The Mets signed three players to a Minor League contract on Saturday. As reported by ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, the team re-signed shortstop Omar Quintanilla and MLB Insider Chris Cotillo reported on his Twitter page, that Giancarlo Alvarado was also re-signed.  The third player to be given a minor league contract is left-handed starting pitcher John Lannan, as reported by the Mets.

Quintanilla played 92 games at shortstop for the Mets in 2013 and remained there after Ruben Tejada was demoted to Triple-A. He batted .222/.306/.283 with two home runs and 21 RBI in 359 plate appearances. Going into the spring, he will likely be in competition with Tejada and Wilfredo Tovar for a chance to start the season in Queens.

Alvarado, who turns 36 on January 24th, was signed by the Mets last June out of the Mexican League and assigned to Las Vegas. In 12 starts, he was 5-4, with a 3.54 ERA, with 41 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. He was initially signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1995, but bounced around and never broke into the majors. More than likely he will be assigned to Las Vegas and hopefully pitch well enough to try and persuade the Mets to promote him. It doesn’t hurt to have some extra insurance waiting just one level below the big show.

Well the Mets are making sure they are not short of  pitchers in 2014 and left-hander Lannan looks to possibly compete with Jenrry Mejia for the fifth spot in the rotation. In 2013, Lannan pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies and in 14 game starts he was 3-6, 5.33 ERA, with 38 strike outs in 74.1 innings. If Lannan pitches the way he did in seven seasons with the Washington Nationals, where he won nine games twice and 10 games in 2011, and Mejia starts the spring the way he left off prior to his injury, there will be a true competition for the fifth spot.  But that doesn’t mean that these are the only two pitchers in the mix. It sure is building up to be an exciting spring camp.

(Photo Credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty)