According to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post, preliminary extension talks have begun with Mets starter John Maine. Maine (along with B.J. Upton and Hanley Ramirez) was gracious about his recent renewal. Maine is eligible for arbitration after this season.
As we’ve been saying, the going rate for a good young pitcher’s three arb years is $13-14MM, not necessarily all guaranteed. A club option worth around $9MM for the 2012 season (Maine’s first year of free agent eligibility) would be about standard.
