It was reported yesterday that the Mets were close to a deal with Fernando Tatis to be their part-time first baseman. Now that deal is done, according to the New York Post. Tatis will get less than the $1.7 million he made last year, but there are some incentives built in that can get him close, the Post reports.
I hadn’t realized this before, but there is apparently a personal connection between Omar Minaya and Tatis, in that Minaya signed Tatis to his first professional contract in 1992 when Minaya was a scout for the Rangers. Minaya subsequently brought him to Montreal and then of course to New York. Still, it’s not as if this was purely a friendship deal, as the Mariners Rockies and Indians were all reportedly interested in Tatis to greater or lesser degrees.
To the extent Mets fans are unhappy about this, look on the bright side: Ike Davis made Keith Law’s top 100 prospects list released yesterday -- he’s at 64 -- and if all things go as planned, he’ll probably be manning first in Queens next year.