Mets GM Omar Minaya and Minor League Field Director Terry Collins took questions about the season ahead.

LISTEN: MinayaClick here

LISTEN: CollinsClick Here

Minaya talks right away about the Gary Matthews Jr. trade that went down right before he went to the event. Both disucssed how important it is to win and win now in Buffalo to ensure a long lasting Mets/Bisons partnership.

More ahead on Bisons.com and the entire Hot Stove program will be on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, debuting Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m.

There are a couple Twitter links that you’ll want to follow in the months to come. The latest promotions and organization details can be found by following the Bisons official tweets.

You’ll also receive the latest news from the broadcast booth, batting practice or bus ride from Ben Wagner and the rest of the Bisons Baseball Network.

What are you waiting for? Follow us!
Ben Wagner’s Twitter page: http://twitter.com/benwag15

Bisons’ official tweets: http://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons

Next up: The Bisons Hot Stove and plenty of video features from the sold out event, Friday (1/22/10) at the Adam’s Mark downtown.

The New York Mets today announced the signing of six players to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training. The list includes 2008 International League Most Valuable Player and All-Time Toledo Mud Hens Home Run King INF Mike Hessman and 2009 Buffalo Bisons Most Valuable Player, OF Jesus Feliciano.

Two-time International League All-Star INF Mike Cervenak has also been signed by the Mets as well as INF Russ Adams, INF Andy Green and RHP R.A. Dickey.

Hessman, 31, has spent the last five seasons in Detroit’s organization, playing 29 games with the Tigers and 591 games with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. The Mud Hens’ All-Time Home Run King hit 140 homers in a Toledo uniform, more than twice as many as any other player in the team’s 113-year history (Erve Beck, 67, 1896-1900).

Last season, Hessman hit .217 with 30 doubles, 23HR and 77RBI in 131 games with Toledo. In 2008, Hessman was named the International League MVP after hitting .271 with 20 doubles, a league-best 34HR and 72RBI in just 108 games with the Mud Hens. Prior to that, Hessman was an IL All-Star after leading the league with 101RBI in 2007.

Hessman has hit 311 home runs in 1,556 career minor league games. He has also averaged 28 home runs over the past five seasons. In 77 career major league games with Atlanta (2003, 2004) and Detroit (2007, 2008), he has averaged .208 (35-168) with 13HR and 27RBI. Hessman also won a bronze medal while playing for Team USA in the 2009 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Feliciano, 30, spent the entire 2009 season with the Bisons and was named the team’s Stan Barron Most Valuable Player. In 130 games, the outfielder collected an International League-best 154 hits. His .311 batting average ranked 5th in the IL. Feliciano also led the Bisons team in runs (57), doubles (30), stolen bases (13) and multi-hit games (38).

Cervenak, 33, has spent the past two seasons with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs and was named to the International League All-Star Team in each campaign. He hit .311 with 30 doubles, 10HR and 66RBI in 115 games with Lehigh Valley in 2008 and .305 with 36 doubles, 9HR and 77RBI in 119 games with the IronPigs last season. In 2007, Cervenak led the IL with 157 hits while playing for the Norfolk Tides.

In 1,126 career minor league games, Cervenak has averaged .295 with 142HR and 737RBI.

Adams, 29, split last season between the Toronto Blue Jays’ and San Diego Padres’ organizations. After hitting .319 with 1HR and 9RBI in 24 games with Triple-A Las Vegas, Adams was promoted to the Blue Jays for eight games (.200, 4-20). He was then claimed off waivers by the Padres in early July and hit .267 with 1HR and 12RBI in 36 games with Triple-A Portland of the Pacific Coast League.

Originally a 1st round draft pick of the Blue Jays in 2002, Adams has a career .247 average with 17HR and 113RBI in 286 games with Toronto. He played a career-high 139 games with the Blue Jays in 2005 and hit .256 with 27 doubles, 8HR and 63RBI that season.

Green, 32, spent the majority of the 2009 season with the Bisons but lost 69 games due two a pair of injuries. He began the year on the disabled list with a left oblique strain and then missed May, June and half of July with a fractured left thumb. While in the lineup, Green hit .259 with 7 doubles, 4HR and 20RBI in 50 games with the Bisons.

Dickey, 35, split last season between the Minnesota Twins and their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester. The knuckleballer spent the first four months of the season at the major league level and was 1-1 with a 4.62ERA in 35 games and one start (64.1IP, 85K). He spent the last month of the year with the Red Wings and was 2-1 with a 5.13ERA in five starts (33.1IP, 40K).

Originally a 1st round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 1996, Dickey has a career record of 22-28 with a 5.43ERA in 144 games and 48 starts at the major league level with Texas, Seattle and Minnesota. In 2007, he was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year after going 13-6 with a 3.72ERA in 31 games and 22 starts with Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds.

Dickey is also a former Olympian, having won bronze with Team USA in the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

The Buffalo Bisons today announced their game times for the 2010 season, their 125th season of professional baseball in Buffalo. The home portion of the 2010 season will begin with a 3:05 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday, April 14 against the Pawtucket Red Sox.

DOWNLOAD THE SCHEDULE: CLICK HERE!

The biggest change to the Bisons schedule is the addition of night games on most Thursdays. Ten of the team’s 13 games on that day will now be played at night. The Bisons will also host a Sunday night game next season on August 1 against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (7:05 p.m.).

“The feedback we received from our fans told us they wanted more opportunities for night games during the summer months,” said Mike Buczkowski, Vice President/General Manager of the Buffalo Bisons. “Because of the amount of home games we have late in the season, adding night games to Thursdays gives our fans even more summer nights at Coca-Cola Field to enjoy.”

The 2010 Bisons schedule features a large increase in home summer games from a season ago. The team will host 17 games in August as opposed to just 11 games at Coca-Cola Field in April. A total of 36 of the team’s 44 summer home games in June, July and August will be played at night.

This season’s Independence Eve Celebration with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus and the largest fireworks show of the year will be Saturday, July 3 at 6:05 p.m. against the Rochester Red Wings. The team’s annual School Kids game with morning start will be Thursday, May 27 at 10:35 a.m. against the Toledo Mud Hens. The Bisons will host the Syracuse Chiefs for a special afternoon start on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. The team will hold Fan Appreciation Night on Thursday, September 2 against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (6:05 p.m.) – the final regular season home game of 2010.

The Bisons will use the customary 7:05 p.m. for more games after the first month of the season. The team will have 1:05 p.m. afternoon starts on most Sundays (Family Fun Sundays). The six fridaynightbash!® games in June, July and August will start at 7:35 p.m.

The New York Mets today announced that Ike Davis was named the Sterling Minor League Organizational Player of the Year while righthanded pitcher Jeurys Familia earned Sterling Pitcher of the Year honors.

Outfielder Jesus Feliciano was named the organization’s Sterling Award Winner for the Buffalo Bisons, emblematic of the Most Valuable Player on the team.

FELICIANO’S HONOR: CLICK HERE!

Feliciano, 30, was also awarded the Bisons Stan Barron Most Valuable Player after a stellar campaign in 2009. The outfielder led all International League hitters with 154 base hits, tied for the 5th highest single-season total in the Bisons modern era. Feliciano hit .311 (154-495)(5th highest in the IL) with 30 doubles, one home run and 42RBI in a team-high 130 games with the Bisons in 2009. He also led the club with 13 stolen bases and eight outfield assists.

In addition, the Mets announced the 2009 Sterling Awards, emblematic of the Most Valuable Player for each of their nine affiliates.

Catcher Josh Thole received the award for Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League, outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis was honored at St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League, lefthanded pitcher Robert Carson captured the award for Savannah (A) of the South Atlantic League, lefthanded pitcher Mark Cohoon received the honor at Brooklyn (A) of the New York-Penn League, first baseman Jeff Flagg was the recipient for Kingsport (R) of the Appalachian League, outfielder Julio Concepcion was honored with the rookie-level Gulf Coast Mets, first baseman Alexander Sanchez captured the award for the Dominican Summer League and outfielder Andres Perez received the award for the Venezuelan Summer League.

The Buffalo Bisons open the 2010 season April 6 against the Scranton Yankees with the home opener slated for April 14 versus the Pawtucket Red Sox at 3:03 p.m.