Merry Christmas Mets fans. Omar "Santa" Minaya delivered this year's gift in the form of Kelvim Escobar. Not much of a gift you say? Stop being a humbug. It's better than nothing right?

omar is not doing much. getting puts and k-rod is nice, but we're not done yet and he needs to wake up. the yankees are spending like crazy, getting CC, Burnett, and teixara. to put it in perspective, the royals and marlins' payrolls COMBINED equal less than 15 million dollars. the yankees' is 209 million. wow. anyway, assuming the yankees are finally done spending, the red sox still have a lot of money and could use a pitcher, which means they will probably be our main compeition for lowe. we should wait until febuary when he is desperate and then resign perez for cheap i think to bolster that rotation, but as long as we get one of wither lowe, perez, or ben sheets i am happy with our rotation.

It's a question that has been going round in my head since I heard that the he was coming back earlier today. This is a guy who missed all of last season and half of 2006.

He needs to be in the physical shape to compete. He needs to have the right mindset, which he didn't have last year in Spring Training. And he needs to have a healthy shoulder.

Duaner was a key guy before that fateful injury but I'm not that optimistic about what the future holds for him. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.

Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez agrees to 1-year contract at $850,000 - Reliever Duaner Sanchez, sidelined by a shoulder injury since a July 2006 taxi accident, agreed Monday to an $850,000, one-year contract with the New York Mets.

Sanchez, who earned the same amount last year, was the primary setup man for closer Billy Wagner before separating his right shoulder in the cab accident. He had surgery, then went to spring training and was disciplined for repeated tardiness. [Fox Sports]

The Daily News reports that A-Rod and the Yankees have agreed to terms. Thank heavens. Its just too much money for a single player.

Bigger news is that the Mets have agreed to terms with catcher Yorvit Torrealba. That means the positive tenure of Paul LoDuca will be coming to an end. It looks like Ramon Castro will stay on to back up Yorvit.

I'll take a look at Torrealba's numbers and history then comment on the next podcast. Good luck to Paul. I think he's a quality backstop and will get offered a good deal elsewhere.

Mets pick up Alou's option, re-sign Easley - Moises Alou is staying with the New York Mets, and Damion Easley will return next season, too.

This is good news I think. Moises gave a lot in 2007 in spite of the injuries. So did Damion Easley. The Mets do need to get younger though so from here on out we should be focusing on players under 30.

[Fox Sports]