I know many Mets fans were hoping to get Nick Swisher under the Christmas tree, but it wasn’t meant to be.

More sizzle on the Hot Stove this weekend …

Just when the Mets were on the verge of considering taking a look at Cody Ross as a possible topic for an upcoming front office meeting, the Diamondbacks swooped in and signed the veteran outfielder to a three-year, $26M contract.

According to reports coming from all corners of the United States, a number of free-agent pitchers have been signed by teams not named the Mets. One of them was a supposed target of the Amazins – Francisco Liriano, who has been inked by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Today we are going to play a fun game. Three pictures will be presented to you, and you have to guess what they have in common. Ready? Here goes …

In September, Theo Epstein had this to say to Chicago Cubs fans:

“I think obviously we really care about our fans and we want them to have a great experience, but we’re trying to be transparent about it,” Epstein said. “We have a plan and we have a vision and it won’t happen overnight, but given the way of things I think this is the best way to go.”

“There might be some tough things we have to tell (fans) along the way, and there might be another trading deadline in our future where we trade away 40 percent of a really good rotation,” Epstein said.

Since then, it’s been a fairly busy winter for the Cubs.

This quote by Sandy Alderson on a WFAN interview, reproduced by MetsBlog:

“I’m not that young, I’ve got to live through another year, and I don’t want to have an also-ran either. We’re gonna put something together that gives us a chance. And that’s our goal between now and the beginning of spring training. Will we knock your socks off with some high profile free agent? Probably not. But, we are getting close to the point where will be able to do that.”

Now, let’s pretend this is a radio call-in show. “Call” in to the comments section and air your response to this quote by Alderson. Do you believe that the Mets can / will “put something together that gives us (the Mets) a chance” this winter and explain why you do or don’t have faith in that statement.

The lines are open …

Is anyone else a little surprised at the news that the Angels traded slugger Kendrys Morales for Mariners lefthander Jason Vargas?