--1B Carlos Delgado officially remained a Met when the club exercised his 2009 option for $12 million. The Mets otherwise were responsible for a $4 million buyout. Delgado confirmed that he plans to represent Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic during spring training.
--2B Damion Easley appears to have played his final game as a Met. Easley, who will be 39 next season, was highly productive at second base filling in for Luis Castillo. But his injury susceptibility, combined with the Mets' desire to sign a bona fide backup shortstop, appear likely to cause team brass to pursue a replacement to join Ramon Castro, Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis and Marlon Anderson on the bench. --LF Daniel Murphy, who is learning second base in the Arizona Fall League, missed a week after getting spiked in the forearm while sliding in the league's Rising Stars all-star game. Murphy plans to continue his winter activity by playing outfield in Puerto Rico.
--OF Fernando Martinez and 1B Nick Evans are likely to start the 2009 season at Class AAA Buffalo, according to Mets GM Omar Minaya.
--1B Mike Carp is expected to be added to the 40-man roster, protecting him from being selected by another team in next month's Rule 5 draft. Carp, who appears to be leaning toward playing winter ball in Venezuela, hit .299 with 17 homers and 72 RBIs in 478 at-bats at Class AA Binghamton but did not receive a September call-up.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1.7 million -- Dollars given to OF Fernando Tatis, who became the Mets' first winter signee, with a one-year contract. Tatis, the National League's Comeback Player of the Year, currently is slated to platoon in left field with lefty-hitting Daniel Murphy in 2009.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "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." -- 1B Carlos Delgado, asked a month after the season if he had any more clarity about why he had such as big disparity between his first- and second-half production in 2008. Delgado was hitting .228 entering July, but he finished with a .271 average, 38 homers and 115 RBIs.
