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NL East Notes: Wright, Marlins, Adams

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The NL East includes a broad range of payrolls, from the Phillies at $150MM-plus to the Marlins below $40MM. Here's are some notes from the division…

  • Carlos Beltran told Mike Puma of the New York Post that David Wright should be able to handle the pressure that comes with a nine-figure contract. "He’s been with the organization a long time, so there is nothing he needs to change,” said Beltran, who signed a seven-year $119MM deal with the Mets as a free agent following the 2004 season.
  • Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said newcomer Adeiny Hechavarria has Hanley Ramirez’s endorsement, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. “When Hanley tells you ‘He is better than I am, you’ve got a great guy with great hands,’ it’s amusing to listen to,” Loria said. The Marlins, who traded Ramirez to Los Angeles last summer, acquired Hechavarria from Toronto in a blockbuster deal with the Blue Jays in November.
  • Reliever Mike Adams would likely be with a different team had the Phillies completed their deal with the Astros for Wilton Lopez, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledged that the Phillies "probably would not have" signed Adams had the club not pulled back from trading for Lopez (since dealt to the Rockies) for undisclosed reasons following his physical. 

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

East Notes: Blue Jays, Marlins, Mets, Napoli

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 Here are a few notes from the AL and NL East..

  • Justin Germano appeared to have a shot at a job in the Blue Jays rotation when the Jays signed him in November, but now he's nowhere near the rotation picture, MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm writes. After the acquisitions of Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, the Jays don't have as much need for the journeyman, who struck out 52 batters and walked 21 while posting a 6.20 ERA in 69.2 innings with the Cubs and Red Sox last season. "Obviously nobody knew they were going to do what they did," Germano says. "It's not the most ideal situation for me but I'm happy to be here, and I hope I can be part of this team because they're going to do some good things this year."
  • Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, whose first big move upon taking the reigns in New York was to ship out star outfielder Carlos Beltran to San Francisco for pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, has been validated by the results, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.  While Wheeler has yet to make his regular-season debut with the Mets, the young righty's continued development and increasing "notoriety" has already led Alderson to feel what he described as a "kind of a confirmation."
  • Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press wonders whether the Marlins' Jeffrey Loria is the worst owner in sports history.  Dahlberg cites the trade of Johnson, Buehrle and Jose Reyes to the Jays, and points to Buehrle and Reyes' backloaded contracts to suggest that trading them was part of the plan all along.
  • Mike Napoli has previously explained how surprised he was to learn that he had a potentially serious hip condition known as avascular necrosis.  As reported by ESPN's Gordon Edes, Napoli was not and is not experiencing any symptoms: "I really didn't know what was going on.  I don't feel anything. … I'm doing everything, and I feel great."  After his original three-year, $36MM deal with the Red Sox was undone when his physical revealed the condition, Napoli instead agreed to play for Boston on a one-year, $5MM deal with incentives that could bring the total value to $13MM.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

NL East Notes: Mets, Bourn, Marlins, DePodesta

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Here's a look at the National League East..

  • Michael Bourn did not give serious consideration to the Mets' offer as it would have required him to wait for a verdict on the club's case for keeping their first-round draft choice, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  The Mets and Bourn were told that it might take a couple weeks to schedule a hearing on the matter and the outfielder says that he still might be sitting at home if he didn't take the deal from Cleveland instead.
  • The winner of the MLB Network's reality show, Josh Booty, is technically property of the Marlins despite being in camp with the Diamondbacks, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The Marlins still own his rights after taking him with the fifth pick in the 1994 draft.  Miami agreed to release the knuckleballer off of their retired list, but only under the condition that they could reclaim him if Arizona planned to add him to their major league roster at the end of spring training.
  • If Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria isn't making personnel moves based on payroll, then Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter) wonders why he didn't go after top free agents like Bourn or Kyle Lohse.
  • Chris McShane of Amazin Avenue spoke with Mets vice president of player development and scouting Paul DePodesta.  Even though they opted to keep their first-round pick rather than sign Bourn, DePodesta says that the club doesn't have any extra pressure this year to make a strong selection.  "I don’t think we look at this one any differently — I don’t think there’s any year where we’re going to be excited about giving up our first-round pick, especially if it’s that part of the draft," said the Mets exec.

Mets Sign Rhyne Hughes

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We'll keep track of tonight's minor moves right here…

  • The Mets have signed long-time Orioles farm-hand Rhyne Hughes to a minor league deal, the first baseman announced via his Twitter account (hat tip: Steve Melewski of MASNsports). Hughes has a career .267/.328/.457 batting line at Triple-A. He made his big league debut with the O's back in 2010, appearing in 14 games but posting just a .530 OPS in 51 trips to the plate.

Mets Notes: Upton, Bourn, Murphy, Tejada

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Despite the optimistic financial future that principal owner Fred Wilpon recently outlined to reporters, the Mets might not have as much flexibility as anticipated. The team projects to make $22MM this coming season, once debt payments for Citi Field, diminishing attendance and TV revenues are factored in, Josh Kosman of the New York Post reports. Kosman hears that there's "little room this year to raise salaries." Here are some more Mets-related notes as Spring Training continues…

  • There was a time last month that GM Sandy Alderson expected the Mets would add Justin Upton or Michael Bourn, John Harper of the New York Daily News reports. The Mets discussed the possibility of trading Daniel Murphy or Ruben Tejada plus younger pitching prospects to Arizona for Upton, who was ultimately dealt to Atlanta. It's not clear how close the Mets were to acquiring Upton, but some say Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers "indicated strong interest" at a certain point. 
  • MLB also gave the Mets "favorable signals" that they'd be able to sign Bourn without surrendering the 11th overall draft pick, Harper reports. 
  • Alderson said the organization's top pitching prospects will make an impact at the MLB level, Kevin Kernan of the New York Post reports. "It’s a marker of future success,’’ Alderson said. Manager Terry Collins added that he envisions some of the prospects becoming power arms for his bullpen.

Minor Moves: Maloney, Hampson, Blanco, Blue Jays

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Here's a look at today's minor moves, courtesy of Baseball America's Matt Eddy..

  • The Red Sox have signed left-hander Matt Maloney to a minor league deal, according to Eddy. The 29-year-old has spent time in the big leagues in each of the past four seasons and owns a career 3.83 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in Triple-A.
  • The Mets have re-signed left-hander Justin Hampson, Eddy writes.  The 32-year-old posted a 2.33 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 for Triple-A Buffalo in 2012.  Hampson also saw time in 13 big league games last season for the Mets and a combined 74 for the Padres in 2007 and 2008.
  • The Phillies released shortstop Andres Blanco, according to Eddy.  Blanco, 28, last appeared in the majors with the Rangers in 2011 and owns a career .255/.301/.333 slash line across six big league seasons.
  • The Blue Jays re-signed right-hander Clint Everts, Eddy reports.  Everts, who spent last season with Toronto's Triple-A affiliate, was taken with the fifth-overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Expos.

NL East Notes: Rodriguez, Young, Stanton

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MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner told reporters yesterday that he wants to see the Mets follow through on their stated intention of spending more aggressively. "I think everybody would like to see the Mets as a competitive team, and it's going to require a higher payroll,” Weiner said. Here are more NL East-related notes…

  • It doesn't appear likely that the Mets will consider Francisco Rodriguez, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports (on Twitter). They had some interest in a reunion with the free agent right-hander earlier in the winter.
  • GM Mike Rizzo implied that right-hander Chris Young has an out-clause in his minor league deal with the Nationals, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports (on Twitter). It appears that the Nationals need Young’s permission to assign him to Triple-A. Ross Ohlendorf doesn’t have an opt-out, Amanda Comak of the Washington Times reports (on Twitter).
  • Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton told Yahoo's Jeff Passan that he tries not to concern himself with his team's recent change in direction. "What are you gonna do?" Stanton said. "Honestly, what? There's nothing you can do. You express your feelings, and that's about it."
  • Another Marlins outfielder, Juan Pierre, told MLBTR correspondent B.J. Rains that he’s pleased to be returning to the Marlins, even as fans express frustration over the team’s offseason moves.

Weiner On CBA, Mets, Wright

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MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner addressed reporters at Mets camp today, discussing draft pick compensation and the Mets’ franchise player. Here are some details (all Twitter links)…

  • Weiner said he expects to discuss draft pick compensation with MLB before the current collective bargaining agreement expires, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports. It sounds as though the MLBPA would like to consider changes to the system that affected the leverage ofplayers such as Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse. "The compensation affected those guys fairly dramatically this year, and we would like to try to address that,” Weiner said.
  • Weiner said he hopes the Mets spend more, as chairman & CEO Fred Wilpon has said they will (via Mike Puma of the New York Post). "I think everybody would like to see the Mets as a competitive team, and it's going to require a higher payroll,” Weiner said.
  • David Wright knew that he would have been a highly coveted free agent if he didn’t sign with the Mets long-term, Weiner said (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). "David understood that if he went out to market he’d probably make more money, and perhaps substantially more money," Weiner said. Wright signed an eight-year, $138MM extension with the Mets in December.
  • Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com notes that MLBPA exec Bobby Bonilla collects more money from the Mets than any of their current outfielders. Bonilla, who spent parts of five seasons with the Mets, still collects deferred payments from the club.

Mets Notes: Collins, Bullpen, Byrd

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The latest on the Mets as Spring Training continues in Port St. Lucie…

  • It’s “almost impossible” that the Mets will fire or extend manager Terry Collins during the 2013 season, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports (on Twitter). Collins’ contract expires after the season, and he has said he doesn’t expect the situation to become a distraction.
  • Collins says he's pleased with the array of left-handed relievers in camp this year, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. "We come into this spring with five legitimate candidates, which we haven’t had in the past,” Collins said.
  • Marlon Byrd told Kevin Burkhardt of SNY.tv that he decided to sign with the Mets because of Collins’ presence and the chance to contribute as a veteran on a young team with upside (video link via MetsBlog.com).

NL East Notes: Gio, Owings, Stanton, Young

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Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez was one of several players whose names were found in the records of Biogenesis, a Miami clinic linked to PEDs, as revealed last month by the Miami New Times.  According to a new report from ESPN's Mike Fish and T.J. Quinn, however, none of the substances that Gonzalez allegedly purchased are banned by Major League Baseball.  Gonzalez has denied any personal involvement with Biogenesis, though his father is a client of the clinic. 

Here are some more items from around the NL East…

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