Francouer, Molina, Piniero, Sheets and the Mets Hall

According to Heyman on twitter, the Mets have avoided arbitration with Francouer and have signed him to a one year/$5 million deal. I know not everyone likes him as much as I do, because he is quickly becoming my biggest man crush. I'm in serious debate as to whether or not to make my first Mets jersey (since my Strawberry jersey I had when I was 7) a Jeff Francouer jersey. I think he's going to be a key cog to this team, should they be able to turn 2010 around.

Buster Olney on twitter said earlier today that Bengie Molina has turned down the Mets latest offer and now the Mets have turned their attention to Joel Piniero. Alright, this "Chubbie" Molina situation is really starting to get on my nerves. I like that the Mets are standing their ground, which clearly is the case or else Chubbie would have signed already, but I think they should make this move happen sooner rather than later. If we're quibbling about money then the Mets should just give him a little more and not worry about it. But, if the issue is two years against three, then the Mets should hold their ground. I'm ok with Molina for two, because to me, if Thole's still developing as a catcher he'll need two years before he can be a full-time starter., and keeping Molina around will absolutely help. Three years of Chubbie is just ridiculous. If I'm Omar I'm either making this deal, or moving on very very soon, because he's not worth all this trouble, and to be honest, Chubbie doesn't really have other viable starting options.

As for Piniero, I like him but I'm starting to get a bad feeling that people are going to start reaching for him and he'll end up with a bigger contract than he deserves. Especially since Olney has tweeted that the Angels are in on the bidding. I can easily see the Angels going above and beyond for Piniero because of the fear that they have done little to nothing this offseason. I am always afraid of the desperate team, and to me, they seem desperate. It's worth a bidding war over Piniero with other options still out there. Especially, when some options may including dealing Luis Castillo as well.

Also, in a post to Metsblog, Matt Cerrone relays the rumor that the Mets will announce today the induction of Gooden, Strawberry, Cashen and Davey Johnson into the team's hall of fame. All I can say on this one is overdue, along with the museum which the Mets are adding to the new stadium this year. It's about time...