Mets baseball blog

Phillies land Cliff lee

Once Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco was scratched from this afternoon's start for the Class AAA Lehigh Iron Pigs, a deal for Cleveland Indians ace Cliff Lee figured to be in the works.

The Phillies have agreed to trade Carrasco, fellow right-hander Jason Knapp, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson to Cleveland for Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco. The deal, first reported by Fox Sports, says the only remaining hurdle is the requisite medical clearances. The Associated Press has also confirmed the trade agreement.

Jimmy Rollins repeats NL East boast

Jimmy Rollins still believes the Phillies are the NL East's team to beat.

"That wasn't a one-year thing," Rollins was quoted as saying in the April issue of Men's Journal. "It's still gonna ring true in 2008, and every year I'm with the Phillies. We're going to win. It's gonna come down to who wants it more, and we want to win more than the Mets do. Truthfully, I don't worry about anybody in our division, or anybody in our league for that matter. I'm not worried about getting into the playoffs, because that part is accomplished. We're a playoff team now. Our next goal is to win the World Series." Continue

Jimmy Rollins: Phils can win 100 games

It comes with the territory of being the defending Most Valuable Player, the one who made a "We're the team to beat" boast and then went out and backed it up. Everyone wants to know what you're going to do for an encore.

Like the Pied Piper, Jimmy Rollins led a phalanx of reporters and TV cameras out of the clubhouse of the Phillies' Carpenter Complex on Wednesday after his first spring workout, plopped himself down on a picnic bench and said: "Okay, bring it on." Continue

Mets plan ticket draw

The Mets announced they will hold an on-line drawing for the opportunity to buy limited tickets for their home opener against Philadelphia (April 9) and for the Subway Series against the Yankees (May 18-20).

Registration for the drawing - the only way to buy single-game tickets for these four games - will take place at mets.com and losmets.com through Feb. 18. Mets VP David Howard said as few as 5,000 to 6,000 tickets are available for each game, and there will be a six-ticket limit (combined for the four games) per entry. Single-game tickets for the remainder of the regular season go on sale March 11. (Daily News)

Cubs agree to $136M deal with Sorian

The Chicago Cubs' ownership is showing new manager Lou Piniella that they are serious about winning.Chicago radio station ESPN 1000 reported Sunday that the Cubs have agreed to an eight-year contract worth approximately $136 million with outfielder Alfonso Soriano. The move would clearly mark the highlight in an already busy offseason for the Cubs, who have signed free-agent infielder Mark DeRosa and have re-signed third baseman Aramis Ramirez and righthander Kerry Wood.

But the biggest prize is Soriano, who is coming off an outstanding all-around season for the Washington Nationals in which he hit .277 with 46 home runs and 95 RBI. The 30-year-old ranked third in the National League in homers and also stole 41 bases -- the sixth-highest total in the circuit. Continue