In addition, Beltran said his surgeon “couldn’t believe” he was able to play on his ailing knee, considering how many little pieces were floating around in the joint.

Beltran says there is now no pain when he bends and moves his knee, and he is positive and happy with the outcome of the surgery.

jerry manuel spoke to the media and said he would like to see reyes bat 3rd! what, are you joking?
reyes is a leadoff hitter his mind is set on getting hits and stealing bases! if you put him in the 3rd spot hes gonna try and pull the ball and try increase his power! his SB will go down also! BAD IDEA!

Despite poor peripheral stats, Fogg managed to post a 3.74 ERA in 45.6 relief innings for the Rockies last year. He tossed another 40.3 ugly innings as a starter in the minors. In his best days, Fogg was able to chew up 30 starts with an ERA around 5.00 for the Pirates and Rockies.

Fogg, 33, had a 3.74 ERA in 24 relief appearances last season for the Rockies, during which right-handed batters hit .176 against him.

After spending the winter training in Phoenix at a well-regarded facility with other major leaguers at the Mets’ behest, Perez undoubtedly is in better shape than a year ago. Last March, Perez drew criticism from pitching coach Dan Warthen for returning from the World Baseball Classic unprepared for a major-league season.

Perez relocated this offseason from his native Culiacan, Mexico, to Arizona to train at Fischer Sports, the facility credited with preparing Randy Johnson during his career. Other than two weeks spent in Mexico around Christmas, Perez said he’s spent the entire winter in Phoenix working out at that training center with major leaguers including Kerry Wood, Chris and Shelley Duncan, Sergio Mitre and Mike Hampton.

“A lot of good players there,” Perez said.

Perez said he’s religiously at the facility by 7 a.m. and stretching 90 minutes later.

The southpaw went 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA in 14 starts in 2009, in the first season of a three-year, $36 million deal. He spent May 7-July 8 on the disabled list with right patellar tendinitis, and ultimately underwent Sept. 1 surgery to remove scar tissue from the knee.

“Right now I don’t feel anything,” he said Monday. “I think that’s why I’m really happy. I feel really strong.”

Of course, Perez’s trademark wildness comically remained Monday. As he long-tossed with Johan Santana on a windy morning at the Mets’ complex, Perez twice overshot Santana with throws on a back field and cleared a fence.

“It’s going to take a couple of weeks,” Santana turned and offered with a smile.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2010/01/26/2010-01-26_perezs_knee_no_problem.html#ixzz0dkWVYXLf

He told reporters he was very excited with how he felt today, “I felt pretty good, the ball was coming out pretty good, I feel like I did my mechanics with no problem and I didn’t feel anything in my arm.”

He said he had been working on his mechanics this winter, using a portable mound, but to get out on the field and throw from a real bullpen, ‘and be able to go through my whole routine,’ is good.

Santana said he threw a change up and it had ‘nice motion,’ which tells him, ‘we’re ahead of the game.’

He explained that, last season, because of the bone chips in his elbow:

“I wasn’t able to finish up the pitches. I wasn’t able to lift my leg the way I’m supposed to because I wasn’t able to reach out. That is what I was trying to do today, to see that. Today, I was able to see my leg when I finished the pitch and that’s big, to see that this early is a good sign… I just need to get back to being the old Johan and being aggressive.”

Heyman adds (via Twitter) that the Rangers never made Sheets an offer, and he doubts the Mets went anywhere near the $10MM price tag.

12:02pm: Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports that the A’s have signed Sheets to a one-year deal worth more than $8MM. He took his physical today, and everything checked out fine.

11:51pm: Urban tweets that the A’s have scheduled a press conference for 1pm today (presumably Pacific Time). Not sure what the announcement is, but let your imaginations run wild.

11:24am: Urban elaborated on his earlier tweet, reporting that Sheets is seeking a one-year deal worth $8-9MM, and that Oakland’s offer is “absolutely” in that range. He notes that if the team signs Sheets, they won’t make an offer to Damon.

One scout said that it’s a win-win situation for both the A’s and Sheets, because if they fall out of contention, they can trade him for prospects and he’ll get to go to a contender.

TUESDAY, 7:54am: CSNBayArea.com’s Mychael Urban tweets that the A’s have in fact made a “competitive” offer to Sheets, and hope to have answer today or tomorrow.

MONDAY, 6:44pm: ESPN.com is reporting that the Athletics have already made an offer to Sheets.

11:22am: A pair of interesting tweets just came in from ESPN’s Buster Olney: he says the Athletics are trying to sign Ben Sheets, with Johnny Damon as a “possible Plan B.”

Sheets had a throwing session for at least 14 teams at the University of Lousiana at Monroe last Tuesday, the A’s among them. Oakland’s main competition appears to be the Mets.

The Mets have been linked to this trio and several other starters this winter, but they have yet to make any significant additions to their starting rotation. It’s possible that pressure from fans and the New York media might be starting to take a toll on the club. Cerrone cites a report from SI.com’s Jon Heyman on The MLB Network in relation to Sheets, where Heyman said the Mets would like to make a “positive” signing in the wake of missing out on free agent catcher Bengie Molina.

Cerrone passed on more info from Heyman and Tom Verducci’s discussion of Sheets’ throwing session today. More than one scout told Heyman the pitcher looked like “the old Ben Sheets,” and both Heyman and Verducci agreed that Sheets will sign a contract similar to Brad Penny’s one-year, $7.5MM pact with the Cardinals. Heyman named the Mets, Cubs and Rangers as interested suitors, while Verducci named St. Louis and Seattle as “a likely destination.”

either during the season or the end of the season(after november of 2010)

trade beltran to reds
GeT: phillips and pitching prospect

this is pretty realistic

sign crawford to play centerfield

find a way to trade castillo, pay most of his contract, or do bad contract for bad contract(like the cubs/mariners trade)

or simply make him a bench player

thoughts

2011

Reyes
phillips
crawford
wright
bay
davis?
francoeur
thole? molina?

The Mets have avoided arbitration with righty John Maine, reports MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The AP (via SI.com) says that Maine will receive a $3.3MM base salary in 2010, with an extra $225K in performance bonuses (hat tip to MetsBlog.com)

Maine, 28, earned $2.6MM in 2009, though he only managed to make 15 starts because of a shoulder issue. He’s posted a 4.01 ERA in four seasons in Queens after coming over from Baltimore in trade for Kris Benson following the 2006 season.