Where Now?
Posted by Christopher on December 26, 2007
Where do the Mets turn now? Omar Minaya has made it clear that the primary area of need this offseason is the team’s starting pitching. Unfortunately, Omar has been unable to pull the trigger on any deal, free agent or otherwise, to improve the rotation. The free agent market has very little to offer. The Mets may be interested in either Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia, but neither would be better than a number 3 starter. Dan Haren has already been traded to Arizona and there are no indications that the Mets have any chance at acquiring Erik Bedard. There have been mixed signals as to the Mets ability (or lack thereof) to trade for Johan Santana*.
I have been generally impressed by Omar since he took over as the Mets GM. Signing Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran gave the Mets instant credibility 3 years ago. Kris Benson was traded for John Maine and Orlando Hernandez (originally Jorge Julio who was sent to Arizona in the El Duque trade). Unfortunately, Omar’s hand has gone cold. Trading away Brian Bannister too early and holding on to Lastings Milledge too long (or not long enough depending on your school of thought) has hurt the Mets dearly. Omar also traded away Heath Bell and Royce Ring, leaving the Mets bullpen very thin in 2007.
Omar has been given every chance to succeed with the Mets. He came to an organization flush with young talent (Wright, Reyes) and a willingness to spend money. The blame for the Mets stumbles down the stretch in 2007 should be squarely with the players, but Omar is not blameless. The Mets are worse than they were 1 year ago. The Mets are now an old team with an ugly history. The time for Omar to make a deal is now.
*I have previously written a post as to reasons why the Mets should not acquire Johan Santana. That post was based on the assumption that Santana would not sign an extension without testing the free agent waters. That assumptions seems to have been false, so I will update my opinion. I feel that the Mets should make every reasonable effort to acquire Santana. What is reasonable? That’s another story for another post.
