Good. If the terms are as reported, Niese gets guaranteed money and the Mets buy out his arbitration years and get a few more years of control on top of that. If Niese is the guy he has been the last couple of years, they get him at a fair market value. If he stays healthy, pitches to his peripherals and improves, they can pick up his sixth- and seventh-year options and get him at very favorable rates.

Not a big-market move or a small-market move, and nothing innovative at this point. Just reasonable baseball decision-making, it seems. Presumably the same will follow for Niese’s young teammates if they prove capable of contributing at the Major League level in 2012.