Continuing with our breakdown of the 2008 Mets, today we take a look at the situation at first base.

First Base:

First String: Carlos Delgado
This one is really a no brainer, then again so are most of the first string players. Delgado had a horrific year in 2007 setting career lows in Batting Average, Home Runs, Walks, RBIs, On Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage. Simply put, Delgado had by far the worst year of his hall of fame career. It was clear that Delgado's struggles in 2007 were one of the main reasons the mets had trouble winning games the second half of the year. Delgado will try to put 2007 behind him, and get back to his usual 80 run 100 RBI 35 Home Run and .275 average season.

Backups: Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson
This has surprisingly been a topic of interest for a number of Mets fans, probably because the Mets have not listed anyone as a backup on their official depth chart. With Shawn Green not returning, and Jeff Conine retiring, the Mets really don't have anyone who has played a good amount of first base. Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson who played a combined 21 innings at first base for the Mets last year, and a combined 337.6 innings in their careers, are the most likely candidates to play first should Delgado get injured, or need a day off. No one else on the Mets 40 man roster has played more than one inning at first base in their entire careers. This makes it that much more important that Delgado has a healthy bounce back year.
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It's the middle of November, and you know what that means... baseball's Hot Stove season is heating up (no pun intended).

Before we get all the talk of who is a free agent, who is "available", and who can afford the big name players underway, lets take a quick look at some of the current Mets who are free agents this off season.

Free Agents

Moises Alou: In 2006, Mets signed Alou to a one year deal worth $8.5 million, with a $7.5 million option for 2008, which the Mets have already exercised. Alou will be playing for the Mets once again in 2008.

Marlon Anderson: The Mets have signed Anderson to a 2 year contract worth $2.2 million. Anderson will continue to be a clutch bat off the bench for the Mets in 2008.

Luis Castillo: Omar Minaya has said the Mets will do their best to re-sign Castillo, but the Houston Astros have also shown interest, Castillo could receive a 4 year deal, which the Mets are unlikely to match. If the Astros are willing to give a 4 year deal to a 32 year old with knee problems, they can have Castillo.

Ramon Castro: According to the Daily News The Mets have just wrapped up a deal with Castro for 2 years worth just over $4 million. Castro is expected to either backup or split time with Yorvit Torrealba, who the Mets appear to be close to signing.

Jeff Conine: The 41 year old Conine has finally called it a career, retiring after 16 seasons in the majors. Conine was a two time all star, and won two World Series championships with the Florida Marlins.

Damion Easley: The Mets have re-signed Easley to a one year, $950,000 deal. Easley will likely backup for Castillo or Gotay at second base, and will also be used as a pinch hitter.

Tom Glavine: Glavine appears to be headed back to Atlanta to pitch one more year. Glavine has stated that he is willing to take less money to play in Atlanta. The Mets have not shown considerable interest in Glavine.

Shawn Green: It appears the Mets will not exercise their $10 million option on Green, and have shown little interest in bringing him back for 2008. Green may be headed back out to the west coast, where he'll try to hit 3 more home runs to surpass Hank Greenberg and become baseball's All Time Jewish Home Run King. SHALOM.

Brian Lawrence: The Mets have declined Lawrence's $4 Million option for 2008, Lawrence was designated for assignment before the end of last season, and is unlikely to return to the Mets.

Paul LoDuca: After failing to lure Jorge Posada away from the Yankees, the Mets were expected to turn their attention back to LoDuca. Instead, Omar Minaya has focused his sights on Rockies Catcher Yorvit Torrealba. LoDuca's agent has stated that he does not intend to sign with the Mets anytime soon. The LoDuca situation has gone from bad to worse, and now it appears clear that the Mets will not re-sign Loduca

Aaron Sele: Sele filed for free agency last month, he is not expected to return to the Mets. It is possible that he may retire if he is not signed by another team to a major league contract.

Jose Valentin: The Mets have declined their $4.3 Million option on Valentin. He is not expected to resign with the Mets.

Well, there you have it, in the coming weeks, the site will be heating up again, so be sure to check back here as often as possible to get up to the second updates on the Mets progress this off season.

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With second baseman Jose Valentin likely out for the season with a broken tibia, the Mets will need to decide what to do at second base.

Luckily the Mets have a number of options within their organization who could potentially fill Valentin’s shoes. Damion Easley, who is currently listed on the bereavement list due to an illness in his family, should be considered the frontrunner to take over the second baseman’s job. Easley is a 16 year veteran, and filled in nicely for Valentin when he was injured earlier in the season. However, Easley hasn’t seen much playing time since Valentin returned, and really hasn’t shown the same power either.

The Mets other major option is 24 year old Ruben Gotay, who is batting over .300 for the season, and has been nothing short of clutch for most of the month of July, the only question with Gotay is can he play everyday, and can he keep this hot streak going. Gotay is largely unproven, and has no playoff experience; therefore it is possible his recent success at the plate could be nothing more than a hot streak. While I have confidence in Gotay’s ability, I don’t really trust him in a big spot just yet.

The Mets also have recently acquired Marlon Anderson who can play second base, but with the Mets’ recent injuries in the outfield, it looks like the majority of his playing time will be in left field.

The other option of course would be for the Mets to make a deadline deal for an everyday second baseman. A number of teams are looking to trade their second baseman for younger talent. The Reds are shopping Brandon Phillips, who has been tearing the cover off the ball since the all star break, though it seems the Reds and the Mets haven’t discussed Phillips. The Devil Rays are looking to trade former Met Ty Wigginton, who can play second base, however it appears Wiggy will end up with the cross town rival Yankees in a deal involving Scott Proctor. While I’d like to see the Mets bring in a quality second baseman, with our issues at other positions giving up a prospect like Lastings Milledge or Carlos Gomez hardly seems worth the reward.

For the near future, expect Gotay to remain the primary second baseman, but at the first sign of trouble, expect to see the more experienced Easley playing second base for the Mets during the pennant race.
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The Mets made a number of changes over the All Star Break, starting with the firing of Rick Down and the addition of Rickey Henderson to the coaching staff. Many of us saw this coming, after the Mets’ hitting seemed to disappear during the “June swoon”. With Down out and Henderson in, the most likely scenario would see first base coach Howard Johnson take over the job as hitting instructor. Rickey Henderson would then become the first base coach, a job he will fit into nicely, as he has worked extensively with Jose Reyes and some of the other Mets speedsters during spring training.

Down has done a terrible job as the hitting instructor, I personally am glad to see him go.

Today, the Mets dropped the second bomb of the break by designating the 48 year old Julio Franco for assignment. Again, this was expected, as most fans are sick and tired of seeing Willie Randolph bringing in Julio Franco to pinch hit in a big spot in the 8th inning only to see Franco strikeout or ground out to second. While Franco brought amazing leadership and experience to the clubhouse, it was time to face the facts. Franco just cannot get the bat around anymore, and therefore, he has no place on a potentially championship caliber team. Franco will be looking for a new team in 10 days, as he will become a free agent. If he can’t find a team that wants him, he will most likely retire and become a coach somewhere.

Lastly, Metsblog is reporting that the Mets have signed former Met Marlon Anderson to a minor league contract. Anderson was DFA’d by the Dodgers last month mainly because of the Dodgers plethora of younger infield talent. Anderson could become a viable option for the Mets off the bench this season since we have had trouble in the pinch hitting department.

Could all these changes by Omar be the key to success for the Mets? Only the next 75 games will tell. Read More...