The Mets have signed 39-year old lefty reliever Ron Villone to a minor league deal. He pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he was 1-2 with 1 save, a 4.68 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Villone has now pitched in 654 games (93 starts) in his major league career to date and he is 56-59 with 7 saves, a 4.75 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. This was a nice low risk move for the Mets as Villone did pitch well against lefty hitters last season.

Many were thinking that 36-year old lefty swinging 1B Carlos Delgado was on the downward slope of his career after his sub par 2007 season but he came back with a vengeance last year. Delgado played in 159 games for the Mets last season and he was 162 for 598 (.271 avg, .871 OPS) with 96 runs scored, 38 homers and 115 RBIs. Delgado did make 8 errors in 154 games at 1B last season and he doesn’t have much range. He would be a liability to the Mets if he didn’t hit for a lot of power in 2009. Delgado has averaged 92.5 runs scored, 35.2 homers and 111.8 RBIs per season over his last 13 years and the Mets would be more than glad to accept those kind of numbers next year.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B

The Mets have signed 33-year old righty starting pitcher Livan Hernandez to a minor league deal. He pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Twins and Rockies last season and he was 13-11 with a 6.05 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Hernandez has now pitched in 382 games (381 starts) in his major league career now and he is 147-139 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Hernandez seems to be running out of steam due to the hard workload he has had recently but it was worth it to sign him and see if he has anything left.

Lefty swinging Brian Schneider and righty swingers Ramon Castro and Robinson Cancel are in line to handle all of the catching for the Mets in 2009. Schneider played in 110 games for the Mets last season and he was 86 for 335 (.257 avg, .706 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 9 homers and 38 RBIs. Mets’ pitchers had a 4.11 ERA with Schneider behind the plate but he did throw out 16 of 58 (28%) potential basestealers and that’s not too bad.

Ramon Castro played in 52 games for the Mets last season and he was 35 for 143 (.245 avg, .753 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 7 homers and 24 RBIs. Castro threw out 5 of 23 (22%) basestealers last season but Mets’ pitchers had a 3.68 ERA with him behind the plate. Castro has been rumored to be traded but the Mets would be smarter to keep him as he’s a better player than Cancel.

Robinson Cancel played in 27 games for the Mets last season and he was 12 for 49 (.245 avg, .635 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. He was 0 for 2 (0%) throwing out basestealers and Mets’ pitchers had a 4.65 ERA with him behind the plate so he will need to improve on defense.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C

The Mets have signed 36-year old righty infielder Ramon Martinez to a minor league deal. He played in 7 games for the Mets last season and he was 4 for 16 (.250 avg, .771 OPS) with 3 RBIs. Martinez has now played in 786 games in his major league career and he is 505 for 1,910 (.264 avg, .695 OPS) with 222 runs scored, 29 homers and 238 RBIs. This was a smart move for the Mets as Martinez will battle for a backup job this spring.