Sweeny Murti of WFAN just reported that the Tigers have contacted the Mets about Dontrelle Willis, with the idea of spinning him off in a move to dump Willis's $13 Million Dollar Salary.

According to the report, there wasn’t an official offer presented to Omar, but the idea was brought up that the Mets would acquire Willis and Ivan Rodriguez. The Mets would then give up some prospects and would also have to eat the contracts owed to both players. One last hurdle the Mets would have to overcome would be Willis's no-trade clause that would almost certainly require the Mets to give him an extra year.

This might be our only chance at getting someone of Willis's caliber. He has already proven he can do well here (both hitting and pitching) and would be an ideal fit. It also doesn't hurt that Pudge is one of Omar's favorites and Omar has been trying to get him here for years. Who cares about their contracts, just do it already! Read More...

Castro is a free agent after this year. With 9 homeruns in 124 ABs for the Mets this year, Castro could move to the front of a weak class of catchers. Assuming Jorge Posada and Ivan Rodriguez never hit the open market, that leaves Castro, Michael Barrett, Paul Lo Duca, and Jason Kendall.

Castro signed for $850K last winter to again serve as Paul Lo Duca's backup. Lo Duca hasn't been healthy or hitting, and Castro's having his best season with an .889 OPS.

In 119 games as a Met, Castro has a .255/.324/.455 line with 21 HR in 459 ABs. One has to wonder if he could do that in a single season. If so, he'd be one of the better catchers available. In the past, Castro has shown the ability to throw out 30%+ of would-be basestealers. However, he's nailed just two of 25 this year. Mets fans - what's up with that?

Teams like the Devil Rays, Mets, Cubs, Astros, and Padres may all be looking for catchers this winter. Castro should get consideration as a regular, and might be a decent buy at two years, $8MM or so. Read More...