Upon Crosstown Moves

Owner Fred Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya have decided to throw open the coffers in an attempt to improve the NY Mets organization. First, they traded Mike Cameron and his broken face to the Padres for Xavier Nady. This move will free up some cash, and still gives the Mets a glove in the outfield to replace Cameron, who hopefully won't crash headlong into Beltran. They then sent Mike Jacobs and a pitching prospect to the Florida Marlins yard sale, and picked up Carlos Delgado, some lawn chairs, and a toaster. Next, they drastically overpaid for reliever Billy Wagner. Wagner will help them in the short run, and does constitute an improvement over Braden Looper. However, Wagner is 38 (I think) and the Mets were forced to make the deal 4 years long, and throw on a no-trade clause. I really do not see him working out for more than 2 seasons at max, and still chafe at the notion of guys like Wagner and B.J. Ryan making Mariano Rivera money. (Don't make me pull out the stat book, because you know I will.)

I think that the Mets are rounding into a solid ballclub. Their lineup's top 5 of Reyes, Beltran, Wright, Delgado, Floyd are all dangerous. The infield defense will be improved, and Nady shoulod help the outfield play solidly. The afforementioned Wagner should be a gamer with regular shots of Geritol. Their next move will likely be to sign a Molina brother or Ramon Hernandez to do the catching, ensuring that Piazza will not be missed. So with a power lineup, good defense, solid closer, and a new backstop, this team should contend for the NL East all year, right? Or am I, and the rest of the front office, forgetting about something?? Riiiiiiight, starting pitching.

Pedro Martinez made a successful switch to the NL, and had some good numbers. However, you will not see much more than 6.1 IP out of him anymore. Tom Glavine's best days are behind him, and I would love to see him keep some of the momentum he established in the second half, but I doubt its still there. Jae Seo looked strong upon his return in the second half,but he is an unproven commodity. Kris Benson has not proven himself yet, and Steve Traschel is Steve Traschel. With all the cash flying around for the Mets, they might have addressed their needs at SP. For now, I will give them the benefit of the doubt in that they are filling the holes they can with the best players available.

My outlook on the Mets as they stand now (with the name Manny Ramirez still being bandied about): 87 Wins, 2nd Place NL East, Wild Card, first round Exit.