The start of the free-agent period for baseball begins at approximately 12:01AM tonight or tomorrow morning depending how anal you are as a person. And while this year's crop of free-agents is not as star-studded as least year's, there is no shortage of intrigue as far as who is going to go where, or which team is going to do what. In particular, the two New York franchises who have money to spend, holes to fill, and very different free-agent successes.
The Mets have endured a rough 4-year stretch since the ending of the 2006 season the dismal 2009 season. Carlos Beltran looking at strike 3 that sends the Mets home from the playoffs, back-to-back years collapsing down the stretch failing to make the playoffs after having division leads in September, and this past season which was filled with lots of injuries, a new ballpark, and many strange headlines with regard to organizational management blaming their woes on media and wanting to fight their own players. But with the offseason comes new hope.
The Mets have money coming off the books and they have many needs if they are to change the ways of the past three years. And it all starts with pitching. They have the Grand Canyon of ballparks and therefore it is essential for the Mets to add a starter or two behind Johan Santanna and improve a bullpen that simply stinks up until you get to K-Rod. This should make signing both John Lackey and Jason Marquis top priority for the Mets. Marquis has already expressed his desire to come to the Mets and outbidding everyone for Lackey is something the Mets are capable of doing. That would give the Mets a solid 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation and create competition for the 3,4, and 5 spot among Marquis, Niese, Pelfrey, and Maine. The one that doesn't cut the mustard can be used as a long relief option in the bullpen. There are also a slew of quality relievers out there that the Mets should also look into in order to protect the leads that they get. Brandon Lyon and Rafael Betancourt are both capable setup guys who would provide instant improvement to a bullpen that has struggled for 3 years in a row. I know most Mets fans want them to trade for Roy Halladay but the Mets simply cannot do this. They have crippled themselves with similar moves in recent years, Johan Santanna and JJ Putz. To have to trade prospects (the Mets are clearly lacking a quality farm system) and then give a big contract extension is a double-whammy to an organization that cannot take a single-whammy at this point.
If the Mets strengthen their pitching, then there is less emphasis needed on getting a power bat. In that cavernous ballpark, the Mets should emphasize speed and line-drive hitters. Especially because both Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are Type-A free-agents which means that not only would you have to pay them big money, but forfeit draft picks, again double-whammy. With David Wright and Carlos Beltran coming back, the focus should on those second tier free agents that would supplement a lineup that is already pretty decent, when healthy that is. Additions like a Scott Podsednik to left field would provide good defense because of his speed as well as a guy to bat behind Jose Reyes in the 2 spot. Hank Blalock would be a nice addition to platoon first base with Daniel Murphy. Blalock a left bat who hit 25 HR's last year would fit in the 6th or 7th spot.
These move may not be popular, but they are the moves that the Mets should make. Upgrade the pitching staff both starting and the bullpen. The lineup if supplemented correctly through free-agency and with the players that they have, should fit nicely with their ballpark.
The only remaining questions are can Omar Minaya be expected to make the right moves? Nothing he has done recently inspires any faith. The other question is can Jerry Manuel bring a small-ball type strategy to a team that could not do so last year playing with a triple-A team? He used the injury card all year last year, what will be the excuse if the Mets fail this year? Lots of questions and issues surrounding this franchise and hopefully smart decisions starting tomorrow will the beginning of a turn-around.
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