At this point in the off-season, where are the Mets? Let's do a bit of a recap and a look ahead to the next 2 months leading up to spring training.
Omar has flipped the bullpen upside down. Insert K-Rod and J.J. Putz as your closer and eighth inning guy, respectively. Also, Omar has brought in Sean Green and Jeremy Reed, a righty reliever and a defensive 4th outfielder in the Putz deal. Also brought in was Connor Robertson, a righty with a decent record in the minors that has yet to produce on the major league level. So far, going bye bye from the team in all these deals were the following:
Joe Smith
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoeneweis
Endy Chavez
Mike Carp, & other prospects
The Mets main focus is now centered squarely on a starting pitcher or two. My guess is it will be two if Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez both sign else where. If the Mets sign Lowe or Perez and spend big money, look for them to simply go with Jon Niese in the fifth starter spot. As the days pass, it looks better and better, I think, for the Mets to acquire Derek Lowe. He should probably fall in the $45-$65 million dollar range for 3-4 years. I do not see the market being outstanding for him so that teams would compete enough to drive him to 5 years. According to Metsblog, the main teams involved appear to be the Mets, Red Sox, Angels,Braves, and possibly the Cubs. However, the Brave are reluctant to go high in salary or years for Lowe. Also, the Cubs seem poised to eventually land Jake Peavy. Boston stands to acquire Mark Teixeira and does not really need Derek Lowe. Would they want to drop another $50 million on him after dropping $160-$200 million on Teixeira? I do not think so.
Several pitchers and position players have been linked to the Mets in some way this off-season. I will put the pitcher first, then position players.
Oliver Perez
Derek Lowe
Jon Garland
Tim Redding
Randy Wolf
John Smoltz
Kenshin Kawakami
Freddy Garcia
Chad Cordero
Jason Varitek
Michael Young
Orlando Hudson
David Eckstein
Juan Rivera
Bobby Abreu
Manny Ramirez
As noted on several news sites, it is likely that the next week or so will be rather slow (with the exception of Teixeira possibly signing this week according to mlbtr. The holidays are upon us, Scott Boras is slower that molasses, and history shows that most of the action after the winter meetings occurs after the holidays. January looks to be a big month.
Rather than link every single player in this article, go here and check out any of the players above by name.
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