Former Mets second baseman and possible future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent has called it a career.

Kent came to the Mets in 1992 in a trade which sent David Cone to the Blue Jays in exchange for Kent and Ryan Thompson.

Kent played for the Mets from 1992 through 1996. In 498 games with the Mets he hit .279 with 244 runs, 267 RBIs and 67 home runs.

Of course, Mets fans remember Kent for being tied to one of the worst trades in Mets history, when on July 29th 1996, he was traded along with my then favorite player Jose Vizcaino to the Cleveland Indians for All Star second baseman Carlos Baerga and Alvaro Espinoza.

Kent went on to have a hall of fame career including an MVP season in 2000.
Vizcaino went on to be a good player for the next 10 years.

Baerga who hit over .310 for the previous 4 seasons went on to hit .267 in just over 2 years with the Mets.
Espinoza was the highlight of the deal as he would hit .306 in 134 AB for the Mets in 1996 before he was released.

I still have not forgiven the Mets organization.

Kent goes down as one of the greatest second basemen in baseball history. He is the all time leader in home runs for second baseman, and had 90+ RBIs every season from 1997 (the year after he left the Mets)through 2005. Read More...

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, citing ‘major-league sources,’ the Mets and 2B Luis Castillo are close to agreeing to a four-year, $25 million contract.

The Astros, Nationals, and Cubs all had expressed interest in Castillo, whom the Mets acquired from the Twins at the non-waiver deadline for two minor leaguers.

Four years might be considered a risky move with Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar, and Edgardo Alfonzo as our previous 2nd basemen, but this was our only way to retain him. Castillo has proven he can play and succeed here. (unlike Eckstein who wanted more money and had a shaky 2006 season) So let's hope the recently 'repaired' knees hold up! Read More...

When I write my article next Thursday all the MLB trade rumors will be over and done with, due to the Non-Waiver Trade Deadline passing this upcoming Tuesday. This means no more thinking that the Mets will acquire Dontrelle Willis for Scott Schoeneweis (hahahaha); or something else wild that we can only dream about. Of course with the trade deadline coming, the debate of "Do we trade prospects for ballplayers that are established?" will come into play. Will players like Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, and Fernando Martinez be a Met after July 31st? I most certainly hope so.

While thinking of what to write about before the deadline, I came across a great article on the SNY website; written by Ted Berg. It's almost like we share a brain, because I agree 110% with what he is saying. While we have our share of veterans like Delgado, Green, and Lo Duca, we also have a lot of up-and-coming players that have already contributed. Players like Gotay, Gomez, Reyes, Milledge, Maine, and Perez--all of which are between the ages of 22 and 26--could help out the Mets for a while to come. In addition to these ballplayers who have contributed, we also have Mike Pelfrey, and Mike Carp waiting in the wings.

Why trade any of these ballplayers for a guy who might only be here for 3 months, and then go back to his old team (Mike Bordick anyone)? Of course it's hard to tell if Gotay will pan out to be a great, like Wally Backman; or a dud, like Carlos Baerga. Will Lastings Milledge be the next Dave Kingman, or the next Alex Ochoa? Let's not make the same mistake that Jim Duquette did in 2004, by trading our stud Scott Kazmir for a broken Victor Zambrano. Let's make it so that we are not just contenders in 2007, but contenders for years to come.

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