Sporting News: Top 50 Free Agents

At the Sporting News they give their predictions on where they think the top 50 free agents will land in the Off Season:

4. Jorge Posada- Mets. This is a bit of a limb, but I think he leaves and eventually moves to 1st base. Somewhere around 4 years 70 million from the Mets.

11. Carlos Silva- Mets. They are going to spend the money, and Silva is the best young pitcher on the market. he wont be tied down for more than 4, so 4 years 65 mil. gets it done.

15. Tadahito Ighuci- Mets. They need a replacement for Castillo who is a FA and Iguchi fits in nicely with the speed at the top of the Mets line-up.

Where Castillo will land:

29. Luis Castillo- Cardinals. He provides some insurance to the middle of the IF with the loss of Eckstein. Is still a nice option on the bases. 2 years 8 million

Mets To Make Posada A Monster Offer?

At Rotoworld they write about Jorge Posada and how the Mets are expected to make him a huge offer:

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, free agent Jorge Posada is expected to receive a "monster offer" from the Mets.

Rosenthal reports that the Mets' proposal might be as big as $70 million over five years, but that seems highly unlikely for a 36-year-old catcher and the New York Daily News suggests that Posada is only said to be seeking a four-year deal. Rosenthal also writes that "the best guess is that Posada will remain with the Yankees," who he suggests could be looking to re-sign him to a more reasonable three-year deal worth around $42 million.

The Three Blockbuster Deals

Howard Megdal at The New York Observer writes about the three deals that the Mets should go through with to heelp forget about this past season:

Move One: trade for Johan Santana.

He is unquestionably the best pitcher of the past four seasons. He doesn’t turn 29 until March of 2008. His contract is up following the 2008 season, and it is highly unlikely that Minnesota can afford him. The Twins might well take their chances on one more run with Santana before he hits the free agent market.

If they don’t, the Mets would be in position to trade for him. Few teams could offer the major league-ready talent of Lastings Milledge, who could take over for free agent Torii Hunter in center field, Ruben Gotay, who could play second for the Twins, Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber, who would both challenge for rotation spots. If those four aren’t enough, include Carlos Gomez.

Move Two: sign Alex Rodriguez, move David Wright to second base.

Rodriguez is unquestionably the best player in baseball this season. And he is a 3-for-20 ALDS away from being run out of the Bronx. He was raised a Mets fan, and the Mets have more money than virtually anyone else besides the Yankees. David Wright is even on record saying he’d change positions to accommodate A-Rod.

If it calls for $30 million a year for eight years, take that extra revenue from the playoff appearances it all but guarantees and put that towards his salary. The revenue generated as Rodriguez chases Bonds won’t hurt the Mets, either.

Move three: Sign Jorge Posada.

How much better has Jorge Posada been than Paul Lo Duca this season? His on base percentage is 115 points higher. His slugging percentage is 165 points higher. The distance between Posada and Lo Duca offensively is roughly the same as the distance between Lo Duca and Orlando Hernandez.

Posada was unhappy with the Yankees’ decision to try and negotiate with Alex Rodriguez in-season, but not with him. None of the typical “I want to be a Yankee” statements from Jorge—he’s ready to test the market.

To read the entire article use the link above.

Turning the Mets Upside Down

This is going to be THE critical off-season for the Mets' under Omar Minaya's short stay as General Manager, one that will determine where the franchise is poised towards for the next few years. Willie is the manager for the forseeable future, nothing I can say will change that, so rather than continuing to debate his obvious short-comings and merits, we are instead going to move forward towards, hopefully, a more successful 2008 season, the last in our beloved (and loathed) Shea Stadium (and namesake). However, that doesn't mean that we can't suggest somebroad, sweeping and potentially controversial changes to the team and the staff for this off-season. Without further ado, here is what we propose: (with apologies to John Delcos, as this was written yesterday and only posted today.)

1.) Once Joe Torre is fired by the Yankees, bring him in as Willie's bench coach. He wants to stay in New York, and he's got a tight relationship with Willie, one of his "pupils," so this might work, and what a positive PR stroke to shove it back at Boss Steinbrenner. Torre could be a positive influence on Willie, and although they are both more laid-back in nature, having Torre around should strengthen some of the areas where Randolph is supposedly already strong, and allow him a cool-hand who has been through the fire for the past 12 seasons and help him not just keep control of the often-fractured clubhouse but also potentially entice some of Torre's soon-to-be former players over from the "dark side."

2.) Sign Aaron Rowand, NOT Andruw Jones! Move Beltran to right, and add this sparkplug to a lineup that needs Rowand's type of hustle. Hmmm, what other outfielder played for both the Mets and Phils, was a dirty-uniform type full of piss and vinegar? Can you say LENNY DYKSTRA? We seem to need better chemistry on this team (read - GAMERS) and perhaps having him at the top of the order allows Reyes to move down in the order and add an entirely new dimension to the line-up. He would also cost a lot less than Jones, and is at least coming off of a career year, rather than a career-hurting year. He'd cost around the price of Gary Matthews, Jr., somewhere around 10 mil per for about 3 years. His signing allows us to move on to ...

3.) Trade Lastings Milledge, Aaron Heilman, Philip Humber, Mike Carp and Kevin Mulvey, plus a HUGE bag of cash, to the Twins for Johan Santana and a prospect (any decent prospect). Santana would be situated atop the rotation for the next 7-8 years, complimenting Maine and Perez to make up a hell of a base. Add Pedro, and we have a great rotation. This allows us to...

4.) Decline bringing back Tom Glavine, saving around $11 mil or so, and move O-Hern into long relief. There won't be a lot of middle relievers on the market, and with the proposed departure of Heilman, this could allow both O-Hern and Pelfrey to move into middle relief, spelling the fifth starter or Pedro, if he has to take any extra days off.

5.) With an entirely new front office, the Pirates will probably be loathe to trade any of their few existing, talented players, but a deal MIGHT be possible if we were to eat a large contract of theirs, say someone like Jack Wilson, who could be a role player for us in the event we don't re-sign Luis Castillo and with the retirement of Jeff Conine about to be formalized. Package Wilson with pitcher Tom Gorzelanny in exchange for cash, Jon Niese, A-Hern, Adam Bostick and Jose Coronado. We can also eat another Pirates' contract if need be.

6.) Since the Tigers are going to exercise their option on I-Rod, we can slap the Yanks' again, and reunite Torre with Jorge Posada and re-sign the top back-up catcher in the bigs, Ramon Castro. This combo should keep us going until Mr. Pena is ready to step up to the majors. PLD wont' come back, although this would be my first choice, and Mr. Piazza seems relegated to the A.L., so Posada makes a lot of sense, especially coming off of another great season!

7.) As we discussed back in July, we recommend bringing back Moises Alou, re-signing Endy Chavez, and leaving Carlos Gomez in AAA for seasoning. Imagine an outfield of Beltran, Rowand and Alou, with Chavez and Anderson backing them up - not bad at all! Gomez needs a full year of seasoning, as we forget how young he still is and there is no substitution for playing regularly at a high level. Gomez will be the eventual replacement for Alou, in 2009, which would leave us with 3 fantastic fielders and a LOT of speed out there.

8.) Fernando Martinez MUST spend the entire season (if healthy) at first base. He is a potential hitting star, still SO young, and there is a dearth of good first-sackers out there right now. Delgado is not going anywhere next season, as the Mets' won't be able to easily unload his contract, and he will have something to prove, which usually works out well for both sides (except, of course when it doesn't...). His hitting will get him to the majors- if we can make him into an adequate first baseman, imagine THAT infield for the next 7-10 years with Wright, Reyes and Gotay/Castillo (at least for next season). Martinez could possibly be ready by mid-2009, if he stays healthy and keeps progressing as he has.

9.) With a solid rotation, a set starting line-up and support in the clubhouse for Willie, that leaves the bench and bullpen. The bench is nearly set, with Wilson, Castro, Anderson, Chavez and Gotay, and there is no one better at Omar than finding bench support. As far as the bullpen, the first thing change has to be the subtraction of Mr. Mota. Add O-Hern and Pelfrey to Wagner, Feliciano, Smith and Schoeneweis, and you are one arm away from a much more reliable pen. With the money saved from not resigning Glavine, there should be one arm out there for Omar to pry away from a non-contending team. Bullpen help is tricky, and again, without knowing who might be available, it's hard for us to even speculate about who it could be.

10.) The team lacked fire last season - and the additions of Posada, Santana and Rowand would certainly spark this team on their way to the World Series. Wright should be more consistent; Reyes shouldn't disappear in crunch-time again; Perez and Maine are just coming into their own; Pedro will be a more top-flight Pedro this season, good for another 15 wins or so; Beltran, in spite of the fickleness of our fans, is a true gamer and with a stronger line-up, wouldn't have to feel as though he had to play regardless of how hurt he might have been; and finally, Smith and Feliciano, with a lighter workload in the first half and increased inning production from the starters, won't burn out so quickly in the season. There's no reason why this team can't win it all next season - as long as they don't get in their own way!

Let us know what YOU think the Mets should do next season! It's a LONG time until pitchers and catchers report- I am counting the days until Spring Training! Back tomorrow!

**PS - NO MORE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COVERS, PLEASE!!!!