Mets baseball blog

Mets interested in injury prone Sheets

Ben Sheets hasn't pitched in the majors in more than a year, but that will not keep the Mets from keeping an eye on the former All-Star right-hander this winter.

The oft-injured Sheets, who last pitched with the Brewers in 2008, has been sidelined since February because of surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his forearm, but he expects to be healthy by spring training. Continue

Marquis on radar, behind Lackey and Pineiro

Jeff Francoeur wasn't kidding when he told The Post this summer that free-agent right hander Jason Marquis badly wants to be a Met in 2010.

Marquis backed that up this week, telling The Post he considers the Mets "a perfect fit" while expressing his admiration both for their lineup and Citi Field.

"It would always be nice to come back home and represent your hometown [as a member of the Mets]," said Marquis, who grew up in Staten Island and still lives there. "This is where I'm from, so to come back here and play in front of friends and family would be an honor." Continue

Backman back in the family

Wally Backman was hired Monday as manager of the Mets’Brooklyn Cyclones farm team in the New York-Penn League.

A member of the Mets’ 1986 World Series championship team, Backman was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks in November 2004. He was fired four days later after The New York Times reported he had been arrested twice and had financial problems.

“I am thrilled and grateful to be coming back to the Mets’ organization,” he said in a statement. “Brooklyn is a major minor league team, and I know the borough’s fans are — like me — intensely passionate about baseball and about winning.” Continue

Mets serious about Chone Figgins

Though they are fixated on adding a power bat such as Matt Holliday’s or Jason Bay’s, the Mets are in the words of an involved party “absolutely in” on free agent Chone Figgins.

One Mets official said Figgins would be “hard to fit” into their current situation. Translation: It would be a whole lot easier if they could trade the two years and $12 million left on Luis Castillo’s contract to create money and a second base opening for Figgins.

“Castillo is definitely in play,” an NL executive said. For example, the Mets talked to the Diamondbacks about flipping Castillo for catcher Chris Snyder, a discussion that now appears dead. Continue