The Mets have signed 27-year old righty swinging catcher Lucas May. May played in 77 games in AAA-ball for the Royals and Diamondbacks last year and he was 59 for 248 (.238 avg, .757 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 10 homers, 44 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. His only major league experience came back in 2010. He played in 12 games for the Royals in 2010 and he was 7 for 37 (.189 avg, .421 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 6 RBIs. May will likely get a shot to compete for the backup catcher job next spring.

The Mets have claimed 25-year old righty starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner off waivers from the Pirates. Hefner pitched in 28 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Padres last year and he was 9-7 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has now pitched in 131 games (120 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 46-34 with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Hefner will get a shot to compete for a spot on the Mets’ pitching staff next spring.

The Mets have signed 32-year old righty reliever Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 million dollar deal.  Francisco will more than likely be the closer for the Mets, and he has a big time right arm.  He pitched in 54 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays last year and he was 1-4 with 17 saves, a 3.55 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.  Francisco has now pitched in 331 games (0 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 18-19 with 49 saves, a 3.72 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.  I really like this move for the Mets as Francisco is going to be a good closer for them and he came at the right price.

The Mets have signed 33-year old righty reliever Jon Rauch to a 1-year, $3.5 million dollar deal.  Rauch pitched in 53 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays last year and he was 5-4 with 11 saves, a 4.85 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 468 games (11 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 39-31 with 58 saves, a 3.82 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  I like this move for the Mets as Rauch will be able to help them at the back end of the bullpen.  He also gives the Mets a nice trade chip if the season gets out of hand in a bad way for them in 2012.

The Mets have acquired 30-year old righty reliever Ramon Ramirez and 33-year old switch-hitting outfielder Andres Torres from the Giants for 30-year old switch-hitting outfielder Angel Pagan.  Ramirez was the key to this deal for the Mets.  He pitched in 66 games (0 starts) for the Giants last year and he was 3-3 with 4 saves, a 2.62 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  Ramirez has now pitched in 359 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 20-17 with 8 saves, a 3.16 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.  Andres Torres can handle any spot in the outfield, including CF, so he might actually replace Pagan in the starting lineup.  Torres played in 112 games for the Giants last year and he was 77 for 348 (.221 avg, .643 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 4 homers, 19 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.  He has now played in 415 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 308 for 1,264 (.244 avg, .721 OPS) with 197 runs scored, 27 homers, 118 RBIs and 60 stolen bases.  Angel Pagan played in 123 games for the Mets last year and he was 125 of 478 (.262 avg, .694 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 7 homers, 56 RBIs and 32 stolen bases.  Pagan played in 393 games in his four years with the Mets and he was 423 of 1,491 (.284 avg, .756 OPS) with 214 runs scored, 24 homers, 170 RBIs and 87 stolen bases.  The Mets will take a little dropoff offensively from Pagan to Torres in order to add Ramirez to the bullpen.  I like this deal for the Mets.