Mets, Lyon agree on one year deal

The Mets have signed pitcher Brandon Lyon to a one year contract. worth $750,000. The contract also includes an addition $1.65 million in performance bonuses. Lyon put up a combined a 3.10 ERA in 61 innings with Houston and Toronto last season. On February 3rd, it was reported that Lyon and the Mets were "close" to a deal, but nothing was ever made official. Also, Sandy Alderson recently told the media that he would most likely be done adding to the bullpen if/when he was able to finalize the Lyon deal. 

I am really liking what Alderson is thinking here. Lyon has really revitalized his career after battling shoulder surgery for a few years. He relies heavily on his fastball, and generates many fly ball outs. Therefore, he should be a great fit for Citi Field, and will hopefully make the outfielders' jobs a tad bit easier by giving up so many easy fly balls. He is definitely an upgrade over Jon Rauch, who signed with Miami yesterday, and Ramirez, who signed with San Francisco a few days ago. I have a feeling that Lyon will step in and be the team's closer at some point in the season, despite what Terry Collins said about Frank Francisco yesterday.

Mets sign Patterson, Wilson to minor league deals

The Mets have signed outfielders Corey Patterson and Mike Wilson to minor league deals. Both of them will report directly to the Minor League Spring Training camp in a few weeks. Patterson hit .157 in 57 plate appearances with St. Louis in 2012, but spent most of the season in Triple-A in the Brewers' organization, hitting .251 in 387 plate appearances. Wilson spent the entire 2012 season with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate, hitting .239 with 12 HR in 268 plate appearances. 

These are just depth signings, so I don't expect either player to have an impact on the big league club. Patterson is a former top prospect who has gone belly up at the Major League level. He looked extremely promising with the Cubs over a decade ago, but never panned out. He is a good base-runner and about average defensively, so he may get a look at in Spring Training as a possible 4th or 5th outfield option. As for Wilson, he has more power than Patterson, but isn't as versatile, and the speed isn't there as well. He'll probably spend the entire season in Las Vegas (Triple-A). 

Mets' Top 20 Prospects according to MLB.com

Jonathon Mayo of MLB.com has listed each team's Top 20 prospects heading into the 2013 baseball season, and here is the list for the Mets.

I just thought I'd put this up so we can track other prospects (not named Travis d'Arnaud and Zack Wheeler) during the 2013 season. Some of these other prospects have some serious potential, and I am excited to see them in Spring Training in a few weeks.