great Met, but unfortunately, he is not an all-time great of the game.   When fans realize this instead of trying to make him bigger than what he really is, perhaps they'd realize that he'd have more value to the Mets as trade bait than he would have as a player for the team. http://studiousmetsimus.blogspot.com/2011/11/misleading-stats-on-david-wright-change.html

11-23-11: -  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.js p?ymd=20111110&content_id=25949502&fext=.j sp&vkey=news_milb&partnerId=rss_nym -   Catcher -- Camden Maron, Savannah (one game), Kingsport (58 games): A 34th-round Draft pick in 2009, Maron played Gulf Coast League games over his first two pro seasons before emerging in 2011. The 20-year-old New York native batted .317 overall and sported a 38-36 walk-to-strikeout ratio. "He has a very advanced approach at plate for such a young guy," DePodesta said of the Appalachian League postseason All-Star. "This was his first opportunity to play full-time and he took advantage. Defensively, he's solid and he's going to get much better."

Gary Carter, the former Mets great currently battling brain cancer, suffered "slight bleeding" on his brain last week that is not believed to be a serious health threat, according to an entry on a private journal kept by Carter's daughter. Carter complained of severe fatigue and pain last Monday and was taken for an MRI. The MRI revealed a new "spot on the core of his brain," according to a journal entry posted by Kimmy Bloemers, to which ESPNNewYork.com has been granted access. The MRI also showed doctors that Carter's tumors "looked smaller," according to Bloemers, Carter's daughter. Further tests revealed that the "spot" was in fact "slight bleeding," not a new tumor, which was a relief to Bloemers. www.espn.com

Cutnpaste: - Allan Dykstra, Matt Harvey, Ronnie Paulino, Danny Muno, David Wright

10-10-11: - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132edccbf718965f - The Mets picked up Allan Dykstra in exchange for Eddie Kunz back in March, and the big guy did a nice job playing nearly everyday at first for Binghamton. Dykstra, who turned 24 in May, hit .267/.389/.474 with 19 homers, and 69 walks against 131 strikeouts in 121 games. His 69 walks were tied for fifth in the Eastern League, and he closed down his dramatic platoon split from 2010. I don’t think he’s an impact big leaguer (he whiffed in 28% of his Binghamton plate appearances) but he’s certainly better than Eddie Kunz. Kunz, by the way, ran a 4.30 ERA in 73.1 innings for the Padres’ double-A affiliate with an almost impressive 34 walks against 27 strikeouts.

10-17-11: - http://baseballinstinct.com/2011/10/17/prospect-instinct-matt-harvey-rhp-new-york-mets  - Matt Harvey has a plus curveball with a borderline plus fastball. The slider is average. His changeup should be an average or better pitch as well, so he has a four pitch mix that makes me confident to call him a future big league starter. His command has come along as well, so while he was a #2-#3 starter going into the season, the command has put him in the elite level of pitching prospects and he has a chance to be a frontline starter. His frame says that there is a workhorse 200 inning eater here as well. The only thing that can hold him back from reaching a successful #2 starter or better will be his mechanics. The changes that have been made are a step in the right direction and he’ll need to hold that upgrade going forward while maturing as a starter. We should see Harvey some time in 2012. He could start the season in Triple-A and be with the Mets by the All Star break.

Ronny Paulino’s 2011 season was more or less a “success”–depending on what you expect out of a backup catcher. He hit well–as advertised–against left-handed pitching (.289/.363/.389 line), but also posted his highest career contact rate (85.3%), and a superb 73.3% O-Contact% (contact rate for pitches outside the zone), which was 11.5% above his 2010 rate. However, Paulino’s defense was a little suspect. Among catchers with at least 200 innings, Paulino posted the eleventh worst caught-stealing percentage, throwing out just 20.3% of runners. He also had 6 pass balls, which ties him with Yadier Molina–but in 639 less innings than Cardinals’ defensive-wiz. It’s a safe assumption that the Mets will not tender Paulino a contact, and might look for a better defensive upgrade for their backup catcher in 2012 (i.e. Kelly Shoppach). Given Josh Thole‘s struggles behind the dish, it might make more sense to have a more defensive-minded backup than a pure platoon partner like Paulino. - http://risingapple.com/2011/10/17/2011-season-in-review-ronny-paulino

10-17-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/10/mmo-top-20-mets-prospects-20-danny-muno-ss.html  - Danny Muno is a “gamer”, and does all the little things it takes to win, bunting, situational hitting, moving runners over, and playing solid defense at 2B and SS. He will more than likely open the season next year as the starting shortstop at Savannah, although a jump all the way to St. Lucie and the Florida State League is not out of the realm of possibility for a player with his advanced skills and experience. Choosing number 20 for this list was very hard. There are several deserving players that could have also sneaked into this spot. Players I have ranked just outside the Top 20 include: Cory Vaughn, Jack Leathersich, Tillman Pugh, Domingo Tapia, Tyler Pill, Logan Verrett, Albert Cordero, Taylor Whitenton, Brad Holt, Erik Goeddel and Zach Lutz. Perhaps we should have made a Top 30!

In a down year for NL third basemen, the Mets received decent contributions at the hot corner. Still, a sub-.800 OPS and poor defense from Wright was disappointing, and it will be tough to justify paying big money for that kind of production going forward. His trade value isn't all that high right now. Regardless, the front office should explore interest from other teams. It's boring to repeat but any opportunity to make a move that improves the team should be entertained. It's merely an educated guess but I doubt David Wright is traded this winter. Here's to a healthy, restful offseason for Wright and his regaining that 2005-2008 form at (renovated?) Citi Field. - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/10/17/2494781/2011-postmortem-third-base