Oliver Perez was the lone Met offered arbitration before tonight’s midnight deadline. That means the Mets will receive two picks if he signs elsewhere. Perez is expected to decline the arbitration offer, rather than accept by Sunday’s deadline. He made $6.5 million last season.

The only other Mets affected by last night’s deadline were Luis Ayala and Moises Alou. The Mets may still speak with Ayala; they won’t receive a compensation pick between the first and second rounds if he signs elsewhere, however. Ayala made $1.6 million last season.

Players such as Pedro Martinez and Damion Easley did not have to be offered arbitration tonight because they were not in the top 40% in the statistical categories used to decide whether teams who lose free agents should be compensated with draft picks.

Meanwhile, Nick Evans was diagnosed with a right quadriceps strain at the Hospital for Special Surgery this morning and is expected to rehab the next three to four weeks in his hometown of Phoenix. He played 10 winter-league games in Puerto Rico.

Tonight at midnight is the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to their own free-agent players. In essence, offering arbitration to a player ensures you get draft-pick compensation if the player signs elsewhere. Players have until Sunday (Dec. 7) to accept or decline the arbitration offer.

If a Type A player signs elsewhere after being offered arbitration, his former team gets the signing team’s first-round pick (if that team isn’t drafting in the top 15), plus a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds. If the signing team’s pick is in the top 15 and protected, it loses the second-round pick instead.

Type B free agents are worth only a supplemental pick between the first and second round.

Type A players are the top 20% statistically. Type B is the next 20%. Here is the complete list:

Club, Player, Elias Rank
ARI Cruz, Juan A
ARI Dunn, Adam A
ARI Hudson, Orlando A
ARI Johnson, Randy B
ARI Lyon, Brandon B
ATL Smoltz, John B
BOS Byrd, Paul B
BOS Varitek, Jason A
CHI Dempster, Ryan A
CHI Howry, Bob A
CHI Wood, Kerry A
CIN Affeldt, Jeremy B
CIN Weathers, David B
COL Fuentes, Brian A
CWS Cabrera, Orlando A
CWS Griffey Jr, Ken B
CWS Uribe, Juan B
DET Renteria, Edgar A
FLA Gonzalez, Luis B
FLA Lo Duca, Paul B
FLA Rhodes, Arthur B
HOU Brocail, Doug A
HOU Hawkins, LaTroy B
HOU Loretta, Mark B
HOU Wolf, Randy B
KC Grudzielanek, Mark B
LA Beimel, Joe B
LA Blake, Casey B
LA Kent, Jeff B
LA Lowe, Derek A
LA Maddux, Greg B
LA Penny, Brad B
LA Ramirez, Manny A
LAA Anderson, Garret B
LAA Garland, Jon B
LAA Oliver, Darren A
LAA Rodriguez, Francisco A
LAA Teixeira, Mark A
MIL Gagne, Eric B
MIL Sabathia, CC A
MIL Sheets, Ben A
MIL Shouse, Brian B
MIN Reyes, Dennys B
NYM Alou, Moises B
NYM Ayala, Luis B
NYM Perez, Oliver A
NYY Abreu, Bobby A
NYY Marte, Damaso A
NYY Mussina, Mike A
NYY Pettitte, Andy A
NYY Rodriguez, Ivan B
OAK Embree, Alan B
OAK Thomas, Frank B
PHI Burrell, Pat A
PHI Moyer, Jamie A
PHI Seanez, Rudy B
SD Hoffman, Trevor A
SEA Ibanez, Raul A
STL Isringhausen, Jason B
STL Looper, Braden B
STL Springer, Russ A
TEX Blalock, Hank B
TEX Bradley, Milton B
TOR Burnett, A.J. A
TOR Zaun, Gregg B

I wrote a “Where are they now?” piece on Jon Matlack and thoroughly enjoyed my 45-minute conversation with the former Met, who was engaging and funny. There wasn’t room in the story to squeeze everything in, so here’s what Matlack had to say about the night he was struck in the forehead by a line drive, May 8, 1973. Marty Perez was the hitter and got a double on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, tying the score at 3. The Braves went on to win, 10-6, at Shea.

Matlack: “It was one whale of a headache. Actually, on the 2-2 pitch, everyone thought he had swung at a curveball. It was raining lightly. I had nowhere to put him then, so I rear back to throw a fastball. I hear the crack, but I didn’t see the baseball. I picked it up about 15 feet away from me, got my bare hand up and it hit the bill of my cap and hit me above the left eye. (Jerry) Grote was there instantly and says, ‘Wait for the trainer.’ My wife (Dee) is in the stands and she thinks I’m dead. She might have been the first female other than Joan Payson to go into that clubhouse. We got in an ambulance and the ambulance couldn’t find its way out of there, so I was directing them. We got to the hospital on a shift change and there were people asking for my autograph.

“I got out of the hospital and went home and there was a film crew waiting there. They were really ticked because there was no sign of damage on me. They wanted to put me in a wheelchair to do an interview. I survived it all and pitched 11 days later against the Pirates (throwing six shutout innings). I never really thought much about it after that. I believe to this day if I had not lost sight of the ball, I would’ve caught it or gotten out of the way. I just didn’t see it.”

Matlack fondly recalled having a locker right between Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman and how the three pitchers had a running bet on which of them would get the most hits at the plate. He sounded sad when he recounted how the Big Three were “dismantled in about a year. Seaver, Matlack recalled, was “the biggest prankster that ever walked,” though he never had that reputation. “I don’t know who his press agent was,” Matlack said, laughing.

- Anthony McCarron

Jose Reyes typically heads to the Dominican Republic on Nov. 25 to spend the rest of the winter preparing for the upcoming baseball season. This year, he’s stuck a little longer in New York as he awaits a green card, which he’s sought en route to full U.S. citizenship.

Reyes nonetheless made the best of his extra time in New York yesterday, when he visited young patients at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, L.I.

Reyes typically begins baseball workouts in early December in the Dominican Republic, so he suggested being confined to a gym in his Long Island home hasn’t set back his 2009 preparations just yet.

He will need to be in prime shape for baseball this spring training. Reyes plans to again represent the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in March, as he did in 2006. He expects Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Tejada also will be shortstops on the Dominican team, so how much playing time he’ll receive remains to be seen.

“To represent your country, that’s the most important thing,” Reyes said.

Reyes also welcomes the chance to work with Luis Castillo for a full season in ‘09, which appears is likely because the $18 million remaining on the second baseman’s contract hinders a trade.

“He’s started working out, and he said he’s going to be ready for next season,” Reyes said about Castillo. “When he’s ready, we know what he’s capable of doing in the field. I feel comfortable with him, too. There’s no doubt he helped me. I mean, how many Gold Gloves has he won? He’s great defensive-wise at second base. Last year was kind of tough for him. He had a lot of injuries. He wasn’t able to play the way he normally plays.”

Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa's wife Alisa writes to Surfing the Mets...

"The Rally For Recovery Auction will begin on eBay this Sunday and run for one week. This auction will benefit former major-league pitcher Ricky Stone, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in August 2008. As some of you know, Erin Pote and I have collected more than 100 unique items from members of the baseball community."

Please take a look.

The Mets have added first baseman Mike Carp to the 40-man roster, protecting him from selection in the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 11, at the conclusion of the winter meetings in Las Vegas. The Mets’ 40-man roster now has 34 players, leaving room for free-agent additions.

Carp, who lives in Southern California, actually stopped in on the GM Meetings in Dana Point, Calif., a few weeks ago while spending time with his agent, Tom O’Connell of Tampa-based Legends Management.

Carp, 22, originally was slated to play in Puerto Rico this winter, but switched to playing in Venezuela because of the low salary he was offered. He’s 1-for-5 with two walks in his first two games for Caribes de Anzoategui.

Mets officials were upset with Carp’s physical conditioning and attitude two seasons ago, so they snubbed him from an invite to big-league camp last spring training. Carp forced himself back into good graces by dropping weight, then hitting .412 over the first three weeks of the Eastern League season. Still, while Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans received promotions last season, the lefty-hitting Carp remained stuck at Double-A Binghamton.

While Carp primarily is a first baseman, the Mets started to expose him to left field this year. Mets VP Tony Bernazard has been relatively complimentary of his play there, though Carp clearly isn’t fleet of foot.

Carp is projected to start next season at Triple-A Buffalo, as is Evans, both seeing time at first base and the corner outfield spots. Carp hit .299 with 17 homers and 72 RBI in 134 games at Double-A Binghamton last season.

As reported in today’s Daily News, Daniel Murphy suffered a hamstring injury in winter ball. An MRI has revealed a Grade II strain of the right hamstring. Murphy won’t play in Puerto Rico at all this winter, though that has as much to do with a heavy workload this year as the injury itself. He’s expected to be fine by spring training. Murphy hurt himself in Arizona during batting practice on Nov. 11 and hadn’t played since.

On a separate note, Francisco Rodriguez’s agent Paul Kinzer has distributed medical information to interested teams, including the Mets.

With the Dodgers moving their spring training headquarters from Vero Beach, Fla., to the Cactus League in Arizona, the Mets have lost their closest Grapefruit League foe. That means more travel, as evidenced by the spring schedule announced by the Orioles today, which includes a higher-than-usual six meetings with the Mets. The Orioles play at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, a two-plus-hour drive down I-95 from Port St. Lucie.

The Mets have yet to announce their full spring schedule. And, remember, the Mets' roster figures to be depleted more than most teams by the World Baseball Classic, which will be held in March.

The scheduled Mets-Orioles games are:

At Fort Lauderdale (1:05 p.m.):
Feb. 25
March 20
March 29

At Port St. Lucie (1:10 p.m.):
March 9
March 30
April 2

David Wright finished seventh and Carlos Delgado finished ninth in NL MVP balloting.

Albert Pujols won the award with 369 points, topping runner-up Ryan Howard (308), Ryan Braun (139) and Manny Ramirez (138).

Wright received two second-place votes, one third-place vote and four fourth-place votes while amassing 115 points. Delgado, who was the Mets’ best candidate in my view, had five third-place votes and one fourth-place vote while tallying 96 points.

Johan Santana received a second-place vote and 30 points overall to finish 14th on the list.

Carlos Beltran had a fifth-place vote and totaled 10 points to tie with Derrek Lee for 21st place.

Jose Reyes received one eighth-place vote for three points and a 24-place finish.

You may find the complete voting totals here.

Luis Alicea has been named the final member of the Mets’ coaching staff, and will succeed Ken Oberkfell at first base. Alicea spent the past two seasons in that role for the Red Sox. Alicea, 43, played 13 big-league seasons with the Cardinals, Red Sox, Angels, Rangers and Royals. A second baseman, Alicea hit .260 with 47 homers and 422 RBI in 1,341 games.

David Wright was the Mets’ lone winner of a Silver Slugger Award, which goes to the top hitting player at each position, as voted on by managers and coaches.

Here’s the complete list:

National League
1B - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
2B - Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
3B - David Wright, New York Mets
SS - Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
OF - Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies
OF - Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals
OF - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
C - Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves
P - Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs

American League
1B - Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
2B - Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
3B - Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
SS - Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
OF - Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
OF - Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox
OF - Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians
C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
DH- Aubrey Huff, Baltimore Orioles

The Mets have sold out their 49 luxury boxes at Citi Field. Here’s the AP account:

Mets executive vice president David Howard said Thursday that the 49th suite was bought about two weeks ago. When the team announced pricing for the ballpark’s season tickets in mid-August, it said 48 suites had been committed. The Mets’ suites, which hold 16 to 22 people, sold for $250,000 to $500,000 apiece.

The Yankees said this week that seven of 51 suites at the new Yankee Stadium remain unsold, the same figure as in August. Those suites cost $600,000 to $850,000 each, and only the lowest-price ones are still available.

Howard wouldn’t say how many season tickets the Mets have sold for the new ballpark.

“We’ve had a very, very high acceptance of the offer to our pre-existing season tickets customers,” he said. Those commitments came along with 10 percent deposits. “We are in the process now of sending out invoices to those who have accepted and have given us a deposit,” he said.

Because he was gentle the lone time I appeared on his show, here’s a plug for Craig Carton’s rally on Friday at Citi Field. The WFAN morning host hopes to drum up support (and publicity for himself) by imploring the Mets to sign the top free agents. Looks like Carton is keeping busy, considering he has an appearance on the WPIX Jets-Patriots pregame show tonight. Anyway, here are the details from his station …

“Craig Carton, co-host of the Boomer and Carton show on Sports Radio 66, WFAN is taking Hot Stove Baseball to the streets as he leads a free agent rally live from the New York Mets new home, Citi Field. The Rally will begin at 11am this Friday, Nov. 14 in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Carton is not new to rallies as this past summer he blitzed the Jets training camp at Hofstra with a bullhorn leading a ‘Let’s get Brett’ chant, in hopes of swaying Jets brass to sign hall of fame Quarterback Brett Favre. This time Carton hopes to encourage the Mets to be very active in the 2008 Major League Baseball free-agent pool and look to sign some of the top free agents available beginning this Saturday. Among the players he hopes to convince Mets management to go after are: Francisco Rodriguez, CC Sabathia and slugger Manny Ramirez.”

Johan Santana, who nearly pitched the Mets into the postseason by shutting out the Marlins on the final Saturday of the season while working on short rest, finished third in the NL Cy Young voting, behind winner Tim Lincecum and runner-up Brandon Webb. Brad Lidge finished fourth, CC Sabathia fifth and Ryan Dempster sixth.

Santana was placed first on four of the 32 ballots. Those writers were:

Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune
David Lennon, Newsday
Kevin Modesti, Los Angeles Daily News
Bob Nightengale, USA Today

I had the other New York ballot. My ballot was:

Lincecum
Webb
Lidge

Here are the exact voting totals, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, three points for second place and one point for third:

1-2-3-T

Lincecum 23-7-1-137
Webb 4-15-8-73
Santana 4-8-11-55
Lidge 0-1-7-10
Sabathia 1-1-1-9
Dempster 0-0-4-4

Carlos Beltran and David Wright are repeat winners of Gold Glove Awards.

"I take a lot of pride in being a complete player," Beltran said. "Even on the days when I don't get a hit, I feel I can make a difference in the field."

Said Wright: "Individual awards are nice, but for me my entire focus is on the team and getting back to the playoffs."

Carlos Delgado chatted with media on a conference call today, days after the Mets formally picked up his 2009 option for $12 million, which otherwise carried a $4 million buyout. Delgado confirmed he intends to represent Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic during spring training, which he couldn't do in '06 to any great degree because of elbow trouble. He also advocated keeping the core of the Mets intact. And he revealed that he intends to play through at least 2010.

Here are some of the questions and answers:

Have thoughts turned to how much longer you want to play and, if so, how much of a carrot is the 500-homer milestone? (He's at 469.)

Now that I know I have a contract for next year, I'm focused on that right now. Then, at the end of the season I'll look beyond, what I want to do. Regarding the 500 home runs, I'm pretty close, so I will try my best to get there. If that requires two years, I'll be happy to play for another year. I had a couple of discussions with my wife about how long am I going to continue to do this. The common denominator is at least a couple of more years - so this year and another year. But we will look at it at the end of the season.

There was a lot of talk on radio at the end of the season about the Mets needing to break up the core. Your response?

They call is a core because you try to not break it. You try to build around it. We also understand in this business nothing is chiseled in stone. But I'm pretty sure that question should be directed more toward Omar and ownership than myself. Having said that, I would say that we have a great team. We have a great group of guys - great young guys that you're not going to find just like that. I'm sure they're going to be pretty smart about it and try to keep some of the key players that get this team going. Every year, every offseason, teams go through the process of adding a guy here, sending a guy somewhere else and picking up a free agent. Maybe a guy from the minor leagues comes up. I don't think we'll find out until later in the offseason or even spring training.

Pedro, Moises might not be back. Does that put more of an onus on you to be that guy - the veteran leader on the team? And will this help some of the younger players step forward as leaders?

Every time that you lose a guy, hypothetically speaking, that is a veteran and been around for a while, people need to step up. Some of the younger guys, they have a couple of years experience now. They can be more like vocal and show more of their leadership qualities. We don't know exactly what's going to happen. In my case, I'm going to do what I've done in the past, which is to make sure we're all in the same place and lead by example - go out there and play the game the way it's supposed to be played. And if something needs to be addressed, we'll address it and make sure we're going in the same direction.

Did you anticipate they were going to pick up the option?

We had a talk, myself and Omar, and they were showing interest in picking up the option. I was glad when they told me I was coming back, but I believe things when they're final and that's it. When they called me last week and told me it's official now, that was good.

Did you watch the playoffs?

I did not watch a whole lot. I usually don't. This is the time I rest both physically and mentally. The next day I kind of look at the papers just to see who won and who hit or didn't hit, who pitched or didn't pitch. Maybe a couple innings here, a couple of innings there, but I did not watch a whole game the whole playoffs.

Does the Phillies winning the World Series add to the pain or does it not matter?

It doesn't matter to me. We knew that the Phillies were going in when we lost that Sunday. I knew they were going to be there. I personally don't have a problem. They made it all the way to the playoffs, they played good and they won.

Did you talk about extending this contract beyond one year?

Not at the end of the season. Before the season was over, we approached them with the possibility to pick up the contract and add another year. At the time they said, 'We'll let you know at the end of the season, or at the end of the playoffs.' And when they let us know, they said, 'At this time we're just going to exercise the option for one year and we'll see what happens later.' ... It's not a big deal. At this stage of my career I don't have a problem packing a bag and moving. I know I'm going back to Port St. Lucie in February and going to New York in April, so I'm really looking forward to that. Whatever happens after that, we'll deal with that. Right now I'm looking at 2009 and that's about it.

Now that you're removed from it a little bit, is there any more clarity about the disparity in production in April, May and June vs. afterward?

It is exactly the same answer. I didn't break it down any more. Basically I told you guys, and I was being pretty honest - there was nothing wrong with me physically. I was just jumping at the ball. I wasn't waiting back. I wasn't seeing the ball. So, as a result, I couldn't hit. I don't know what else to say.

What was your reaction to Jerry Manuel being retained?

I'm really happy. I'm really happy to see Jerry coming back. I think Jerry did a fantastic job. It's well deserved. I'm really looking forward to going back and working with him. He did a great job to deserve that promotion, for lack of a better term.

What about the World Baseball Classic?

We were asked. And I said I would love to play for Puerto Rico, so I'm looking forward to that. In 2006 I was a little banged up. I didn't have the opportunity to play. This is going to be a great chance to represent my country.

After a victory parade down Broad Street in Philadelphia, Jimmy Rollins delighted in taking one more shot at the Mets.

“In the offseason I heard a lot about the New York Mets,” Rollins said. “Johan Santana is a great pitcher. But it takes more than one player to bring home a championship.”

One day after re-signing Fernando Tatis, the Mets exercised Carlos Delgado’s $12 million option today. They otherwise were responsible for a $4 million buyout. Delgado was hitting .228 entering July, but rallied to finish at .271 with 38 homers and 115 RBI. Delgado, 36, has said he wants to play a couple of more seasons.

***

Six Mets filed for free agency on Day 2 of the 15-day period: Moises Alou, Tony Armas Jr., Luis Ayala, Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez and Ricardo Rincon.

The Mets have signaled that re-signing Pedro Martinez is not a priority.

Three Mets filed for free agency on the first day players were eligible: Oliver Perez, Damion Easley and Matt Wise.

Perez’s situation, since he’s represented by Scott Boras, figures to drag into December.

Easley would like to return, but the Mets may need to get younger and less susceptible to injury.

As for Wise, he never returned from a forearm issue that sapped his velocity. He saw only limited action in April before spending the season on the DL.

***

Fernando Tatis will return to the Mets in 2009. He’s agreed to a one-year deal.

At the risk of providing more information than you’ll ever need, here’s a look at the Mets’ participants in winter ball by country. Turns out Fernando Tatis didn’t need surgery for that separated right shoulder and is already playing. I think the Ambiorix Burgos listing is wishful thinking, considering he’s facing criminal proceedings in two countries. When you see big-name players listed, that doesn’t mean they’ll actually appear, although guys will need to tune up for the World Baseball Classic.

Aguilas Cibaeñas
Quezada, Elvys
Vargas, Claudio
Guzman, Carlos
Veloz, Gregory
Lagares, Juan
Peña, Francisco

Azucareros del Este
Brito, Eude
Burgos, Ambiorix
Lugo, Ruddy

Escogido
Alou, Moises
Concepcion, Ambiorix
Martinez, Fernando
Nunez, Abraham Orlando
Reyes, Argenis
Bierd, Jose

Estrellas
Tatis, Fernando
Jimenez, Jose

Licey
Peña, Richard
Cleto, Maikel

Nordeste
Marte, German
Méndez, Víctor
Polanco, Julio
Reyes, José
Reyes, Raúl
Sánchez, Duaner
Cruz, Rhiner
Ramirez, Elvin

Caguas
Casanova, Raúl
Castro, Ramón
De la Torre, José
Figueroa, Nelson
Negrón, Mickey

Carolina
Collazo, Willie
Delgado, Carlos
Maldonado, Iván
Rivera, Luis

Indios de Mayaguez
Rivera, Luis
Evans, Nick
Stoner, Tobi
Merritt, Roydrick
Guzman, Carlos

Leones de Ponce
Cancel, Robinson
Feliciano, Pedro
Martínez, Ramón
Pagan, Ángel
Pellot, Héctor
Murphy, Daniel
Stokes, Brian
Kunz, Eddie
Muñiz, Carlos
Antonini, Mike
Gee, Dillon
Carp, Mike

Lobos de Arecibo
Camacho, Eddie

Manati
Beltran, Carlos
Gonzalez, Raul
Maldonado, Brahiam
Valentin, Jose A

Mexicali
Muñiz, Carlos

Culiacan
Rincon, Ricardo
Camarena, Marco
Carrillo, Matias
Perez, Oliver

Hermosillo
Tijerina, Ismael

Obregon
Cessa, Luis Enrique

Guasave
Aguila, Chris

Aguilas Del Zulia
Tabata, Marcos
Pirela, Adrian

Bravos de Margarita
Flores, Wilmer
Machado, Anderson

Caribes de Anzoategui
Coronado, Jose

Leones del Caracas
Armas, Tony
Ramos, Peeter

Navegantes del Magallanes
Alfonzo, Edgar
Calero, Angel
Carrera, Ezequiel
Chávez, Endy
Cordido, Cesar
Manríquez, Salomón
Molina, Gustavo
Olivares, Manuel
Sánchez, José
Santana, Johan
Knight, Brandon

Tiburones de la Guaira
Abreu, Michel
Guerra, Junior

COLOMBIA

Caimanes de Barranquilla
Ramirez, Edgar