There is a lot of Doom and Gloom with Mets fans at the moment, with John Lackey headed to Beantown and the Phillies having a happy Halladay, in all honest Met fans need to take a deep breath and be HAPPY that these moves happened.


Its tough to see a prize like Roy Halladay go to a hated rival, but the phillies did not gain anything with this move. In fact they traded off several prospects AND their top pitcher to make what is at best a lateral move. Roy Halladay is a dominating pitcher, he is also 33 years old and is set to make more than 20 million a year to play in philadelphia, but surprise, Cliff Lee was phenomenal last year for the Phils, is younger, would have signed for less AND wouldn't have cost their team any of their future players. Be happy those morons out in Philly screwed up this badly.

Now on to Lackey, Lackey is staying in the AL, which is a good thing for Mets fans, and the METS didnt overspend on an aging pitcher with declining numbers! why so upset? Rejoice the mets didn't lock up a downward trending player who in 2 years will be worth a fraction of his cost.

The mets can still make some smart moves that could pay off just as well if not better than what the phillies and red sox did.
Step One: Replace Daniel Murphy at First Base.
As I've alluded to in earlier posts, Adam LaRoche is the answer, if not him perhaps Hank Blalock would be a cheaper option.
Step Two: Sign 2-3 Mid-level Starting Pitchers
A lot of talk is made about Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan being geniuses, but they really aren't in fact they fail to rehabilitate most of their veteran starters and tend to send a lot of young promising pitchers to the operating table. What the Cardinals' Front office does so well is they identify promising, talented veteran pitchers who are way under their market value, sign a few of them and when one or two pans out they look like geniuses. This is why signing a Jason Marquis, a Joel Pineiro, and/or a Brett Myers (or even Ben Sheets depending on his contract demands) is the right move.
Step Three: Get a Warm Body with a Decent Glove
Matt Holliday would be ideal, but if we miss out on the sweepstakes, don't throw in the towel, there are a few cheap, short term options with the hope of going after Carl Crawford next year. Randy Winn could be an excellent addition to the Mets' outfield, Rick Ankiel would be a cheap option with an excellent arm and a good glove roaming the outfield, Yes Mr Ankiel is coming off a bad year, but he'll be awful cheap and has shown 25-30 HR power in the major leagues. Other cheap options include Brian Giles, who has perhaps the best eye in baseball and would certainly sign a 1 year deal, and lets not rule out either Xavier Nady or Austin Kearns, who with all that talent just has to break out sometime.

So rejoice Mets' fans, our outlook should be positive we didn't get Snookie'd like Boston and Philly did.
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Just recently I found that Phil Rodgers of the Chicago Tribune had delivered his list of predicting where the upper crust of Free Agents will sign.(From the look of some of his guesses there are certain cacti growing in Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood) Well...it is time for mine as well.



Matt Holliday- Mets

Not a player I am 100% enthralled with, but certainly the premier talent in the 2010 FA Pool. I think the Mets actually do break down and go out and get Mr. Holliday, who signs for a Massive contract.

Jason Bay- Boston

Mr. Bay, despite turning down a rather nice extension, is headed back to Boston. After some quick looks at Matt Holliday and Johnny Damon, the Sox break down and pay the piper to the tune of 5 years 85 Million.

John Lackey- Texas Rangers

There is some talk that the Rangers' ownership problems will keep Lackey out of Arlington, I on the other hand think its a no brainer guarantee that the only team willing to take a massive pay gamble on a older declining pitcher like Lackey has to have stars in their eyes, and when you compete with the Cowboys for attention...that's all a lot of folks in the big D see.

Johnny Damon- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Despite desperately wanting to stay with the Yankees, Damon turns to the only solid offer he gets this off-season, despite still being very productive, and it is off to Disneyland for Mr. Damon. The Angels, desperate to fill the void of Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey, get their name and a pretty productive outfielder.

Aroldis Chapman- New York Yankees

Do overpriced, overrated, under seasoned, overseas free agents go anywhere but Boston or the Yanks? El Duque Jr. Cashes the big check, pin stripe fans get 2 years of an underdeveloped Phil Hughes clone, before shipping him off and watching him prosper elsewhere.

Miguel Tejada- San Francisco Giants

It's off to the Bay Area for Mr. Tejada, He'll be productive and fit right into the free swinging, walk averse Baby Giants.

Chone Figgins- St Louis Cardinals

A team that has been looking for a true lead-off man and a second baseman since their small dose of a productive Tony Womack, finally gets some killer speed, and a real second baseman, in their lineup.

Rich Harden- Washington Nationals

Every once in a while a baseball team comes along and does something stupid in free agency, Pittsburgh with Derek Bell, Colorado with Hampton and Neagle, Texas and Chan Ho Park, and most recently Seattle and Carlos Silva. This is the Nationals chance to vastly overpay. The Nats, despite their horrid on field product, actually have a good chunk of money to spend, they'll look to claim that they are players in the market again this season (after last years attempt at Teixiera and their signing of Adam Dunn) they'll throw massive amount of cash to try and get some talent on their staff.

Mark DeRosa-Philadelphia Phillies

With the Pedro Feliz project over and done, the Phillies will actually make a smart move this offseason and grab a Pennsylvania favorite to man their hot corner

Hideki Matsui- Chicago White Sox

The Sox need a DH and Matsui is probably still one of the best available. He'll get a few years, the Sox somehow know how to keep elderly power hitters productive and moderately healthy.

Jermaine Dye- Minnesota Twins

First stealing JJ Hardy from the Brewers, now signing one of their biggest rivals team leaders? What an off season for the Twins. Jermaine Dye provides some extra pop from the DH spot that, lets face it, Jason Kubel can't keep doing forever (Kubel just cannot hit LHP to save his life...sooner or later that is going to end him)

Vladimir Guerrero- Oakland A's

Mike Piazza, Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, finally Vlad completes the Oakland A's position of Designated Washed up All-Star... i mean Hitter...yeah designated Hitter...

Jim Thome- Atlanta Braves

This sounds ridiculous, heck in many ways it probably is, but with the Rachel Zoe thin 1b representation in this year's class, and LaRoche hopefully leaving to head to New York, Atlanta needs to plug this hole. They give Thome a shot at a bargain price.

Well, that's my round up to match Mr. Rodgers feel free to post your own in the comment section
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