With the likelihood of Luis Castillo being shipped out this off season, whether it be for another bad contract like Jose Guillen, or the Mets just eat cash and take a minor leaguer, the Mets will have an opening at second base and left field for 2009. A league source tells me the Mets will test the waters on Manny Ramirez, but it appears that he is going to price himself out of what they would want to give him. The team would be looking at a shorter term deal, 2 or 3 years at maybe as much as $20 million per season, but it’s believed Manny isn’t talking unless he’s getting 4 years guaranteed. Though the Mets have been satisfied with Daniel Murphy’s play at second base thus far in the Arizona Fall League, they don’t see him as an immediate option at the position. Everybody knows Mets GM Omar Minaya stresses athleticism, and defense up the middle, Manny provides neither of those.

Getting a big bat would be desirable, but despite failing in September, the Mets still were 2nd in the NL in runs scored, it was the bullpen mainly that was the downfall of the team. Minaya does intend to tinker with the offense a bit though, and a source tells NYBD that the bigger piece that Minaya has his eye on is second baseman Orlando Hudson. The team likes the idea of sticking Daniel Murphy in left field in a platoon situation with somebody like Juan Rivera (a Minaya favorite) or Nick Evans. The Mets are more intent on spending their money on the bigger issue, the pitching.

With Hudson you’re getting a guy that has had some trouble staying healthy throughout his career, only play 140 games or more twice, but all of his injuries seemed to be freak ones, not ones that would put the disclaimer of injury prone next to his name, just extremely bad luck. But when he’s on the field, he’s good for gold glove caliber defense, amongst the best in the business,. Offensively he’ll give you around a .285 batting average, between 10-15 home runs and around a .350 on-base percentage. An average season from Hudson is .282 average, 13 home runs, 70 runs batted in, and a .346 on-base percentage. Hudson is 30 years of age, and is likely to be commanding a 3-4 deal in the neighborhood of $8-10 million per season. He is widely known as a great guy to have in the clubhouse, of the Cliff Floyd/Mike Cameron mold, and that is something a lot of people feel the Mets sorely need. You can expect stiff competition from the Yankees if they indeed trade Robinson Cano, as well as the Cardinals.

The biggest concern for the Mets has to be the pitching situation. They are losing Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez, both of whom were members of the rotation this year. Neither are expected to return in 2009. The Mets will test the waters of CC Sabathia, but they won’t come near the Yankees, who are willing to outbid teams by as much as 30 or 40% if need be. Their top target is likely to be Derek Lowe whom I believe would fit in great here, especially if the Mets sign Hudson. Lowe is the biggest ground ball pitcher in MLB, and behind him would be 3 gold glove caliber defenders in David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Orlando Hudson. If Lowe is to sign elsewhere, Minaya likely turns his attention to the often injured flamethrower AJ Burnett.

Working on the bullpen has to be Minaya’s #1 target though, as if the Mets saved even half of the games the bullpen blew last year, they would’ve won the division by a landslide. They first job is getting a closer, I touched on this earlier in the week, and according to a league source, if the Mets can get Francisco Rodriguez on a 3 or 4 year deal worth between 12-13 million, they’d pounce. The Mets, and likely no other team is going to come near the 5 years 75 million number that is being floated around, so K-Rod will have no choice but to come down. Other options include Brian Fuentes who will require a 3 year deal at around Billy Wagner money($10.5 million per). Then after that you have to go the trade route and look at guys like Seattle’s JJ Putz or Oakland’s Huston Street. Luis Ayala, whom the Mets acquired in August for Anderson Hernandez, is not expected back according to a source, but my personal gut feeling is he probably will be. It is also almost a sure thing that both Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis will be dealt in some combination, whether it be for a guy like Putz or Street or for a hitter, or just a minor leaguer or two. There is also a chance the Mets non-tender Duaner Sanchez. According to a source with knowledge of Minaya’s thinking, the team is not going to spend tons of money on middle relief. You may see a guy like Juan Cruz brought in, possibly a Jeremy Affeldt or Arthur Rhodes as well, but other than that it will come from within. Joe Smith will be back, Pedro Feliciano will be back, and you have young guys like Bobby Parnell and Eddie Kunz who can certainly be of use. There will definitely be some changes with the team, but it likely will not be the total overhaul that some people insist is necessary.

Joe DeMayo is a lifelong resident of Connecticut. He has been covering the Mets for almost 6 years. He started off as a writer for RoundingThirdKnight, which eventually in time would turn into SheaBaseball.com where Joey served as the Editor-In-Chief of SheaBaseball until early 2007. Joey then moved on to GothamBaseballMagazine.com where he wrote for a short period of time, and then was brought on as a correspondent and Mets minor league “guru” for NY Baseball Digest. Joe’s claim to fame is that he had the Johan Santana accurately portrayed since day one and broke the Omar Minaya extension. Check out Joe’s Mets minor league reports and Rumor Mill each week at nybaseballdigest.com He also has his own personal blog called St. Lucie to Flushing.

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Tags: AJ Burnett, Brian Fuentes, CC Sabathia, Daniel Murphy, Derek Lowe, Francisco Rodriguez, Huston Street, JJ Putz, Juan Rivera, Manny Ramirez, New York Mets, Nick Evans, Orlando Hudson