The Mets have signed 25-year old righty swinging catcher Rene Rivera to a minor league deal. He played in 75 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 63 for 252 (.250 avg, .718 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 9 homers and 30 RBIs. Rivera last played in the major leagues in 2006 with the Seattle Mariners. Rivera has played in 53 games in his major league career and he is 34 for 150 (.227 avg, .585 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. Rivera should help give the Mets organizational depth behind the plate in the minor leagues.

The Mets will likely be very active in free agency. It all will start with the Mets attempting to add a big time bat to play left field. Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Raul Ibanez, Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell are all likely in play for the Mets as money will likely be no object for the team as they are moving into a new stadium. The Mets need two starting pitchers and they would likely try to find them in free agency. From the right side the Mets would likely consider Ben Sheets, Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett, Ryan Dempster and Jon Garland. If they lose out on those guys then they might think of bringing in Brad Penny, Braden Looper or Paul Byrd. The Mets will likely let Oliver Perez walk away as he will be very pricey and he’s very inconsistent. The Mets would likely be in on Randy Johnson, Andy Pettitte, Jamie Moyer and Randy Wolf. The Mets also need a closer due to Billy Wagner’s injury which will likely cause him to miss the entire 2009 season. Francisco Rodriguez likely tops the Mets’ wish list for a closer. If the Mets lose out on him they will be bidding on Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood and Trevor Hoffman. The Mets don’t really need much help on the infield but they will likely be looking for a couple of versatile backups. Mark Loretta, David Eckstein, Jose Castillo, Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Cairo, Ramon Vazquez, Nick Punto, Alex Cora and Alex Cintron will all likely get calls from the Mets.