Mets Off-Season Wish List & Predictions

With the playoffs well underway, I at times find myself in deep though thinking of situations with the Mets David Wrigh & Jose Reyes as they try to create some Mets magic with triples and HR's, helping the Mets as they advance to the next round.
But instead, I find myself back to reality, and the reality is that the Mets are on vacation and in the playoffs a young Tampa Rays team is going up against the defending champions from Boston, while in the NL, that series has the Joe Torre & Manny Ramirez Dodgers advancing to face the Boys from Philly.
Instead of representing in these playoffs, the Mets once again are missing in action and missing out on a chance to excite NY in these playoffs. In the 45 years of the Mets existence's, The Mets & Shea has been the scene of the 69 Miracle Mets, and the 86 team of Doc & Straw, its only 2 World Series.
Part of being a Mets fan is appreciating the times when you win because when the Mets win, which is not very offen, miracles seem to happen. But when the Mets lose, they lose the hard way. So with the playoffs on display I watch and think of ways that the Mets could get better for next season with the off season luming.
Everyone knows that during this off season, the Mets faithful expects a lot of changes by GM Omar Minaya who most Mets fans, including myself, blame for not being able to make the proper moves to fix the bullpen after the 2007 meltdown. The 2008 bullpen was the same bullpen that choked in 2007, and so Minaya's mistake was that he was pretty much pining his hopes in 2008 with the return of Duaner Sanchez, while only acquiring Matt Wise as a free agent who was pretty much missing in action for the entire season.
Next year, Mets fans do not want to see the faces of Aaron Heilman and guys like Scott Schoewenwies or Pedro Feliciano, we want them gone, and we don't care if you have to trade all 3 and get one guy in return.
Of the 3 relievers, Heilman looks to be the one guy who the Mets could actually get some kind of value in return. Heilman does has stuff, but his problem is that he really cant handle the late inning pressures, and probably prefers to start games.
I think Heilman just needs a change of scenery, so you can see how some teams may be willing to take a chance on his stuff.
Another move Minaya needs to do is fill in the closers role now that Billy Wagner is pretty much done. Looking at what the market will provide this off season, the one name that Mets fans may immediately jump on to is K-ROD. Don't get me wrong, K-ROD would look real nice in a Met uniform, imagine K-ROD closing out games for his countrymen Johan Santana and helping Los Mets reach the playoffs.
K-ROD would be a real nice replacement of Wagner, but K-ROD will cost the Mets mucho dinero. Minaya may not want to invest on a guy who has already lost some of his velocity, and who carries that violent motion in his delivery. Talks around town is that K-ROD wants to come to NY saying that he would embrace, and likes, the hostile pressures that comes with playing in NY. He said he likes playing for fans that care so much and that it would only make him play harder. It reminds me of winter ball in Venezuela. But the word is that Minaya is not looking to invest another 100 million dollar plus contact just like he did a year ago for Santana, and that he is looking to fill in the closer hole with a lesser caliber closer. I wouldn't mind having a guy like K-ROD closing out the games for the Mets for the next 4 years, but I don't believe in breaking the bank on a closer. Thats just me. The Mets may very well still end up with K-ROD, but that is the one move I would stay away from because of how much he will command. But I still would be happy if K-ROD lands on the Mets.

We also here the talks around town that the Mets are also interested in getting the services of Orlando Hudson to play 2B. Luis Castillo who Omar Minaya made the mistake of signing to a 4 year deal last year, is another guy he needs to get rid of, as Castillo will certainly not be the Mets starting 2nd baseman come 2009.
I would love having a guy like Hudson who is a switch hitter & slick fielder and who would be a perfect #2 hitter in that Met lineup, I mean who would not like to have a guy like Hudson on the team?.
The word on the streets is that the Mets will also be looking at Manny Ramirez once again. Everyone knows that the Mets have been very interested in Manny Ramirez for the past 2 years now, but Minaya and the Mets just could not get a deal that would had made Manny a Met. Now Manny is a free agent and you know Manny is going to want to come to a big market team who can afford a guy like Manny, NY and the Mets would seem like a perfect fit. Imagine Manny coming to the Mets and teaming up with Minaya to open up the new CITIFIELD in 2009 with Santana on the mound, as a new era in Mets baseball begins. The Mets would like to get Manny on a 2 year deal, but most likely Manny is looking for a 4 year deal, so it wont be easy.
If Minaya can get a guy like Manny, even with the Manny being Manny issues, and all the antics, I'm all for it. Having Manny's bat in late September, and having the best righthanded hitter in the game, means no more bases loaded and no outs and no runs situations for the Mets. So Omar, go get Manny!

My predictions are that the Mets will not get K-ROD, hopefully land Orlando Hudson, but probably wont, and Manny becomes a Met.
Whatever happens, it should be exciting!

For the Yankees, I predict they will get Sabathia or Mark Texiera, or both.

And Now For The Mets

So I had my thoughts about the Yankees so what about the Mets? Another season another late season melt down and no playoffs for the Mets, again. So where do we start? Lets start at the top; the Mets gave Omar Minaya an extension, now don't get me wrong I really like Omar but this is the guy who has put these teams together that have melted under the pressure the last couple of years and he gets an extension. This is the same G.M. who let C.C. go to the Brewers, Harden go to the Cubs and even Blanton go to the Phillies. Omar stood pat while other teams in the National League went out and made some bold moves to get better. The Mets just resigned Jerry Manuel to come back to manage, another move that I just don't get. I mean did Manuel really do that good of a job? He couldn't get this team to the playoffs when all they had to do was win a game or 2 in September. Why wouldn't the Mets do their due diligence and at least look at other managers? I mean where other teams beating down Manuel's door for his services? I don't think so. So what about the players? The Mets don't have a lot of free agents, they just picked up the option on Carlos Delgado who had a good 2nd half of the season, a major change from the first half of the season where Met fans were practically booing him off the field. Anyone who has watched this team down the stretch knows that the bullpen was the weak spot for the Mets. Obviously the big name on the market is K-Rod but he won't come cheap and do the Mets want to commit that type of money to a closer? Probably not. Omar Minaya is going to have to earn his money this winter because the Mets are in a tough spot with Billy Wagner who is out for the 2009 season and might be done with his pitching career. So what would I do if I were running the team? Well, you say goodbye to some of the dead weight on the team, namely Pedro Martinez and hand over the pitching spots to the young guns in your system. What else would I do? I would have to shake the core of this team who have under achieved the last 2 seasons and who you could say over achieved when they went to the NLCS a couple of years ago. First off, I try and move Jose Reyes. On the surface it sounds crazy but this is the best time for the Mets to do it, he's signed to a very reasonable contract and you can use him to really plug some holes on this team. The other major move that I make? Trade Carlos Beltran. Beltran is a very good player but again he's the type of player that will get you some good pieces in return. The Mets have to do something drastic right now because this team as presently constructed can not win, they have proved it 2 years in a row and keeping the status quo would be a huge mistake. Just like for the Yankees, the winter is going to be a very important one for the Mets.

What to Do...The Yankees Version

So the playoffs are going on and for the first time since 1993 the Yankees are not a part of it. It feels a bit odd to me to watch these games and not see the pinstripes in the middle of it all. So what do the Yankees go from here? Last week the Yankees started the reconstruction of the team by resigning Brian Cashman to a 3 year deal. Good move by the Yanks, Cashman has only had real control over the team for 3 years and has done a good job in trying to restock the farm system and trying to get the Yankees younger. Sure, not all of his moves have panned out, like Igawa and Pavano but overall I feel he has done a good job and should get the chance to see his vision thru. So like many teams the Yankees have some decisions to make about their roster and free agents. Lets start with Bobby Abreu. Abreu has a good run with the Yankees and has been very consistent and depending on what type of money and years he wants I think the Yankees should bring him back. Jason Giambi, it was a nice run for him in NY but its time to cut ties with the Giambino. Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina, I feel the same way about these two guys, if they want to come back for another year you have to find a way to make it happen because you can do a lot worst than these two in the back end of your rotation. Carl Pavano. I'm not even going to touch that one. The Yankees obviously have some holes on the team, no real 1st baseman and some question marks in the rotation. So what do you do? I feel that the time is right for the Yankees to part ways with Robinson Cano. Right now might be a good time to do this because you can get something for him in return and might be able to plug up some holes. The Yankees will throw a ton of money at Sabathia and Burnett who look like the big two pitchers in the free agent market this winter. I say stay away from both. Sabathia is a gamer, no doubt about that but he's going to want to be the highest paid pitcher in the game and investing that type of money and years on a big guy like C.C. might not be the way to go. As for Burnett, the Yankees might be in love with him because he's pitched so well against them but this has Pavano version 2.o written all over it. The Yankees might be better suited to look for bargain deals with some free agents or go the trade route as opposed to going out for the biggest names out there. Another thing is that they can't forget about the young pitchers that they have, who I think can be productive pieces to the puzzle. Needless to say this off-season is going to the most important one for the Yankees because it'll set the stage for the next few years to come. I can't wait for the hot stove to start heating up next month. Coming soon, my thought on the NY Mets.