Francisco Rodriguez was at Citi Field today for a tour of his new home field. When he takes the mound for his first appearance, I can't wait to see his electricity at Citi Field.
Now that the next three or four years should be solid in the ninth, where does the pen shake up from here? Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com says there are about a dozen teams interested in Aaron Heilman either as a starter or a reliever. It doesn't look like the Mets and Rockies will match up, but Heilman is going somewhere, that's for sure. Who else is gone? From what I can gather, the Mets want to part with Duaner Sanchez and Scott Schoeneweis also. I wouldn't mind Schoeneweis staying as long as Manuel realized he should only be a lefty specialist. Duaner Sanchez tantalized everyone that first year, but I fear me may be past his dominating stage and into more of an average stage. Joe Smith seems to be a lock for the pen and if he is not traded, Pedro Feliciano. Past that, Brian Stokes seems like a possibility, but not a lock.
Every reliever in the league has been mentioned as possibles for the Mets pen. However, I have tried to narrow it down to who I actually think may land at Citi Field. Huston Street remains a target, but the Rockies seem reluctant to deal him. J.J. Putz is still being considered as a trade possibility. However, he could not possibly be very happy about going from a closer to a setup guy during the prime time of his career and when he would be heading into free agency in a couple years. Matt Capps from the Pirates has emerged during the winter meeting according to Jon Heyman.
There does not seem to be too much interest in free agent arms. Don't expect a Joe Beimel or a Juan Cruz coming in. Minaya is apparently not interested in signing relievers to deals that take multiple years and/or big salaries. I agree with this stance. There are just so many arms out there, bring in a bunch of cheap guys and see which ones have good stuff. The closer and the eighth inning guy need to be solid, proven guys.
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