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Fill in the Blanco

Let's hope the most exciting news of the rest of the year isn't that the Mets just signed a catcher whose most similar players stat-wise include Charlie O'Brien and Kelly Stinnett.

I was in favor of pursuing Jose (not Bengie) Molina, so I actually like the signing of Henry Blanco, for the purposes of walk-off prevention.

There are few better than Blanco on the defensive end, and throwing out would be basestealers is his strength. In his career, Blanco has thrown out 43 percent of those attempting to steal on him, and for those who fear he's getting old, he threw out 18 of 45 (40 percent) for the Padres in 2009.

And after reading a little bit on Wikipedia and MLB.com, I'm feeling a little (albeit not much) better about the prospect of Blanco batting late in a close game.

Turns out Blanco has a walk-off hit that is viewed as a big deal. In the final game of the 2006 Carribean World Series, Blanco's popup hit the head of Dominican shortstop Erick Aybar and caromed away, allowing Alex Gonzalez to score the championship-winning run.

True Metcos know...Blanco has two career major league walk-off hits. He also had a 16th-inning walk-off sacrifice fly (he reached when the ball was dropped) for the Brewers against the Astros on May 16, 2000.

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