According to Rotoworld the Mets have declined to offer salary arbitration to C Paul Lo Duca, C Sandy Alomar Jr., 1B Jeff Conine, C Mike DiFelice, INF Damion Easley, OF Shawn Green, RHP Aaron Sele and 2B Jose Valentin.

No big surprises here. Easley's deal still isn't official, but he has agreed to terms with the Mets. I really don't see any of the others coming back unless it's for minor league deals, then I could see both DiFelice or Sele accepting those roles. Read More...

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 revolving door that is second base has always been a position for the Mets that lacks consistency. Last year, this spot passed through the hands of Kaz Matsui, Anderson Hernandez, and eventually an everyday player in Jose Valentin. Valentin performed well above expectations; providing solid defense and a consistent bat at the bottom of the order.

This season has followed much of the same course. Until Jose Valentin was sidelined with a knee injury, it was anticipated he would receive majority of the time at second. His absence opened the door for Damion Easley and Ruben Gotay. Even since Valentin's return from the DL, he has not been able to repeat his 2006. At times, Easley has provided some clutch hits, but due to his own nagging ailments, has not been able to step-up as a regular. With this, Ruben Gotay has emerged as a bright spot on the infield.

Gotay came to the Mets from Kansas City in a trade that many did not see the value in. Omar Minaya made the move to swap two Triple-A infielders; Jeff Keppinger for Ruben Gotay. Keppinger is now with the Reds, while Gotay has been doing the little things with the big club here in NY. Gotay has found himself in the middle of a number of rallies, while racking up quality at-bats, and providing adequate defense. He seems comfortable in the 2-hole in the lineup and also provides some speed on the base paths.

Let's crunch the numbers to find the best option at second:
- Valentin, Easley, and Gotay yield a .978 fielding percentage; taking into account Gotay has logged half as many innings as the other two and Easley has fielded other positions this season.
- Although it is a small sample size, Gotay's numbers at the plate are significantly better with less at-bats than both Easley and Valentin. Rather than bog up the blog with numbers, a hitting comparison can be found here.

Will Gotay continue to put up these kind of numbers as the season wears on? Does this team owe anything to an aging Valentin? Who do you personally like better at second? Would it really be beneficial for the Mets to seek a second baseman for the remainder of this season? The Mets could go out and acquire a 2nd baseman, but if Gotay can continue to give the Mets quality AB's and get on base, I think he fits quite well into the "mold" of this squad. I don't think Gotay will turn into any type of star player and his potential will most likely max out. That being said, he is still fairly young and could turn a typical Omar move into a new mainstay at second for now. Where do you stand?

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Over the last week the Mets have shown signs that their offense has been back. One of the spark plugs has been none other than rookie phenom Carlos Gomez. He seems like he has finally hit his stride after being shaky in the first few weeks of his major league career. Yesterday, he produced two singles and a double to bring his average up to .277. He has hit .364 in his last 33 at bats which has helped to raise the average.

Two other spark plugs to the Mets offense include Jose Valentin who is batting .298 in 13 games since returning from the disabled list and Carlos Beltran who since his 0-4 on June 19^th against Johan Santana, has gone 8 for 15 with 3 runs scored.

Is our offense back? It seems like Beltran, Wright, Valentin, Gomez are all hitting..now if only we could get Delgado going our main offense would be full strength.