Meanwhile, the top baseball story at ESPN.com this morning links to a special section entitled “Remembering the House that Ruth Built.”

…the universal fanfare won’t be there when shea’s demolished…in fact, i wouldn’t be surprised if half the fans are happy to see it go…but as barbieri—a yankees fan, no less—reminds us, shea had some notable moments…

…i think—i hope—that mets fans are trying not to lose sight of shea’s historical value, despite the circus surrounding yankee stadium this year…

Johnson, 31, hit .238 in 79 games last season, limited by injury. He batted .319 in a breakout 2006, and is carrying a .289 average through 38 at-bats this spring.

A right-handed batter, Johnson was competing for Toronto’s starting left field spot.

…a right-handed left fielder…hmm…a look-see probably wouldn’t hurt, but i’m excited to see what Angel Pagan can do at this point, given the options…

…having reed johnson fall in our laps in late march is not like having Jason Bay do the same…oh, wait…

Happy Easter to those celebrating!

Mulvey, the Mets top pick in the 2006 draft, went 11-10 with a 3.32 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 151.2 innings for Double-A Binghamton last season.

…double-a pitching coaches and scouts i spoke with while covering the 2007 b-mets unanimously agreed mulvey will be a major league starting pitcher in the near future, though likely not an ace…

He finished the season with 13 shutout innings in New Orleans.

Evan Drellich: What’s going through your head after the trade?

Kevin Mulvey: I still have the same answer that I’ve always had, I know that I have no control over what happened and I look forward. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity that everybody’s telling me that I have to go into spring training and try to make the team.

Evan Drellich: Have you been informed that you’re in contention for a major league roster spot with the Twins?

Kevin Mulvey: Well, they didn’t tell me whether I would make the team or not, but they told me I’d come into spring training with a chance, you know? Anybody in spring training has the chance to make the team.

Evan Drellich: What are your final thoughts on your time with the Mets?

Kevin Mulvey: I never played for the New York Mets, but I can say that the Binghamton Mets fans were great. I never played in New Orleans, but on the road it was a lot of fun to play in a Mets uniform at the Triple-A level.

I have nothing but great things to say about every single coach that I ever had in the brief Mets career that I had, I have nothing but good things to say about the organization and the front-office people. They’re a first-rate organization, they had a lot of class, they treat people well. Obviously they’re doing a good job—the Mets are a very successful organization, both money-wise and on the field—and I have no bitterness toward them at all.

Evan Drellich: Though you were just one part of the package the Mets put together for Santana, is it in any way a compliment to you to be traded for one of baseball’s best pitchers?

Kevin Mulvey: I can’t say if it was a compliment or not a compliment. I can say that, as of right now, the Mets needed a front-line starter and Johan Santana was available and they did what they needed to get him.

...best of luck in Minnesota, kevin…

…added to by Matthew Cerrone…

…first off, hat’s off to evan for being able to reach mulvey, who i am certain was getting inundated with phone calls from friends and family as news of trade became public…

…i’ll say this, during the Winter Meetings, i was very impressed by the number of people inside baseball who spoke so highly about mulvey, especially the Twins and A’s…so, good for him, and i hope he goes on to have a great career…

Sosa, 30, had sought $2.75 million, while the Mets had offered $1.7 million. He was 9-8 with a 4.47 ERA in 112 innings pitched last season.

Stark describes the chances of the deal falling through as “remote,” but nonetheless possible.

…in other words, you can go to bed if you were planning to stay up for some late-breaking news…

Johan Santana

Christensen writes that while the Yankees and Red Sox both remain in the sweepstakes, “Ultimately, the Mets might be the best fit.”

Christensen speculates that Santana is looking for a five- or six-year contract worth at least $20 million per season.

…this is in line with what cerrone has written all along…literally, the twins want the Mets to give up the farm…

…personally, i might do it…the Mets, regrettably, did not go all out for Pedro Martinez after the 1997 season when the Expos put him on the block – and ten years later, it feels like that scenario could be replaying itself...

Pagan, 26, has a .255 batting average and nine home runs in 318 career major league at-bats.

He was originally drafted by the Mets in 1999 and spent his first six professional seasons in the Mets organization before being sold to the Cubs in January 2006.

…bringing pagan back adds some outfield depth at an inexpensive price, but needless to say, it’s not an earth-shattering move…

…for those Cyclones fans out there, you may remember pagan as the star player on the inaugural 2001 team…

Luis Natera, who spent last season with Single-A St. Lucie, will replace Nelson Silverio as Binghamton’s hitting coach.

The B-Mets finished last in the Eastern League Northern Division with a 61-81 record in 2007, Bones and Oliveras’ first season with the team.

Bones was named in the Mitchell Report in December.

…oliveras stold reporters last season that he wanted to be back with the club - and i’ll admit, i didn’t entirely believe him…

…even though the B-Mets struggled, they had a good clubhouse…with Fernando Martinez likely returning to binghamton - if he isn’t traded - the move makes sense…

Silver put the 2007 Mets at No. 5 and the 2004 Yankees at No. 7.

Behrent tied the 2007 Mets and the 1964 Phillies at No. 4, with the 2004 Yankees at No. 1.

Silver’s criteria was based primarily on probability, though he said he also looked at each collapse subjectively. He found that the 2007 Mets had a 499-to-1 chance of missing the playoffs.

Behrendt did not specifically state his criteria.

…perhaps the 2004 yankees statistically had a better chance of losing in the alcs than the 2007 mets did of missing the playoffs, but this is one situation where the numbers are not telling…

…the collapse of the 2004 yankees was so much more epic…against their greatest rival in the greatest rivarly in the game, the yankees allow a team to come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit for the first time in baseball history and lose the pennant, opening the door for boston’s curse-breaking title…

…i have a baseball prospectus subscription, i’m not going after sabermetrics, but this is a case where using the numbers skews reality…

…i might agree that the 1951 dodgers were an even greater collapse than the 2004 yanks, but the 2007 mets ahead of the 2004 yankees?…no way…behrendt had that part right…

…not Florida, which has been harmless except for 1997 and 2003, not Washington, the loser of the division that, a couple weeks ago, you might have even called lovable, and not Atlanta, which could never go all the way when it beat the mets…

…nope, it’s philly, the city whose fans’ arrogance rivals Yankees fans, when they have nothing to be proud of…

…and it’s not like the phillies are all that great…the collapse that brought them even is much more of a discredit to the mets than a credit to philly…

…in the end, all the phillies have done is put off packing their golf bags until the last minute…when the mets win the division this weekend, Jimmy Rollins will take his talking to the greens, and it’ll be all Eagles (and surely no Santa Claus) again in philly…