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Buzz: Thankfully, M’s negotiating with Russell Branyan

by Matthew Cerrone on December 7th, 2009 at 11:01 am

Posted at 11:02 am:

“The Mariners are still engaged in negotiations with free-agent 1B Russell Branyan,” writes John Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com, on their Winter Meetings live blog.

Last month, Tim Brown of Yahoo! made a simple post to Twitter that read, “The Mets have called on Branyan.”

The 34-year-old Branyon hit .280 with 22 home runs and 49 RBI in the first half of last season, but just .193 with nine home runs and 27 RBI in the second half.

He played 116 games last season, the most of any season in his 12–year career.

…i’ll pass, actually… i’m sorry, i just have a hard time trusting a guy who struggled to find consistency in his career, then, at 34 years old, he had half of a good season, only to return to form in the second half… not to mention he missed 28 games with a herniated disk last season…

According to the New York Post, “The Mets appear intent on using a low-cost answer at first base next season as a bridge to power prospect Ike Davis.”