Yesterday, the Mets finally made their first major free agent addition of the offseason when they inked Shaun Marcum to a one-year, $4MM deal with another $4MM in incentives. Here's more on the right-hander and other news out of Queens..
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (on Twitter) has the breakdown of Marcum's incentives package. The hurler can earn $1.75MM in roster bonuses and $2.25MM more in bonuses for innings pitched going all the way up to 200.
- The Mets need a center fielder, but Jay Schreiber of the New York Times highly doubts that it will be free agent Michael Bourn. Schreiber writes that the Mets would likely be headed for another fourth-place finish in 2013, even with the addition of the 30-year-old. He also wonders aloud if the club's flirtation with Bourn is at least partly designed to make it seem as if the Mets are trying to do something major, even though they know its a longshot.
- Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs likes the Mets' signing of Marcum and sees it as a solid bargain for GM Sandy Alderson & Co. Marcum missed significant time last season due to an elbow issue but posted a 3.70 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 across 21 starts.